John was feeling rather lost. All of a sudden, he had become a man with no one left, and the crucial part was that he had personally sent off his former subordinates, one by one.
As for the old, weak, sick, and disabled left behind at his base on Prince Island, John simply ignored them.
Now John was hesitating. Should he stake everything on starting over again?
Or should he remain a lone wolf, retire into seclusion, or turn to his former colleagues?
John picked up his wine gourd and took a swig.
Faced with such a sudden upheaval, even someone as strong-willed as John could not help doubting himself. He no longer knew whether he had made a mistake before.
Perhaps he really was not a qualified leader, nor suited to being one.
Before, John had always followed Rocks and had rarely needed to consider how to be a leader himself.
Now, not long after Rocks had died, he had formed his own pirate crew. He had thought he could soar freely through the wide-open skies, only for things to end like this.
"Aah!" After taking several more swigs, John could no longer hold back his emotions. He roared at the sky, letting his powerful Conqueror's Haki pour out unchecked.
And so John drank alone on the island, drowning his sorrows. When he emptied the wine gourd he carried, he went straight back to the ship and drank with a barrel in his arms.
He drank until he was utterly drunk, then fell asleep flat on his back.
Meanwhile, Sakaki and Kizaru, who had already gone far away, knew nothing of John's condition. Otherwise, they certainly would not have minded taking advantage of his vulnerability to claim his head.
Sakaki was still worrying about how to explain things to