Chapter 72: Light And Shadow On The White Whale
In the New World, a large ship shaped like a white whale advanced proudly, smashing through the waves head-on and leisurely galloping across the vast ocean.
“Goo goo!!”
“Goo goo!!”
Under the sky, a series of neat bird calls came through.
A long line of news birds spread their wings and flew over, circling twice in the air, using their calls to remind the masters on the ship of their arrival, then leisurely landing on the ship’s side, patiently waiting for people to come buy newspapers.
Hearing the familiar calls from outside, the members of the Whitebeard Pirates who were eating breakfast in the cafeteria immediately erupted into a chorus of clamor.
“Hey, today’s newspaper is here.”
“Whose turn is it to get the newspaper? Teach, if I’m not mistaken, it’s your shift today?”
“Zehahaha!! Today’s newspaper? I wonder if there’s any interesting news······ No one touch my cherry pie!” The burly, hairy, ochre-skinned middle-aged man—Teach—put down the cherry pie he had just taken a bite of and stood up.
“Shut your mouth! Who would touch your bitten cherry pie!”
“Zehahaha!”
Teach laughed heartily and walked out of the restaurant.
“Goo goo goo—!!!”
The news bird let out a panicked cry, and seeing Teach approaching, its body actually began to tremble.
“Let me see, what news is there today?”
He stuffed the prepared Beli bills into the money box hanging on the news bird, then took down a thick stack of newspapers. The Whitebeard Pirates had 1600 members in the crew itself, and although most of them had limited literacy, the demand for newspapers was quite high. Buying just one copy clearly couldn’t satisfy everyone’s needs.
After finishing the trade, the news bird immediately flapped its wings frantically and fled in panic. The human in front of it was simply much more terrifying than those extra-large Sea Kings! It didn’t want to stay even a single breath longer by this human’s side.
Ignoring these birds, Teach stood at the ship’s bow, casually flipping through the newspaper in his hand to see if there was any explosive news.
Then,
With just a glance,
He froze.
On the front page of the World Economic News, there were four bolded and enlarged characters, [Pluto Reappears], these four simple words occupying nearly a quarter of the front page, and with the photo below, the text was directly pushed to the second page.
Speaking of which, the release of this news was already delayed.
Because Kuzan’s cleanup operation in the Sabaody Archipelago used a [horned Den Den Mushi] to block communications on the island, even big news Morgans didn’t receive the related intelligence in the first time. By the time communications were restored, the incident had already been five days old.
“Pluto······”
Teach stared at the photo of Rayleigh holding a long sword, a flash of surprise in his eyes.
It really was that Pluto, the Pirate King’s first mate, Silvers Rayleigh.
As a veteran crew member of the Whitebeard Pirates, just like Red-Haired Shanks who was already one of the Four Emperors, Teach, who was a rookie intern on the Whitebeard Pirates back then, had followed Whitebeard into battle against the Roger Pirates many times, so he naturally knew the monstrously powerful Pluto Rayleigh.
Staring at the photo for two seconds, he immediately shifted his attention to the second page of the newspaper, where all the textual details had been squeezed.
“The Black Prince again······ and this Fire Fist kid······”
At this moment,
“Hey, Teach, what the hell are you dawdling for? Everyone’s waiting, bring the newspaper over for us to look at!” Someone shouted from the cabin door, urging the long-overdue Teach.
“Coming right away, what’s the rush!”
Teach shouted back with an equally loud voice, clutching a stack of newspapers as he hurried back. As soon as he entered the door, he waved the newspapers in his hand and yelled loudly, “Zehahaha! Big news today! Super awesome big news!!!”
“What is it? Big Mom getting married again?”
“Hahaha! That’s no big news. I’d say it’s definitely that Black Prince guy stirring up trouble again. The newspapers have been full of the Black Prince’s name and photos lately.”
It had to be said, this speculation was quite reliable.
“It’s indeed related to the Black Prince.”
“But the Black Prince isn’t the main character this time!”
Teach said loudly.
He held up the stack of newspapers high, his gaze roaming over the veteran crew members, “Hey, you all remember, right? [Pluto] Silvers Rayleigh, that old monster has appeared.”
The noisy clamor suddenly vanished.
As if an Ability User who ate the Silence Fruit had erased the sound here.
The veteran crew members were stunned by the name Teach suddenly uttered. Their silence caused even the less experienced crew members nearby to puzzledly close their mouths. The quick thinkers had already recalled the name, their faces showing shock, while the slow ones were still blankly confused.
“Teach, you sure?”
“Zehahaha! Scared, huh? See for yourselves!”
Teach burst into laughter and shoved the newspapers into the arms of the person next to him, then swaggered back to his previous seat, continuing to eat the cherry pie on his plate, loudly praising its deliciousness while eating!
The newspapers were distributed.
Two or three people, three or five, or seven or eight sharing one newspaper······ The spacious restaurant buzzed with heads, quickly dividing into small groups at an extreme speed.
“Pluto······ It’s him for sure······ I thought he died long ago.”
“Senior, Pluto, is that the Right Hand of the Pirate King?”
“Or is there a second Pluto?”
“I told you, it’s related to the Black Prince······ But Fire Fist? Does anyone know this kid’s background? The newspaper says Pluto appeared to save this kid? Real or fake?”
The restaurant echoed with lively discussions, centered around Pluto who had disappeared for nearly twenty years, everyone engaging in heated conversation.
The veteran crew members reminisced about the old days, while the young crew members eagerly asked about past legends.
Teach ate the last bite of cherry pie!
He gripped his fork and speared another piece from the large plate on the table onto his own small plate, continuing to enjoy his favorite cherry pie, but while savoring the gourmet food in front of him, his ears were also listening to others’ discussions.
Someone was debating what Pluto had been doing all these years.
Someone was speculating on the reason Pluto suddenly appeared in the Sabaody Archipelago at this time.
Someone was discussing who was stronger between Pluto and the Black Prince.
Listening to these messy topics, Teach’s mood wasn’t pleasant, even though his face wore a happy smile and he kept loudly praising the cherry pie’s deliciousness. Yet in his heart, he was filled with disappointment and jealousy. After joining the Whitebeard Pirates for so many years, he still hadn’t found that Devil Fruit he yearned for.
Without a miracle, he would probably really spend the rest of his life as a member of the Whitebeard Pirates.
For such an outcome, he told himself over and over that this was the bet he made for that Devil Fruit. To obtain that legendary Devil Fruit, he had to stake enough capital, so he bet his future and persisted for over twenty years.
But,
Seeing the young monster Black Prince who could rival the Four Emperors appear, seeing the newspaper full of reports about the Black Prince, seeing that guy standing there chatting casually with Whitebeard Old Man, seeing Prince Elus enjoying the attention of countless people······
Jealousy,
Still tore at his heart like a venomous snake.
He thirsted for power and influence like the Four Emperors, wanted his name to spread across the sea, to possess wealth like mountains of gold and silver, hoping for countless beautiful women surrounding him······ His chest harbored such vast ambition.
But for that legendary Devil Fruit, he could only suppress his desires and ambitions, pretending to be a silly, harmless fool in the Whitebeard Pirates, betting his entire life on that uncertain future.
“Crack!!”
The fork shattered the food tray.
The person next to him looked over and rolled their eyes, “Teach, if you keep breaking food trays like this, Captain Sachi will really switch you to iron ones next time.”
“Zehahaha!!! This cherry pie is explosively delicious! Huh? The tray broke again? This is way too fragile?”
Teach played dumb nonchalantly.
Relying on his exceptional resilience and patience, he suppressed the poisonous weed called jealousy in his heart, still maintaining the mask he had carefully crafted for over twenty years, laughing foolishly like a clown.
The person next to him sighed helplessly and ignored the shameless guy.
······
At the same time,
In the captain’s room of the Moby Dick,
“Rayleigh······ Gura la la!!!”
The man sitting at the desk laughed heartily, reaching out to stroke his crescent-shaped whiskers, “It’s been a long time since I heard that name, Marco. About twenty years, right?”
“Nineteen years.”
The golden punk-haired man standing by the desk replied.
Nineteen years ago, Pirate King Roger was executed, and this man called the “Right Hand of the Pirate King” completely vanished from the world’s eyes. For these nineteen years, there had been no news, and if not for the newspaper suddenly mentioning him, everyone would have thought he had quietly died somewhere.
“Oh! Nineteen years······ It’s been that long already!”
Whitebeard looked at the photo in the newspaper, “Fought with that kid Elus in the Sabaody Archipelago······ Looks like he hasn’t gotten too old to wield a sword! But why······ suddenly appear? After Roger died, you disappeared. Why show up now?”
The golden punk-haired man—Marco—glanced sideways at the newspaper, his mind involuntarily recalling past memories. Over twenty years ago, before Roger took off the Pirate King’s crown, he had followed Old Man into multiple clashes with the Roger Pirates.
Pluto Rayleigh, that terrifying old man, was still fresh in his memory!
“[Fire Fist]—Portgas D. Ace······ Another D? Very young kid······ How many years has he been at sea? Rushing to the New World so eagerly······ Marco, any intelligence on this Fire Fist?” Whitebeard asked.
His intuition told him that Rayleigh’s appearance was definitely related to this Fire Fist.
Even Whitebeard, more terrifying than a demon, still had curiosity, especially when it involved an ‘old friend’ like Rayleigh.
“Very little information. If the intelligence isn’t too off, Fire Fist is probably a pirate who set out to sea this year, from East Blue. He’s been in the Grand Line for just over half a year, already rushed to the New World, and even defeated a Navy Vice Admiral in the Sabaody Archipelago······ Probably a pretty tough kid.”
Marco had done some homework before bringing the newspaper to Old Man, but time was limited, so he could only gather this superficial intelligence.
“East Blue?”
He caught the key word.
Whitebeard looked at the photo of Fire Fist attached on the third page of the newspaper. The young face looked more and more familiar the longer he stared, but······ freckles? It was a bit subtle. Even Whitebeard was misled by Ace’s freckles and didn’t connect it to Roger.
“Another pirate from East Blue?”
Roger’s hometown was East Blue.
Whitebeard examined the photo in the newspaper again, staring for a long time, finally flipping the newspaper over, “Rayleigh! Haven’t seen an old friend’s name in ages······ Hey, Marco, can I have an extra drink today?”
He negotiated with his son, the ship doctor.
“Old Man······ Sigh!!!”
Marco sighed helplessly, “You’ve already exceeded the limit this month······ Sigh! This is the last time this month! Absolutely no more!” The ship doctor was also troubled; Old Man’s alcohol addiction was really hard to handle! If it was ten years ago······ no, five years ago, drinking all night with Old Man would be no problem.
Unfortunately, time waits for no one,
Old Man’s body grew weaker day by day, and even the pleasure of drinking was restricted because of it.
“Old Man, I’m coming in!”
The room door opened.
Sachi poked his head in and walked inside.
“Sachi, something wrong?” Marco asked.
“Old Man, Boss Jinbe is here.”
Sachi said.
“Where is he?” Whitebeard stood up.
“On the deck.”
As soon as Sachi finished speaking, Whitebeard had already strode out the door toward the deck.
The morning sunlight was gentle and warm, dispelling the biting chill of the night, warming the face comfortably. Whitebeard arrived on the deck and immediately saw the Whale Shark Fish-Man who was fully three hundred centimeters tall, his body dripping wet, wiping the water stains with a dry cloth.
“Yo, Jinbe.”
Whitebeard greeted.
“Whitebeard Old Man······”
Jinbe roughly wiped the water off his body and walked over.
“Back so soon? Did that kid Elus pull some trick again?”
“Everything is fine.”
Jinbe carefully recounted everything that happened in the Holy Land, including the matter of being invited to become the chief instructor of Fish-Man Karate for the Eckmond Kingdom, telling it all without omission, “······ The identity of the Seven Warlords is now completely severed. If not for Prince Elus’s invitation······ I probably couldn’t have left Marie Geoise.”
Jinbe’s expression was very complex.
He was grateful for Elus’s protection, but this danger arose because of Elus too······ In short, his feelings were complicated.
“After leaving the Red Line, Prince Elus went to Navy Headquarters, while I returned directly to Fish-Man Island and spoke face-to-face with King Neptune about everything that happened recently, then······ something unspeakable happened on Fish-Man Island.” Jinbe’s face showed a hint of shame.
“Boss Jinbe, what happened?” Sachi, standing beside Whitebeard, asked curiously.
“Whitebeard Old Man, Fire Fist······ Fire Fist burned your flag.”
Jinbe shamefully lowered his head.
“You say Fire Fist······ burned Old Man’s flag?” Marco asked word by word, arms crossed over his chest.
“That’s right.”
Jinbe nodded vigorously, “[Fire Fist] Portgas D. Ace, he burned the flag protecting Fish-Man Island······ Whitebeard Old Man, I know this might be redundant, but I still hope you’ll be cautious. Fire Fist is young, but his potential is truly terrifying. I contacted Prince Elus from Fish-Man Island, and he said Fire Fist learned Armament Haki during his battle with a Navy Vice Admiral and then successfully defeated a veteran Navy Vice Admiral.”
“Gura la la!”
Whitebeard laughed heartily, “Sounds like a smart kid······ Jinbe, thanks for your concern. I’ll be careful.”
“I originally planned to intercept Fire Fist on Fish-Man Island, but I was one step late. Fire Fist had already left Fish-Man Island. I tried tracking but failed, so I came straight to you, Whitebeard Old Man, to tell you in person. I’m truly very sorry for failing to protect your flag.”
With that, Jinbe dropped to his knees on the deck, bowing his head deeply, representing Fish-Man Island’s apology.
“Jinbe, what are you doing? Get up!”
Whitebeard widened his eyes.
At the instant Old Man spoke, Sachi rushed in front of Jinbe, reaching out to pull him up.
“The flag being burned isn’t Fish-Man Island’s fault. You don’t need to do this, Jinbe.”
Whitebeard said so.
“Whitebeard Old Man, but······”
“Boss Jinbe, listen to Old Man. Whoever dares burn the flag, this Fire Fist kid is clearly asking for trouble from us. Even if it wasn’t Fish-Man Island, it would probably happen on other islands later.” Sachi patted Jinbe’s arm.
Jinbe fell silent.
Righteousness was his way of life.
Whitebeard Old Man’s kindness was something he couldn’t repay even in a lifetime, but precisely because of that, he would do everything to return the favor. Having shed the Seven Warlords identity, he no longer had to worry about incurring the World Government’s displeasure.
So he decided: he would protect Whitebeard Old Man. Fire Fist Ace······ He wouldn’t let this arrogant kid get within one step of Whitebeard Old Man.
“Jinbe, relax. Now that you’re no longer a Seven Warlord······ Marco, Sachi, prepare a banquet! Entertain Jinbe well.” Whitebeard ordered.
“Whitebeard Old Man, no need for······”
“Boss Jinbe, between pirates, no need for such politeness.” Sachi grinned happily.
“Jinbe, no need to be polite.”
Marco also smiled.
But,
“Old Man, even for a banquet, don’t overdo it.” The ship doctor cautioned.
“······ Marco, too nagging. Got it.” Whitebeard reluctantly agreed.
