Chapter 505: One Piece, Ace!?
The ship of the Whitebeard Pirates slid up to the edge of a lonely island.
The shoreline was completely wrapped in sand the color of dried blood, a dark blackish red that seemed to drink in the moonlight.
"So this is Laugh Tale?"
Ace jumped down from the Moby Dick and stepped onto the strange shore. The sand crunched faintly under his boots.
"Back then, my rival, Gol D. Roger, was called Pirate King after he reached this place?"
A complicated look surfaced on Ace's face.
Aside from the eerie color of the beach, nothing seemed different.
His Observation Haki swept across the island.
There was nothing. No killing intent, no bizarre presence, no overwhelming pressure.
"Back then, Roger went deep into that island," Whitebeard said.
He remained standing on the deck. He did not set foot on Laugh Tale.
"As for what he saw, what he ran into, and what happened afterward, no one knows."
"If you want answers, you will have to go in and find them yourself."
Whitebeard made no move to follow. This was Ace's journey. His battle.
"I got it, Pops."
Ace nodded once, then turned and strode toward the dark interior of the island.
As he disappeared into the trees, a news bird flapped down toward the Moby Dick and dropped a special Den Den Mushi into Whitebeard's hand.
"Morgans. I will leave this to you," Whitebeard said.
He spoke into the Den Den Mushi's receiver, voice low and calm.
"Relax. We go way back. I know what to do with news like this," Morgans replied with a cocky chuckle.
"But if you do it this way, what about Ryuunosuke…?"
There was a trace of genuine concern in his tone.
The relationship between the Whitebeard Pirates and Ryuunosuke's Dragon Hunter Pirates was well known.
Now Whitebeard had pushed ahead of Ryuunosuke and landed on Laugh Tale first.
Would that not damage the bond between them?
Morgans was also curious why Whitebeard, of all people, had chosen this timing.
"Do not worry."
"Ryuunosuke is not a man whose sights are limited by something like this," Whitebeard said confidently.
"If it were him, he would understand why I am doing this."
That confidence was not just in himself.
It was trust in Ryuunosuke.
If Ryuunosuke were the type obsessed with power and glory, then with his ability, the seas would already be under his heel.
But the Dragon Hunter Pirates had never behaved like a crew scrambling for fame and titles.
They were pirates in the truest sense.
What they pursued was freedom.
"I see," Morgans replied. "As long as the two of you do not have a falling out, then I do not have a problem either."
"I will get things ready. This is going to be huge."
He hung up and immediately started arranging his headlines.
"Pops, why do we not go take a look together?"
Marco walked over to stand beside Whitebeard, eyes fixed on the island.
"You really have zero interest in Laugh Tale?"
Whitebeard's answer earlier had been that he was not interested.
But the way he was staring at Laugh Tale now told a different story.
It was not that he did not want to go in.
It was that he would not go in.
Or perhaps that he could not go in.
The rest of the crew had no complaints about Ace being the one to land.
His strength, character, and talent were all worthy.
On top of that, there was his identity.
He was Luffy's older brother.
Ryuunosuke's younger brother, the one who currently ruled these seas.
And the son of the previous Pirate King, Gol D. Roger.
If anyone was fit to succeed the Whitebeard Pirates, it was him.
So no one objected.
But now that they had reached Laugh Tale, it felt strange to just sit and wait.
"Let us stay here," Whitebeard said slowly.
"We cannot go in. At least not now."
He did not explain further.
He simply sat down on the deck, gripped his naginata tightly, and stared straight at Laugh Tale.
His posture made it clear.
He was ready to move at any time.
Marco took one look at that expression and understood that Whitebeard did not want to say more.
So he quietly stepped back and dropped the topic.
…
"Coo…"
At that moment, a news bird fluttered down toward the Eternal Ship and landed in front of Ryuunosuke.
"Seriously?"
Ryuunosuke looked at the bird, then at the rolled up newspaper and Den Den Mushi it carried.
"That Morgans guy really has his quirks."
"He clearly has a Den Den Mushi, but he insists on sending messages with a news bird."
"Does he not know how to use a snail phone, or is his Den Den Mushi out of charge?"
He grumbled as he took the paper.
Even though they had each other's Den Den Mushi frequencies, Morgans still preferred to send news birds to Ryuunosuke.
It was pure habit at this point.
Ryuunosuke unfolded the newspaper and froze for a moment.
"Already?"
"Have the Whitebeard Pirates reached Laugh Tale first?"
The headline sprawled across the front page.
"Whitebeard Pirates Reach Laugh Tale First. Is the Birth of a New Pirate King Inherited Destiny, or Proof of Strength?"
The title was full of that dramatic, cliched flair Morgans loved.
Ryuunosuke's gaze moved down the page.
The shot captured Ace stepping alone onto a dark island beach.
The angle was decent, but the photo itself was fuzzy.
"I have to say, these pictures are terrible," Ryuunosuke muttered.
"For being that close, how do you still end up with something this blurry?"
He shook his head and read the article through.
"One Piece, huh?"
"Ace. So this is the path you chose."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
For Ryuunosuke, the title of Pirate King falling on Ace's head felt natural.
There was nothing wrong with it at all.
In the future, when people said Pirate King Ace, it would be his name they remembered.
And they would still add one more thing.
That this Pirate King had an older brother named Ryuunosuke.
Even the title of Pirate King would not be enough to overshadow Ryuunosuke's light.
"Captain, I just…"
Najenda hurried over with an intelligence report in her hand, but stopped when she saw the newspaper.
"You have already seen it, Captain?" she asked, stunned.
"Yeah."
Ryuunosuke nodded.
"I know already. Ace and the others have reached Laugh Tale."
"And it is the first stop on the same route we are taking."
"Let's go. Maybe we will bump into Ace on his way out."
He spoke lightly, but his eyes were bright.
"Captain, what if Mr Ace goes deep inside?" Najenda frowned.
"What if he runs into something dangerous?"
Both the Guardian faction and the Evictors had their sights set on this final island.
It was almost impossible that they were not watching Laugh Tale.
Now Ace had gone ahead of everyone and entered first.
Who could say what danger might be waiting for him.
"Danger?"
"If those guys are not idiots, they will not do anything reckless," Ryuunosuke replied calmly.
The Guardians and the Evictors knew very well how strong the Dragon Hunter Pirates were now.
Whether it was Sevian, Jeff, or the others behind the scenes, they all understood that anyone tied to Ryuunosuke was not to be touched lightly.
They would not make a move unless they were prepared to become Ryuunosuke's enemies outright.
"Chrollo and the others have already set off ahead of us," Najenda said.
"Do we need to speed up?"
Ryuunosuke had a point, but the world rarely followed neat logic.
If something happened to Ace while they were being cautious, regret would be useless.
"Gaino. Full speed," Ryuunosuke ordered.
"Push the Eternal Ship as fast as it can go."
At the same time, he used the Dragon Hunting Order to recall Chrollo's group back to the ship.
Even if Chrollo pushed his ship to the maximum, it could not hope to keep up with the Eternal Ship at full power.
As the Dragon Hunter Pirates accelerated toward Laugh Tale, the rest of the world erupted.
The Whitebeard Pirates had reached Laugh Tale before the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
Fire Fist Ace, son of Pirate King Gol D. Roger, had stepped onto the final island.
Now, the papers shouted the same thing across every sea.
He had become the new Pirate King.
In just a short time, similar reports and rumors spread across the Grand Line like wildfire.
It had to be said that when it came to gathering and spreading information, Morgans was even more terrifying than the most talkative gossip in any village.
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