"Hey... Beckman! What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
Veins bulged on Yasopp's forehead as he stared at Beckman. His voice cracked from sheer disbelief.
"You bastard... are you going to betray the captain too?"
The other officers were all stunned as well, looking at their vice-captain in disbelief.
They knew Beckman. Unless he had truly made up his mind, this man would never joke about something like this on such a serious occasion.
"I wouldn't call it betrayal, Yasopp. I've been sailing for so many years. I kind of want to take a break for a while."
Beckman took a drag on his cigar and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, hiding the sharp glint in his eyes.
He walked past Yasopp and looked straight at Rosse.
"Hey, Rosse. Speaking of which, the World Government shouldn't mind if a reformed former pirate like me gets tired of living in the Holy Land someday, pats his butt, and goes back to sea as a pirate again, right?"
It was a test.
A test of Rosse's bottom line, and also laying the groundwork for getting away in the future.
Of course, he definitely wasn't planning to stay with the World Government forever. If he wanted to leave, he'd leave whenever he pleased.
In reality, he wanted to see how Rosse would react after hearing something like that.
"What you want to do is your freedom, Beckman."
Rosse rested his chin on his folded hands, amusement flickering in his eyes.
That half-smiling expression made it seem as though he had already seen through every calculation in Beckman's mind.
"But under the order I've established, you'll have to bear the price of your freedom," Rosse raised a finger and pointed at Makino below.
"Right now, you're a stateless thug with no credibility. The only reason your bounty was waived and you were allowed to join the World Government is because Makino used her identity to guarantee you."
"If you really decide to run away someday, or secretly play some tricks, then either don't get caught. But once you're caught..."
The corner of Rosse's mouth lifted, "Every mistake you make will be deducted from Makino. Whether it's reducing her supplies or other forms of punishment."
The moment those words fell, Beckman's fingers holding the cigar froze.
He understood at once.
Rosse had seen through his undercover plan from the very beginning, but this arrogant god simply didn't care.
To this devil, the more chaotic the play became, the more entertaining it was.
"That's a pretty cruel rule. Hahaha! I'll seriously consider not causing trouble under your nose."
Suppressing the chill in his heart, Beckman forced out a dry laugh. He tossed the cigar onto the ground, crushed it under his foot, shoved both hands into his pockets, and strolled toward Hongo and Makino.
"Makino, from now on, you'll have to take good care of a poor guy like me on your turf."
"Beckman!"
Shanks and Yasopp roared almost at the same time.
Hidden within Shanks's shout were pain and reluctance. He knew that once Beckman left, it would be like putting his neck into a noose. One careless step, and there would be no return.
But if they wanted to understand the World Government, this was a necessary process.
Yasopp, however, knew nothing.
His eyes, already bloodshot from everything that had happened earlier, now looked ready to burst from their sockets with overwhelming fury.
"You... every one of you... what do the words 'pirate' even mean to you anymore?"
Yasopp roared hysterically. He grabbed his tangled hair with one hand, his nails digging deep into his scalp until blood seeped out.
His body shuddered from rage, like a man whose faith had completely collapsed.
"Do you think being pirates is some children's game? You leave whenever you want! You split up whenever you want!"
For this pirate flag...
For the dream of chasing the freest man on the seas...
Back then, Yasopp had resolutely abandoned the wife who loved him more than herself, abandoned Usopp while he was still in her womb.
Only a few hours earlier, for the sake of everyone aboard this ship's dream, he had personally pointed a gun at his own flesh and blood, completely destroying the last shred of humanity he possessed as a man and as a father.
For that, he had forced himself into becoming a real man who abandoned his wife and child.
Because he firmly believed that the path of a pirate was this heavy, this cruel, that dreams required making way through blood and bonds.
But now?
Hongo had knelt before the World Government simply because he was tired.
Beckman had joined the enemy with a grin over a mere ten million Berries and a few bottles of cheap liquor.
If being a pirate was just a game that could be stopped at any moment, if no one had ever been prepared to die for freedom, then what were all the sacrifices Yasopp had made?
What was the family he had destroyed with his own hands?
Compared to these companions who had so easily compromised just to stay alive, the man's romance he had soaked in blood and sin was nothing but a colossal joke.
These people simply weren't worthy of his sacrifice.
"Yasopp, it doesn't matter anymore."
Faced with Yasopp's near-breakdown, Beckman merely lit another cigar, blew out a thick white smoke ring, and showed not the slightest ripple in his eyes.
He calmly looked at his former companion and said quietly,
"With a madman like you following the captain no matter what, maybe your road ahead will be a little easier. That's enough. Until we meet again."
He waved a hand without even turning to look at Shanks one last time.
Since he had decided to shoulder this most dangerous undercover mission alone, there was no need to drag things out like an actor in a third-rate stage play.
He, Beckman, wasn't like those companions who had nothing in their heads but dreams and banquets.
He knew very well that if they really treated rebellion like a children's game, then before Rosse, they wouldn't even know how they died.
If Rosse had simply wanted to kill instead of watching a show tonight, this nameless deserted island would already have become the Red Hair Pirates' mass grave.
It was precisely because he had personally experienced this overwhelming powerlessness, this feeling of not even having the right to resist, that Beckman felt that, as the ship's strategist, he had to stake his life and look into the depths behind the curtain.
"Your Excellency Rosse."
Beckman turned around and gave Rosse a slight bow. His tone still carried the unruly edge of a wild dog.
"Can we leave now? To be honest, I really can't wait to see what the Holy Land actually looks like."
"Hongo only has medical skills, so he can only be a doctor. But I'm good at just about everything. I should be qualified to earn a position with some prospects in your World Government, shouldn't I?"
This was his second test.
Earlier, Makino had warned them that in this precisely operating machine, rough pirates like them had better not think about climbing upward.
Compared to the people truly trained by the World Government's system, they were far behind.
But Beckman's pride wouldn't let him accept that so easily.
As one of the sea's acknowledged greatest strategists, he wanted to see for himself just how deep the World Government really was.
"Oh? Since you're that confident..."
A trace of pleasure flashed through Rosse's eyes. Resting his chin lightly on one hand, he looked at Beckman with a faint smile.
"Then I'll make an exception and give you a chance. However, as you are now, you're not qualified to enter Mary Geoise."
"You and Hongo will report to Reverse City first," Rosse smiled, "I'll be watching you from the highest point of the Holy Land. Let's see whether a wild smart man like you can climb to my feet one step at a time by your own ability."
Rosse felt today's performance had already been entertaining enough.
If he kept playing, completely crushing Shanks's faith and driving Yasopp utterly insane, then the Red Hair Pirates, this toy, would completely fall apart.
Since it was such a rare toy, naturally it would be more interesting to draw things out and dismantle it little by little.
"Then, exit the stage."
Rosse smiled faintly and casually raised his right hand, lightly snapping his fingers in the air.
Snap!
There was no earth-shattering light, no roar of space tearing apart.
At the exact instant the snap sounded, Hongo, Beckman, Rosse, and Makino simply vanished into thin air without the slightest warning.
Not even a breeze stirred.
Had the battle marks not remained on the reefs, the surviving members of the Red Hair Pirates might even have believed...
Had Rosse and the others ever appeared on this island at all?
"What... what the hell was that?"
Bonk Punch's legs gave out beneath him, and he collapsed onto the ground.
He grabbed a mud-covered liquor bottle beside him and smashed it against the reef, his voice full of frustration and near despair.
"They showed up without making a sound, and when they left we couldn't even catch a glimpse of them! To him, we're nothing more than ants he can crush underfoot whenever he wants!"
"Against a monster we can't even understand, do we really have even the slightest hope?"
He was a pure fighter.
Against powerful enemies, he could throw punches with everything he had.
But facing Makino, who could instantly recover after being cut in half, and Rosse, who was as elusive as a god, fighting itself had become a meaningless joke.
The other side only needed a glance, a snap of the fingers, and they would all be wiped out.
How the hell were they supposed to fight that?
"Punch. We really are weak, so we were never that hope."
Shanks forced himself upright. Taking a deep breath of the icy sea wind, he pressed his only remaining arm against his chest and looked toward the far end of the Grand Line.
"The hope is Luffy. He's the child of destiny."
A faint flame rekindled in Shanks's eyes.
"Fortunately, although Rosse knows the origin of Luffy's Nika Fruit and the destiny Luffy carries, his arrogance has already blinded him. He sees Luffy as nothing more than a toy to play with at will. That's his greatest weakness."
"Before this god grows tired of this game, we'll give everything we have to buy Luffy the time and space he needs to grow. That's the only thing we remnants of the old era can still do."
After saying that, Shanks turned around and walked with heavy steps to Yasopp, who was still trembling slightly.
He raised his lone arm and gently, yet with unusual solemnity, patted Yasopp on the shoulder.
"Yasopp. From today onwards, you're the vice-captain of the Red Hair Pirates."
"Huh?"
Not only did Yasopp himself suddenly look up in astonishment, even Snake, Lucky Roux, and the others behind him were dumbfounded.
"Captain... I... just now..."
Yasopp stammered. Looking into Shanks's calm eyes, he felt ashamed to face him.
He had just cursed the companions who had left like a madman.
Did someone like him really deserve to be vice-captain?
"The resolve you showed, to abandon even family for your companions and this pirate flag, is exactly what we need most right now."
Shanks gave a reason that didn't really sound like an excuse.
To put it plainly, after this crushing defeat, Shanks had completely figured it out as well.
If they wanted to overthrow the World Government hanging above the heavens, the gentle romanticism of the old era would no longer work.
They had to unite every force willing to resist.
Yasopp's personality was indeed terribly twisted, but his loyalty to the Red Hair Pirates was beyond question.
Putting him in the vice-captain's position, this mad dog with nothing left to lose would surely bite through every obstacle in their path.
"I understand! Captain! I... I won't let you down!"
With bloodshot eyes, Yasopp clenched his teeth and straightened his back.
The faith that had collapsed was pieced back together beneath the heavy title of vice-captain by an almost pathological fanaticism.
The other crew members exchanged glances, but in the end, none of them objected.
After all, only a handful of their top fighters were still alive. With Beckman gone, Yasopp, the oldest and strongest remaining veteran, really was the only choice.
"Captain... where do we go next?", Lucky Roux forced himself to his feet and asked in a deep voice.
Shanks turned around. The sea breeze lifted his empty left sleeve as he pointed Griffin, now sheathed once again, toward the surging sea.
"To the Grand Line! To the New World! We'll clear away all those troublesome remnants of the old era and pave the road of defying God for Luffy!"
"Oh!"
After suffering an overwhelming defeat, the pirate ship, now carrying only a handful of people, raised its sails once more with the grim resolve of having no way back and disappeared into the East Blue.
———
[Meanwhile, at the Center of the World, Where the Four Seas Met, atop Reverse Mountain]
The thunderous roar of rushing water exploded in the ears.
The waters of the East, South, West, and North Blues flowed upward against gravity, converging at the summit before becoming a raging water dragon that poured toward the Grand Line with a deafening roar.
Above this magnificent natural wonder stood the colossal city of Reverse City, set firmly atop the mountain like a crown cast from reinforced concrete.
It was a massive project personally designed by Rosse after he had traveled the Grand Line, built with the strength of the entire nation.
More than ten years later, it had grown into the largest and busiest shipping hub in the world.
Every day, tens of thousands of heavy cargo ships and giant passenger liners docked and departed along its broad elevated waterways.
Within the city, dense steam railways stretched in every direction like a spider's web, while countless high-speed trains thundered across them, transporting people and supplies to modern cities throughout the world.
And this was also where Beckman and Hongo's journey would begin.