Hearing Whitebeard's overwhelmingly domineering words, the entire Whitebeard Pirates burst into excitement and morale instantly surged. On the other side, the members of the Oathblood Guards revealed worried expressions. After all, this was Whitebeard — the world's strongest man. Even though they knew how terrifying Rosinante was, they still couldn't help but worry for him.
"Whitebeard," Rosinante said with a faint smile as he raised his head, "it seems it's not me who wants to test you, but you who wants to test whether my strength has declined over these past ten years. In that case, I naturally won't disappoint you. But are you really sure you want to fight me out here at sea… or on the Moby Dick?" With Rosinante's abilities, he held a tremendous advantage both over the ocean and in aerial combat. And if the two of them truly fought aboard the Moby Dick, then with their level of power, the ship probably wouldn't survive more than a few exchanges before completely falling apart.
The corners of Whitebeard's mouth rose into a grin. "The Moby Dick is our home. I'm not interested in destroying my own ship. Set sail for an uninhabited island!" "Yes, Pops!" the Whitebeard Pirates answered loudly.
The Whitebeard Pirates brought over a gigantic wine bowl for Rosinante, one similar to the enormous sake cups Whitebeard used when drinking with Shanks in the past. After filling the bowl, Rosinante casually tossed the remaining wine jar toward Whitebeard. At that moment, many members of the Whitebeard Pirates revealed worried looks. The two sides were currently in opposition, and a battle was still about to happen. Drinking wine brought by Rosinante at a time like this could be dangerous. If Rosinante had secretly done something to the alcohol, Whitebeard could be put at a severe disadvantage.
But before anyone could react, Whitebeard directly lifted the wine jar and took a huge gulp. "Excellent wine!" he roared. Rosinante laughed lightly. "Before coming here, I stopped by Dressrosa. Doflamingo prepared this wine, so naturally it shouldn't be bad." As he spoke, Rosinante also lifted his massive wine bowl and drank from it. It was actually his first time using such an oversized cup, which felt oddly refreshing.
After taking a drink, Rosinante slowly put down the bowl and said, "Whitebeard, regarding the Oathblood Guards… I owe you a favor." Whitebeard waved it off dismissively. "I didn't protect them because of any favor from you. I simply found them agreeable. Besides, once that difficult period passed and the Marines stopped targeting them, their strength alone was already enough for them to survive in the New World."
Then Whitebeard narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "What about you? What are your plans now? Are you planning to reunite the Gray Kingdom? The sea already has four emperors. The Marines will never sit back and allow pirate power to grow even further, much less allow the Gray Kingdom to rise again. Their fear of you has already surpassed even their fear of me." Whitebeard made no attempt to lower his voice, so every member of the Whitebeard Pirates and the Oathblood Guards heard his words clearly. The moment they heard Whitebeard himself admit that the Marines feared Rosinante even more than Whitebeard, everyone was stunned. Whitebeard was universally recognized as the world's strongest man and captain of the strongest pirate crew alive. Yet now Whitebeard was openly stating that the World Government feared Rosinante and the Gray Kingdom more than they feared the Whitebeard Pirates themselves. Just how terrifying had Rosinante once been? And how powerful had the Gray Kingdom become at its peak?
"A month ago, I went to the Red Line," Rosinante said calmly. "I fought Steel Bone Kong, Sengoku, Garp, Sakazuki and the others there to settle the score from ten years ago. In the end, the Five Elders personally appeared and asked me to stop. They even brought out one of the World Government's ultimate weapons."
Those words shocked everyone present. Even Whitebeard himself was visibly moved. As for the others, they were practically speechless. Steel Bone Kong might not be familiar to some of them, but Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Marine Hero Garp who once chased the Pirate King across the seas, and Admiral Sakazuki were all legends they knew extremely well. Rosinante described it casually as "fighting them," but everyone understood that if someone were surrounded by that lineup, it would never be as simple as exchanging blows. And yet even the Five Elders, the highest rulers of the World Government, had personally appeared. That lineup was terrifying beyond imagination. Even the Whitebeard Pirates themselves would likely be completely crushed if forced to face such a force head-on. At this point, many of them almost wanted to believe Rosinante was exaggerating or lying, because otherwise they simply could not comprehend how powerful he truly was. But Whitebeard knew better. Someone who had reached Rosinante's level had no need to lie or boast about such matters.
"So… they used that thing?" Whitebeard muttered. Clearly, he possessed some knowledge about the World Government's so-called ultimate weapon.
Rosinante nodded. "Looks like old man, you know about it too. Since I'm standing here now, you should already understand the result. That thing couldn't hurt me. Afterward, they even invited me to join the World Government. They were willing to give me one of the Five Elder seats."
The Whitebeard Pirates were stunned all over again. Even Katakuri and the others were completely dumbfounded. The Five Elders were the absolute highest authority in the entire World Government. For them to be willing to surrender one of those positions showed just how desperate and helpless they had become at the time.
"You refused," Whitebeard said calmly.
"Of course I refused," Rosinante answered. "Ten years ago, after my battle against Sengoku and Garp at Marineford, the World Government schemed against me. A user of the Expulsion Fruit exiled my soul into another world. Only ten years passed in this world, but decades passed in that other one. Over there, I fought constantly until I eventually unified an entire nation and became the ruler who controlled the life and death of all its people. If what I wanted was power and authority, I would never have returned to this world. Now I simply want to live freely… and protect the people around me. I've already had Doflamingo restore Sleepless City to how it used to be, though the results don't seem very satisfying. So I plan to take it back personally and let Katakuri and the others manage it again. That's why I'll be taking them with me."
Even Whitebeard widened his eyes slightly after hearing this story. The others were even more shocked.
"How interesting," Whitebeard laughed. "Another world? It seems you obtained some incredible power over there, which is why you've become so confident. In that case… let me personally see just what kind of power another world has given you!" Whitebeard's fighting spirit instantly rose.
Just then, a crew member shouted, "Pops! We've reached the uninhabited island!"
The moment those words were spoken, both Whitebeard and Rosinante's eyes lit up simultaneously.
In the next instant—
The two figures vanished from the ship at the same time.