The morning sun beat down heavily upon the massive white timbers of the Moby Dick, casting a long shadow from the towering throne of Edward Newgate. The Strongest Man in the World leaned back against his massive cushions, his sharp eyes shifting slowly from Giovanni's face down to the legendary Supreme Grade cutlass resting securely at the young pirate's left hip. The massive crescent mustache on Whitebeard's face twitched slightly as he let out a deep, rumbling breath that seemed to vibrate the very air of the deck.
"That blade looks remarkably good on you, brat," Whitebeard rumbled, his voice like the grinding of tectonic plates. "Ace is a weapon meant for a true warrior, and your performance on Dressrosa proves you certainly fit the bill to carry it. Though, if you asked me honestly, I would have much rather appreciated it resting quietly along with Roger beneath the earth. Seeing that steel out here in the open sunlight just brings back far too many loud, troublesome memories from the old days."
Giovanni smirked, resting his palm lightly on the polished golden guard of the legendary cutlass. "Thanks, old man. Coming from a literal living legend like you, that compliment actually means something. But if we are talking about loud memories from the old days, Roger isn't the only ghost I am interested in. To be completely honest with you, Whitebeard, I have always been a massive fan of your former captain, Rocks D. Xebec."
The surrounding atmosphere on the main deck instantly grew entirely frozen. Several of the older, seasoned Whitebeard veterans who were standing near the galley doors visibly stiffened, cold sweat breaking out across their necks at the mere mention of that forbidden, erased name. Whitebeard himself paused, his massive hand freezing completely over the rim of his giant ceramic sake cup. He stared down at Giovanni for a long, silent moment, his dark eyes carrying a profound, unfathomable depth of ancient history.
Slowly, a small, weary chuckle escaped Whitebeard's lips. He reached down, grabbed the massive, iron-banded barrel of premium sake that Giovanni had dragged onto the ship, and violently cracked it open with a single flick of his massive thumb. He poured a towering waterfall of the clear, burning alcohol into two giant wooden bowls, sliding one across the deck planks toward the young blonde pirate.
"Rocks," Whitebeard muttered, his voice dropping into a deep, somber register as he lifted his own bowl toward the sky. "Now there is a name that hasn't crossed these decks in a very long time. I have a mountain of regrets when it comes to that man, brat. If only I knew back then what I know now about the true nature of this world and the rotting foundations of the World Government... I would have never run from that battle at God Valley. The history books have the entire incident completely wrong, but that doesn't change the bitter taste left in my mouth after all these decades."
Giovanni picked up his massive bowl with both hands, nodding respectfully before draining the fiery liquid in a single, continuous, and completely effortless gulp. "The world is full of terrible scripts, old man. That is exactly why I am out here on the sea."
Giovanni set his empty wooden bowl down onto the deck with a sharp, heavy clatter, his playful demeanor completely vanishing as his eyes locked directly onto Whitebeard's massive face. "Let us talk about the present, Whitebeard. Right now, as we speak, Wano Country is being quietly infested by Kaido. The Beast is weaving a dark, treacherous trap beneath the surface of that isolated nation, and if things continue down the path they are currently on, Kozuki Oden is going to meet a horrific, brutal end."
Whitebeard's eyes narrowed into dangerous, razor-sharp slits, his massive frame shifting forward. "Oden? That foolish, reckless brother of mine hasn't sent a single letter since he returned to his borders. If Kaido was truly launching a full-scale war of conquest against him, the news would have leaked through the underground brokers or the black market channels. Do you have definite, undeniable proof of this accusation, brat?"
Giovanni bit the inside of his cheek, a wave of internal frustration rippling through his chest. He couldn't exactly explain the concept of future knowledge or his past life to the legendary Yonko.
'I absolutely hate having to play it like this, but I have no other choice.'
He looked Whitebeard dead in the eye, his voice steady and completely unyielding. "I don't have a single scrap of physical evidence, old man. Because of the incredibly strict isolation laws of Wano, absolutely no messages can get out past the waterfalls. If you want the absolute truth, you are going to have to take this warning as nothing more than a personal hunch of mine."
Whitebeard's expression turned incredibly cold, an oppressive aura of pure authority descending over the main deck. He slammed his giant sake bowl down, completely shattering the ceramic into fine white dust beneath his palm. "A hunch? You expect me to mobilize the entire Whitebeard Pirates armada, drag my beloved sons into a bloody death battle against a monster like Kaido, and risk the lives of my family based on a mere whim? Don't insult me, brat. I don't move my fleet for ghost stories and bad dreams."
"This isn't a bad dream, you stubborn old fossil!" Giovanni snapped, standing up abruptly as his Conqueror's Haki flared violently out of sheer frustration, a series of sharp cracks echoing through the pristine deck timbers beneath his heavy boots. "Oden is a man of absolute, foolish pride! He would rather die a thousand times over than break his country's laws to call for outside help! By the time you finally realize I was right, you won't be sailing to save a brother, you will be looking at nothing but an empty grave!"
"Watch your tongue, boy!" Whitebeard roared, his massive form rising from his throne like a volcanic mountain breaking through the clouds. He gripped the heavy wrapped shaft of his Supreme Grade bisento, Murakumogiri, with both hands, the air around the ancient blade visibly distorting as a glowing translucent sphere of raw tremor energy materialized around the steel.
Giovanni didn't back down for a single millisecond. He gripped the hilt of Ace, drawing the pristine, dark-patterned steel from its scabbard in a single, blinding motion. A terrifying, tempestuous storm of black and red spiritual lightning violently exploded from his body, wrapping around the blade in a roaring vortex of kingly ambition.
The two monsters moved simultaneously, completely abandoning any further words.
Whitebeard brought his massive bisento down in a crushing, sky-shattering vertical arc, while Giovanni leaped forward, swinging Ace upward with every single ounce of his physical strength.
The steel of the two Supreme Grade weapons touched. The sheer, unprecedented density of their Advanced Conqueror's Haki collided in the open air, creating a terrifying, blinding sphere of black lightning that illuminated the entire ocean.
An invisible, cataclysmic shockwave erupted from the center of the deck, violently blowing back the heavy sea fog for miles around the Moby Dick. Directly above the flagship, the vast, unbroken expanse of blue sky and white clouds violently split into two completely separate halves, a massive physical chasm stretching across the heavens as the atmosphere itself tore apart under the weight of their combined wills.
Whitebeard held the immense pressure effortlessly, but his eyes widened slightly as he felt the staggering, unyielding density of the young pirate's spiritual force pushing back against his bisento.
'To possess a level of King's Haki this dense and refined at such a young age... he truly is a terrifying monster. Roger, this brat is carrying your legacy into a completely uncharted territory.'
Giovanni smoothly disengaged, sliding backward across the wooden planks before sheathing Ace with a sharp, echoing click. The black lightning vanished from the air instantly. He bent down, scooped up his small travel sack from the floor, and turned his back to the old titan without a single trace of fear. "Think about it, Whitebeard. I am heading out to Wano right now. Alone."
Whitebeard lowered Murakumogiri, resting the butt of the weapon against the deck as his voice returned to a deep, solemn rumble. "You are an absolute fool, Giovanni. If you march into Kaido's territory by yourself without an armada at your back, you stand absolutely no chance against him. He is a beast that cannot be brought down by a lone rookie, no matter how sharp your sword is. He will tear you apart."
Giovanni paused at the absolute edge of the ship's white railing, glancing over his bandaged shoulder with a sharp, completely fearless grin. "Even if that is the case... I cannot simply sit down on a comfortable ship, drink sake, and watch a good man burn to death. That just isn't my style."
Without another word, Giovanni launched himself off the deck of the Moby Dick, landing perfectly inside his small motorized skiff below.
The moment Giovanni's immense presence completely faded from the area, Marco ran forward to the front of the deck, looking out at the retreating boat before turning to Whitebeard with an incredibly tense, urgent expression. "Pops! Please, you have to let us go after him! Even if it is just a hunch from a rookie, we cannot ignore the possibility that Oden is in real danger! Let the division commanders take a vanguard ship and go check the borders!"
The rest of the veteran commanders stepped forward, their faces filled with urgent pleading as they gathered around the throne. "Please, Pops! Let us go check on Oden!"
Whitebeard slowly sat back down on his massive throne, a heavy, deeply affectionate, and rumbling smile breaking through his stern expression as he looked at his gathered family. "Gurarara! Control yourselves, you noisy, emotional brats. Did you really think I was going to sit here and do absolutely nothing? I was already planning on sending a covert vanguard to check the Wano borders the exact moment that boy brought it up. Oden was my brother, after all. No matter how stubborn or silent he chooses to be, the Whitebeard Pirates do not abandon family."
Marco let out a massive sigh of relief, a familiar, lazy smile returning to his face as he adjusted his glasses. "Understood, Pops. I will get the division ships prepared for departure immediately."
---
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away from the treacherous waters of the New World, the mid-day sun was beating down peacefully on the concrete courtyard of a standard Marine naval base in the East Blue. Inside the quiet staff breakroom, a young, fierce-eyed marine officer Belle-mer was sitting alone at a wooden table, her brow heavily furrowed as she stared intensely at the front page of the latest World Economic Journal.
The massive, dramatic print of the headline screamed about the horrific destruction of Dressrosa, and right beneath the text was a crisp, clear image of Norwell D. Giovanni, officially labeled by the government as The Calamity with a staggering bounty of one billion, fifty million berries.
"Oh look, she is doing it again," a sharp, teasing voice echoed from the doorway.
Two of Belle-mer's fellow marine colleagues walked into the room, carrying stacks of paperwork and smirking broadly as they noticed her absolute, white-knuckled fixation on the newspaper. "Hey, Belle-mer! Are you staring at your little pirate boyfriend again? You have been burning a hole through that exact same page for the last twenty minutes."
Belle-mer instantly slammed the newspaper flat against the table, her face flushing with an angry pink as she glared fiercely at her colleagues. "He is not my boyfriend, you total idiots! I have told you a thousand times, Giovanni and I are just childhood friends! We grew up together in the same dirt before he went off to sail the Grand Line!"
The other marine guard snorted, leaning lazily against the vending machine with a deeply skeptical look. "Childhood friends or not, the guy is an absolute, unhinged monster now, Belle-mer. Did you even read the report? He literally teamed up with Red-Haired Shanks, launched a cowardly attack on Admiral Kizaru, and pulverized an entire sovereign kingdom into fine dust just to steal an ancient treasure. He has a billion-berry bounty on his head. He is officially one of the most dangerous, vicious criminals in the world."
"That is an absolute, fabricated lie!" Belle-mer shouted, standing up so fast her metal chair scraped violently against the concrete floor. "Giovanni would never do something so horrific! I know his true character better than anyone in this entire branch! Yes, he can be a loud, reckless, and incredibly stubborn idiot who likes to raise absolute hell for the fun of it, and yes, he chose to become a pirate... but he is not a bad person! He would never intentionally slaughter innocent civilians or destroy a peaceful city out of simple greed!"
The first colleague rolled his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh of pity as he crossed his arms. "Come on, Belle-mer, you are being completely blinded by your old love and childhood memories. You are completely refusing to see that your little friend has turned into a demonic criminal who doesn't care about the lives of ordinary people. Look at who wrote that article! That is Big News Morgans from the World Economic Journal. It is the most widely distributed and trusted newspaper in the entire world! If the WEJ says he committed a massacre in Dressrosa, then he absolutely did it. The official reports don't lie, Belle-mer."
Belle-mer's fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned completely white, her chest heaving with pure, unadulterated fury. She absolutely refused to sit there and listen to them slander the boy she grew up with based on a sensationalized piece of paper. She grabbed her marine coat from the back of the chair, throwing it over her shoulders with a violent, snapping motion before snatching her standard-issue rifle from the wall rack.
"I am out of here," Belle-mer hissed, storming past her colleagues and slamming the breakroom door open with enough force to rattle the glass panels within the frame. "I don't care what your stupid, trusted newspaper says! I am going to sail out there and capture Giovanni myself from the absolute depths of evil! I'll drag him back to justice by his stupid blonde hair so they finally stop writing these ridiculous, lying stories about him!"
The two guards watched her march down the corridor in a literal storm of rage, completely stunned into silence by her sheer intensity.
---
Back out on the open sea, the ship was continuing its smooth, rhythmic journey through the rolling waves of the New World. Up on the main deck, the atmosphere was quiet, the crew slowly adjusting to the sudden, silent midnight departure of their resident wild card.
Nico Robin stood near the polished wooden railing of the quarterdeck, her small hands clutching the timber tightly as she stared out at the endless horizon where Giovanni had vanished days ago. Her small face was tightly pinched with an intense, lingering worry that she couldn't quite shake. She slowly turned her dark eyes toward Shanks, who was casually leaning against the ship's wheelhouse while flipping a small copper coin into the air with a relaxed expression.
"Shanks... do you really think Giovanni is going to be okay?" Robin asked softly, her voice carrying a fragile, child-like vulnerability. "He was still so heavily bandaged when he left the ship. Going out all by himself... it sounds incredibly dangerous."
Shanks caught the copper coin perfectly in his palm, a deeply relaxed, entirely confident smile breaking across his sun-bronzed face as he walked over to her side. He reached out, gently resting his large, warm hand on top of her dark hair, anchoring her to the deck.
"Of course he is going to be perfectly fine, Robin," Shanks answered smoothly, his voice filled with an absolute, unshakeable certainty. "You don't need to lose a single second of sleep over that idiot. To be completely honest with you, I don't know exactly what kind of personal business he thought was important enough to handle completely on his own... but I trust my best friend with my absolute life. Giovanni is a survivor through and through. He will definitely come back to this ship alive."
Robin let out a quiet breath, her tense shoulders relaxing slightly under his reassuring palm as she looked up at the legendary captain.
Suddenly, Shanks' serious expression vanished completely, replaced by a highly mischievous, mocking grin as he firmly tapped her forehead with his finger. "Alright, now that we have cleared that up, it is officially time for you to get right back to your Haki training! You have been using Giovanni's departure as a cheap excuse to slack off and avoid your physical exercises all morning. Move it, rookie! Ten more laps around the main deck, right now!"
Robin's face instantly twisted into a deep, comically exaggerated frown, and she let out a loud, miserable groan of pure annoyance as she stomped her foot against the deck. "Hmph! You are a terrible captain, Shanks! Giovanni never makes me run laps when he is the one running the training sessions!"
"Hahahaha! That is exactly why Giovanni spoils you far too much!" Shanks roared with booming laughter, waving his hand dismissively as she reluctantly began her jog across the wooden planks. "Keep those knees high, Robin! The sea doesn't wait for lazy archaeologists!"
---
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