After roughhousing for a bit, Ace finally wriggled free of Garp and stared straight at White Ghost.
"Phew—" White Ghost casually blew a smoke ring right into Ace's face.
Ace's cheeks were already red. He choked on the smoke—and turned even redder.
"Hahahahaha!" White Ghost and Garp laughed without a shred of mercy.
Just as Ace was about to explode, White Ghost spoke up.
"Kid, remember this: in this world, anything you want to do requires strength. Without strength, you're nothing."
"Strength…?" Ace lowered his head, fists clenched tight.
"Yeah. Strength." White Ghost nodded. "With strength, you can be a pirate, or a traveler like me—whatever you want. No problem.
"But if you don't have strength, then even if all you want is to live quietly and farm for the rest of your life… you can still be killed at any moment."
Garp nodded and slapped the same hand he'd been picking his nose with onto Ace's shoulder. "Ace, remember it. Only with strength can you do what you want.
"Don't worry—Grandpa's gonna train you and Luffy into the strongest Marines!"
"I don't want to!"
Luffy, who learned absolutely nothing from getting punched, yelled back at full volume, "I'm gonna be a pirate! I'm the man who'll become Pirate King!"
"Nani?! Luffy." Garp's face went pitch-black—so dark it looked as if it were coated in Haki.
"Let's see if I can't beat some sense into you today."
"Ah—!" Luffy panicked and took off running.
"Still running?!" Garp caught up and immediately started pummeling him.
"Ahh—Grandpa, your fists hurt!"
"Today I'm gonna properly discipline you, Luffy!"
Everyone laughed, treating it like kid stuff. Only White Ghost glanced at Luffy getting flattened, a slightly strange look in his eyes.
Red-Hair's brainwashing really is that strong, huh? Better keep my distance from that guy, before I get brainwashed too.
Damn it… Roger brainwashed the whole sea.
Red-Hair brainwashed the "Pirate King."
What the hell is wrong with the Roger Pirates? White Ghost grumbled to himself.
Then Ace asked the question he wanted answered most.
"So… what's your view of Pirate King Roger?"
He'd asked plenty of people before. Their answers were always the same.
Garp paused mid-beatdown and looked at Ace. Still can't let it go, huh?
"Glug-glug." White Ghost took a drink and looked at Ace. "Everyone has a different view, because people's hearts aren't the same."
He tapped Ace lightly on the left side of his chest.
"Can you be more specific?" Ace didn't stop him. He simply sat down cross-legged, posture straight.
Garp also hauled a bruised, swollen Luffy back over. He wanted to hear this too—if White Ghost could untie the knot in Ace's heart, that would be perfect.
Nami hurried over as well. It was late, and they were still partying. The little girl couldn't hold on anymore—she came over in her pajamas, hugging her pillow, looking up at White Ghost with sleepy, pleading eyes.
White Ghost reached out and pulled her into his chest.
Nami giggled, wriggled twice to find a comfortable spot, hugged her pillow, and fell asleep.
No one found it strange. Their captain spoiled this little sister the most—whatever Nami asked for, he'd agree. And Nami was sensible. Aside from being a bit lively, she didn't cause trouble, and she even helped out on her own. Everyone on the ship liked the little one.
"Alright," White Ghost said, turning back to Ace. "I'll answer you.
"Put it like this: everyone sees Roger differently. I'd split them into a few types."
Ace sat up even straighter. "Go on."
"First: ordinary people. In their eyes, Roger is a devil—the devil who opened up the desires buried in their hearts."
White Ghost glanced at Ace. No reaction. He'd probably heard this countless times.
Because of that one line from Roger, countless families were ruined. Countless people died. To those people, Roger was the bastard they'd love to dig up and whip.
"Second: the Navy. In the Navy's eyes, Roger was a pirate guilty of every crime you can name. They may have crowned him 'Pirate King,' but he was still a pirate.
"And because of that one line, the Navy lost who knows how many men."
"Third…" White Ghost's mouth curved. "Pirates."
Ace's and Luffy's eyes lit up at once. The first two didn't really resonate with them—but pirates? That got their attention. The others on the ship looked over too—they hadn't really talked about this before.
White Ghost continued, "To pirates, Roger is a signpost."
"A signpost?" Ace and Luffy tilted their heads.
"Yeah. A signpost." White Ghost nodded. "No one in history had ever reached Laugh Tale—only Roger did. He arrived. He landed. And he said he left all the treasure he found there.
"Around thirty percent of pirates are chasing the treasure.
"The other seventy percent… are chasing that one word."
His tone turned faintly mocking.
"King."
Ace looked at him. "Because it means standing at the very top of pirates?"
"Mm." White Ghost nodded. "That King. The King of all pirates.
"Those ambitious bastards don't care about anything else. They just know that once you become Pirate King, you can command every pirate on the sea.
"As for the people they kill along the way…" He shrugged. "In their eyes, the road to the throne is supposed to run red. It's 'only natural.'"
"Sugoi!" Luffy's eyes sparkled. "Pirate King… Big bro, you think the same way I do!"
White Ghost didn't even bother looking at him. No saving this idiot—he was a lost cause.
"You still haven't said what you think," Ace pressed, staring hard at White Ghost.
"Me?" White Ghost's gaze drifted for a moment, as if he'd remembered Roger smiling as he said those words—smiling as he faced death.
"In my eyes…" White Ghost said slowly, "Roger was just a powerhouse. So strong it was suffocating.
"He just got there first. If it wasn't him, it would've been someone else sooner or later."
He took another sip, voice calm.
"I don't know why he chose to leave the world that way—whether it was a prank or something deeper. But some things were always going to happen, and no one could stop them.
"All I know is this: he was a strong man.
"That's my view of Roger."
Ace fell silent, sinking into thought.
Luffy, on the other hand, was glowing. "Strong… freedom… Pirate King!" Those were the only three words he heard.
"Then what's your view of pirates?" Ace asked. The knot in his heart had loosened, and he wanted to hear more.
"Pirates?" White Ghost snorted. "Aren't they just walking Beli? I see one, I pick it up."
"Pff—!"
Luffy sprayed the juice in his mouth everywhere. "Baka! Don't talk about pirates like that!"
White Ghost glanced at him and grinned. "Kid, who knows? When you become a pirate and get a bounty, I might be short on money someday and come looking for you.
"If you've got treasure, I'll take your treasure. If you don't, I'll haul you to your grandpa and trade you for cash."
"Nani?!"
Luffy's eyes bulged. "So shameless! When I grow up, I'm definitely gonna punch you into the sky!"
White Ghost laughed, eyes narrowing slightly, thinking to himself—
I'll admit you're terrifying once your ability fully awakens… but Kaido swings a club. That's just smashing.
I use a sword.
When the time comes, let's see how many slashes you can take.
Seeing White Ghost's disdain, Luffy went feral. "Gomu Gomu no… Pistol!"
White Ghost tilted his head, letting it whip past.
Then he lifted a finger and tapped Luffy on the forehead.
Tap.
"AHH—!" Luffy screamed.
"Hahahaha!" Garp roared with laughter.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios