On the ship, Issho ate the meat sauce noodles in large mouthfuls.
Sweat poured from his entire body.
It was because of the spice.
Wanda always cooked according to White Ghost's taste, so everyone on the ship had mostly grown used to spicy food.
Issho, who had just come aboard as a guest, clearly wasn't used to it yet.
Seeing him sweat from the heat, White Ghost laughed without the slightest guilt.
White Ghost looked at Wanda.
"Why didn't you go shopping with them?"
Wanda smiled bitterly.
"Because of Bepo. Pedro trains him so hard every day that someone has to look after him."
Bepo, who was eating with his head down, immediately put down his bowl and chopsticks when he heard that. He stood up and lowered his head.
"Sorry."
White Ghost shook his head and smiled.
Pedro had clearly made up his mind to properly train this little bear's body.
Recently, Bepo had been squeezed completely dry.
"Alright. Suffer a bit now, and once you get stronger, there'll be plenty of female bears lining up for you later."
White Ghost painted a beautiful future for the simple and adorable bear.
Bepo's eyes lit up.
"Really? There will really be lots and lots of female bears lining up for me?"
Seeing White Ghost nod, Bepo's expression turned resolute.
"I'll definitely get stronger! Stronger and stronger!"
After saying that, he even stopped eating his noodles and ran outside to start training on his own.
Wanda glared at her unserious captain.
"He's still young. Don't corrupt him. Not everyone is like you."
The moment Wanda finished speaking, Bepo's shout came from outside.
"Work hard and get stronger! For female bears! For the captain! For the Mink Tribe!"
White Ghost spread his hands.
"See? That was his own idea. I didn't corrupt him."
That afternoon, the crew returned one after another.
Issho and White Ghost chatted at the dragon head.
Issho sensed the strength of the people aboard and was secretly shocked.
"Dragon Emperor, your crew's strength is truly astonishing."
White Ghost poured him a cup of sake.
"Like I said, everyone has something they want to do. I'm also making preparations for my own goal."
Issho took a sip of West Blue sake and raised his head.
"Many people now know that you will enter the New World.
"Many are waiting for that day.
"Will you imitate those pirates and claim the title of Emperor?"
White Ghost shook his head.
"It's just a title. I don't care about it.
"Some things aren't what I actively want to do. They're things I'm forced to accept.
"Everyone is bound by circumstances. Pirates are like that. Marines are like that. Even the World Government is like that."
Issho nodded.
"This one agrees. Everyone is bound by circumstances."
As night fell, the harbor began filling with more thugs.
Among them were assassins, slowly approaching White Ghost's group.
Everyone aboard noticed these ill-intentioned people.
Señor Pink held a cigarette in his mouth and watched the shadows in the night.
"Kill them all this time. Everyone has a temper, after all."
Zango grinned viciously.
"Kill them all. We're used to it anyway. I noticed them during the day."
Roar!
Several beastly roars echoed through the night.
The assassins and street thugs arrived.
Tigers, lions, dinosaurs—
Several beasts charged at them.
Before long, screams rang out one after another.
There were gunshots.
There were also sounds from rocket launchers.
Boom! Boom!
The entire harbor became lively.
Some nearby residents locked their doors and windows, hiding under blankets at home.
White Ghost stared expressionlessly at the sea.
Issho said nothing.
He was kind, but he was not a saint.
These people carried malice, and his Observation Haki sensed it clearly.
Before long, the screams stopped.
Akin flew back with a severed head in his hand.
"Other than the assassins, the rest of those small fry were his subordinates."
The head rolled across the ground.
It was the security captain from earlier that day.
Zango kicked it into the sea with a face full of disgust.
"Let's go. This place isn't suitable to stay in anymore."
Zango spat on the ground, his peripheral vision sweeping over the people hiding behind them.
White Ghost's ship slowly left under the night sky.
There was no choice.
If they stayed, they probably wouldn't sleep well.
These people were only small fry, but they were annoying.
Only after White Ghost's ship had sailed away did the lucky survivors crawl out from the darkness to clean up the battlefield.
Every one of them was pale with fear.
"The sun always has places its light cannot reach. This one has benefited greatly from those words."
At the dragon head, Issho and White Ghost drank sake and continued chatting.
White Ghost poured him more wine.
"As I said, the human heart is the most changeable thing. Everyone has ambition."
Issho listened seriously.
Kuro and Lafitte also came up. When they heard White Ghost's words, they quietly sat to the side.
White Ghost tossed each of them a cigar and continued.
"Some people have small ambitions. As long as they can eat and drink enough, they can live peacefully for the rest of their lives.
"Some people, after they have enough to eat and drink, let their ambitions swell. They want more. They want a better life.
"And some people already have everything they need, but when they see others living better than them, they become unwilling to accept it. They want to live better than everyone else.
"The resources on this sea are limited, but everyone has their own ambition.
"That's why the human heart is the filthiest thing.
"For the sake of ambition, people can do anything."
Issho remained silent for a very long time.
Kuro and Lafitte both smiled faintly.
Were they not exactly the same?
They were all ambitious people.
Finally, Issho looked at White Ghost with those blank eyes of his.
"As you say, everyone has ambition. Then, Dragon Emperor, what is yours?"
White Ghost looked at the moon reflected on the sea and calmly spoke two words.
"Freedom."
Issho murmured the word.
"Freedom… What a vast ambition."
White Ghost leaned back in his chair and looked at the sky.
"Yes. The greatest ambition in the world is freedom.
"Such a simple word, yet countless people can never reach it in their entire lives."
The four men fell silent, quietly watching the sea.
Issho tightened his grip around his cane sword, his expression heavy.
After a long while, he finally asked the question he most wanted answered.
"Earlier, when you spoke of false justice… were you referring to the Marines?"
The corner of White Ghost's mouth lifted.
Good.
He had been waiting for Issho to ask that.
Afterward, as White Ghost spoke, not only Issho, but even Kuro and Lafitte—two men with dark hearts—found it hard to accept what they heard.
Cold sweat appeared on Issho's forehead.
His lips trembled.
"Are these things true, Dragon Emperor?"
White Ghost looked at him.
"Do you think absolute justice exists in this world?
"Or do you think the righteous Marines are incapable of doing such things?"
Issho's heart was in chaos.
Completely shaken.
Originally, he had wanted to join the Marines, because he also held justice in his heart.
But White Ghost's words had thrown that heart into disorder.
The righteous image of the Marines in his mind had collapsed.
Watching Issho's changing expression, White Ghost's mouth curved upward.
Now be obedient and come into my bowl.
Little guy, you think I can't handle you?
Kuro, who understood White Ghost best, saw the expression on his face and smiled as well.
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