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"Hahaha! Who else has a dream?!"
The Marine conference room had, at some point, turned into a complete free-for-all.
Kaito stood with one foot on a chair and the other on the table, shouting at the excited crowd in front of him.
"Me, me, me! Kaito-sama, I want to resurrect my wife. She died from illness, and I miss her more than I can say!"
A Marine Vice Admiral pushed through the crowd toward Kaito, waving his arms.
"No problem! Sakuya, write down his information!"
"Yes, Master!"
"Thank you so much, Kaito-sama! I swear I will pledge my loyalty to the Jura-Tempest Federation until my very last—!"
"You, out of the way! You're blocking me!"
Before the Vice Admiral could finish, he was shoved aside by the people behind him.
"I want to resurrect my sister!" "I want to resurrect my parents!" "I want to resurrect my first love!"
"I want to resurrect my dog!"
The room went dead silent.
Every head turned slowly toward the Marine Rear Admiral who had spoken last.
The Rear Admiral felt the weight of every stare and swallowed nervously.
"Wh-What's wrong?"
No one answered. Only Sengoku, with a perfectly composed expression, gestured to the people around him and said:
"Drag him out and beat him up."
"On it!" "Understood!" "Leave it to me, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
The Rear Admiral was grabbed by several Vice Admirals and hauled out through the door. Agonised wailing followed shortly after.
"Hahahaha! *n"
The whole room burst out laughing.
"Sakazuki, you've been holding back over there. Is there someone you want to resurrect too?"
Kaito glanced over at Akainu, who had been hovering on the edge of saying something, and asked with a smile.
Everyone followed his gaze.
Meeting all their eyes, Akainu finally spoke.
"I want to ask you to resurrect my younger sister. She was killed by pirates when I was young."
"I failed to protect her. It was my fault. If only I had been stronger back then..."
At those words, Akainu, who had never once shown anything but iron composure in front of others, let his tears fall.
The room fell quiet.
Everyone there had lost someone to pirates.
Many of them had joined the Marines because of exactly that. So they understood completely, and now at last understood why Akainu's hatred ran so deep.
"Is that so? She must have been very lovely."
Kaito asked with a warm smile.
"She was. Very lovely. In my heart, she was the loveliest. She was an angel given to me by heaven."
Kaito looked at this hard man who carried something so tender inside him, and continued.
"Is that right? Then I'd love to meet her too. I don't think you'd object to that, would you, Sakazuki?"
At those words, Akainu's whole body trembled. A smile crossed his face, rare and unguarded.
"Of course not!!!"
"Hahaha! Then I look forward to it! Alright, who else has a dream?!!!"
Time passed in the frenzy that followed, until news of the World Government's fall had spread across the entire world.
PS: Akainu's sister is purely the author's invention since we don't actually know why Akainu hates pirates so much!
"Hey, hey, hey! Pops! This isn't some kind of joke, is it?!"
Marco stared at the newspaper in front of him with an expression of horror, his voice thick with disbelief.
"I never imagined the World Government, eight hundred years old, could just disappear like that."
Jozu spoke with a grave expression.
"Hmm. What do you all make of what it says here?"
Whitebeard looked down at the paper.
He read the joint statement issued by the Jura-Tempest Federation and the Marines, then looked up at his sons with a solemn expression.
"Oyaji! We cannot accept this. By their standards, many of our family members would end up in a labour camp!"
"That's right, oyaji! Some of them might even lose their lives!"
"Quiet! This is different from anything before. It says clearly that they will soon begin a full crackdown on all pirates!"
"The Jura-Tempest Federation is an organisation that just destroyed the World Government. If they get serious, we could all genuinely be in danger!"
Marco's shout cut through the noise.
"Pops! I'm not saying I want to abandon our family members, but if we don't, I'm afraid none of us will survive!"
"You always warned them not to go too far. Did they listen?"
"What's happened to them now is their own doing!"
"Oyaji, we can't afford to wait any longer!"
Whitebeard looked at Marco's desperate plea, a flicker of reluctance passing through his eyes.
His love for his family ran so deep he couldn't bring himself to decide.
"Oyaji! This is bad!!!"
Just then, a Whitebeard Pirates crew member came sprinting in.
"What happened?! Why are you in such a panic?!"
Vista looked at the man and demanded immediately.
"The Big Mom Pirates and the Beast Pirates were... were..."
"Were what?! Say it!"
"Wiped out!!!"
"What!!!"
Jozu grabbed the man by the shoulders.
"Are you telling the truth?!"
"It's true, Big Brother Jozu! Here, this is the latest paper!"
Jozu snatched it and looked at the photos. Kaido and his Calamities with their heads cut off. Big Mom and others, dead.
His body swayed. His chest filled with dread.
But as he looked more carefully, something seemed off.
"Why isn't Katakuri here? And Smoothie and the others are missing too. There are only bodies from Cracker's side!"
"Where are they? Did they escape?"
"I don't know either!"
The crew member shook his head.
"Oyaji, it's time to decide. The Jura-Tempest Federation and the Marines are serious this time. If we wait much longer, I'm afraid..."
Marco looked at Whitebeard with an anxious expression.
But before Whitebeard could answer, a languid voice drifted in from nearby.
"Kowai ne! As expected of the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Quick thinking indeed!"
"Kizaru!!!"
"Aokiji too! And Akainu! And Garp!!!"
"Th-That's not Zephyr, is it?! He actually came!"
"And that one over there, I recognise him! I saw him during the Jura-Tempest Federation broadcast. He just sat in a chair the whole time without making a single move!"
A crew member who had watched the broadcast pointed at Zegion and screamed.
Whitebeard looked at the figures who had appeared before him. His eyes were completely serious.
If this went wrong, the Whitebeard Pirates might cease to exist altogether.
"Hahaha! Garp, Zephyr! It's been a long time! Where's Sengoku? Why didn't he come?!"
Whitebeard greeted Garp and Zephyr with a hearty laugh.
"Hahaha! Newgate! It really has been. I just heard Marco's suggestion, and I think it's a sound one!"
"Don't you want to give it some proper thought?!"
Garp laughed back just as loudly.
Hearing that, Whitebeard looked around at all the sons he had gathered over the years.
Except for Ace, who had gone after Blackbeard, every core member was present.
"Oyaji! Whatever you decide, I will follow you to the end!"
Marco said it with complete conviction.
"That's right! Oyaji's decision is our decision!"
"Yes, Oyaji!"
Looking at his sons who returned his gaze with unwavering resolve, something warmed in Whitebeard's chest.
Then, as if letting go of something long held, a look of peace settled over his face. He threw his voice out to everyone present.
"Hahaha! I, Edward Newgate, in the name of captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, hereby declare!"
"The Whitebeard Pirates are officially disbanded as of today..."