The image on the light screen briefly went black.
On the other end, Austin took a sip of water and licked his lips.
The comments on the monitor had not started flooding in yet; the video had been uploaded for less than five minutes, and the view count was only in the dozens.
He did not know that in another world, billions of people across the entire sea were staring at the images he had personally created.
…
The light screen brightened once again.
A person appeared on the screen.
An infant.
Held in a woman’s arms.
Her face was deathly pale, and sweat soaked her hair, yet she still strained to give a smile.
“Portgas D.
Ace,” Austin’s voice rang out.
“His mother’s name was Portgas D.
Rouge.
To evade the World Government’s pursuit, she carried the child in her womb for twenty full months.
It surpassed the limits of the human body.
On the day the child was born, she died.” On the Moby Dick.
Ace’s hands hung at his sides, clenched tightly.
He knew about this.
He had always known, but to have it spoken by a strange voice in front of the entire sea…
It felt different.
It was as if someone had taken the deepest scar in his heart, the one he least wanted touched, and exposed it directly to the sun.
“And the reason she risked her life to hide this child…” Austin’s voice paused for a beat.
“Because his father was Gol D.
Roger.” Silence.
The East Blue fell silent…
the New World fell silent…
the Grand Line fell silent…
Marineford fell silent…
Then, every place erupted into an uproar simultaneously!
“What?!” “Roger’s son?!” “The bloodline of the Pirate King!!” On the Foosha Village pier, Luffy gripped his straw hat.
He knew Ace was Roger’s son, but what did that have to do with the execution?
Luffy could not understand executing Ace just because of his birth.
…
Marineford.
Sengoku whipped his head around, looking toward the corridor.
Garp was already gone.
“Garp!!!!!” He shouted, but there was no response.
“Bastard!” Sengoku cursed, though it was unclear if he was cursing Garp or the light screen.
The Marine soldiers in the plaza were in an uproar.
The bloodline of the Pirate King, Roger!
He is actually alive!
And he is the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!
Akainu’s expression finally changed.
It was not anger; it was something cold to the marrow.
“Roger’s bloodline,” he repeated in a low voice.
As those words passed his lips, the verdict was already set.
The world is in such chaos now because of these pirates; it is all because of this Roger!
The bloodline of evil must be eradicated!
Regardless of any future, this judgment would not change.
…
Holy Land Mary Geoise, the Room of Authority in Pangea Castle.
The five high-and-mighty elders stopped what they were doing.
The bald elder holding a sword gripped his hilt, his peripheral vision sweeping across the golden curtain wall outside the large window.
“Twenty months,” the elder with the mustache snorted heavily.
“The Marine intelligence department is full of swine.
Back then, they scoured every pregnant woman in the South Blue, yet they missed a fish that managed to slip through the net for twenty months.” “Not only did they miss him, but this fish grew claws and fangs and swam onto Edward’s ship.” The elder with curly hair tapped his ebony cane.
“A scandal not seen in a century.
The World Government’s face is being ground into the dirt.
Inform Sengoku that as soon as Portgas D.
Ace’s location is determined, he must be captured and publicly executed on the spot to restore our goddamn dignity!” “The execution is only a matter of time.” The long-bearded elder looked up at the glowing writing high in the sky.
“The trouble now is that the top-secret operation to strangle Roger’s bloodline has become the talk of the town.
Now, even the drunks in the taverns are laughing at us.” “We cannot allow this light screen to continue speaking!
This is too dangerous for us!” He raised his voice: “Issue the order!
All CP0 members are to be mobilized!
Scour the Four Seas and the New World, dig three feet deep if necessary to find the source of this thing in the sky!
Once the mastermind behind it is caught, eliminate them immediately!” The order was issued, but how to investigate?
The five men looked at each other.
It was formless and intangible; Haki and Devil Fruits were completely useless.
They had just ordered the guards to fire cannons at it, but the cannonballs passed right through the words and fell into the sea.
The supreme power-holders, who could normally wipe out a kingdom with a single command, were now completely helpless against a high-dimensional glowing board hanging overhead that was sharp-tongued and constantly leaking heavenly secrets.
They could do nothing but vent their rage while sitting on their leather sofas.
The calm demeanor of those who controlled the world’s affairs had vanished without a trace.
Their once top-secret files were being treated as entertainment by the whole world, and they still did not know what was going on with the light screen in the sky!
This feeling was terrible!
…
Past timeline.
In a tavern.
Roger’s hand, halfway raised, froze in mid-air.
Ale dripped down the rough edge of the wooden mug, creating a dark stain on the table, but he paid it no mind.
He saw it.
On the light screen, a woman whose long hair was completely soaked with cold sweat had strands sticking to her bloodless cheeks.
Her arms cradled a newborn baby boy, and she used all her strength to leave one last smile.
Portgas D.
Rouge.
The muscles on Roger’s face tightened.
The carefree grin that usually hung on his lips vanished completely.
“Twenty months,” he spoke, his voice dry, his Adam’s apple bobbing heavily.
He knew better than anyone how frantic the World Government’s manhunt was.
Forcing a fetus to stay in the abdomen for twenty full months was by no means a physiological limit an ordinary human could endure.
That woman, who always waited for him to return with a quiet smile, had exhausted her very life to leave a path for this bloodline.
“Rouge…” He set down his mug.
At a neighboring table, several drunken pirates were heckling shamelessly, even raising their glasses to mock the so-called posthumous son of the Pirate King.
Rayleigh did not even turn his head; he drew the longsword from his waist and slammed it, scabbard and all, onto the wooden table between them.
The sound was extremely heavy.
The clamor came to an abrupt halt.
Several pirates met the cold glint reflecting from behind Rayleigh’s lenses and quickly shut their mouths, shrinking back.
The surroundings fell silent.
Rayleigh returned his sword to his side and pulled out a cigarette to light.
A plume of white smoke rose, obscuring most of his expression.
“You owe a debt that can never be repaid, Captain,” Rayleigh remarked, staring at the light screen above.
This king, who roamed the seas fearing nothing in heaven or earth, reached out and snatched the unfinished bottle of strong liquor in front of Rayleigh, tilting his head back to pour it directly down his throat.
Rayleigh had no intention of stopping him, merely flicking the burnt ash onto the side of his thigh.
“Look on the bright side; at least the child’s life was saved.” Rayleigh leaned back against his chair with the cigarette in his mouth, his tone carrying a hint of mockery.
“Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
That fellow Edward is quite something, actually taking your son as his foster son.” Roger’s drinking came to a sudden halt.
“Foster son?!” Bang!
He slammed the empty bottle onto the table.
Roger’s eyes widened.
The grief and indignation he had felt from the life-and-death separation were swept away, replaced by a thunderous rage.
He gripped the saber at his waist, stood up, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Edward, you old bastard!
I’m not even dead yet, and you dare take advantage of me!
Rayleigh, check!
I’m going to the New World to cut him down!” “We’re not going to turn ourselves in anymore?” “To hell with that!!” …
The images on the light screen continued to advance.
Ace grew up.
In the mountains of the Goa Kingdom, he became sworn brothers with a blond child named Sabo and a black-haired brat wearing a straw hat.
Three sake cups clinked together.
“From this day on, we are brothers!” Roger stared at the image, one hand resting on his knee.
“Monkey D.
Luffy,” he muttered the name.
“That fellow Monkey D.
Garp’s…” “Probably his grandson,” Rayleigh added.
“Ha.” Roger chuckled, but this time it was not a loud laugh.
The images continued.
Austin’s narration continued.
“Ace set out to sea and became the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Luffy set out to sea and formed the Straw Hat Pirates.
The two brothers each made their own way across the ocean.
Everything seemed to be heading in a good direction.” “Until…
Blackbeard made his move.” Teach’s face appeared on the light screen.
On the Moby Dick, everyone’s gaze turned once more toward the corner of the deck.
Teach was still standing there.
His face wore that signature honest, silly-looking smile.
Now, it was completely frozen on his face.