The aged voice coming from the Radio Snail instantly brought silence to the entire deck.
Everyone's astonished gaze focused on the Radio Snail, which was slowly growing crescent-shaped hair.
"Hey, could it be..."
Yasopp had just opened his mouth when Beckman covered it.
"Shh!"
Beckman gestured, and the officers on the ship immediately understood, staying in place without daring to make the slightest sound.
"So it's you."
Shanks' expression quickly returned to calm:
"The sun must have risen in the west today for me to receive a call personally from the esteemed Five Elders."
"It's only been a few years, and you don't even want to call me 'Father' anymore?"
The Radio Snail mimicked Saint Garling's regretful sigh, "It seems you've been drifting at sea for so long that you've forgotten the most basic manners."
"If you have something to say, spit it out."
Shanks frowned, "I suppose you've already seen that newspaper article. To contact me at a time like this can't just be for reminiscing."
"Hmph! You dare mention the newspaper! If not for you, the traitor, how could the Figarland Family's honor have..."
At this point, Saint Garling suppressed his anger and said coldly:
"Enough! There's no point in discussing this with you. You only need to know one thing: because of the newspaper's hype, your daughter is clamoring to leave the Holy Land to meet you..."
"Uta?!"
Shanks' face changed dramatically, a mixture of shock and anger as he said, "How is she in the Holy Land? When did this happen? Uta is just my adopted daughter, without the Figarland bloodline. What right do you have to take her to the Holy Land?"
"Not that girl who likes to sing!"
Saint Garling interrupted coldly, "It's another one, your biological daughter."
"Biological daughter?"
Shanks was stunned; when did he have a biological daughter?
"Do you remember the banquet before you left the Holy Land?"
"Banquet... what do you mean?!"
"The Figarland Family's blood must continue, so during that banquet, I instructed a maid to take advantage of your drunkenness and forcibly have relations with you."
Saint Garling's emotionless voice came, "That maid has been executed by me, leaving only a little girl a few years old."
Crack!
These words struck Shanks like a bolt of lightning, making his whole body tremble.
His face turned extremely grim as he staggered back a few steps, stabilizing himself by holding onto the ship's rail.
"You... you..."
Shanks gritted his teeth and let out a low growl, "Truly a group of shameless beasts! How could you... how dare you do such a thing!"
Go motherless and keep the daughter!
Good job, Figarland Family!
What happened in Divine Valley, what happened to his mother, was repeating once again!
"Say what you will. Originally, I could have raised her properly to become the family's next heir, but she is now obsessed with you. If this continues, she'll sooner or later become sea trash like you, rendering my efforts in vain."
"So,"
Garling said blandly, "to put an end to her delusions, have a meeting with her. As for how to make her give up on you completely, you should know better than I do."
"Three days from now, in the afternoon, on Thunder God Island in the New World, I will have someone waiting for you there. Remember, you must come alone. If there's a second person, you can forget about meeting her for the rest of your life."
"Why should I listen to you?"
Shanks laughed in angry disbelief.
"Because if you don't, I will select a second heir, and you probably don't want to see how we'll deal with the one who has lost her value for cultivation."
Slam.
The old voice mercilessly threw down this last sentence, and the call was promptly disconnected.
The deck plunged into dead silence.
"Captain, don't trust him, this is likely a trap!"
Yasopp was the first to break the silence, urgently saying, "At this timing, that old codger suddenly contacts you and brings up some biological daughter, it's too coincidental, definitely not with good intentions!"
Lucky Roux also put down the meat in his hand, nodding seriously:
"That's right, Captain, we need to think it over, can't act rashly."
"Beckman, you should persuade him too!"
But Beckman didn't immediately warn him; instead, he lit a cigarette, took a strong puff, and asked leisurely:
"Shanks, what do you think?"
Having been partners for so many years, Beckman knew very well that whatever they could think of, the captain would naturally think of too.
Shanks gazed at the rising morning sun on the distant horizon, a complicated expression on his face.
After a moment, he slowly spoke: "What you said makes sense, and I agree, but no matter what, I have to go."
"Captain!" the crew exclaimed.
"No choice."
Shanks raised his hand to signal them to be quiet, laughed heartily, "After all, she isn't just anyone; she is my daughter, folks!"
"Even if this situation's chances are fifty-fifty, even if there's only a one percent chance, I must see her existence with my own eyes. Even if it's a trap... I have to go, everyone should understand my feelings!"
Shanks...
Having said this much, the ship fell silent again.
The newcomers had long since fled, leaving behind a few veterans who more or less knew something about Shanks' background.
Having lost his mother as an infant and surviving by luck amidst war and smoke, he would undoubtedly crave familial affection even more.