White hair cascaded down, and the nails on his hands became slightly sharper. At this moment, Ren was emanating cold air all over, appearing somewhat unapproachable. On his left shoulder, a white, tail-like tuft of fur hung down, drifting elegantly behind him.
Ren's current appearance somewhat resembled Sesshomaru from Inuyasha.
"Using this appearance?"
"The Marines only know my original form and my Rumble-Rumble Fruit transformation. With this appearance, they won't recognize me, and I won't have to worry about alerting them prematurely."
Ren had Yukiko prepare a moderately-sized new ship for him. To conceal his identity, the flag bore an ice-element emblem. Then he departed with Jasmine.
"Captain John is dead?" Whitey Bay looked at the newspaper in her hands with surprise. "Real or fake? Do people actually believe such obviously fake news?"
She shook the newspaper in her hand with disdain. Even this kind of obviously fake news could be published in the papers. The folks in the news department really would do anything for views.
"Captain John? Is that the guy with only one leg who came to see Pops recently?" A fresh pineapple head poked out. Marco, who only played high-level matches, was still just an eleven-year-old kid this year. He had just boarded Whitebeard's ship this year as an intern.
Not long ago, he was just a lucky kid who had eaten a Devil Fruit but was still disliked by everyone—a little thug.
He had seen that silver-haired man not long ago. He had only one good leg; the other was a golden prosthetic. Marco had thought at the time that if he could break off that leg, it would surely fetch a good price.
"That's right, that's him! He's a former officer from that man's ship, just like Pops. How could he just die silently like that! If they keep publishing fake news like this, I say we stop subscribing to their papers altogether."
Whitey Bay dismissively tossed the newspaper aside. Seeing this, the little pineapple head immediately conjured a pair of flame wings and rushed over to snatch up the newspaper.
"Captain John Dead? Where is Captain John's Priceless Treasure Now?"
"Captain John's treasure?" Marco's eyes lit up as he continued reading.
A moment later, he lifted his head with excitement, shouting: "Pops, let's go check it out too! This guy named John seems really rich! The paper says if you get his treasure, you won't have to worry about money for several lifetimes!"
"Gurararara! Stupid son, don't be fooled. That cunning fox John wouldn't just die like that." Whitebeard threw his head back laughing, taking bold strides toward Marco and picking up the newspaper with two fingers.
These newspapers delivered by News Coo were a bit troublesome for someone of his massive size to read. After all, newspapers weren't like the two Ruyi Jingu Bang swords in Oden's hands that could grow and shrink to adapt to the user's physique.
Whitebeard squinted at the paper for a while before speaking: "That scheming fellow is definitely plotting something. But I didn't expect him to include Shiki and the others in his scheme. He's gotten bolder."
"I heard that because of the Inazuma incident before, they didn't part on good terms." Vista said. This future master swordsman who could exchange blows with Hawkeye was now just a thirteen-year-old youth, his face not yet sporting those two curved mustaches.
"He really holds a grudge." Someone sighed.
But Marco still wasn't ready to give up.
"Pops, how do you know this is a trap? What if John really is dead?"
"Idiot, did you forget he was just planning to come find Pops for cooperation not long ago?" Whitey Bay shook her head. She truly despaired at Marco's intelligence. "He didn't look like someone about to die then. He was planning to team up with Pops against other big pirates!"
"That's true..."
After understanding his situation, the first outside help John thought of was Whitebeard, precisely because Whitebeard wasn't interested in money. Back on Rocks' ship, Whitebeard had never been enthusiastic about dividing the loot. Finding Whitebeard for help now, even if Whitebeard wanted a portion of his treasure, it would be relatively little.
If he found Shiki instead, with that greedy fellow's nature, he would absolutely eat John clean, bones and all.
Unfortunately, Whitebeard had refused John. He wasn't very interested in all those disturbances on the sea. For Whitebeard, maintaining a life like this was enough.
Sailing freely on the sea with his family, living without restraint, and unknown adventures—that was what he truly wanted.
And most importantly, staying together with his family.
After John left disappointed, news of his death spread. It was hard not to think there was a conspiracy involved.
"In any case, this has nothing to do with us. If those people want to fight, let them." Whitebeard shook his head. His voice was deep and powerful, giving people a strong sense of security.
On the other side, Roger, who along with Whitebeard was known as one of the Three Legendary Pirates, also became excited upon seeing this news.
"What's up, Roger? You want to get involved too?" Rayleigh wore glasses, looking like a refined scoundrel. "Though I don't think things are that simple."
"Hehe, hey, Oden! If we go there and get into conflict with the boss of Inazuma, whose side are you on?" Scopper Gaban, carrying an axe on his shoulder, suddenly laughed, turning to look at the samurai not far away who was jumping around with chopsticks stuck in his nostrils.
"Well..." Oden's expression visibly became conflicted. He was like a grown man in his thirties being asked by relatives whether he liked his dad or mom more.
But his hesitation lasted only a moment: "Is that even a question? I'm a member of the Roger Pirates!"
The sailors who had followed him before had left due to some matters. Honestly, after adventuring with the Roger Pirates for several years, Oden naturally felt a stronger sense of belonging to them.
"No, no, what are you guys talking about!" Roger shouted loudly, interrupting their conversation. "Think about it carefully! Whether this is a trap or not, lots of people will be focusing their attention on this. This is a great opportunity!"
"You mean...?"
"Exactly! Poneglyphs! Those red Poneglyphs! According to intelligence, Charlotte Linlin has one! In the past, it wasn't easy to learn the contents of Poneglyphs." Roger's mustache twitched, looking like two giant nose hairs protruding from his nostrils.
"True, we've now confirmed that the red Poneglyphs point to the Final Island. If Charlotte Linlin really has a red Poneglyph, that would make two that we've seen."
[
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