New World, Nick Island.
Newgate was sitting at the dock, holding the collector's edition of Young Garp that Marco had just delivered, watching the Moby Dick take on supplies.
Just as he was about to flip through it and see what the difference was between the collector's edition and the normal edition, the Den Den Mushi in his chest pocket suddenly rang.
He pulled it out, glanced at the caller, and raised an eyebrow. "Shiki? What does that guy want all of a sudden?"
Not long ago, rumors had begun spreading across the sea that he, Shiki, and Valthior were the Pirate Emperors of the New World, the current peak of piracy and so on.
However, Newgate was not a man who cared about empty titles, so he had not paid much attention to it.
But Shiki suddenly contacting him now made him wonder whether that guy had been influenced by those rumors and wanted to drag him into something.
With that in mind, Newgate hesitated for a moment, then still answered Shiki's Den Den Mushi.
"What is it?" Newgate asked impatiently.
"It is me, Davy D. Shiki!" Shiki said in a deep voice.
Newgate: ???
"Did you take the wrong medicine?" Newgate said bluntly.
"Ahem. Remember it. My name is Davy D. Shiki!" Shiki repeated.
"Are you damn sick or what? I saw Marine Headquarters' wanted poster. What, are you that happy after finding your family name?" Newgate cursed.
He had known Shiki for many years, so naturally they had talked about their backgrounds before. Newgate knew very well that Shiki was an orphan and had no family name.
"Actually, there were many things I did not tell you before. I am a member of the Davy family. And now, the World Government already knows this secret and has spread it everywhere, so there is no need for me to hide my identity anymore…" Shiki sighed softly, sounding very helpless.
Newgate was completely confused.
So what? Why the hell are you telling me this?
"Is that so? Congratulations," Newgate said casually. Then he added, "I do not have time to listen to your nonsense. I am hanging up!"
Damn it, I still need to read Garp's story. Who has time to listen to your self-introduction?
"Wait. I contacted you this time because there is something very important I need to discuss with you!" Hearing Newgate's tone, Shiki did not dare keep acting grand and hurriedly spoke.
"If you have business, say it earlier!" Newgate curled his lip. "What do you want to discuss?"
"It is time to repay your debt, Newgate. Let's join forces," Shiki said in a low voice.
"Get lost!" Newgate cursed and directly hung up the Den Den Mushi.
...
Back on Merveille, Shiki looked at the Den Den Mushi in his hand after the call was cut off. His cheek twitched.
"That bastard is still as rude as ever!"
"He is an orphan, after all. How could he compare to a noble Davy like you?" Silver Axe teased from the side.
"Forget it. I need to have the bearing of a king. I will give him another chance…" Shiki took the opportunity to step down, nodded in a dignified manner, and called Newgate again.
A moment later, Newgate answered the Den Den Mushi and immediately cursed, "Are you done yet? If you want to fight, just say it. I will wait for you on Nick Island!"
"Listen to me!" Shiki roared.
Newgate was stunned by the sudden shout, but soon cursed again, "What the hell is your problem?!"
"I am Rocks's brother!" Shiki said in a heavy voice.
Newgate's mouth twitched twice, and he said very unhappily, "Next time we meet, I am definitely sinking you to the bottom of the sea…"
What nonsense was this?
"Rocks's real name was Davy D. Xebec!" Shiki quickly said.
This time, Newgate, who had been about to hang up again, frowned. His expression became much more serious.
"Keep talking…"
"Rocks and I were actually brothers from the same family. Back then, in the West Blue, all of you thought he went to save Shakky. But in truth, that place was the hiding place of our Davy family…" Shiki began slowly explaining the secrets of the past.
As Newgate listened, his expression became increasingly surprised.
"Not long ago, Marine Headquarters exposed my true identity. At the time, I was a little annoyed. But today, Rocks's widow and his son and daughters found their way to me… They came to rely on me, their uncle from the same family," Shiki said.
"Are you really called Davy D. Shiki?" Newgate could not help asking.
"Absolutely," Shiki said, pretending to be deep and mysterious. "Our Davy family has ancient roots. More than eight hundred years ago, before the World Government was founded, we were the rulers of the entire world. That is also the true reason Rocks and I are so fixated on becoming king of the world…"
At this moment, Newgate remembered some scattered words from when he had drunk with Roger on Hachinosu.
He had not paid much attention back then, but after Shiki mentioned D and Davy, those memories surfaced again.
It seemed…
When Roger was drunk, he had said something similar.
Something about the will of D.
If it were only Shiki saying this, Newgate would not believe it. But when he thought of Roger's words too, Newgate faintly began to believe it.
"So?" Newgate asked after a moment of silence.
"Back then, Rocks took great care of you. You owed him quite a lot of alcohol money too. Originally, I had no intention of settling these old debts with you. After all, I, Shiki, have lived my whole life without needing to cling to anyone else. I would never use such a thing to pressure you. But now, his widow and children have come to me. Teach, Rocks's son, grabbed my leg and cried, begging me to avenge his father. Tell me, could I refuse?" Shiki said with a look that suggested he had no choice.
Newgate was a man who valued loyalty. Hearing this, and thinking back to his past with Rocks, he did feel somewhat uneasy.
"At this point, I can only shoulder the heavy responsibility of the Davy family and carry on Rocks's will. So for the sake of our past ties, join forces with me, Newgate!" Shiki said in a deep voice.
"Impossible!" Newgate refused without hesitation.
He did feel that he owed Rocks something, but Shiki could not expect him to join forces just from saying all this.
"I know about Rocks now, and I do indeed owe that guy a mountain of alcohol money. So if the Flying Pirates fall into some trouble in the future, I will help you once. As for anything else, do not think too much," Newgate said firmly.
Shiki felt a little regretful when he heard this.
Of course, when he had said all this to Newgate, he had only been testing his luck.
He had not truly expected it to work. After all, it was not as if he did not know Newgate's current situation.
Forget Rocks's widow and children. Even if Rocks came back to life, Newgate would not follow him again.
And Shiki was the same.
In the end, the Rocks Pirates had already vanished into the past.
Everyone now had their own bonds.
However, being able to get this promise from Newgate was already a huge gain for Shiki. After all, he had gotten it for free.
Although Shiki was arrogant, he did not think he was invincible. Who could say what would happen on the sea? If he ran into serious trouble one day, Whitebeard helping him once could very likely change the whole situation.
That promise carried great weight.
Without saying much more, the two soon hung up the Den Den Mushi.
Newgate looked again at Young Garp in his hand, but at this point, he had already lost interest.
He turned his gaze toward the calm sea in the distance. After a long while, he murmured softly, "Teach… D… Is the person Roger is waiting for you? Or could it be… Davy D. Shiki?"
But the next second, Roger's final words before leaving Hachinosu appeared in Newgate's memory again.
"Although I am also a D, Lord Valthior said people must rely on themselves. Those who drown in the past cannot see the road ahead. The events of eight hundred years ago should have scattered like smoke long ago. The pulse of the era belongs to everyone on the sea today, Newgate. If someone truly can rule this sea in the future and become the king above all kings… I believe that person will be Valthior!"
"Shiki, Shiki… The moment you became obsessed with the names D and Davy, you were already one step behind Roger," Newgate said with a light laugh.
...
On the other side, Shiki sat on his throne and rubbed his chin.
"Look. Just by borrowing the remaining glory of Rocks, we made Newgate owe us a favor. Should we keep going and contact Linlin and Kaido too?"
"Forget it!" Silver Axe immediately waved his hand. "Whitebeard is loyal, no question. But Linlin and Kaido do not have that much loyalty. Do not go embarrass yourself."
Shiki thought about it and agreed.
Charlotte Linlin and Kaido clearly could not compare to Whitebeard when it came to principles. Even if he talked until his mouth went dry, those two would probably not care at all.
So forget it.
...
At this moment, on Cake Island.
Kaido was looking at the newspaper in his hand with some "anger."
His eyes kept glancing toward Charlotte Linlin, who was sitting at the dining table and eating desserts in big mouthfuls. He felt somewhat guilty.
That damn Roger — writing something like this in a newspaper to slander me!?
But... how did he know? How did he know I had feelings for Linlin? And why did he have to write it so blatantly?
It's not like I ever had much to do with Roger...
Linlin will not get angry if she sees this, right?
As for Charlotte Linlin, compared to the original story, she had also changed somewhat.
Although she was still following the path of having many children and building up her territory, and she still ate and drank wildly, Kaido's arrival had probably given her a sense of crisis. She was afraid Kaido would grow stronger and compete with her for the leader's position.
Because of that, a subtle sense of competition had formed between Kaido and Charlotte Linlin.
This caused Charlotte Linlin to pay more attention to improving her own strength. She did not become as lazy as she had in the original story.
As a result, her appearance had not declined rapidly. At this point, she could still be called a mature beauty with lingering charm.
And because of that, Kaido had always held a difficult-to-describe feeling toward Charlotte Linlin.
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