Chapter 26 — Will and Dreams
The air around the two young warriors changed completely. Yamato stood on top of Ragnar's massive draconic head, her kanabo resting against her shoulder while frost continued crawling across her arms and face. Ragnar hovered above the sea, his emerald serpentine body coiling through the clouds, his golden eyes fixed on the enormous ship before them. Neither of them showed the slightest intention of retreating.
Across from them, the Whitebeard Pirates had gone unusually quiet.
Jozu's diamond-covered arm slowly lowered, while Thatch stared at the two children with an expression that had shifted from irritation to genuine surprise. Even Marco, who had spent the better part of the last few hours fighting them, looked at the pair differently now.
'They're still standing after Pops' Conqueror's Haki?'
Marco narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ragnar and Yamato.
Newgate's Haki wasn't something ordinary people could simply resist. Most pirates would have frozen, collapsed, or at the very least lost their fighting spirit under that pressure.
Yet those two were still glaring back.
Marco couldn't help but whistle softly.
"Those two really are something else, yoi. I knew they were strong when I fought them, but I didn't expect them to have that kind of spirit after taking Pops' Haki head-on."
Jozu grinned despite himself. "They're Kaido's kids, after all. If they were ordinary brats, that would honestly be more surprising. Still, they're only fifteen. Most people their age would have already been shaking after feeling Pops' presence, but those two are looking at him like they're actually considering fighting."
Thatch folded his arms and stared at Ragnar. "Those guys fought Marco, used that insane storm attack, survived Pops' slash, and he's still talking like he's ready to fight. What kind of upbringing did Kaido give these kids?"
Marco gave him a sideways look.
"Probably the kind that gives you nightmares if you think about it too much, yoi. After spending a few hours fighting those two, I'm starting to understand why Kaido's name is attached to them."
A few pirates chuckled, but the laughter quickly faded.
Because Ragnar was still staring directly at Newgate.
There was fear somewhere deep inside him.
He would have been an idiot not to feel it. The man standing before him wasn't simply another powerful pirate. Edward Newgate was a monster whose reputation stretched across the entire sea. The World's Strongest Man. A man who could split the sea and sky with his fists and whose presence alone could make an entire battlefield tremble.
And yet Ragnar refused to lower his head. Even if the enemy was Whitebeard...
His golden eyes stayed fixed on Newgate, his heart beating like crazy.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
'I can't beat him.'
That thought came naturally.
He wasn't arrogant enough to deny reality.
His eyes shifted toward Yamato.
She was still standing proudly on his head, gripping her kanabo with both hands. Her breathing was steady, although Ragnar could tell she was still affected by the previous clash.
He could feel it. She was afraid, but Yamato wouldn't back down if it came to fighting.
He knew that from fifteen years of living with her. His mouth curled slightly in nostalgia. He had nearly forgotten his past life along the way.
The lonely guy had died long ago. Now he was just Ragnar, Kaido's son and Yamato's brother. This was no longer a story he had long forgotten. This was his reality.
Yamato was standing there with no idea what Ragnar was thinking. Her heart was pounding rapidly.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
She had fought Kaido countless times. She knew what it felt like to stand before a monster that seemed completely beyond her level.
But Newgate's presence was different. If she had to put it into words, 'He's terrifying.'
Standing before him, she felt powerless, confused, and ashamed. She had fought Kaido, and only now did she understand that bastard had been holding back when fighting them. That made her ashamed. She was proud that she could fight Kaido, but all along, that guy was holding back. Didn't that make her look like a clown in his eyes?
Her fingers tightened around her kanabo as her cheeks turned slightly red in embarrassment and anger. But now wasn't the time.
Because even compared to Kaido, this man was stronger. She could tell from...
That Haki...
Even Kaido's pressure never felt quite like that.
For a brief moment, her eyes shifted toward Ragnar.
He was injured.
She could still see the blood staining parts of his scales from Newgate's earlier attack.
Her expression hardened as rage boiled in her heart at herself. She had let him get injured. She gritted her teeth.
'It will not happen again. I won't let anyone hurt Raggy ever again.'
She swore, her eyes crackling with red lightning. She was not a princess who needed a prince to save her. She was Yamato. She had a dream.
To become the freest and strongest woman in the world. She could not fear the strongest man. She refused to fear him.
Whatever fear existed inside her, she buried it beneath her usual reckless confidence.
"Mohahahaha!" Yamato laughed as she pointed at him. "You're really strong, but don't think your scary Haki is enough to make me kneel. I've already spent my entire life dealing with monsters, and I'm not about to start running now! If you're expecting me to lower my head just because everyone calls you the strongest man in the world, then you're going to be disappointed!"
She looked at him and pointed Takeru at Newgate. "I'm Yamato, the one who's gonna be the freest and strongest woman in the world! I won't be running away in fear, and I definitely won't be kneeling just because you're stronger than me. If I lose, I'll get stronger and fight again. That's how I've always done things!"
Several Whitebeard Pirates raised their eyebrows.
Even Newgate raised his eyebrows slightly.
For a moment, the old pirate simply stared at her.
That reckless grin...
That defiant look...
That burning desire to become something greater than herself...
For just a brief moment, the sight of Yamato standing there reminded Newgate of another young fool who had once stood before him with a ridiculous dream and an even more ridiculous smile.
A young man with black hair and an infectious laugh.
Roger.
Newgate's eyes softened for the briefest moment.
He remembered Roger standing before him years ago, carrying that same impossible confidence, declaring his dream without caring whether the world thought it was foolish. Roger had never cared about the title of the strongest man. He simply wanted to be free.
"Gurararara..." A deep laugh escaped Newgate's chest.
The Whitebeard Pirates looked toward him in surprise.
Newgate's grin widened as he stared at Yamato. "What a strange girl you are. Standing in front of me while knowing exactly how much stronger I am, yet you're still talking about becoming the freest and strongest woman in the world. That kind of confidence... I haven't heard something like that in a long time."
Yamato blinked, then frowned. "What's so funny? I'm serious! I'm going to do it, so don't laugh like it's some stupid dream!"
Newgate's laugh became louder.
"Gurararara! I'm not laughing because it's stupid, brat. I'm laughing because I've heard that kind of dream before. People who truly want freedom tend to have a strange way of announcing it."
Marco's eyes narrowed slightly.
'Pops...'
He understood the look on Newgate's face.
It was nostalgia.
Jozu grinned and scratched his chin. "Well, Pops certainly seems to like her spirit. I can't say I blame him. Anyone who can stare him down after what just happened deserves some respect."
Thatch chuckled. "She's definitely got guts. Crazy guts, but guts nonetheless."
Izo, however, wasn't smiling.
His eyes remained fixed in Hiyori's direction, his anger barely contained.
Newgate's gaze slowly moved from Yamato to Ragnar.
The emerald dragon remained silent.
Newgate studied him for several seconds before finally speaking.
"Then what about you, boy?"
Ragnar's golden eyes narrowed slightly.
Newgate rested both hands against his naginata as he looked directly into Ragnar's eyes, pointing his naginata toward him.
"Your sister has already told me her dream, and she's got enough spirit to shout it at the World's Strongest Man without hesitation. But you haven't said a word about what you want. So tell me, boy... what's your dream?"
The Whitebeard Pirates became quiet again.
Ragnar stared at Newgate.
For a few seconds, he didn't answer.
He could have said that he wanted to become stronger.
He could have said that he wanted to surpass Kaido.
He could have said that he wanted to become one of the strongest beings on the sea.
But none of those were really his dream.
"Hmm, well, I don't really have any grand dream. Becoming the strongest? Ruling the New World? Conquering the world? That's a lot of hassle. I don't care about it." Ragnar said as he fell into deep thought.
Now that he thought about it, he didn't really have a dream. He had been enjoying his life with Yamato and the others so much that he had never thought about it.
He had unconsciously changed from a lonely guy who couldn't even talk with strangers to the Shogun of Wano.
Newgate and the others waited, looking at Ragnar and waiting for him to answer.
Ragnar came out of his thoughts.
His golden eyes slowly shifted toward Yamato.
Then toward the ship behind them.
He thought about Hiyori, Toto, Coco, and the others.
His expression softened.
"My world... I wanna protect my world!" Ragnar said, his golden eyes shining as he replied with confidence. "I am gonna be the strongest so my friends can chase their dreams. I wanna be the protector of their world because they are my world!"
Silence.
Even the wind seemed to quiet down for a moment.
Newgate stared at Ragnar.
Those words had struck somewhere deeper than he expected.
'Protect his world...'
For the first time since arriving, Newgate looked at the young man not as Kaido's son, but simply as Ragnar.
The boy wasn't talking about conquering the sea.
He wasn't talking about ruling Wano.
He was talking about becoming the strongest to protect the people around him and allowing them to chase their own dreams.
Newgate's eyes narrowed slightly.
For a brief moment, he saw himself in that boy.
Not completely, but a faint shadow.
He looked at the people aboard his own ship. His sons. The men and women who had chosen to sail beneath his flag. He had never wanted the One Piece or the throne of the Pirate King. What he wanted was his family.
A world where his people could live freely.
A world where they could laugh together.
Newgate's grin slowly returned.
"Gurararara... What an interesting brat."
Marco looked at Ragnar with a slightly different expression.
'So that's what drives him.'
Jozu's grin widened. "That sounds familiar, Pops."
Thatch nodded slowly. "Yeah. Almost too familiar."
Newgate chuckled. "Perhaps it is."
His eyes remained on Ragnar.
"Protecting the dreams of the people you care about, huh? That's a difficult road, boy. Sometimes protecting someone means standing against the entire world. Sometimes it means making choices that will hurt you more than the people you're protecting."
Ragnar's golden eyes didn't waver. At this time, his Devil Fruit was resonating. He finally understood why the Ryo Ryo no Mi, Model: Rayquaza, had chosen him.
"I know."
Newgate's grin widened slightly.
"Gurararara!"
The laughter of the Whitebeard Pirates echoed across the sea, but before the moment could continue, a furious voice cut through it.
"ENOUGH!"
Izo stepped forward, his hand tightening around his guns.
His eyes burned with rage as he stared past Ragnar and Yamato toward the Beast Pirates' ship.
"Hand over Lady Hiyori!"
The atmosphere immediately became heavy again.
Izo's voice trembled with anger and desperation.
"Where is she? You Beast Pirates have already taken enough from Wano. You took Oden's life, you took control of his country, and now you've taken his daughter as well! If Lady Hiyori is aboard that ship, then release her immediately!"
Ragnar's golden eyes turned toward Izo.
Izo's anger only grew as he stepped closer.
"She is the daughter of my lord Oden! She has already suffered enough because of Kaido! Whatever reason you have for keeping her with you, it doesn't matter. Release her now, and we won't have to turn this into something worse!"
{ Yoo! Miss me ? I'm back now complete fine. I was little sick so there were no updates but don't worry your novice level author is back.
I will start uploading my fic soon enjoy the chapter, leave some comments it gives me motivation to keep writing and know that people are actually liking what I'm writing. Suggest were I can improve my writing or were i could have done better.
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