Joining the White Wolf Pirates was a decision Tsuru made after long deliberation.
It wasn't because Magnus was flawless.
It was because, compared to Magnus, the World Government's deeds left her utterly disillusioned.
If the political and economic framework Magnus was building was a simple little boat, then the World Government was a rotten galleon.
A skiff can be patched at will.
But the great ship's very keel had been worm-eaten hollow.
Reform or overthrow?
Tsuru couldn't decide for a long time. She didn't know whether, after toppling the current World Government, the force Magnus built would someday become the next one.
Later, she thought it through. At the very least, Magnus truly wished for everyone to be free and to live better.
The eleven-nation alliance that withdrew from Government membership was thriving.
With time, they would only do better.
Because Magnus's pressure blanketed the New World, and more than half the pirates had been brought under him. Except for those who took refuge with the Government, the rest didn't dare provoke nations under Magnus's protection.
Not to mention the New Navy existed now.
As long as Magnus didn't change, then no matter what happened later, he had the power and strength to correct the course.
Human life is short.
But with Pure Gold, Magnus could endure for a very, very long time.
Most importantly—
Magnus didn't crave power. He even loathed working overtime.
His only vice,
Was probably fooling around with the women on board.
"Rona-nee, why did you choose Captain Magnus? Was it because you like him?"
Tsuru had once asked Rona.
"Like him? You think a woman my age still clings to that kind of feeling? Well, I admit I admire that bastard. He's my childhood savior and the one I've chased all my life. But if liking someone means giving everything of yourself, I probably can't do it."
Tsuru remembered Rona's expression then—a scoff tinged with a trace of melancholy.
"If I were a member of the White Wolf crew, or twenty or thirty years younger, I might entrust myself to Magnus completely, like Lily and Ripley."
"But I can't."
"I'm not one of the White Wolf Pirates—I'm the founder of the New Navy. I led comrades who trust me out of the Marines; I owe them responsibility for that choice."
So Rona chose Magnus—part admiration, part affection, and part duty.
"That guy treats his women well."
As if she could see straight through Magnus, Rona smiled.
"Otherwise he wouldn't let me build a force outside his own war machine, with almost no leash on me."
"It's troublesome. I'm obviously scheming against him, yet he treats me so well—it makes me feel like the villain."
"Too late to regret it now."
She had meant only to borrow Magnus's power to found the New Navy and give those who followed her an answer.
But as time passed, Rona realized she was enjoying this relationship more and more.
"I don't know how far Magnus will go in the future, or whether he'll change his ideals."
"But I can watch over him at his side."
The red-haired Marine stirred her thick soup with a ladle, a faint smile on her lips.
"He's the one I chose. I'm obliged to keep an eye on his path. If he makes the wrong choice, I'll do my best to set him straight."
In that moment, Tsuru understood.
Rona likely had truly fallen for Magnus, but the justice and responsibility she bore forbade her from giving herself to him completely.
She chose to stay by Magnus in her own way.
If Magnus's actions aligned with the justice in Rona's heart, she would support him no matter what.
If he did something that violated that justice—
Then she would shoulder the duty of oversight.
And the reason Magnus created the New Navy, and didn't hinder its expansion, was likely also to limit his own power.
"I'm not a god, I'm a man—I will make mistakes."
People have desires. Desire is never satisfied. Magnus hoped those around him would supervise him as well.
"Becoming a tyrant only takes strength—but a tyrant can never be the people's king."
Magnus's lack of greed for authority and his clear self-knowledge, the little things Tsuru had seen time and again, finally led her to decide.
"I want to stay by your side. I want to watch you change this world. I want to tell myself my choice wasn't wrong."
Magnus could tell Tsuru's feelings for him weren't love. She might have some fondness, but that alone wasn't enough for her to devote herself.
The girl stepped into the game with her own body on the line.
She wanted to be the leash that could hold this savage wolf.
"Will you regret it?"
Magnus had once asked Stussy the same thing.
"I won't!"
The girl looked at Magnus, eyes bright.
South Blue.
Two young Marines were training hard, one hammering his fists into a massive boulder, the other doing one-handed push-ups with a small mountain of stone on his back.
"Argh, damn it—how long are we stuck in this place?"
"Who knows?"
The curly-haired, black-haired youth curled his lip. He could tell the World Government had summoned those scientists to develop something. Besides Marines, the island had a large CP presence and many Celestial Dragon guards.
There wasn't an Admiral stationed here, but the defenses were ironclad.
"Damn it, while I'm wasting time here, that Roger guy must have already broken into the New World!"
The scar-faced Marine youth, Garp, shouted in frustration.
Two years ago, he'd stumbled into the Roger Pirates on a mission and became entangled with them.
In the two years since, he'd tried to capture them many times.
They'd slipped away every time.
"Last time but one, Roger didn't even know Haki. Last time we fought, his Haki wasn't far off from mine. If this keeps up, he'll catch up to me!"
"To dodge you that many times—if we don't take him seriously, that pirate named Roger will become a major threat to the Marines sooner or later," Sengoku said gravely.
"Too bad Uncle Kong and the higher-ups only have eyes for the White Wolf Pirates right now. If we could spare some hands, the Roger Pirates wouldn't get away so easily!"
In today's Marines, only one crew truly commanded their full attention: the White Wolf Pirates. Next was the Rocks Pirates; after that, the make-believe Whitebeard Pirates.
Of those three, two had split off from the White Wolf Pirates.
And just those two spinoffs gave the Marines splitting headaches.
The Rocks Pirates were collectively formidable, and Rocks himself had Admiral-class strength. In Marine circles he was even nicknamed the Little White King.
A standing order existed:
Without an Admiral-class leader, pursuing the Rocks Pirates was forbidden.
Same with the Whitebeard Pirates.
But while the Marines feared the Rocks Pirates and judged their crew as a whole hard to handle—
They had only one assessment for the Whitebeard Pirates:
Leave them be.
Unlike the Rocks Pirates, who wandered like alley punks picking fights everywhere, the Whitebeard Pirates had looked imposing when they first set sail. After a few encounters, though, the Marines realized—
Though also a White Wolf offshoot, Rocks loudly declared he'd challenge the White King Magnus himself.
And Whitebeard Edward?
He only wanted to raise children. He searched country by country for "suitable crew," nine out of ten of whom were kids.
And judging by Whitebeard's stance, he was serious.
After failing to figure out what Whitebeard wanted and confirming his crew wouldn't pick a fight, the Marines adopted a laissez-faire stance toward them.
Not worth it. Not interested. Let them be.
No one knew when the World Government and the White Wolf Pirates might clash a second time. Under immense external pressure, some time-in-grade posts were suddenly reshuffled.
For a moment, new vigor surged through the Marines like never before.
Whether it was new growth from dead wood or the last flare before darkness—
Would depend on the battles to come.
In any case, three years after the war at Akropolis Port, Garp and Sengoku—then only young officers—were exceptionally promoted to Rear Admiral.
Ranks aside, some elite Vice Admirals couldn't best them.
Now the two were carrying out a top-secret Government mission: protect scientists hidden on this remote island as they developed a new type of energy.
They'd been stuck there for months. Even Sengoku was getting restless, to say nothing of Garp.
However—
If Garp knew that the pirate he obsessed over, Roger, was right here on this island, his reaction would be quite different.
"You sons of dogs—where even is this place?"
Hidden among the scientists, Roger—who could barely read—forced himself to study a schematic for an energy system with the others.
The blueprint claimed the new energy was meant to free the world from energy poverty.
Roger didn't believe a word the Government said, but the scientists around him were buzzing with excitement.
Sweat beaded on Roger's brow.
He had only just learned Observation Haki, but his innate ability to hear the Voice of All Things told him what he was looking at: an energy system prepared for a terrifying weapon.
He couldn't care less about this "energy" or that. He only knew he'd agreed to regroup with his crew at Baldimore, and instead he'd been snatched to this forsaken rock.
And the security was airtight.
Even without Observation Haki, he could see the buildings housing the scientists were ringed with strong guards.
Escaping alone was nigh impossible.
"I wonder how Rayleigh and Jabba are doing? Forget it. I'm barely keeping myself safe. They'll have to fend for themselves."
Even in a bind, Roger didn't lose his will to struggle.
So he'd been caught?
The good news was the guards thought he was one of the Baldimore scientists. The scientists were shrewd; not knowing the Government's true goal, they had no intention of turning Roger in.
Roger spent months on that remote island.
Until, one day, he heard a laugh he despised to the bone.
A colossal sea fish hauled the Rocks Pirates' ship across the horizon at breakneck speed. At the prow—who else but Rocks?
"Gi-hahaha! So it's here? Hey, Marines in charge! Tell your boss this place is mine. If you don't want to die—get lost!"
His Observation Haki had already felt it—only one presence on the island could threaten him. One Admiral-class fighter? Hardly a match.
He'd learn from Magnus—if you fight, fight two.
"Rocks D. Xebec, is it…"
Deep in the island, an old man leaning on a cane wore a frigid look. The White Wolf Pirates' pressure had forced them to restart that ancient weapon from centuries past—no matter the consequences—better than the Government being toppled by Magnus.
After the war at Akropolis Port, some of the Five Elders had begun to worry about the future, even doubting whether they could defeat the White Wolf Pirates.
That doubt only grew as top-tier fighters kept appearing under the White Wolf banner. Restarting the Ancient Weapons was now urgent.
In the past there had been three world-ending Ancient Weapons—Sky King Uranus, Sea King Poseidon, and Underworld King Pluton.
Poseidon and Pluton were lost. Uranus remained in their hands.
It was one of their strongest trump cards.
But time had revealed the card's fatal flaw—the natural bleed of its energy. They had no way to replenish Uranus, and it had become a hollow shell.
So he had kidnapped every scientist from Baldimore.
To refuel Uranus.
"Freeing the world from energy poverty" was a lie. The true aim was to restart that Ancient Weapon.
If Uranus could be restarted, then no matter how far the White Wolf's influence spread, it would turn to ash before annihilating power.
Just as he'd predicted.
The White Wolf Pirates wouldn't stand by and let them develop a weapon that could threaten them. They'd sent Rocks, a key general, to intervene.
If Magnus underestimated them, they didn't mind severing one of his wolf's claws for him.
"Lord Imu!"
"No."
Before Jaygarcia Saturn could even speak,
Imu refused.
Because—
"Magnus has appeared at Mary Geoise."
(End of Chapter)
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