Harald did not answer immediately. He remained silent for a moment, then picked up the wine cup on the table and drained a large mouthful.
Thud.
With the heavy sound of the cup landing on the table, Harald finally spoke. "Rocks, do you think I would joke with you in this tone?"
"Harald." Rocks's voice sank. He did not get angry. Instead, he asked, "I don't understand. Why? Just because he is called the Cold-Blooded Butcher? People also call me, Rocks, an utterly vicious brute. Why don't you ask me to leave?"
"What I understand even less is this: I make him leave, and that saves Elbaf? Saves the giant kingdom? Saves you, Harald? Can you explain the logic behind that to me?"
Harald's face darkened completely. He did not answer any of Rocks's questions. Instead, he asked back, "A crew member who has only just come aboard, and you still cannot part with him? Rocks, was the friendship between us nothing but a joke to you?"
Harald's words were like a knife. They bypassed the core of every question and turned the point directly onto Rocks's "position."
Rocks fell silent. For one brief instant, the Harald before him felt unbearably unfamiliar.
Whitebeard sat on the other side, but his gaze had already moved back and forth between them several times. He was completely confused. What was going on with Ron? How did that guy keep getting dragged into strange trouble for no reason? First Roger, and now Harald had joined in too.
Stussy was even more puzzled. She loved money, yes, but she still had basic judgment. Ron was clearly a good person. He had not taken a single share of the Heavenly Tribute last time, and unlike the rest of the Rocks Pirates, he was not sinister or treacherous. How had he inexplicably become a target who "had to be driven away"?
At that moment, Rocks's gaze suddenly changed. It was as if he had caught a clue between the gaps of Harald's words. His pupils contracted slightly. Then he spoke sharply. "Even if you don't say it, I can guess. Harald! This is the World Government's will, isn't it? You were threatened by the World Government, weren't you?"
Harald's gaze focused slightly. He did not deny it. Instead, he asked, "Then are you willing?"
He knew it was shameful and selfish to deceive Rocks with lies.
But for peace, for Elbaf, he felt everything he did was worth it. Even if he sacrificed himself. Even if he betrayed this friendship.
"Harald!" Rocks suddenly raised his voice, as if trying to awaken Harald from some kind of sleep. "Compromise is only a temporary painkiller. Resistance is the scalpel that cuts out the disease! I can stay and help Elbaf. My partners would even be willing to contribute too!"
Harald slowly shook his head. "Rocks, I don't want Elbaf to become hell. This is my country. It is where my people live."
Rocks froze. He stared straight at Harald, as if meeting him anew. The silence lasted several seconds before he spoke, his voice pressed extremely low. "You... made a deal with the World Government?"
Harald knew Rocks would not agree. He no longer planned to hide anything. Coldly, he said, "For the sake of our past friendship, Rocks, if you are willing to kick Ron out of your crew, everything can still be discussed. But if you are unwilling... then I can only kill him with my own hands."
This time, Rocks did not answer immediately. He looked at Harald, as if measuring with his eyes the distance between them as it split apart. Then he spoke. "For the sake of our friendship, can you turn your blade toward the World Government instead?"
Harald avoided his gaze. "Sorry. I will not gamble with my people alongside you."
Rocks was silent for two seconds. Then he slowly lifted the enormous wooden cup and drank several huge mouthfuls.
Wine spilled over him.
When he set the cup down, every expression on his face had vanished. Only an icy calm remained.
"Harald, I am disappointed in you. The you standing here now is nothing but a puppet of the World Government." As Rocks spoke, his gaze met Harald's enormous face, and he said each word clearly. "As for Ron, he is a brat on my ship. As his captain, I will always stand before him. Even if the enemy is you, Harald."
Whoosh!
Harald suddenly drew the giant sword beside him. The blade shone with a cold gleam, and his voice, filled with suppressed fury, exploded through the empty palace.
"Rocks, I am disappointed in you as well!"
Rocks did not hesitate in the slightest. The instant Harald drew his sword, his hand had already gripped the blade at his waist. The moment it left the sheath, the steel let out a clear hum.
"Harald," Rocks said coldly, "one day, you will regret the decision you made today."
The two swung their blades almost at the same time. Two forces wrapped in Conqueror's Haki smashed together. The instant the giant sword and long blade collided, a terrifying shockwave burst from the point of impact and swept across everything around them.
Dark-red arcs of lightning madly danced across their weapons, crackling sharply.
The moment the shockwave arrived, Stussy had already flashed behind Whitebeard. She cursed under her breath. "Seriously, I haven't even eaten anything yet! If I'd known, I would've stayed on the ship!"
Whitebeard did not move. He stood steady where he was, glanced at Rocks from the corner of his eye, and asked, "Need my help?"
Rocks's blade remained locked against Harald's giant sword. "No. This is between me and Harald. You and Stussy go back first and tell Ron the truth."
"Fine." Whitebeard did not hesitate. He quickly turned. "Handle it yourself."
Stussy used the momentum to leap up and land on Whitebeard's back.
Without looking back, Whitebeard strode toward the palace gate.
Rumble!
With a tremendous crash, the massive palace collapsed in an instant.
Billowing dust swept outward like a flood.