Ron froze. He wanted to say something, and his mouth opened slightly, but his throat seemed blocked by something. For a long while, he could not get a single word out.
What was this?
A grown man saying something so goosebump-inducing in a situation like this.
Of course, if Ron said he was not moved at all, that would be a lie.
A person he had not known for long was willing to stand on his side without counting the cost, even against powerful enemies, while Ron was trapped in a dangerous situation.
That kind of action, especially in such circumstances, was incredibly lethal.
Ron let out a long breath. Did he... now have people he could trust enough?
"Little brother?" Roger heard Whitebeard's words, and the shock on his face was almost undisguised. "Newgate... are you serious?"
With Roger's understanding of Whitebeard, he could not comprehend it. Toward someone like Ron, should Whitebeard not have deliberately kept his distance? Why would he be willing to help?
At that moment, Whitebeard's face showed no ripples. He stared straight at Roger. "Do you think I'm joking with you, Roger?"
"Newgate, do you even know what that guy did?" Roger's voice rose sharply.
"Who cares what he did?" Whitebeard's tone was calm. "As long as I like him, there is no problem."
Since things had reached this point, Roger inhaled deeply, then slowly exhaled. His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword again, and his voice sank. "What if I insist on attacking? Newgate."
Swish.
Whitebeard raised the naginata in his hand, carving a cold arc through the air. The blade tip pointed firmly toward the ground. "Then try it."
The air suddenly became tense.
"Roger," Rayleigh quietly spoke from the side. "Calm down first."
In Dadan's memories in the original story, Garp had once said that Roger became very impatient and willful when angered.
The current situation fit that perfectly. Ron's verbal attacks were like poisoned daggers, stabbing one after another into Roger's sore spots until his anger had burned to the limit.
Even with Whitebeard interfering, Roger still did not want to stop.
At that moment, Gaban placed a hand on Roger's shoulder and said in a low voice, "That guy said it. We don't have much time. If Rocks and the others return, we'll fall into a passive position."
Gaban's words were like cold water poured over Roger's head.
Roger stood where he was, his gaze sweeping between Ron and Whitebeard twice as various pros and cons flashed quickly through his mind.
Ron had angered him, yes. But he did not want to put his own partners in a disadvantageous situation just because he insisted on pushing this through.
Then Roger sheathed his sword. The blade slid into its scabbard with a crisp click.
"Newgate, we'll meet again." Roger slowly put on his straw hat, the brim pulled low enough to cover most of his face. Then he turned and walked into the distance.
Rayleigh and Gaban exchanged a glance. Their gazes lingered on Whitebeard for a moment before they followed.
Only after Roger's group had gone far away did Whitebeard slowly shift his gaze to Ron. "What happened? How did you make that brat Roger this angry?"
Ron shrugged and patted the dust off his clothes. After thinking for a moment, he guessed in a tone of "I'm speechless too," "Most likely because of the conditions of our cooperation with the Kuja Pirates. I only saved Annika. The others... I told them to save themselves."
"Is he crazy? He came looking for you over that?" Kaido cut in from the side, his face full of speechlessness.
"And then," Ron continued, "those who saved themselves probably didn't survive. So he said I ignored the Kuja Pirates' conditions and came to condemn me."
Whitebeard's gaze darkened slightly. Then he suddenly asked a question that made everyone fall silent.
"How did Roger know?"
That one question stunned Ron instantly.
Earlier, he had been too busy being angry and fighting to notice this problem at all.
Now that he thought about it carefully, yes. How did Roger know what had happened at the time?
The ones who had acted together with Ron then were Stussy and Kaido.
But those two could basically be excluded. If Ron had truly made a mistake, they could not escape responsibility either.
Suddenly, a figure flashed through Ron's mind.
Ochoku.
But Ochoku had not been at the scene. How would he know the process?
Wait.
Ron began recalling what Roger and the others had said earlier.
'You could have chosen not to save them, but why drag them into the water?'
Drag them into the water?
What did that mean?
Could it be... that everyone had not been on the same channel from the start?
Ron's mind spun quickly. His suspicion was Ochoku.
In the original story, it was that traitor Ochoku who backstabbed the Rocks Pirates for profit.
And that guy Ochoku had returned two days ago.
Not long after he came back, Roger appeared here.
Even more coincidentally, this small road was the only road leading to the coast.
In other words, Roger had not encountered Ron here by chance. He had accurate coordinates.
Thinking this far, Ron basically had his answer.
"Heh..." Ron let out a low cold laugh, the corner of his mouth curving upward. "What a nice scheme."
Then Ron turned and ran toward the docked ship. He felt it was very necessary to have a friendly spar with Ochoku.
"Where are you going?" Kaido and Whitebeard asked at the same time.
"To settle something with Ochoku." Ron did not look back.
"Ochoku? Did Ochoku go back?" Kaido asked.
Ron's steps stopped. He suddenly turned around. "Ochoku... went out?"
"Mm. He left with us," Whitebeard said slowly.
"With you?" Ron frowned, a trace of suspicion flashing through his eyes. "That doesn't seem like his style."
"He only left with us. He didn't go drinking," Whitebeard added.
Ron was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "When you went out, had Annika already left?"
"Not long before," Whitebeard thought for a moment. "What is it?"
Ron's brows tightened further. "Nothing... I hope I'm overthinking it."
Ron said nothing more. Golden chakra instantly covered his entire body. The moment Nine-Tails Mode activated, his figure flashed and moved at high speed.