The Thousand Sunny was quietly sailing across the sea.
Ever since they had made a hasty retreat from Marineford two days ago, the atmosphere aboard the ship had been so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
No one spoke. Everyone was immersed in their own emotions.
Snake was dead.
That man who was always taciturn, yet would step forward at critical moments, was forever left behind on the cold ground of Marineford.
And at this moment, Lucky Roux, sitting in a corner of the deck, had a look in his eyes dark enough to drip.
In his mind, he kept replaying the scene before Snake went to his death.
That figure who charged into the gates of death, grabbed Luffy by the collar, and was then pierced through the back by a magma fist.
And even earlier, the scene of Bonk Punch being killed by Gion's blade.
Again and again.
The people around them were dying one after another.
And what, exactly, had all of this gotten them?
Nothing.
At that thought, the anger that had been suppressed in Lucky Roux's chest for so long could no longer be held back.
"I have something I've been holding in for a long time."
Lucky Roux slowly stood up, his eyes fixed firmly on Luffy.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"Bonk Punch is dead, and Snake is dead too."
Lucky Roux took a deep breath, "When they clearly didn't have to die."
As soon as he said this, the atmosphere on the deck suddenly froze.
"Lucky Roux..."
Yasopp opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Lucky Roux glared him back into silence.
"Yasopp, this has nothing to do with you. I couldn't even be bothered to say anything about how you got our comrades killed before!"
Lucky Roux gave a cold laugh and swept his gaze across everyone.
"Am I wrong? These past few days, we've been running all over the place, fighting for our lives. What have we actually accomplished? Did we cause the World Government any losses? No. Did we save the people we wanted to save? No."
"We didn't accomplish anything," His voice grew louder and louder, "We just watched our own brothers go to their deaths one after another!"
"Enough, Lucky Roux," Shanks frowned and interrupted him, "What meaning is there in saying all this now?"
"No meaning?"
Lucky Roux abruptly turned his head and stared hard at Shanks.
"Captain, you want to talk to me about meaning? Fine. Then I'll talk to you properly about meaning. What meaning is there in us following him?"
He raised his hand and pointed toward Luffy, who was sitting not far away and had remained silent the entire time.
"Why did Snake die?", Lucky Roux's voice suddenly rose, "Because he went to save this person! But this person shouldn't have been at Marineford in the first place!"
Luffy abruptly raised his head, a trace of confusion in his eyes, which immediately turned into anger.
"What do you mean?", Luffy stood up.
"What do I mean?"
Lucky Roux sneered and stepped toward Luffy one step at a time.
"Luffy, do you know that if we hadn't gone to Marineford, Juste could have lived?"
"Huh?", Luffy froze.
"Shirahoshi made it perfectly clear," Lucky Roux practically shouted, "As long as Whitebeard alone died, Juste could have left alive! It was us! We suddenly rushed in and messed everything up, and that's what got Juste killed!"
"And it got Snake killed too!"
Those words were like a heavy hammer, smashing into everyone's hearts.
The deck was completely silent.
Everyone knew this was the truth.
Earlier, inside the battlefield, because they had arrived late, they could still use not knowing to cover up their mistake.
But two days had already passed, and the news had long since spread.
After hearing it, it was inevitable that they would have some other thoughts.
Luffy's face turned pale, then flushed.
"I... I went to save Juste...", Luffy's voice trembled a little, "Juste is my sworn brother. There's no way I wouldn't go save him!"
"Save him?"
Lucky Roux laughed in anger.
"Did you save him? Not only did you fail to save him, you also cost Snake his life. When you got to Marineford, you didn't even understand the situation before charging forward! Who did you think you were? Did you think you were strong?"
"You're nothing at all!"
"Lucky Roux!", Shanks' expression darkened, "You're going too far."
"I'm going too far?", Lucky Roux abruptly turned around, his eyes red, "Captain! Snake DIED to save him! He DIED! Do you understand? He gave his LIFE for this reckless idiot who couldn't even figure out the situation! And what happened? This person didn't even say thank you, and now he's still acting like he's completely in the right!"
"Why should I say thank you?"
Luffy suddenly exploded. He shoved Yasopp, who was standing between them, aside and rushed up to Lucky Roux.
"It was you guys! You guys held me back!", Luffy's eyes were bloodshot, "If you hadn't stopped me and dragged me toward the door, I would've already rushed up to avenge Juste! I would've already sent that magma bastard flying!"
As soon as these words came out, Lucky Roux froze completely.
"You... what did you say?"
Lucky Roux simply couldn't believe his ears.
So even now, Luffy still hadn't understood the situation.
"I said it's all your fault!", Luffy stubbornly held his neck stiff, refusing to back down, "If you hadn't stopped me, I would've already..."
"You would've already died!", Lucky Roux finally exploded. He grabbed Luffy by the collar, "You idiot! Do you think you could beat Sakazuki? You couldn't even take one punch from him! Charging up there would just be throwing your life away!"
"I wouldn't die! Shanks said I'm Nika, and I can beat anyone!", Luffy said matter-of-factly.
"Nika?", Lucky Roux trembled all over with anger, "Your Nika that hasn't awakened couldn't last even one second in front of Sakazuki! Snake traded his life to bring you back, and this is how you treat his life?"
"What does that have to do with me?"
Luffy's words made the entire scene fall instantly silent.
"Snake chose to come save me himself! It's not like I asked him to!"
[T/N: Bro! Get some help. At this point, you are not clueless. You are retaded.]
The more Luffy spoke, the more agitated he became, seemingly completely unaware of what he was saying.
"If Snake hadn't suddenly rushed out, I would've gotten back up myself and sent Sakazuki flying! It's his fault for meddling!"
"You!"
Lucky Roux's hand slowly loosened.
He took a step back and looked at Luffy in disbelief, as if he were meeting this person for the first time.
Yasopp's mouth fell open, and he couldn't say a word.
Even the other crew members who had remained silent the whole time now wore expressions of disappointment.
And Shanks, standing to the side, felt an even deeper chill in his heart at this moment.
Looking at Luffy's face without the slightest trace of guilt, for who knew how many times now, a deep doubt arose in his heart.
Was this really the person he had placed all his hopes in?
Someone who could say "What does that have to do with me?" about a comrade's death, and then turn around and blame the person who saved his life for meddling.
Could he really bear the freedom of the entire sea?
"It was Snake's fault," Luffy was still muttering, "If it weren't for him, I would've already..."
"Shut up!"
Lucky Roux suddenly punched Luffy in the face, sending his entire body flying heavily into the ship's railing behind him.
"Snake risked his LIFE to save you, and you actually said it was his fault?", Tears of anger spilled from Lucky Roux's eyes, "Luffy! Are you even human?"
"I'm telling the truth! I'm sad about Uncle Snake's death too, but I didn't do anything wrong! If he hadn't come and grabbed me, he wouldn't have died!", Luffy shouted stubbornly.
"The truth?", Lucky Roux gave a bitter laugh, "Fine, fine, what a truth. Snake is dead, Bonk Punch is dead. They both died for nothing! Just because they wanted to protect a... a damn ingrate like you!"
"Seriously, from now on, if anyone wants to go save you, I'll go up and slap them in the face to knock some sense into them. You're so great, you're Nika, you don't need us to save you, so you should've just been beaten to death by Sakazuki at Marineford," Lucky Roux became more and more agitated as he spoke.
"Enough!"
Shanks finally spoke.
His voice wasn't loud, carrying exhaustion and heaviness.
The deck instantly fell silent.
Lucky Roux, who had been unloading everything he had, also fell silent, simply looking at Shanks.
Shanks was the man he followed with his life. If Shanks still wanted to continue like this, he would continue following him.
At worst, he would give him this life.
"Alright. Everyone, calm down first."
Shanks slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He knew that every word Lucky Roux had said was right.
Snake and Bonk Punch had indeed died without any meaning, Juste really could have lived, and Luffy really was reckless and impulsive, with no sense of proportion.
But...
Luffy was their only hope.
Ever since this world had been ruled by Rosse, all that remained for these rebels to hold onto was Luffy, this one last lifeline.
The power of Nika was the only hope that might be able to contend with Rosse.
They had to bet on Luffy. They had no other choice.
Otherwise, they wouldn't even have a future.
Moreover, he knew very clearly that they couldn't possibly tie Luffy down.
Luffy was born with a personality that could not be restrained.
More importantly, he had a vague premonition.
If they forcibly restrained Luffy and suppressed his nature, then the Nika power inside Luffy might instead never truly awaken and erupt.
Freedom was the essence of Nika.
Could a Nika who was bound still be called Nika?
At this thought, a deep sense of powerlessness welled up in Shanks' heart.
He opened his eyes and looked at these companions before him, their faces flushed with anger, nearly at the point of breaking apart.
In the end, he simply spoke wearily, "Alright."
"From today onward, we'll act separately."
Everyone froze, but for some reason, they also felt that this proposal was quite good.
"I'll follow Luffy," Shanks' voice was calm and firm, "You guys go to the NEO Marines for now, or find a place to stay with the Whitebeard Pirates."
"Captain!", Yasopp panicked.
The others might be afraid, but he wasn't.
He was the vice captain now. He had to follow the captain, after all.
More importantly, if he followed Lucky Roux and the others, considering what he had done before, wouldn't he get beaten to death by everyone?
"This is an order," Shanks raised his hand, stopping him, "Lucky Roux is right. We can't go on like this anymore. If we keep going like this, more people will only die for no reason."
He looked at Lucky Roux, his eyes filled with guilt and exhaustion.
"Lucky Roux, I'm sorry. I failed to protect Snake, and I failed to protect Bonk Punch."
Lucky Roux opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
He simply turned his head away and no longer looked at Luffy's face.
"Let's separate," Shanks said softly, "At least this way, there will be fewer conflicts, and everyone can live a little longer."
The sea wind howled past, scattering the anger lingering on the deck, but it could not scatter the cracks and chill spreading through everyone's hearts.
And Luffy still stood where he was, looking at everyone in confusion.
It seemed that even now, he still didn't understand what exactly he had said wrong.
Perhaps he could more or less sense it, but he genuinely didn't think he was wrong.
If he was wrong, then he would admit it.
But he clearly wasn't wrong.
Besides, Juste was dead.
He was the one who should be the saddest.
———
"They've separated..."
In a private cafe with a screening room in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise...
Beckman smoked as he stared at the scene playing on the screen, unable to calm down for a long time.
The scene on the screen was precisely the moment Lucky Roux and Luffy had fallen out.
"Snake is dead, and Bonk Punch is dead too. It hasn't even been that long..."
Beside him, Hongo gently lifted his coffee cup and took a small sip.
But anyone could see that the hand holding the coffee cup was trembling nonstop.
They were also members of the Red Hair Pirates. It was impossible to say they had no feelings for those companions.
"So I asked you two to come this time because I wanted to talk about this matter. We can't let this continue," Makino, dressed in an expensive kimono, sat in front of the two of them, pressing her lips together as she spoke softly.
"What can we do? We've already left. We're traitors now," Hongo shook his head. He did want to do something, but given their identities, there wasn't much they could do.
"Do you mean you want Lucky Roux and the others to betray the captain like us and join the World Government?", Beckman could roughly guess what Makino was thinking. He had even guessed it before coming.
It was just that before coming, he had only heard a few scattered words. He hadn't expected the Red Hair Pirates' current situation to be this bad.
He did want to help Shanks and the others, but this time he hadn't even been qualified to participate in the Marineford War. And even if he had participated, there wasn't anything he could have done.
What could he have done? Everyone had been accessories at the time.
"I hope you can try. His Majesty has already promised me that as long as Lucky Roux and the others agree, the World Government can let bygones be bygones."
Makino looked seriously at the two people in front of her. She genuinely didn't want to watch her old friends die one after another before her eyes.
The key was that they were dying without any value or meaning.
"I'll give it a try."
Beckman sighed and still agreed.
He had originally planned to do something as well.
Now that Makino was asking them like this, he certainly wouldn't refuse.
He knew very clearly that Makino had probably paid a much greater price than they had.
Makino now carried a few more traces of nobility and mature charm than before, replacing the innocence of the past, like a flower in full bloom.
Just by looking at her condition, Beckman knew what kind of suffering Makino had gone through.
After all, the person she had to face was Rosse.