Not only were the crew of the Kamui Pirates astonished, but even the Whitebeard Pirates themselves found it difficult to accept.
When Whitebeard was completely defeated, Marco and the others believed their crew was finished.
From that moment on, there would be one less Emperor of the Sea.
After all, they knew what kind of man Kronos was. Ruthless, merciless.
So many powerful forces in the past—simply because they offended him—were either destroyed, annexed, or erased from existence altogether.
Even the Marines of today fear Kronos' power, not daring to utter a single harsh word against him.
That was why—
Marco and the others simply couldn't believe it.
Why…
Why would such a man say, "You may go"?
"I must have heard wrong…"
Marco muttered, gripping his own face hard. The sting of pain told him he wasn't dreaming, but still he couldn't accept reality.
"What is this guy Kronos thinking? Why would he suddenly let us go? There's something wrong with this…"
Jozu shook his head, deeply suspicious.
At that moment—
Gojo Satoru finally spoke up, unable to hold back his curiosity.
"Captain, why?" he asked directly.
"Can you tell us your reasoning?"
He went on, not caring that Marco and the others were listening.
"The Whitebeard Pirates are tough men to the core. If you don't cut the weeds at the root, leaving them alive will only bring endless trouble."
His words cut sharply, without hesitation.
Marco and the others fell silent. Because deep down, they knew Gojo was right.
With their temperament, they could never forgive the Kamui Pirates.
They had already lost countless brothers to Kronos' hands—
How could they possibly let that hatred go?
Impossible.
A dream!
Kronos only shrugged indifferently.
"If I can beat them once, I can beat them again," he said calmly.
"Even if they challenge me a second time, the result will be the same."
"The Whitebeard Pirates are losers after all. They were never my opponents."
His words rang out over the battlefield, arrogant and unyielding.
In that moment, it felt as though a true Emperor stood before the sea—
Kronos, radiating an aura that eclipsed all others.
If these words had been spoken a few days earlier, Marco and the others would have laughed. They would have thought Kronos was joking—because in their hearts, such a thing could never happen.
But now…
After witnessing Whitebeard's defeat with their own eyes, they had no choice but to accept it.
And then—
Whitebeard, against all odds, suddenly stood up.
His tiger-like eyes burned with fury as he glared at Kronos.
Word by word, he growled:
"Kronos… what do you mean?"
"Are you humiliating me on purpose?"
"Why don't you finish me here and now—why let me live?"
He could not understand his enemy's intentions.
All he felt was rage—
For to be spared like this was, in his eyes, an insult to the name of Whitebeard.
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