At that moment, the figures standing aboard the warship were none other than Lin Xuan, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, Conis, Orochimaru, Rayleigh, and the newly reincarnated Pirate King, Gol D. Roger!
Two days earlier, Lin Xuan had tasked Orochimaru with attempting the Impure World Reincarnation technique at Roger's cenotaph. The attempt failed, as the cenotaph lacked Roger's DNA. But when Rayleigh learned of Lin Xuan's plan to have Roger himself save Ace, he agreed wholeheartedly. He shared information he'd gathered over the years about possible locations of Roger's true grave.
Since Rayleigh only had a few suspicious sites, Lin Xuan accompanied him to investigate. Fortunately, Lin Xuan's ninja allies, scattered across the world causing chaos, had placed Flying Thunder God kunai in strategic locations. This allowed them to locate Roger's actual tomb and successfully reincarnate him in just two days!
The Impure World Reincarnation worked in the pirate world, too, though it required finding the target's DNA. Without relying on his system, Lin Xuan saved a significant amount of reputation points.
Their sudden appearance on the warship was due to a Flying Thunder God kunai placed in a secluded corner of the Ascendancy. Lin Xuan had arranged for Minato's team to plant the kunai there in advance.
The one who had just spoken was, naturally, the freshly reincarnated Roger. Time was short, so they hadn't explained much to him. Brought straight to the warship after his revival, he was still dazed and confused. Hearing Ace's words, he mistakenly thought Ace was calling Whitebeard his father.
When Rayleigh realized Lin Xuan had teleported them onto the warship, surrounded by navy soldiers, his heart sank. But then Roger, ever the reckless captain, loudly blurted out his question, making Rayleigh's face pale as he braced for a fight.
He was ready to face a swarm of navy elites if their cover was blown. But Lin Xuan just smiled calmly and said, "Relax, my people have everything under control. The navy around us see us as allies."
"Seriously?" Roger, who thought he'd just caused a disaster, was skeptical. But as he looked around, he noticed that despite his outburst, the nearby navy soldiers only glanced their way briefly. As Lin Xuan said, they treated them like comrades.
"How'd you pull that off? Some kind of mind-tricking Devil Fruit power?" Roger asked, amazed.
Rayleigh, who'd had more time to understand Lin Xuan's group, had a hunch. "Is it that Uchiha Madara? Did he use that Sharingan thing to cast an illusion on them?"
"It's the Sharingan's illusion, alright, but Madara's not the only one who can pull it off," Lin Xuan said with a smirk, then called out, "Obito, show yourself!"
To Roger and Rayleigh's astonishment, the empty space before them warped, and a figure emerged from the distortion—Uchiha Obito, restored to his youthful form by Lin Xuan.
"Greetings, boss!" Obito said respectfully, bowing to Lin Xuan. Ever since Lin Xuan had reincarnated Nohara Rin for him, Obito's loyalty was unshakable, even if he had to grit his teeth to tolerate Kaguya standing nearby.
Lin Xuan nodded, pleased with Obito's deference.
Roger, meanwhile, stared at Obito in awe. "A space-related ability? That's incredible! Why didn't I ever get a Devil Fruit like that?"
Rayleigh's mouth twitched at Roger's unfiltered envy. Same old captain. Even after death, he's still a goofball. He could barely stand to watch.
Just then, a voice from the execution platform cut through, saving Roger from further embarrassment. Sengoku's booming voice declared, "No, your father is Gol D. Roger!"
Roger froze, stunned, his eyes locking onto Ace on the platform. "Rayleigh, what's Sengoku talking about? Did he just say that kid… is my son?"
Rayleigh took a deep breath. "Yeah, that's right. His name's Ace—Portgas D. Ace. He's your son with Rouge."
Roger's eyes widened as he stared at Ace. After a long pause, he said hoarsely, "My son… he's grown up so much?"
Then his face darkened as the situation sank in. "What's going on here? Why's my son about to be executed? What's Karp doing? I entrusted my kid to him, and this is how he handles it?"
Both Rayleigh and Lin Xuan winced at his words, thinking the same thing: You've got some nerve saying that. If it weren't for Karp, your son would've been dead long ago.
Roger, oblivious to the full story, was still fuming, rolling up his sleeves as if ready to storm off and confront Karp.
But at that moment, Sengoku's cold voice rang out again. "Your mother, Portgas D. Rouge, was a remarkable woman. She fooled the navy—no, the entire world. Who could've imagined a woman keeping a child in her womb for twenty months to evade our pursuit?"
The revelation sent shockwaves through the crowd.
Roger himself looked thunderstruck, frozen in place.
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T/N:
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