Sakazuki's gaze turned hazy for a moment...
Time had left its marks on Vegapunk, the kind of marks that everyone eventually carries.
Only now did Sakazuki realize that from the day he first arrested and met him until now... nearly twenty years had passed...
I've reached the age where I should be calling myself an old man...
He shook his head with a faint smile:
"Please, you should take care and rest more."
"By the way, where should this material be delivered?"
Behind Sakazuki, four soldiers were carrying a bed-like device.
Inside lay Boa Hancock, turned into a living husk.
"Send it to Research Division One, the Pacifista project team."
Vegapunk then walked up, leaned over, and peered through the glass cover of the device:
"Hmm... doesn't seem as impressive as you claimed."
"She's beautiful, yes, but it doesn't look like she has the power to petrify people."
Sakazuki stepped forward and opened the cover:
"That's because of the Seastone."
He lifted off the Seastone chains restraining her.
Vegapunk's face instantly changed, his body overwhelmed by an uncontrollable sensation...
"Put it back!"
Sakazuki only chuckled, casually tossing the Seastone chains aside:
"How does it feel?"
Vegapunk's expression grew grave:
"Terrifying."
"I always believed my willpower to be firm."
"But this feeling of being completely overpowered, unable to resist..."
"Hsss—"
"Still... you are ruthless as always."
Vegapunk looked at Boa Hancock's broken and twisted limbs, retrieved but clearly ruined, and shook his head...
Sakazuki said nothing more. With a wave of his hand, the soldiers carried her off to Division One.
Watching the soldiers take Boa Hancock away, Vegapunk stood still, his brows tightly furrowed.
Sakazuki noticed and asked:
"What's the matter?"
Vegapunk shook his head:
"Nothing..."
"Just suddenly had a new thought."
"People always make a one-sided choice—simply eating a Devil Fruit."
"But why was the latest Love-Love Fruit user's power so overwhelming?"
"Perhaps every Devil Fruit has a compatible type of person."
"If the right person eats it, the fruit's ability could be maximized."
"According to the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, and based on all the past data I've collected on Love-Love users, none of them ever achieved this kind of effect..."
Vegapunk seemed almost possessed as he muttered:
"For example, a strong, muscular person eating the Tiger Fruit, or a frail one eating the Mouse Fruit."
"And someone naturally stunningly beautiful eating... the Love-Love Fruit..."
"An innate talent boost..."
"Yes! Yes!!!"
"That's it!!!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Once a new line of thought opened, countless inspirations erupted in his mind:
"Forgive me, Sakazuki!"
"I have to go!"
Sakazuki nodded thoughtfully:
"It's fine. Don't worry about me."
Watching Vegapunk sprint away, Sakazuki muttered to himself:
"Joy Boy... a boy of joy, huh..."
So this is the government's forbidden fruit, the one that can awaken into Joy Boy...
Sakazuki let out a cold huff:
"But... it doesn't matter anymore."
When the plan succeeds, no one will escape.
Not a single one.
They'll all die!!!
...
A few days later.
East Blue, Foosha Village.
Luffy stood at the harbor, watching the busy Red-Haired Pirates:
"You guys are leaving."
Shanks, his cloak draped to cover his missing left arm, rested his right hand on the sword at his waist and sighed:
"Yes."
"We've stayed at this base long enough. It's time to move on."
"You'll be lonely after we leave."
Luffy turned his head away:
"I'll be lonely, yeah."
"But I won't say I want to go with you anymore."
"I've decided—I'll become a pirate on my own!"
Shanks smirked, suddenly making a silly face at Luffy:
"Blehh~~~!"
"That's because I was never going to take you anyway."
"And you?"
"How could you ever be a pirate?"
"Hahahaha!"
Luffy clenched his fists and shouted:
"Of course I can!!!"
"One day, I'll gather a crew as great as yours."
"I'll find the world's greatest treasure."
"And I'll become the Pirate King!!!"
Shanks looked at the boy who dreamed of becoming Pirate King:
"Is that so..."
"Then... take this hat and keep it safe for me."
He placed the straw hat firmly onto Luffy's head:
"This is a hat very precious to me."
"Treasure it well."
"When you've become a great pirate..."
"Bring it back to me."
From under the brim of the hat, Luffy choked out a muffled "mm."
Tears streamed endlessly down his face.
Shanks chuckled, turned, and stepped onto the ship:
"Set sail!!!"
In a farewell filled with laughter, the crew waved their goodbyes to Luffy.
Luffy dared not look up at them, clutching the hat to hide his face.
Only when the Red-Haired Pirates' ship disappeared entirely into the horizon did Luffy remove the hat, revealing tear-reddened eyes and a face full of longing:
"I'll do it, Shanks!!!"
He shouted into the empty sea...
...
Evening.
An unknown sea, aboard the Red Force.
Nothing was more important than eating; everyone was gathered in the banquet hall, drinking, laughing, and feasting.
The noisy laughter was loud enough to scare flocks of birds away.
At the stern railing of the deck, Shanks gazed silently in the direction of Foosha Village.
Benn Beckman emerged from the cabin:
"Knew I'd find you here."
He stepped up beside Shanks, leaning his elbows on the railing:
"Whoo—"
A smoke ring floated out as Beckman turned to him:
"Why did you do it?"
"Was it worth it?"
Shanks smiled:
"What do you mean, worth it?"
Beckman said bluntly:
"Don't play dumb. I'm talking about your arm."
Shanks pressed his right hand against the stump of his left arm, still aching faintly:
"Of course..."
"I staked everything on 'it.'"
"We'll meet again in the New World..."
Beckman didn't notice the subtle difference between "it" and "him":
"I admit, I like the kid Luffy too."
"But I can't believe you'd throw away an arm just for that."
"What are you hiding—"
Shanks suddenly cut him off, pulling him toward the cabin:
"Don't think about it."
"There'll be a day when the answer reveals itself."
"Want to make a bet? I'll bet I'll win."
"And the wager will be your prized bottle of liquor, how about that!!!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Ignoring Beckman's resistance:
"Hey, hey, you dropped your cigarette!"
He dragged him into the cabin...
No one knew what Shanks was truly thinking—not even Beckman, his closest companion.
Just before stepping inside, Shanks turned for one last look toward Foosha Village.
If the records were true—that a Devil Fruit carried its own will—perhaps he had already been unconsciously influenced.
Maybe that was why he had hesitated all this time and never eaten the fruit.
Because it hadn't chosen me...
In that case...
Shanks turned back toward the cabin.
A faint smile curled at his lips:
"Let's feast!!!"
---
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