Liam Ross looked down at the unconscious Vice Admiral Spider and let out a satisfied grin. "At least you know when to back down," he muttered.
Then he turned toward Eustace, who was barely holding himself upright, half-dead but still standing. "Alright," Liam said evenly. "It's time. Go fulfill your final wish."
Eustace blinked, caught off guard, before giving a faint, grateful smile. His voice came weak but steady. "Can you give me a moment? I just... want to say goodbye to my people."
Liam didn't answer, only gestured with a small nod that said go ahead.
Dragging his battered body, Eustace made his way toward the rebels.
"Eustace…" one of the older men, Keitch, called out, his voice trembling with sorrow. But before he could say more, Eustace stopped him with a weak laugh.
"Keitch, everyone listen to me. Moriah is dead. We've finally won. We should be celebrating, shouldn't we?"
"But you—"
Keitch's voice cracked, but Eustace shook his head.
"I'm fine," he said, forcing a grin despite his pale, blood-drained face. "Maybe this is what I was meant for. Maybe this was always my destiny."
Even on the brink of death, he tried to ease his comrades' grief with humor.
He looked around at the faces some familiar, some less so but all united by the same dream: to free their people from tyranny, to give the poor and oppressed a life worth living.
The first two goals, they had achieved together.
As for peace and happiness… he believed, deep down, that day would come soon enough.
Eustace straightened his back, his voice echoing through the square.
"I won't be walking the road to happiness with you," he declared. "But remember what I've always said where there are dreams, there's hope. The people of Liria will live free and happy lives. I believe that."
His words weren't loud, yet they carried with them a kind of power a spark that ignited something in every heart present.
For a moment, the world fell silent.
Then, as if a dam had burst, cheers exploded across the courtyard.
"Long live freedom!"
"Eustace! Our hero!"
The cries rose like waves, shaking the air itself.
Eustace closed his eyes and smiled, basking in that final moment of glory.
With the rising sun painting the sky gold, he stood tall and proud and walked away with Liam Ross at his side.
Behind them, the unconscious Vice Admiral Spider suddenly opened his eyes.
In a single, spring-like motion, he jumped to his feet, leaving the stunned marines gaping.
"Vice Admiral, what should we do about the rebels?" a Major asked cautiously.
Spider's sharp gaze swept across the field. "We're the Navy, not a local militia. Leave them to their own mess. Gather the men we're heading back to the ship."
The Major blinked but obeyed without question. The World Government had strict orders: the Navy was forbidden to meddle in domestic politics unless directly commanded to intervene.
...
Meanwhile, Eustace led Liam to a small, shabby house on the outskirts of the town. Inside, sunlight filtered through the cracks of the wooden walls, falling upon a sleeping infant wrapped in a thin blanket.
The child had a tuft of bright red hair sticking up like a flame.
Eustace froze, his expression softening instantly. He knew without a doubt this was his son, Eustace Kidd.
"Eustace! You're alive?"
An old man named Osmond rushed forward in shock. Seeing Eustace covered in blood, he nearly dropped to his knees. "You're hurt badly!"
Eustace smiled and shook his head. "I've been through worse."
Then his gaze drifted to the infant, who blinked up at him with round, curious eyes.
For a long moment, father and son looked at each other one at the end of his life, the other just beginning his.
"Got any water?" Eustace asked quietly.
Osmond nodded, hurrying out. When he returned, he carried a basin of murky water. Eustace cleaned the blood from his face and clothes, then gently picked up the baby.
Outside, under the morning light, father and son shared their first and last moment together.
"That's your child?" Liam asked, though he already knew the answer.
Eustace looked down, smiling tenderly. "Yeah. His name's Eustace Kidd. My wife, Claire she gave him to me before she passed. My greatest gift."
Liam fell silent.
He'd never known love like that past or present. In both lives, he was a loner through and through.
"Still," Eustace said, his voice fading, "thank you for helping me. Without you, I wouldn't have seen him again."
Liam waved him off. "Don't mention it. Stay with your kid."
With that, he turned and leapt away into the forest canopy, vanishing into the trees.
Moments later, he heard the faint wail of a newborn echoing behind him.
So that's why the future Kidd turned out so wild, Liam thought with a sigh. He grew up without his parents raised by the world itself.
No wonder the kid was angry.
Deep in the forest, Liam perched on a high branch, gazing toward the horizon.
Then, as always, the mechanical voice echoed in his head:
"Congratulations, Host. You have completed the designated Sign-In task. Reward: One Mystery Chest. Open it now?"
"Well, I've got nothing better to do," Liam muttered. "Open it."
A burst of violet light flared before him as the chest cracked open.
Inside lay a fruit its surface etched with swirling patterns of strange symbols.
A Devil Fruit.
Liam's brow furrowed. "No way. I didn't even have to roll for it this time?"
He picked it up, studying it carefully. Something about it seemed familiar.
Then the system chimed again:
"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained the Paramecia-Type Magnet-Magnet Fruit!"
Liam's jaw dropped. "Wait… what? The Magnet Fruit? Are you kidding me?"
He froze for a moment before scowling. "System, you sure you didn't glitch? The Magnet-Magnet Fruit's still inside Eustace. Don't tell me this is a fake?"
It didn't respond.
The Magnet-Magnet Fruit one of the strongest in the Paramecia class. A power said to rival the Quake-Quake Fruit, if mastered correctly.
But Kidd never did. His failure to develop it properly cost him dearly his arm to Red-Haired Shanks, and later his pride to another Emperor.
Still, the question remained: how did the fruit end up in Liam's hands if the real one was still inside Eustace?
Then, suddenly, Liam froze.
A dreadful thought struck him.
There was only one explanation.
Eustace was dead.
He raced back toward the house at once, moving faster than the wind.
When he arrived, he found Osmond weeping beside a fresh grave.
"Sir, you're back," the old man said through tears.
Liam's chest tightened. "Did he say anything before he passed?"
Osmond nodded. "He said he owed you a debt and hoped that his son might repay it one day."
Liam almost laughed in disbelief. "So that's your plan, huh, Eustace? Even in death, you're still handing me responsibilities."
He wanted to refuse. He really did. But as he looked at the small red-haired infant, a thought crept in.
This kid would grow up to be one of the Supernovas bold, fierce, and infamous.
And if he trained him…
Maybe, just maybe, twenty years from now, the world would meet a very different Eustace Kidd.
Heh, Liam thought, smirking. Why not? Let's see if I can raise the next Emperor of the Sea.
The wind rustled through the forest, carrying with it the echo of his laughter.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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