"Nero! Nero! What exactly was that pure gold? Why did Old Man turn out like that?!"
In Nicuss's palace, Ace roared furiously at the figure on the throne, while the Whitebeard Pirates and others beside him held him back tightly.
"Idiot! Don't be impulsive!"
"Do you want to die? This is that Nero!"
"Your life was bought with Old Man's life; I will never allow you to die so carelessly!"
Nero rested her head on her hand, watching the farce below, her dragon tail gently swaying, and looked at the silent Marco.
"Little Pineapple, it seems you also have a lot of grievances against Me!"
Marco looked up, his eyes sharp: "His Majesty Nero, I want to know why. Wasn't Old Man your friend?"
"Hmph—that situation certainly makes it easy for people to misunderstand. So, I'll only say this once." Nero sighed, looking at everyone.
"Newgate's life was already at its end. That black mud had the characteristic of devouring life… I think it devoured four people at the time, didn't it?"
Marco, Ace, and the others' pupils constricted violently: "You mean the black mud that expanded at the time was to replenish Old Man's life force?"
"Mm-hmm, life force can't appear out of thin air. If there's less here, it naturally has to be taken from elsewhere." Nero's lips curled into an evil, charming smile: "That was a truly good thing that could let Newgate live another lifetime."
"...Aokiji!" Marco squeezed out two words through gritted teeth.
"Mm-hmm, freezing is indeed a very useful method." Nero said pleasantly: "For four people to serve as fuel and allow Newgate to fight for so long, it truly is a miracle."
"The moment Newgate regained his youth, he should have known all this, which is why his last words carried his gratitude towards Me."
Nero walked down from the throne, step by step, with her hands behind her back: "What about you all? A bunch of good-for-nothings. I warned you ten years ago, didn't I?"
When she reached Marco, Nero leaned in and whispered in his ear: "A ragtag group…"
"…"
The familiar taunt crossed through time, but this time Marco no longer had the confidence to refute.
And Nero had no interest in wasting words with them: "Get out. Disband the Whitebeard Pirates early, and don't become a blemish on Newgate's legend."
"His Majesty Nero!"
Just as Nero was about to leave, Marco spoke.
Nero stopped, not even turning her head. At this point, she didn't think the current Whitebeard Pirates had anything left to discuss with her.
Thud—
Marco, behind her, prostrated himself on the ground: "His Majesty Nero, I want to use Old Man's favor to ask you to help the Whitebeard Pirates one last time."
"Please help Ace train and let him become a strong individual capable of inheriting the Whitebeard Pirates!"
"What a pity, your Old Man's last favor was used for his funeral." Nero happily refused.
Thud—
Ace also knelt down: "Then, then Roger's favor, please help Marco train!"
"Ace!" Marco's brow furrowed into a knot.
"I didn't choose you because of any favor, Marco!"
Ace pressed his forehead to the floor, speaking to Marco, whose forehead was also on the ground.
"If anyone among us can surpass Old Man, it must be you, who ate the Phoenix fruit, a Mythical Zoan that can rival Nero's Red Dragon fruit!!"
"Mm-hmm, the weak always have a lot of excuses." Nero sighed, squatting down to look at Ace.
"What makes you think you're trash?"
"No, it's not that bad…" Ace first grumbled, then continued: "Akainu's Magma fruit and my Mera Mera no Mi are both Logia-type fruits, but there's a clear distinction between superior and inferior."
"Fire cannot defeat magma. My limit is here. To support the Whitebeard Pirates…"
"Mm-hmm, that's enough! This is far enough!" Nero squatted there, her hand propping her head, her tail swishing behind her.
"Do you know what the maximum temperature of magma is?"
"Huh?" This question clearly touched upon Ace's blind spot in knowledge.
"What about fire? You're a Mera Mera no Mi user, you should at least know that, right?" Nero asked again.
"This… that… Ahahaha!" Ace gave up thinking and laughed a few times, trying to cover it up.
"The general maximum temperature of magma can reach around 1200℃. Fire changes color as its temperature rises; even orange flames have an upper limit of approximately 4600℃."
Nero looked at Ace disdainfully with drooping eyelids: "What's the temperature of your flame? A windproof lighter's temperature is higher than yours, isn't it?"
"It's the Mera Mera no Mi, yet you only care about its explosive power. Didn't Garp ever send you to school?"
Ace fell silent, feeling like he'd been shot in the knee, and his kneeling posture suddenly felt quite natural and comfortable.
"Marco?" Nero stood up and looked at Marco.
"Yes!" Marco also remained kneeling. Kneeling before the Emperor was quite normal; didn't he see that everyone else was unaccustomed to standing now?
"What are the characteristics of your flame?"
"Uh… it seems to be healing, activating cells…" Marco answered timidly.
"Seems?" Nero squinted.
"Definitely! It's the ability to activate cells and heal!"
"Then why are you still such a scrawny chick?" Nero walked up to him: "Bearing the name of Whitebeard, you enjoy the world's top resources."
"And you have a top-tier fruit like the Phoenix. Unlike others' bottlenecks, you can completely overcome these through extensive training."
"Marco… you are weak without reason…"
Marco fell silent. This wasn't a difficult principle. The Phoenix fruit gave him vigorous vitality. As Nero said, if he trained desperately, no one could surpass him.
"Take the two pieces of advice I've given you and get out." Nero sneered, looking at the speechless crowd: "I am not Newgate, and I don't want to be dragged down by you bunch of trash."
"Also, if you don't acknowledge Roger, don't use his name to bargain with Me."
Nero's pupils constricted into a line, and a fierce aura pressed down on Ace: "If there's a next time, I'll slaughter you!"
Ace: "…"
Marco: "…"
The Whitebeard Pirates: "…"
...On the other side, Luffy was using a code to inform his companions to meet again in two years at Sabaody Archipelago.
And he successfully became Rayleigh's disciple, training on a small island near Amazon Lily.
Successfully wasted two years…
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!