Freedom and Prison.

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(It would be appreciated if you could provide more power stones and help elevate your favorite story back to the top ten.)

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Join the book's Discord Channel at: https://discord.gg/haSnw9ry2H 

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Wano Country:

The Whitebeard Pirates are still accompanying Oden on a tour through the vast lands of Wano at the moment.

However, today they are more interested in exploring and enjoying One Piece manga, not Wano's food, and unique culture.

"... Jimbei, this looks like a wonderful son! Well, I've decided, I'll have a new son!" 

"Gurarararara!"

laughed Whitebeard.

Upon hearing this, a helpless smile appeared on the faces of the Whitebeard crew members, even Oden and the Akazaya trembled instinctively.

Whitebeard was delighted at the idea of getting a whale shark as a son, and he couldn't wait to head to Fishman Island immediately.

In the manga pages, every word Jimbei said to Ace made him more determined about it.

...

..

•———•———•———•———•———•

Chapter 529: "Beast Hell."

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After a long silence, Jimbei spoke, saying: 

"... To the government, I am just a pirate-hating pirate..." 

"But you guys are totally different...!! Haa... Haa..."

"Pirate-hating...? You...?" Ace was surprised to hear that.

Ace's inquiry was understandable for Jimbei, who began to clarify: 

"It might be surprising to you, Ace... but I've visited Whitebeard's ship many times." 

"You've got class, and you traveled the sea floor doing your business... I liked you guys..."

Ace raised his head to look at Jimbei before saying: 

"... I seem to remember you trying to kill me a couple of times..." 

"...Same goes for you...!! I just wanted to be of use to him..." 

By saying that, Jimbei meant Whitebeard. 

"Now... Fishman Island is at peace...!! And it's all thanks to your old man, Whitebeard...!!!" 

Jimbei appeared extremely grateful to Whitebeard for that.

•———•———•———•———•———•

Marigoa:

"... At least he is well aware of his true position... I like that." 

In the government hall, the five elders, excluding Saint Warcury, who had left for Impel Down, were following the events of the manga with pure curiosity.

"As expected, he has some kind of dependent relationship with Whitebeard, this Jimbei..."

Saint Saturn calmly remarked, showing no signs of any shock.

"Did they try to kill each other, Jimbei and Fire Fist Ace? That was also unexpected..."

"I wonder why that happened?" 

Among the four saints, Saint Venus was the most interested in the reason behind their attempts to kill each other.

"Perhaps they were enemies at the start."

"I bet it was just a test from Whitebeard for each of them."

"That's more logical... Edward Newgate is cunning and unpredictable."

"For Jimbei to say that Fishman Island is safe because of Whitebeard indicates that it's true indeed."

"Yes, he must have declared it as a territory under his protection."

"That was mentioned earlier in the manga, wasn't it?"

"Yes, perhaps." 

The Gorosei agreed that it had already been mentioned, so they quickly absorbed what Jimbei was saying in the new chapter of the volume.

Nothing was outside their expectations so far.

When they saw him, they knew that Whitebeard's strong stance had made a deep impression on Jimbei, making him an almost unofficial follower.

"Heh~ Because he's too strong... That's why we want to bring him down in the manga..." 

Saint Mars said disdainfully after seeing Jimbei talk about the government's decision without being convinced.

"His fault is that he's too strong, but not strong enough to make us flinch as that person did, fufu~"

At that moment, they heard light steps descending from the long staircase. 

Her words carried deep meanings about both Whitebeard and another man... or more precisely; the difference between them.

"... Not even Nika, who was ridiculously strong and still is, can match him... Even I can't help but feel weak sometimes." 

Imu continued to descend the stairs quietly while saying that... The four saints didn't dare to interrupt her or even breathe.

Hearing words of weakness from the undefeated god in their hearts made them instinctively feel weak as well.

"Why hasn't he taken that final step yet, even though he knows he can succeed? Why hasn't he come to see me after all this time? Hmph..."

"Well, I'll accept the delay as long as he doesn't delay the release schedule, fufu..." 

Imu disappeared from the government hall where the empty throne was, and appeared above the red line, her eyes overlooking the fake paradise she created with her own hands and the vast sea she had always desired to sail one day, like any child longing for freedom.

For some reason, she became more distant from freedom, more and more, until she could no longer understand what this word "freedom" meant... unlike her brother Nika, who was getting closer and closer to "freedom" until he became its embodiment.

She and her brother became almost complete opposites with different concepts,

Her brother (Nika) was an embodiment of freedom.

While his sister (Imu) was an embodiment of prison.

'At least until that man came into this world... fufu~ I look forward to your next move.' 

... 

In this world, other people managed to embrace what is called freedom and get close to it to a great extent.

One of those fortunate people was the Pirate King Roger, who had recently become fed up with everything.

This was a sign of his approaching true freedom, just as Joy Boy did one day.

The reason for his boredom and sadness was his separation from the world and the desire to live in the manga world to stand before Ace.

"... I see in him the young self I defeated by following a different path... Ace represents my weak side... completely."

Roger sighed suddenly.

"...!"

Rouge was surprised after hearing her husband's sudden words.

"Ace is strong too."

She said with clear annoyance.

"Wahahahaha! Even if he has my weak side, he's stronger than most people in this world, so yes, Ace is strong!"

Roger said, easing Rouge's annoyance a little.

"Even if he's weak, I'll love him forever, he's my little son... I'll protect him so he doesn't have to be strong..."

Rouge whispered in a low voice.

She seemed more detached from reality than Roger.

Behind them, Rob appeared in silence; they didn't notice his arrival at all.

Rob observed this scene for some time before disappearing again.

'The time is still not right... I will grant you this wish when the time comes... I have approached it anyway.'

Rob had already thought about how to solve this puzzle.

Unlike him and Olvia at that time, who didn't have the ability to come up with a better solution in the Enies Lobby arc... this time was completely different with the Level 20 feature and the last one of the system.

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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):

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Chapter 630: Many Enemies of the Whitebeard!

Chapter 631: Finally, Enlightenment.

Chapter 632: Falling Toward the Third Floor!

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BlackStar_BH:

Today, I wrote reactions to the battle between Luffy and Magellan, and it was fantastic! It seems like I've rediscovered my enjoyment for writing. It's great that I'm still passionate even after 650 chapters!