42 Chapter – 42 What Comes After a Tragedy?

"Sabo, you're a noble too just like the rest of them, aren't you?" 

"You traitor!" 

"The whole thing was just an act, you wanted to laugh at us, right?" 

"You just wanted to mock us before burning us alive just like the rest of them!" 

"You murderer!"

"You traitor!"

"You ungrateful bastard!"

"You noble son of a bitch...!" 

"I... I didn't... I swear… I didn't!" With a loud shout, Sabo woke up covered in sweat and looked around.

"Meat... more meat... I'm hungry." "I'm going to become the greatest pirate and surpass even Him!" 

As these words reached his ears, Sabo looked at his side and spotted Luffy and Ace sleeping nearby and mumbling something about food and pirates.

Upon hearing their sleep talk, Sabo realized that he was still in the ASL tree house. He took a few deep breaths. Then, he looked in the direction of the window and muttered with a tired expression, "So, it was all... just a dream..."

He didn't feel like sleeping anymore. After getting up, he walked to the crow's nest and sat down on the wooden platform, staring at the distant sky with a longing expression, "The world out there… I wonder what it's like. Is the wider world just like the Kingdom of Goa, or is it any different?"

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The next day, somewhere in the Forests of Mt. Colubo

"Ryuma…!"

"Ryuma…!"

"Ryuma! Ryuma! Ryuma!"

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy were walking through a part of the forest, calling out Ryuma's name. Specifically, Ace and Sabo were searching for him while Luffy was just a tag-along. 

The reason? To give him their answer – whether they wanted to leave this island with Ryuma now and become members of his crew or stay back, train, and set out on their own when they came of age.

If it was ten months ago, their answers would have been obvious—they wanted to set out with him as members of his crew; other things did not matter to them. However, a lot of unforeseen events occurred in the past ten months. Just as Ryuma said, their answers may not be the same the next time; their answers are definitely not the same now. Things... have changed.

Luffy joining their trio is one thing; the other is the burning of the Grey Terminal.

Two days have passed since the burning of the Grey Terminal, and witnessing such an incident has left a deep impact on the three of them. Ace and Luffy are still somewhat fine, knowing that most of the residents of the Grey Terminal were rescued and are still alive, while Bluejam and his men died. However, Sabo… Sabo has been traumatized to the point that he hasn't caught a wink of sleep for the past two days.

Every time he tried to sleep, the screams of people burning in the fire of Grey Terminal would haunt his dreams and wake him up. This affects him even more because many of the folks there had taken care of him when he was younger. They would tell him stories and other things; therefore, Sabo was much closer to the folks living in the Grey Terminal compared to Ace and Luffy.

At this point, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to say that Sabo is terrified of his dreams. Every time he sleeps, it's shallow and light, and he instantly wakes up when the night of tragedy invades his dreams. 

At the same time, he is unsure of what he should do now. 

Sabo's initial reason for wanting to go to sea and become a pirate was to attain freedom from the constraints imposed by his biological parents. He didn't want to live the life dictated by his greedy and selfish parents, and he believed that the only way to break free from it all was by setting out to sea and becoming a pirate; after all, pirates represent freedom and that's what he yearned for from the bottom of his heart. 

However, that concern no longer occupies his mind. 

Due to the arrangements Ryuma made, his parents can no longer dictate how he should live his life.

Sabo doesn't have to worry about all that anymore, considering his parents have been stranded in the middle of the forests and won't be allowed to leave unless they transform into better individuals. If it takes forever for such a change to happen, then they will the rest of their lives in the forests of Mt. Colubo without help from others.

While this is a good and welcome development, it has also created another problem for Sabo. With the removal of his constraints, the once unquenchable thirst for freedom has diminished. The desire to set out to sea and become a pirate is no longer as pronounced as it used to be.

Therefore, things have definitely changed compared to how they were ten months ago.

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"Yo!" waved Rio, calling out to Ace, Sabo, and Luffy. Their current expressions were rather funny; their jaws were hitting the floor, and their eyes had popped out as they looked at the unbelievable sight before them.

"Oh, you guys, haah, just give me a minute, just haah, just thirteen more reps are left, then haah, then I can take a break," said Ryuma with heavy breaths. 

"Al...right!" nodded Ace and Sabo, their expressions taken aback as they closely observed the size of the giant rock resting on Ryuma's back. It moved up and down along with Ryuma as he performed weighted pushups, using a giant boulder that could even be equated with a small mountain!

While Ace and Sabo were taken aback by the sheer amount of weight Ryuma might have lifted, Luffy grinned with bright eyes. He walked closer to Ryuma, watching his horned friend closely.

A minute later, Ryuma finished the set of a thousand weighted pushups. While resting, he looked at Ace and Sabo, saying, "Alright then, now both of you can talk..."

"Ah… yeah-yeah!" the two of them suddenly reacted, realizing they were too shocked and had forgotten why they were there. Quickly recalling, Ace said, "It's about what you said before leaving." 

"Oh?" muttered Ryuma and winked at Rio. Rio understood Ryuma's meaning; he distracted Luffy with something fun and led him away so that the three of them could talk without having to worry about the big-mouthed Luffy.

After Luffy was led away, Ryuma looked at the two of them with an expression of interest and asked, "So, what's your decision? Is your desire the same as it was, or has it changed since then?"

Ace was the first to answer. He bowed and apologized, saying, "My decision has changed. I can't leave with you. I am extremely grateful for what you have done for me, for teaching me how to fight and how to use Observation Haki. But I can't leave without you since I need to stay behind and look after Luffy. He is an idiot and would end up getting himself killed if there is no one to watch over him!" 

Since Luffy has expressly stated that having him around makes him happy, Ace doesn't want to abandon Luffy. He intends to stay behind until Luffy becomes capable of protecting himself.

"Is that so?" muttered Ryuma. He wasn't disappointed; Ace's response was within his expectations. In fact, he had hoped for this to happen.

Ace nodded, "Yes. I will set out on my own when I come of age and one day meet you there as a great pirate! I am sorry, but this is my decision!"

Ryuma smiled, "Then I will be looking forward to that day."

Ace breathed a sigh of relief, happy that Ryuma accepted his decision; then he looked at Sabo. It was Sabo's turn now.

Sabo looked down while biting his lips. He didn't really know what to say; he was unsure about what to do.

Noting Sabo's cloudy eyes, Ryuma looked at Ace, "Ace, can you leave the two of us for a while?"

Ace looked at Sabo, then at Ryuma, and once again at Sabo. He nodded, "Alright!" and went to where Rio had taken Luffy.

With Ace gone, Ryuma looked at Sabo and asked, "So, what's been on your mind, Sabo?"

While gazing at Ace, Luffy, and Rio in the distance, Sabo replied, "Becoming a pirate... I've lost my motivation for that." He paused and added, "The desire to be free from the life my parents wanted to impose on me, I no longer have that. Although it happened instantly and felt kind of underwhelming with the way I obtained it, I am already free, in a sense. But it's just that..."

Ryuma tilted his head, "Just what?"

Sabo sighed, "Now that I have nothing restricting me from the kind of life I want to live, I suddenly don't know what to do. Luffy wants to become the King of the Pirates, Ace wants to become an amazing pirate to surpass Gold Roger and be different from him, and you... you also want to become a pirate have the adventure of a lifetime and live your life without any regrets. But I... I don't know what kind of pirate I want to become. I wanted to become a pirate because pirates embody freedom. What do you become if you are already free? I fear the answer. I fear that if I don't know what kind of pirate I want to become, I might end up becoming someone like Bluejam. I don't want to become a scum like him."

"My dream was to be free, but now that it's already been accomplished, what am I supposed to achieve after becoming a pirate?"

"Eh?" Even Ryuma was taken aback upon hearing Sabo's doubts. His expression was full of question marks, and he didn't know what to answer. In fact, he didn't even think this deeply when he interfered in the canon events. When he ensured that Sabo didn't lose his memory and changed the situation with his parents, Ryuma didn't expect that such a doubt would appear in Sabo's mind.

At this moment, Sabo looked at the sky and said, "At the same time, I am also wondering... why was I born as a noble?" 

"Why were you born as a noble?" muttered Ryuma.

Sabo nodded and said, "I don't remember where I read it, but I did read somewhere that everything happens for a reason. It's part of a cycle and chain of events that link together to form a grand picture of the entire world, with all of us doing something, playing some part. There exist so many people out there—people of multiple tribes, people of multiple classes, people of multiple origins. Yet, I was born as a noble in this kingdom. It ought to have some meaning and reason, right?"

Hearing these words, a smile appeared on Ryuma's face, and he asked, "You have been wondering what you can do with your identity as a noble?"

Sabo looked down and said, "After witnessing what happened that night, I am damn sure that I... I am ashamed of being born as a noble. But the fact that I was born as a noble should mean something... yet I don't know." He paused for a while, then looked at Ryuma and asked, "Ryuma, you have been out of this island, haven't you? So, I must ask you, have you met other nobles and royals? Are all of them scum just like the ones in this Kingdom?" 

"Well… I didn't meet any typical noble or royal in particular, but I did meet and live with some people who can technically be considered descendants of nobles. They are people with their own view of the world, their own set of values; and their own thoughts that may or may not align with others, but they are honorable people," answered Ryuma. He was talking about Shimotsuki Kozaburo, Shimotsuki Koushirou, and Shimotsuki Kuina.

Shimotsuki Kozaburo was a member of the Shimotsuki Family, one of the five ruling clans in the Land of Wano. Technically, he was a noble before he became a pirate. As such, his son and granddaughter can be considered descendants of nobles.

Ryuma continued, "At the same time, although I haven't met them personally, I do know that there are many noble and royal families out there that are good people—those that deeply care for their subjects." There are examples like the Nefertari Family of the Kingdom of Alabasta, the Riku Family of the Kingdom of Dressrosa, several prominent families of the Land of Wano, and the Neptune Royal family of Fishman Island. There ought to be other families as well. 

Certainly, a majority of nobles and royals in this world are trash, but not all of them would be of this sort. Not every noble out there would be scum! The world is grey; there exist black, white, and grey people to keep the world in balance. Therefore, there must exist black, white, and grey nobles and royals as well to maintain the world in a state of balance, as it has been for the past so many years.

An excited smile appeared on Sabo's face as he heard Ryuma's response. "Right?" he said with bright eyes, "I want… I want to be something like that. Since I was born as a noble, I wish to change things so that no such incident occurs again!"

"That so?" muttered Ryuma with a thoughtful expression. Sabo's goal isn't exactly what Ryuma hoped it would be, but it wasn't a bad start.

Sabo nodded, "Yes," and asked, "Do you think it's possible?"

Ryuma shrugged, saying, "I won't claim to know whether it's possible or not; that's for you to decide." He added, "All I can do is offer two pieces of advice that may or may not help you in figuring out a few things."

Sabo inquired, "What are they?"

Ryuma pointed to his index finger and said, "First is understanding the root cause of why things are the way they are. Why were the people of Grey Terminal discriminated against? Why was it burnt? Why are the nobles and royals indifferent to others' lives? You must grasp the root cause of this problem; without understanding that you won't be able to make any significant difference."

"The root cause, huh?" mumbled Sabo. The wheels in his mind had already started turning as he pondered the various factors leading to such a tragedy. He then asked, "And what's the second piece of advice?" 

"Strength!" answered Ryuma as he unfolded his second finger. He added, "In this world, the thing that rules above everything is strength. If you are strong enough, then you can do whatever you want, and nobody will be able to tell you anything. Conversely, if you aren't strong enough, then it doesn't matter how righteous your heart is or how noble your thoughts are; it would all be for naught.

Of course, I won't say something stupid like strength is the only deciding factor; no, that's not the case, it's not the end all be all. 

A lot of important things like motivation, planning, good subordinates, a bunch of resources, and a whole lot of other things that I simply don't know are also required, just to be on the same playing field. But yes, strength is required to move further and dominate the playing field. 

With enough strength, you can have the final say, but before that, there are a lot of things.

The world is comprised of all kinds of people; it's a mix of black, white, and various shades of grey with various people who have a diverse set of interests and motivations. Whatever that may entail, one thing remains common in this world: it's a dog-eat-dog world where the ones with the mightiest fists are the ones that have the final say. This means that if you want to make any difference, you have to be strong enough to be able to make a difference. 

"With enough strength, everything 'might be' possible; without enough strength, everything is nothing but a pipe dream!"

"Strength, is it?" mumbled Sabo. He added, "The root cause of all this and the strength… I see… now I have something to work with!"

"That's good," nodded Ryuma with a smile and asked, "So, now coming back to why we were here in the first place… what's your decision?"

Sabo immediately bowed and apologized, "I am sorry, Ryuma, but I too would like to stay behind and figure out things according to the two pieces of advice you have given me. While I don't know where all of this is going to lead me, I know for a fact that it isn't going to be piracy!" and added, "And aside from watching over Ace and Luffy to make sure they don't do anything stupid, I also want to keep an eye on my parents and the adopted brother to see if nobles can really change. That would help me a lot in figuring out things."

"That's fine by me. Do what you feel is better for you," nodded Ryuma. Suddenly remembering something, he added, "Oh, and you don't have to worry about the military coming all the way here in search of your parents. I have made sure of that. So don't worry; nobody will be searching for them for the time being."

Sabo asked with a doubtful expression, "What did you even do to be so certain?"

Ryuma chuckled and shook his head, "Let it be a secret between a certain someone pretending to be a CP3 agent and the King of the Kingdom of Goa."

Sabo had a lot of question marks on his face, "??" unsure of what Ryuma meant.

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