Chapter 228: Increased Abilities and Future Plans.

"Shanks..."

"Yeah, I felt it too. — Or rather, it's strange not to feel it, right?"

As The White Knight flew away, a few figures stood on the side of the Red Force, arms crossed.

"The Whitebeard Pirates' 'aura' has changed."

If the Whitebeard Pirates were like a pack of wolves that lost their leader, filled with sadness, confusion, and despair before, now:

"Has a new 'leader' been born?"

"Who could it be?"

The chubby Lucky Roo, wearing small sunglasses and gnawing on a piece of meat, asked in confusion.

After all, the Red-Haired Pirates had been dealing with the Whitebeard Pirates for a long time, and even the chubby Lucky Roo knew there wasn't anyone in the Whitebeard Pirates who could quickly take charge.

It's not that Marco, Jozu, or Vista aren't strong, but they aren't suited to be captains.

There's an old saying: 'A gentle place is a hero's grave.' Under Whitebeard's decades of protection, the captains of the Whitebeard Pirates lost the ambition and Haki a captain should have!

That's why Whitebeard promoted the newcomer Ace to the second division captain and trained him hard, hoping he would lead the Whitebeard Pirates. But after the Summit War...

Creak,

The cabin door opened again, and the captains of the Whitebeard Pirates filed out. Although still sad, their spirits were much better than before! And leading them was:

??

"Captain Shanks,"

The black-haired man with a mask slightly bowed to the red-haired man on the Red Force.

"Thank you very much for your help."

"I am Essa, the acting captain of the Whitebeard Pirates. Nice to meet you."

Facing the humble black-haired masked man, the red-haired man touched his chin with interest.

"Likewise~~"

A miracle?

---

"Well, the Whitebeard Pirates don't have many Devil Fruits."

Think about Big Mom and Kaido, their officers each have a Devil Fruit. — Although most of Big Mom's are 'food type', and almost all of Kaido's are animal type.

In comparison, the Whitebeard Pirates seem quite poor, only:

Swish,

With a flip of the wrist, The White Knight had three pages in his hand. The first page showed a green mythical bird full of life, the second page sparkled with 'golden' diamond light, and the last page was just a simple pocket.

Phoenix Page, Diamond Page, Pocket Page.

Hearing that Roman could use his fruit ability to carry other Devil Fruit abilities, Marco, Jozu, and Blamenco immediately stepped forward, cutting their wrists with daggers! Blood spurted three feet, and they didn't even blink, making The White Knight's mouth twitch.

The other captains also looked regretful for not having Devil Fruit abilities, some even threatened to find a Devil Fruit to eat and bleed for Roman to use, making Roman a bit overwhelmed by their enthusiasm.

"Great, with the 'Pocket Page' I can cosplay Doraemon."

The Pocket Fruit, from the sixth division captain Blamenco. In theory, it's a good support fruit for a one-man army, but he used it to store big hammers... Roman didn't even want to complain about the habit of developing every fruit for combat in this world.

"With this, I finally don't have to swallow pages to store things."

Swallowing pages to store things had always consumed Roman's energy, which is why he always looked weak despite daily training. It was because he had too many continuous abilities active.

As for the Phoenix Page, Roman only planned to develop the 'Phoenix Tear' large-scale healing skill. Combined with his blood bottle paper, it would be like a mobile Izumi water! — Too bad the Straw Hat crew is small, otherwise, continuous large-scale healing in team battles would drive the opponents to despair. 

As for the Diamond Page... give it to Nami?

Forget it.

The White Knight shook his head. If he gave it to Nami, she would probably train non-stop for twenty-four hours until she awakened it.

Better let her be the Thunder Queen~~

Next, return to the 'main body' and deliver these pages first.

Then head to Amazon Lily...

Thinking about it, he's almost become a delivery man in the pirate world!

The White Knight teared up.

---

While The White Knight was on his way back, Roman was:

"Sengoku Fleet Admiral,"

Facing the serious Marine Fleet Admiral, ordinary Celestial Dragons wouldn't provoke him. Even Roman didn't dare to act recklessly with this 'skin'.

"Alright, alright, I admit I did it on purpose. But—"

Chew, chew~~

"Isn't this better for everyone? If you had really killed Ace and Luffy with one hit, Vice Admiral Garp would have gone crazy and started a killing spree, right?"

Roman spread his hands.

Chew, chew~~

"At that point, the Marines would have been fighting among themselves in front of the whole world, and not even the World Government could handle that scandal. Compared to that, letting a small fry like Straw Hat Luffy escape is no big deal..."

"Sigh,"

In fact, Sengoku didn't want to see his friends turn against each other either. But:

Chew, chew~~

"Garp!!"

In my office, sitting on my sofa, eating my rice crackers! I... I guess I can't do anything about this stubborn old man.

"Hahaha, you guys continue, don't mind me!"

The burly silver-haired old man on the sofa laughed while stuffing rice crackers into his mouth, making Sengoku's blood pressure rise.

"You, make me a cup of tea."

"Yes!"

As the orderly left, only Roman, Sengoku, and Garp were left in the room.

"Saint Roman, I won't pursue the matter of the Summit War. But what about the Impel Down incident? Don't tell me that The White Knight had nothing to do with you, or I'll let you taste my Buddha Palm!"

What can I say, it was all to protect Luffy...

"Injustice, Fleet Admiral Sengoku."

"The prisoners who escaped with us were all taken in by Buggy."

"And the rest were released by Blackbeard. As for us Straw... okay, okay," Roman raised his hands, indicating he didn't want to argue. It wasn't because he was afraid of Sengoku's glowing hands.

"Anyway,"

Roman looked seriously at the Marine Fleet Admiral in front of him and proposed a solution.

"Even if this goes to the Five Elders, the worst they'll do is put me in confinement in the Holy Land. How about this—"

Roman stood up and gave Sengoku a serious salute.

"Let me join the Marines."

"To atone for my sins, what do you think?"

??!!

---

"Roman, what are you thinking?"

After leaving Sengoku's office, walking side by side in the ruins of Marine Headquarters, Garp scratched his silver hair and asked Roman. He had stayed in Sengoku's office to prevent Roman from being killed by Sengoku's palm.

And now, this little guy Roman wasn't staying away but was actively joining the Marines?

"You're a pirate... cough cough, you're a Celestial Dragon, why join the Marines..."

Is this a joke?

"I am a noble Celestial Dragon, and since I receive tribute from all nations, I must protect the people!"

This is ridiculous!

...

"Well, actually, I'm just looking for a place to train my strength. And the Marines, who deal with pirates every day, are the best place for that."

Since Roman risked his life to save Luffy, his favorability with Garp had skyrocketed! If it weren't for Roman being a Celestial Dragon, Garp would have wanted Roman to call him grandpa.

Roman rolled his eyes at this. Are you Whitebeard or what?

"Well, no matter my motives, having more strength to hunt pirates is a good thing, right? And don't worry, as long as it doesn't involve the Straw Hat crew, I'll stand with the Marines."

In fact, when he first crossed over, if he hadn't been stuck on the Silver Pirates' ship, Roman would have joined the Marines long ago.

"That's true."

Garp nodded.

"Then I'll help you out before I retire!"

---

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