Whitebeard could have become king, but he didn't want to.

_________________

At this moment, readers around the world felt a sense of foreboding.

In the Drum Kingdom, heavy snowfall turned daylight into a cold darkness, with frigid winds that could freeze any living being within an hour.

However, this overwhelming cold could not quench the fiery passion of the Kingdom's residents at this moment, ignited by the short battle between Ace and Akainu.

"What... what is Ace trying to do... It's blatant provocation, man!"

"Keep running, don't care!"

Hiriluk felt sorrow after seeing Ace stop and turn to face Akainu, who had provoked him with a few words.

"The Will of D... Despite the power of this mysterious will, when it becomes too much, it backfires. In this case, the pure will to justify the greatness of a pirate to a lowly Marine Admiral? That's a big mistake you're making, boy, sigh."

Kureha sighed in regret as she watched the verbal skirmish between Ace and Akainu quickly escalate toward a losing battle for Ace.

"That damn admiral..."

King Mapol also felt bad about Akainu's actions.

"... This is bad."

Not only him, but his beautiful wife with snow-white hair and blue eyes, Carla, also had an annoyed expression on her face.

•———•———•———•———•

Chapter's Events:

—————————

"Take back… Haa… What you just said!!!" Ace stopped and turned to face Akainu.

"Stop, Ace!!! Keep going!!!"

"Ace!!?" The Whitebeard Pirates tried to urge Ace to ignore it and keep running. But to no avail, he broke free from the hands trying to pull him and said:

"He's mocking my old man…"

"Ace!!!" Even Luffy started to worry.

"Your real father, Roger, stood in his way. And so Whitebeard is a loser who will never become king."

"How am I mistaken?"

"You bunch of thugs keep yelling Boss this, Boss that…"

"You prance about the seas pretending to be a family." Akainu did not retract his words but added some venomous ones to the mix.

Making Ace even more upset.

"Stop right there!!!"

But Akainu did not stop and continued his provocations;

"For how many decades has he ruled the seas, never becoming a king... and never accomplishing anything!?"

"In the end, he was stabbed by his idiot son who was fooled by some sweet talk!! And he's going to die protecting that fool!!!"

"…!!" Squardo, who heard that, felt his heart being stabbed by knives instead of words.

"He really did live an empty life, didn't he!?"

"STOP IT!!"

Ace yelled, unable to bear Akainu's words any longer.

"Don't listen to him, Ace!!! Come on!!!" Izou tried with Ace but to no avail.

Ace's body caught fire, ready to engage in battle.

The atmosphere began to heat up.

"The old man gave us a place where we belonged!!!"

"What do you know about his greatness!!?"

On the other side, Akainu's right shoulder melted into a mass of intense magma.

"If people don't live the right way, there's no reason for them to live!!! Pirates like you don't deserve a place to belong!!!"

"Whitebeard will die as a loser!!! A fitting death for the admiral of a mountain of garbage!!!" exclaimed Akainu.

"Whitebeard is the pirate who created this era!!!" On the other side, Ace defended Whitebeard without backing down.

("Don't mock the old man who saved me!!!")

•———•———•———•———•

Whole Cake Island:

"Do you think it was hard for Newgate to become king because he didn't do it?"

"What would a wretched admiral like you know about Newgate's greatness?"

"The man even Rocks couldn't force to bow? Do you think it was hard for him to do what Roger did?"

"Mama! Mama! You ignorant and arrogant admiral! But you're really lucky that Whitebeard has lost his brilliance and his youthful years... Otherwise, could you really withstand his wrath? I wonder..."

"Pirates don't have the right to belong anywhere? By what standard do you say that? Come on... Let me see if you have the strength and courage to take my castle and the place I belong to away from me...!!!"

At this moment, blood-red thunder exploded from the massive cake castle, Linlin's Conqueror's Haki burst was devastating and terrifying, but it wasn't felt by those in the art store.

Linlin was extremely angry at every word Akainu said about Whitebeard... and even angrier when Akainu said pirates like her didn't deserve to belong anywhere.

Did he know that when she wasn't a pirate or a demon, when she was just a child abandoned by her parents and lost her place of belonging... she wasn't the only one... millions of children are abandoned... that's why most of them became pirates... don't they have the right to choose a place to belong?

She saw Ace's story and understood why he had to become a pirate after all... Only a pirate's life suits people like them who were born free.

"Calm down, Linlin, you'll destroy what you've built... This wretched admiral isn't worth getting angry over, he's just spouting nonsense to prevent more of Whitebeard's pirates from escaping."

At this moment, Streusen arrived and tried to calm her.

…

Wano Country:

Inside the art store in the Flower Capital.

Paa!!

"My brother isn't like that!"

Oden smashed the table in front of him, which wasn't damaged at all, as it was an element of the art store.

"If he wanted to become king instead of Roger, he would have done it already! I already offered to gather the Poneglyphs and read them for him, but he refused! His goal was always just to have a family...!"

Just like Ace in the manga, Oden felt very angry and was also provoked by Akainu's words.

"He must really hate pirates... I bet my father is going to shove that naginata up his ass after saying all that..."

Whity Bey was angrier than she seemed.

Little Momonosuke, in her lap, felt her wild aura and started crying, and she hurried to calm him down.

…

Urara Island:

"Whitebeard is a loser... you say?"

"Wororororo!!!"

Kaido couldn't hold back his laughter at the manga scene and the provocative words in every speech bubble of Akainu.

"He couldn't become king because Roger stood in his way... you say?"

"Worororororo!!"

The more he read, the more he laughed uncontrollably.

"This is amusing... I really have a great desire to see Newgate's reaction to this... His expression must be as ugly as if he had eaten shit..."

"King... what do you think? Do you agree with this arrogant admiral's words?"

"I see that Whitebeard in the manga was content to take care of his family because he had already achieved what he wanted... Everyone has specific dreams and ambitions, and once they achieve them, their ambition lies in maintaining them."

King stated his position in a few lines.

"Hmm... Whitebeard's history is rich in glory, he was a man worthy of ruling an era and having it named after him, but this admiral is burying all that in the dirt with his words... Do you know why, King?" Kaido asked.

"..." King remained silent.

"Wororororororo! When you reach your end, the enemy will treat you like a fart no matter how great your glory was!"

"No matter how terrifying your name was in the past!"

"No matter how fearsome your power was in the past!"

"Now you are losing your life at my hands! Damn you and your proud past! You will die at my hands! Wororororo!"

"That's how Akainu sees Whitebeard at this moment."

_________________

Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):

_________________

Chapter 744: Moments Before the Shock.

Chapter 745: The Death of Portgas D. Ace! (Part 1)

Chapter 746: The Death of Portgas D. Ace! (Part 2)

_________________

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