Chapter 68

It had been more than two months since myself and Issho began our journey back towards North Blue. We tried to avoid any government-affiliated routes as much as possible. During this time, from rumors and news, I had already deduced that my family and its affiliated members were no more and Doffy's fate was all but a mystery, there was not even a snippet of news about the fate of the leader of the Donquixote pirates.

The Elders had completely suppressed the matters regarding that of a former Celestial Dragon, but despite their efforts the rumors of such an event simmered throughout the World Government organisation and I was lucky enough to have caught one of these agents who had recognised me and I had no thoughts of letting him go alive because I didn't want the news of me being alive to surface yet.

Upon learning of Doffy's capture and his subsequent fate of punishment in the form of being crucified in the square as a form of entertainment for the rest of those bastards who called themselves descendants of gods, I felt lost, completely helpless, anger surged through me like an unrelenting storm . Only the hope of my brother holding on or he had made his escape by some sort of a miracle kept me going towards North Blue because, even in such a dire case, myself and Doffy had a place set aside in North Blue as a backup and I wanted to know if anyone else from the family had made it out of this tragedy.

During the time I ventured towards North Blue, Garp, who had been holed up in Marineford, ventured back into the New World like a bloodthirsty beast on a hunt. One famous pirate after another fell into the hands of the Marine Hero, venting out all his anger on the pirates as he always does. Even the infamous Red Count was humbled by the Marine Hero and was imprisoned in Impel Down.

Kuzan also actively worked in the New World, attempting to stabilize the seas. Under Garp's relentless assault in these months, the New World calmed down a bit. Garp had even taken down quite a few dangerous pirates who created havoc, such as Sanjuan Wolf, and countless others who had wrecked havoc in the name of the aftermath of the ascension of the Pirate King.

However, despite the efforts of the Marine Hero, Roger's name was etched in everyone's hearts as the Pirate King, and those from the Roger Pirates had entirely vanished into the wind.

Meanwhile, Dragon had become the leader of a group called the Freedom Fighters which had attracted the attention of the World Government, and a really high first bounty was set on the former Marine Admiral's head. His news of becoming an admiral was also buried, ensuring that such information did not surface among civilians, although most Marines were already aware of Dragon's promotion.

Just as I was lost in thought, Issho's voice cut through the air. "Ross kun, we are here." Despite being blind, Issho used his Observation Haki, to see the world in his own way. We had already made it to the island in North Blue, which was supposed to be the last hideout known only to myself and Doffy.

Every other location in North Blue, which was a stronghold of the Donquixote family was razed to the ground and the fate of the other places in the Paradise should be the same. I understood that someone from within the family had betrayed us, making us completely vulnerable. Despite experiencing a similar betrayal in my first life, it seemed like I hadn't learned my lesson. I had become complacent just because I thought I knew how the world would progress, completely forgetting that the moment I stepped into this world, everything had changed. It seemed like my ignorance, pride, and overconfidence had cost me too much.

After our caravel made it to the shabby port, I disembarked leaving Issho behind. This was the island where it all started for me—the island where my brother Doffy had awakened his Conqueror's Haki and I had taken over Ross's body and soul. With hurried footsteps, I rushed forth. Though I wasn't a god fearing person, I instinctively held onto the crucifix around my neck for hope—for a miracle.

Finally, after a few minutes, I came to a shabby-looking house that seemed completely run down. Seeing the house brought back memories. This was the house where the Donquixote family, which had left the status of celestial dragons behind, settled down. This was the home where Ross and Doffy's mother died of sickness. This was the place that sowed the seeds of hatred in Doffy's heart that almost made him kill Homing.

I used my Observation Haki, hoping against hope. Luckily, I detected three vital signs from within the abandoned house. Though the vital signs were faint, I could easily pick them up.

Just as I entered the shabby house, my rushed movements alerted the occupants within. I could hear faint noises of guns being cocked, ready to fire a hail of bullets. As I stepped inside, the guns rang out, all three opening fire. However, despite my recent brush with death months prior, I had completely recovered.

My dance with death had allowed my physique to evolve, and even my Armament Haki, had a major breakthrough. But despite these advantages, I hadn't thought about training for these past two months. I felt lost, and the uncertainty of Doffy's current made me distracted. Neither could I delve myself into training, as my body was in the process of recovering.

"Clang, clang." The bullets bounced off my body as I instinctively covered myself in Armament Haki. I could even detect a few sea stone bullets among the ones shot.

As the rain of bullets stopped, I finally laid eyes on the three occupants. It was Trebol, a kid with white spiky hair who seemed about eight or nine years old, and another child about five years old. All three sported varied degrees of injuries that were clumsily treated, and Trebol's condition seemed the worst. It seemed like, after being away for all these years, Trebol didn't recognize me.

Realizing who the two kids holding rifles were, I felt relieved somewhat that not everything was lost. One was Gladius, and the other was Rob Lucci.

As the two kids hastily moved to reload their rifles, Trebol, who seemed to be on his last leg, launched a wax attack coated with what little Armament Haki he could muster. I dodged the attack using my future sight.

"Trebol! Enough, it's me, Ross!" I shouted my aura surging, freezing him in his tracks, trying to get his attention, i easily swatted away the second attack that he launched.

Trebol froze, finally realizing it was me who he was attempting to strike and dropped the gun. It seemed like the two attacks and the abrupt shock were too much for him to handle. He fell to his knees, spitting out blood, and both kids moved towards him to make sure he was alright. That was when I understood how dire Trebol's condition truly was. His body was littered with life-threatening wounds, and he even had a few sea stone bullet wounds that hadn't been treated properly and it seemed like those fragments were impeding with his ability to heal and use his devil fruit powers.

"Ross, you're alive! Hahaha, you made it. You really made it alive. Doffy was right; Doffy was always right." Trebol coughed again but managed to sit himself against the wall with the help of the two kids.

I moved next to Trebol, kneeling beside him and quickly checking his condition. In my time in the Marines, I had picked up quite a few medical skills, but the shabby house didn't have anything to treat Trebol. With the Voice of All Things active, I could already see that Trebol was on his last legs, holding on like a last flicker of flame, as if wanting to fulfill his one final objective.

"Trebol, where is Doffy? What about the rest? What exactly happened?" I questioned Trebol, meanwhile asking the two kids to run towards the shore and find a caravel with a blind man to get some medical supplies.

Although they hesitated, my chilling aura left them no room for negotiation. After Trebol gave them the go-ahead, introducing me to the kids, they sprinted out to find the medicines that could save Trebol. But I already knew it was too late. I couldn't tell the kids that because I knew they cared for Trebol, who must have staked his life to keep them safe.

"Tell me, Trebol, what happened? Tell me everything." I calmed down a bit, not wanting to put Trebol under more pressure.

"We became too comfortable and we reached out too far, we were not ready for the New World, Ross. Despite your warnings, we became complacent, and that led to our downfall." Trebol started explaining the events since the Donquixote family ventured into the New World.

"But we had measures to retreat even if the World Government retaliated. How did they get their hands on Doffy?" By Trebol's response, I knew that the World Government's claw had reached Doffy, but I wanted to clearly understand how, because as much as I knew about Doffy's character, even if he smelled a small doubt, he would have retreated.

"It was that bastard, Marcus!. We thought he was one of our own. He was with us for years, leading our expansion in both paradise and the New World by staking his life multiple times. He even saved many of our lives, including Doffy's, a couple of times when we were in danger. We had come to accept him as one of our own." Trebol roared in anger.

"However, the bastard betrayed us. I don't understand exactly why, but Doffy had sent me back to North Blue earlier to maintain things here as he had already decided to retreat from the New World." His voice softened a bit as he spoke of Doffy.

"But Marcus, that bastard, exposed all our plans. As one of our core members, he had access to most of our secrets and connections," Trebol shivered, and though he was a cruel pirate, he genuinely cared about the people he was attached to, and being betrayed by one of their own had hit him hard.

"Trebol, that still doesn't explain how things happened. Maybe they could have taken all our assets, our hideouts, everything. But how did they get their hands on Doffy with all of you surrounding him, even if that bastard betrayed my brother?" I questioned.

Doffy must have retreated or escaped, as I was sure both Diamante and Senor would have staked their lives to create a chance for Doffy to escape, unless they were faced with overwhelming odds and completely cornered with no way out.

"It was that bastard Kaido!. He stabbed us in the back. He called Doffy to meet him personally for some sort of a deal and betrayed us by forming some kind of deal with the government. Senor managed to alert me immediately through our transponder snail right before all the connections cut off, before they were completely surrounded. They hit us everywhere, Ross, even our most remote bases and hideouts. Marcus must have dug out every single piece of information about us. I tried to evacuate the base at Spider Miles, but they were already there. Lao G, Machvise, they all fell. Giona managed to save these two kids by almost sacrificing herself, she is on the island as well but I don't know if she can hold on,we escaped Spider Miles because it was completely surrounded , we have been running. Luckily, Doffy had told me about this hideout before I returned to North Blue, just in case. It seems like his intuition was right."

Now, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, revealing the true depth of betrayal that led to my brother's demise. It wasn't solely Marcus who stabbed him in the back; Kaido played a role in orchestrating the tragedy as well. Had I known of such treachery beforehand, I would have urged Garp to put an end to Kaido's life when he had the chance. But dwelling on regrets now would only serve to deepen the wounds. Instead, I turned to Trebol, urging him to share every detail he possessed about the events that led to the downfall of our family.