svetikya Chapter 492: Walk up to him!
Chapter 492: Walk up to him!
Ace stared at Roger, who was kneeling on the ground.
His eyes were bloodshot. There was a burning fire in his pupils.
The anger in my heart was gripped by something, like thorny vines binding my heart layer by layer, making it hard to breathe. It couldn't burn out, couldn't be swallowed; it just raged wildly inside my chest.
He thought he would only have one thought when he saw Roger.
Do it. Burn this man, burdened with sinful blood, to ashes.
But now, seeing this man who should have been high and mighty kneeling on the ground, blood streaming down his forehead, hands supporting him on the ground, offering up his life and dignity without reservation, only made Ace's muscles stiffen into iron.
Which punch, I just can't bring myself to throw.
The frustration of not being able to do it almost consumed him. He even felt a strong sense of self-loathing.
He hated Roger. He hated the man who gave him blood but never gave him a single day of peace. But now he hated himself even more. He hated himself for hesitating when facing this sinner.
Even a moment's pause is an unforgivable betrayal.
If I were to be even a little soft-hearted, I would be letting down the mother who risked her life to bring him into this world.
My mother kept him in her womb for twenty months in a remote fishing village in the South China Sea to avoid being captured by the navy.
He exhausted his life force to get Ace to act.
How could he dare to be soft-hearted? How could he possibly be soft-hearted?
The white-bearded man stood in front of Ace. He didn't turn around, nor did he say a single word in Ace's defense.
But he heard it.
Ace's breathing was completely erratic. His rapid, panting breaths came one after another, the sound of a wild beast driven to the brink of despair. Whitebeard offered no comfort, only gripping the Murakumogiri tightly. The hilt scraped against his rough palm with a faint grinding sound. The cold glint of the blade was blindingly sharp in the night.
Immediately afterwards, he moved the Murakumo Cut an inch to the side.
Extremely small movements.
The white-bearded man stepped aside, clearing a narrow path. There was no disturbance in the air. But everyone in the room understood in that instant.
Whitebeard is letting go.
As Ace's acknowledged father, he could kill an Admiral for his son and stand against the entire World Government for him. But this step should be taken by Ace himself. The blood debts that have accumulated over twenty years must be settled by the person involved.
Marco and Jozu stood to the side, holding their breath. The red flame of regeneration flickered at Marco's fingertip and then went out.
The Whitebeard Pirates, numbering in the hundreds, are keeping an eye on that road.
No one spoke up to stop it.
No one stepped forward to help.
They knew better than anyone the deep-seated pain in their Second Division Captain's heart. This wound, buried deep within, had to be unearthed by Ace himself. Even if it meant tearing flesh and blood apart, he had to endure the excruciating pain.
Ace looked at the road.
He closed his eyes.
The malicious glances from my childhood flashed through my mind. The sighs of Dadan's family. The smiling faces of Luffy and Sabo.
When I opened my eyes, the hesitation in them had been suppressed by something much heavier.
He took the first step.
He stomped hard on the rubble of the ruins of Future Island.
"Click."
The sound wasn't loud and was quickly drowned out by the distant waves. But in the deathly silent central square, the sound was like a knife, precisely striking the nerves of everyone present.
Sabo stood not far away. His body instinctively took a half-step forward, his hand gripping the water pipe, ready to strike at any moment!
But he stopped.
He forcefully suppressed the urge to rush over. His priority wasn't to stop them, or to defend Ace. He needed to stand where Ace could see him with just a turn of his head.
No matter what happens next. No matter what crazy things Ace says or what outrageous things he does.
There are brothers following behind.
Sabo's eyes reddened, but his lips were pressed tightly together. He built a wall of silence to support his brother who was walking into the abyss.
Ace moved forward step by step.
The pace was slow, but each step was heavy.
He bypassed the white beard. He passed through that invisible protection.
Stop directly in front of Roger.
The two were less than two steps apart.
This was the first time Ace had seen Roger from this distance. The first time he had looked down at this man from such a height. The night wind blew across the ravaged square, carrying with it the smells of blood, strong liquor, and the burnt odor of machinery.
Ace's eyes were icy cold.
But underneath, in the cold, were extremely complicated things being rummaged through.
This is the man before me. The man who bears the title of Pirate King. He ushered in an entire era with his death, but left all the curses and darkness to his wife and children.
Roger noticed the shadow looming over him.
He looked up. His bloodshot eyes met Ace's red eyes. All his former domineering aura was gone. His Adam's apple bobbed. His chapped lips parted slightly.
He had so much to say. He wanted to ask the child how he had endured all these years. He wanted to ask if the scars on his body hurt. But the words caught in his throat.
He only managed to utter one shout.
"Ace."
Two words. The voice was hoarse, like coarse sandpaper grinding against dry wood.
Ace heard the name come out of the man's mouth.
His body jolted violently.
His brows furrowed instantly. It felt like a poisoned needle had pierced his heart, the poison coursing through his limbs and bones. He was extremely agitated, even his breath felt like it was burning.
He looked down at Roger. When he spoke, his voice was slowly and deliberately uttered through clenched teeth.
To shut up!
"You have no right to call me by that name."
That statement went unheard.
It wasn't even as loud as Luffy's shout just now. But when it landed on the plaza, it was heavier than any previous collision of Devil Fruit abilities. Because this wasn't a roar born of uncontrolled emotion.
Ace was finally willing to personally smash the knife in his heart onto Roger's face.
Every word cuts to the heart.
Roger opened his mouth. He didn't rush to explain his past hardships, nor did he mention apology or compensation. He looked up at Ace's face, at the anger and pain on his face. The guilt in his eyes grew heavier and heavier, so heavy that even his breathing became weak. Every breath he took was draining his remaining strength.
Ace's chest heaved violently. His breathing was like a broken bellows, one heavy gasp after another.
He pressed down further, his eyes like knives.
"You think you can just kneel down, shed a few tears, and say a few useless 'I'm sorry's' and let it all go?"
"What do you take all that I've suffered over the years for?"
Ace's voice began to tremble. Not from fear. It was from being pushed to the limit, the cracks in his voice could no longer be contained.
"Do you think that just bowing your head will be enough?"
Whitebeard stood steadily behind Ace, holding Murakumogiri in one hand, without uttering a word.
He had no need to defend Ace. By this time, Ace had already stood on his own two feet. He stood firm, covered in wounds. But the presence of Whitebeard was like a wall. As long as this wall stood, Ace didn't need to fear losing control completely, didn't need to fear falling into an abyss.
Everyone in the room fell silent.
Even Luffy remained silent.
He wore a straw hat, and his large eyes were filled with an unprecedented seriousness.
Because it's obvious to everyone.
The words Ace had kept bottled up for over twenty years, the hidden pain he had never spoken to anyone, were finally about to surface from his bleeding heart.