One Piece: Blue Scale Admiral

"Lord Tesoro?" Baccarat was stunned.

Tesoro turned to look at the distant, faintly visible Sabaody Archipelago and said in a deep voice, "Repair the Gran Tesoro and we'll land on Sabaody Archipelago."

.

.

They sailed away from the waters of Chambord and returned to the Kirin in Marineford.

The lark watched with curiosity as Luo Xia stood at the bow of the ship, gazing silently in the direction of the golden ship for a long time, and a sense of curiosity arose within her.

"Brother Luo Xia, what did you talk about with the Golden Emperor? You seem to have suddenly become a bit preoccupied."

Rorschach snapped out of his reverie, turned around, leaned against the ship's railing, and smiled.

"You figured it out?"

"Yes. Brother Luo Xia's thoughts are always written on his face; it's hard not to see them." Yun Que smiled.

Rorschach reached out and patted her head, his gaze sweeping over Enel, Law, Smoker, and the others in front of him. Suddenly, he sighed from the bottom of his heart, "Yes, because I suddenly realized that I have fallen."

"Degeneration?"

Everyone was taken aback when they heard what Luo Xia said.

Smoker looked at Rorschach, his brow furrowed. "Why do you say that? You... have you given in?"

His hands, hanging by his sides, clenched reflexively, and he said in a low voice, "Do you know why I joined G5? It's because of your uncompromising attitude, your willingness to go to jail rather than admit that killing a corrupt Celestial Dragon was wrong. If even you give in, I... I really don't know where to go..."

Smoker's hoarse voice carried a sense of bewilderment that everyone could hear.

This is completely different from the assertiveness he usually displays.

But no one present laughed at him.

Tashigi bit her lower lip, her eyes fixed intently on Rorschach.

“Brigadier General Smoker, I believe that Lieutenant General Rorschach will not be so easily defeated. He must be facing some difficulties.”

“I also believe in the Lieutenant General! Whatever the Lieutenant General decides to do, I will support him,” Palmer said in a deep voice.

“Me too!” Bepo, whose body was wrapped in bandages, raised his hand.

Enel and Law didn't speak, but their indifferent expressions revealed their attitude.

"Hehe, you guys really have a lot of faith in me."

Seeing everyone's unwavering trust, Luo Xia felt a warmth in his heart.

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly said softly, "Would you like to hear the story of Tesoro?"

A few minutes later, in front of Rorschach, after listening to Rorschach's story of Tesoro, the more sentimental Bepo, Tashigi, and Hibari were all sobbing uncontrollably.

As Lark watched the golden ship disappear from sight, his voice choked with emotion, he said, "Poor Stella, those despicable Saint Charmaco, those despicable slave traders. They worked so hard to earn enough money, but their beloved had already been bought away. They possessed the greatest wealth in the world, yet they couldn't undo the lost past. Tesoro... he lived his whole life in pain and torment."

"I never imagined that the once glorious Golden Emperor had such a past?" Smoker was stunned, exhaling smoke, his emotions fluctuating.

"So, is it because you reached some kind of cooperation with Tezzoro that you feel lost and like you've fallen from grace?"

Enel hit the nail on the head, revealing Rorschach's innermost thoughts.

Seeing Rorschach nod, Tashigi, her eyes brimming with tears, asked in confusion, "Since Tesoro is a good person who has suffered severe persecution, isn't cooperating with him the right thing to do? Why, Lieutenant General Rorschach…?"

“I never said Tezzoro was a good person,” Rorschach said with a wry smile.

If Tezzoro's petty thefts in the first half of his life were all due to being forced to drift along with the tide of life, and having no control over his own destiny...

The process of the Golden Emperor, who gradually grew into the owner of the Grantezoro and the world's richest man after obtaining the Golden Fruit, is a story of how a mafia boss made his fortune.

In the early stages, Tesoro relied on his affinity for gold from the Gold-Gold Fruit to quickly accumulate initial capital, set up various illegal businesses, and rapidly expand his power and business empire.

Once he had grown strong enough, he formed a business alliance with Doflamingo and officially began to use his vast capital to plunder the world's wealth.

Although the Grantezoro is small, it involves all sorts of people from all walks of life.

Tezzoro's business is not limited to casinos.

He did everything: concerts, arenas, amusement parks, auction houses, slave trade, arms smuggling.

In addition to running a large number of illegal businesses, he also became someone who enjoys swindling rich people because of his dark past.

Tezzoro's favorite thing was watching those wealthy people who were usually living a life of luxury lose all their fortunes on his golden ship and suffer the agony of being unable to live or die.

Thanks to Baccarat, the user of the Lucky Fruit, he has never lost.

The golden ship may seem extremely luxurious, but in reality, people go bankrupt, go into despair and madness, and lose their families every moment.

In addition, Tesoro was eccentric and tyrannical, and could not bear to see others laughing happily in front of him, so countless people died directly or indirectly at his hands.

Beneath the seemingly magnificent golden ship lies a graveyard of bones.

But Rorschach made the decision to work with such a person.

This made him feel that the sense of justice he held dear had become less pure.

As for why they chose to collaborate with Tezzoro...

"Because I feel that my strength is too weak."

Rorschach's reasoning left Enel, Smoker, and the others completely bewildered.

Palmer was the first to publicly oppose it.

"The Vice Admiral is a man who single-handedly drove away Rayleigh and Issho. How could he be weak?"

Rorschach shook his head.

"No, I really feel that my strength is too weak. This time it was just a small Straw Hat Pirates crew, and we mobilized the top forces of G5. The results we achieved seem glorious, but in reality, they were all compromises."

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant General, it was our incompetence."

Palmer lowered his head in dejection.

"My personal strength seems to have reached the pinnacle of the ocean, even surpassing the aging Dark King Rayleigh. However, there are at least a dozen, or even more, strong individuals like Dark King Rayleigh in this world, and there are quite a few who are even stronger than him."

Luo Xia looked at his palm, slowly clenched it, and felt the power within.

"No matter how strong an individual is, they can only reach the level of Whitebeard at most, right? But so what? Even someone as strong as Whitebeard couldn't possibly withstand Kaido and Shanks attacking at the same time, could they? No matter how strong an individual is, their strength is limited. I want to change this world, but as some old guy said, the process of change is too slow, so slow that it can make people weary and gradually dissipate the passion in their hearts."

Hearing Rorschach's words, Palmer, Smoker, Lark, and the others all lowered their heads in shame.

They felt that it was their own incompetence that made Rorschach seek cooperation with someone like Tezzoro.

“But Lieutenant General Rorschach is only 17 years old this year, isn’t he? He has a long future ahead of him…”

Rorschach interrupted Tashigi's words by raising his hand.

Rorschach looked at everyone.

"It's precisely because I'm still young that I think this way. When I get older, I don't even know if I'll still have this arrogant idea of ​​changing the world. Think about the higher-ups at headquarters; they also thought they could change the world on their own when they were young, but what about now?"

Rorschach looked at Smoker, "Smoker, why did you leave Admiral Aokiji's command and come to my G5?"

"Because Kuzan... has lost his former passion and radicalism. Although he still upholds justice, his justice is not what I pursue. Just as you said, I don't want to become complacent, I don't want to become like Kizaru and Kuzan, who eventually lose their original convictions and become people they hate."

Smoker is known for his bluntness; he's the only one in the Marine Headquarters who dares to tell World Government officials to eat shit.

This is something even Garp greatly admires.

That's also one of the things that Rorschach really likes about him.

Luo Xia nodded and said, "So, sometimes I think, it would be great if I had six or seven generals under my command."

"Six...six or seven...generals?"

Everyone looked up in surprise, staring at Luo Xia, who was now sporting his familiar relaxed smile.

Rorschach smiled and reached out his hand.

"Yes, if Hibari, Tashigi, Smoker, Palmer, Bepo, Law, and Enel all become Marine Admirals, then I won't have to compromise, I won't have to think about compromising with criminals. So, please, everyone, strive to become Marine Admirals, even if it's just for the sake of my future reputation."

"Can...can I become an admiral too?" Bepo's eyes lit up.

"I...I...I will definitely try my best! I will never let Lieutenant General Rorschach down!" Tashigi said hesitantly, but still firmly.

"Since Vice Admiral says I can do it, then I definitely can. I, Pamel, will become the first Giant Admiral in the Navy!" Pamel clenched his huge fist and roared to the sky.

The lark stood there, mouth slightly open, lost in thought.

Luo's eye twitched, and he looked at Luo Xia sideways.

"So, your confusion just now was all an act, right?"

Chapter 642 The Straw Hat Pirates Disband

A few days later, in the calm zone, on Ruscany Island.

On the vast and tranquil sea, the Thousand Sunny sat quietly at anchor.

A sense of sadness and pain permeated the clearing at the edge of the forest.

Inside a simple ice coffin, a severely twisted corpse was frozen.

Those standing in front of the ice coffin could see Bartolomeo's face, filled with pain, through the transparent ice.

One can only imagine the struggle he went through before he died, leading to such a miserable and painful end.

"Oh!"

A muffled thud was heard, and the ground trembled.

Luffy's fist shattered the rocks and dirt, sinking deep into the ground.

Tears streamed from his red eyes, mingling with snot, and dripped onto the soil beneath him.

"Damn it! Barto! I'm so sorry, so sorry! It's my fault for being so incompetent, for failing to protect you and everyone else!"

He clutched his hair in anguish and slammed his head heavily onto the ground in front of him.

Behind him, his companions were all silently shedding tears and weeping.

Nami hugged Franky's arm and cried until she fainted.

Robin looked pained and silently lit a cigarette for himself.

Sanji had a medical kit next to him. He was changing the bandage on Usopp's shoulder while wailing and pouting.