East Blue, Foosha Village.
Inside Makino's bar, the noise was so loud it nearly lifted the roof.
"Captain! Another barrel!" Lucky Roux shouted with his mouth full, clutching a huge bone-in slab of meat.
"Idiot! You've already drunk half a barrel!" Yasopp kicked him in the butt, then turned toward the counter. "Miss Makino, fill our captain's too. He looks like he's in a pretty good mood today."
Shanks rested his chin in his hand, smiling as he watched two small figures outside the window, chasing and roughhousing.
One was his adopted daughter, Uta. The other was the village brat who kept insisting he'd become a pirate, Luffy.
Makino smiled and slid a brimming mug of beer across the bar. "Mr. Shanks, your drink."
"Thanks, Makino." Shanks pulled his gaze back and lifted the mug.
"Captain, don't just stare, take action." First mate Benn Beckman leaned against the wall with a cigarette in his mouth, speaking lazily. "Miss Makino's a good girl. If you don't move soon, someone else is going to snatch her up."
The crew immediately burst into laughter.
Shanks nearly sprayed his drink. "What nonsense are you talking about, Beckman!"
Ding.
The bar door opened, the wind chime chiming crisply.
A gentle woman stepped in, holding a small bundle of freshly bloomed sunflowers. Behind her was a little boy with freckles on his face, his eyes wary as he studied the noisy pirates in the bar.
"Makino, these are the flowers you ordered." The woman handed them over, her voice soft.
"Thank you, Luna." Makino took the flowers, found a vase, and placed them on the counter.
The woman's alias was Luna. A few years ago, she had settled in Foosha Village with her son Ace, opening a small flower shop beside the bar. She was a warm, kind single mother.
Shanks's gaze fell on the boy named Ace.
For some reason, the boy's eyes, that stubborn refusal to lose, overlapped with the image of someone long gone.
Shanks picked up his mug, walked over, and squatted in front of him.
"Kid, want some juice?"
"Hah? Who are you supposed to be?" Ace subtly shifted, placing himself in front of his mother, staring Shanks down.
"Ace, don't be rude." Luna gently patted her son's head and offered Shanks an apologetic smile. "Sorry. He's shy around strangers."
"Hahahaha! No worries!" Shanks straightened up, something stirring in his chest for no clear reason.
He couldn't shake the feeling that this mother and son carried a heavy story.
"It must be hard, raising a kid on your own," Shanks said casually.
Luna's smile dimmed a little. She stroked Ace's hair, her gaze drifting toward the distant sea. "As long as he grows up safe, it's worth it. No matter how hard it gets."
Shanks didn't press further. He could hear the weight in her words.
He glanced at Ace again, that sense of familiarity rising once more, but in the end he shook his head and pushed the doubt away.
Maybe it was just a coincidence.
…
North Blue, Minion Island.
A blizzard swallowed the land, staining everything a hopeless white.
Corazon trudged through the snow with a large chest on his back, stumbling step by step.
Inside the chest, young Law curled into a ball. The white blotches of Amber Lead Syndrome had already spread across half his cheek, his breathing thin and weak.
"Corazon… are we going to die here?" Law's voice was hoarse, carrying a despair no child should have.
They had run through every hospital in North Blue. But the moment any doctor saw the pale patches on Law's skin, they drove them out like the plague.
"We won't! Law! Believe me!" Corazon slipped, crashed into a snowbank, and the cigarette he'd lit fell into the snow and died with a hiss.
He scrambled up, brushing snow from himself, forcing a smile that looked more like crying. "See? I'm fine!"
Law watched him, but couldn't laugh at all.
Hope was being eaten alive by endless white.
Buru buru buru…
The Den Den Mushi in Corazon's coat suddenly rang.
Corazon froze, fished it out, and saw the line.
Doflamingo's private channel.
He hesitated, then pressed to answer.
"Rosinante." The Den Den Mushi mimicked Doflamingo's distinctive, slightly wicked drawl.
"Doffy…"
…
On the other end, after giving instructions about the Ope Ope no Mi, Doflamingo sat on a throne in the dark. His face was hidden in shadow, unreadable, only his lenses reflecting a cold, faint light.
In his heart, Doflamingo had already begun to suspect.
His only little brother was a Marine spy.
This call was the last kindness he would give to family.
If Rosinante returned after eating the fruit, he could pretend nothing had happened. Rosinante would still be his brother, still the Donquixote Family's second-in-command.
"I…" Corazon tightened his grip on the Den Den Mushi, thinking of Law.
The Ope Ope no Mi might be Law's last hope.
"I understand, Doffy."
He hung up, then looked toward the deal site buried in the storm, his eyes turning iron-hard with resolve.
Using his Marine identity and the power of his Nagi Nagi no Mi, he created a massive explosion in the chaos of the transaction site.
In the instant everyone panicked, he risked everything and stole the chest holding the Ope Ope no Mi.
He rushed back to their hideout, an abandoned shack.
"Law! Quick! Eat it!" Corazon shoved the heart-shaped fruit into Law's mouth.
The taste was so unbelievably vile that Law nearly rolled his eyes back, but he forced it down.
An invisible sphere spread out from him, cutting off all sound.
Corazon flashed a huge grin at the boy inside the chest, his teeth stained with blood.
"Law… I've already cured your disease… You're free now."
"I love you."
Those were the last words Law read from Corazon's lips before slipping into unconsciousness.
Through the snow, Doflamingo approached.
He looked down at his younger brother, collapsed in a pool of blood, nearly unrecognizable. Even the trademark sunglasses couldn't hide the storm in his expression.
"Why, Rosinante?" His voice trembled in the wind and snow. "Why did you have to force me to kill my own family?!"
Corazon leaned against the chest, gasping for air. He couldn't speak anymore. He only looked at his brother, no hatred in his eyes, only sorrow.
Rosinante had inherited their father Homing's kindness and softness.
Doflamingo had inherited their father's blood as a Celestial Dragon.
In the end, the brothers still walked two completely different roads.
Doflamingo drew his pistol and aimed at Corazon.
"This is the path you chose."
The gunshot rang out across the silent snowfield, yet it was swallowed whole by Corazon's soundless domain, without a trace.
Corazon's body slowly fell.
That foolish smile still hung on his face.
With his last shred of will, he held the silent sphere together, buying the boy in the chest the final sliver of life.
Doflamingo stood there for a long time before turning away.
His back, vanishing into the storm, looked unbearably lonely.
No one knew how long passed before the silence finally faded.
The chest lid pushed open, and Law crawled out.
He heard the wind.
He heard the approaching footsteps of the Family members in the distance.
And he heard the scream ripping out of his own chest.
He stared at Corazon lying in the snow not far away, his body already beginning to stiffen.
Tears burst free.
The boy stumbled through the snow, running.
Behind him was the hell he wanted to escape forever.
Ahead of him was a future with no one at all.
The freedom Corazon bought with his life was so heavy it crushed the air from Law's lungs.
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