After hearing Gram's explanation, Marco looked pleasantly surprised. Like he was holding a treasure, he tightly hugged the phoenix fruit in his arms and repeatedly thanked Whitebeard.
Whitebeard felt even more embarrassed hearing this.
But at the same time, he felt a strange sense of being moved in his heart.
He hadn't expected Gram to be so thoughtful.
He had thought this guy had shamelessly clung to him at God Valley simply because he valued his strength and wanted to rely on him.
But he didn't expect... Until this moment, Whitebeard finally truly accepted and recognized Gram as his younger brother.
A hint of softness appeared in his eyes as he looked at the father and son before him.
He was about to say something.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened, his muscles tensed, and he abruptly turned his head to look at the distant sea.
Noticing his movement.
Gram was startled: "What's wrong?"
Whitebeard said in a deep voice: "Get ready, someone is coming."
"Who's coming?"
"The Roger Pirates."
"What?!"
Over ten minutes later.
Under Gram's nervous watch.
A magnificent gold and red pirate ship with a mermaid figurehead came riding the waves from afar, heading toward where their ship was.
Before the ship even got close.
A very bold laugh could be heard from a distance.
"Hahahaha, Newgate! It really wasn't easy to find you! If I hadn't scouted out where the Bolo Pirates' base was, I really wouldn't have found you."
At the bow of the oro jackson, Roger looked over with a joyful face.
"That bastard actually investigated my base!" Gram couldn't help but grit his teeth upon hearing this.
Whitebeard pressed down on his shoulder, "Don't be impulsive, let me talk to this guy."
He walked to the bow, and his resonant voice rang out.
"Roger! Why are you looking for me in such a hurry?"
"To ask you to join me, of course! What else?" Roger opened his arms and looked at Whitebeard with eager eyes.
"Come onto my ship, Newgate! Anyway, you've already left the Rocks Pirates and are a free man now. My partners on this ship would all very much welcome your joining. Isn't that right? Rayleigh, Jabba!"
"That's right, Newgate, come and adventure together on the oro jackson!"
Rayleigh and Jabba appeared behind Roger, also looking over with smiles.
"Hmph, not interested! Besides, I've already established my own pirate group. It would be more like you joining me." Whitebeard crossed his arms with a look of disdain.
"Not joining?" Roger's mouth curled into a grin, and he suddenly reached out to draw his sword, a terrifying aura erupting from him. "Then it's not up to you! If I defeat you, you'll have no choice but to join!"
"Gurararara, want to defeat me? You're ten thousand years too early! Roger! Now I'll sink you all into the sea!"
Whitebeard grinned and suddenly clenched his fist. A mass of white shockwaves appeared on his fist, making the air hum and distort.
On both ships, Rayleigh, Jabba, Gram, and the others saw this and hurriedly rushed over to hold back their respective Captains.
"Hey, hey, hey! No, no, no! Stop! Whitebeard, Roger is just joking with you. We just came here to hang out with you."
"Big brother Newgate! Don't do anything reckless. My hometown is right nearby. Don't go destroying my home!"
Whitebeard remained silent.
A few minutes later.
On Pineapple Island, the hometown of Bologram.
"Time for a banquet!"
The first banquet between the Roger Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates officially began on the east side of this small island.
The pirates were drinking and boasting boisterously; it was very lively.
By the campfire.
Whitebeard looked at the infant being teased in turns by the members of the Roger Pirates, then looked at Roger sitting in front of him in surprise.
"Roger, is that... your son?"
Roger was taken aback, then laughed loudly.
"No, his name is Shanks. He's an orphan we picked up, and now he's been adopted by our Roger Pirates."
"I see." Whitebeard nodded, took a sip of wine, and caught a glimpse of the large mustache on Roger's mouth. "It's only been a few days, and you've grown such a large mustache? You look quite weathered."
"What are you saying? These are my nose hairs. How about it? Stylish, right?" Roger proudly stroked his nose hairs.
"Pfft!" Whitebeard spat out a mouthful of wine, causing a large burst of fire to flare up from the campfire in front of him.
Roger looked at him and then at his crescent-shaped mustache: "Speaking of which, I've always wanted to ask... those... are also nose hairs, right?"
Whitebeard said angrily: "This is a mustache!"
"So you established a Whitebeard Pirates? That's really casual, hahaha."
"So what? If you've got the guts, why don't you rename your Roger Pirates to the Black Nose Hair Pirates instead."
"Uh... never mind. The Roger Pirates sounds just fine..."
After some joking around.
The two clinked glasses.
Roger turned serious and looked at Whitebeard with a smile, asking:
"By the way, Newgate, do you really not plan to go and divide up your Captain's inheritance? Rocks is dead, but he left behind a massive fortune. That's a huge territory centered around Hachinosu, including wealthy ports like Rocky Port, totaling over a hundred islands. Are you not tempted at all?"
Whitebeard said indifferently: "So what if I am? I don't have that many people right now. Even if I seized territory, I wouldn't have subordinates to guard it."
Roger shook his head: "Isn't that just because you haven't opened up recruitment? If you were willing to put the word out, with just the name Newgate, you could attract a massive force no less than that of Shiki."
Whitebeard waved his hand, "Forget it, those aren't the kind of partners I want. I'm different from Shiki. What I've always sought aren't subordinates to die for me, but family."
"Hahaha, I like that about you! Come! Cheers!"
Roger raised his glass.
The two drank some more.
After a few rounds of drinks, Roger, whose face was already a bit flushed from alcohol, suddenly asked: "Newgate, do you know what my current bounty is?"
Whitebeard stroked his white mustache and thought for a moment, "It seems to be... 4,048,900,000 Berries? I remember you're the first pirate after Rocks to have a bounty exceeding 4 billion Berries?"
Thinking of Rocks, a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes. He shook his head and smiled: "Gurararara, now that Rocks is dead, you're the person with the highest bounty on this sea. Congratulations."
However, Roger shook his head upon hearing this.
"You're late with your congratulations, Newgate. I'm no longer the person with the highest bounty."
Whitebeard was somewhat surprised, "Someone's bounty has surpassed yours? Who? Shiki?"
The only person Whitebeard could think of whose bounty might exceed Roger's on the current sea was the Golden Lion.
It wasn't that he thought the Golden Lion's strength surpassed Roger's.
Things like bounties don't just represent a person's strength.
It represents a person's level of danger.
It's a combination of individual strength, intellect, actions, and the power of the forces they control.
Like Roger.
He has great individual strength, the powerful backing of the Roger Pirates, and strong partners with top-tier combat power like Rayleigh and Jabba.
Therefore, although he hasn't caused much of a disaster in the New World at this stage.
In the eyes of the World Government, his danger level is extremely high.
Thus, he was given a bounty of over 4 billion Berries.
Second only to Rocks' 5 billion Berries back then.