After stepping inside the tavern, Rayleigh led Shirakawa straight behind the bar, where a hidden door lay concealed. Shirakawa followed Rayleigh through it.
"A stranger who wants to get in here needs an old-timer to guide them," Rayleigh explained.
"I figured as much." Shirakawa had sensed three sets of eyes monitoring their movements the entire way here.
"Hey, didn't you just leave? What are you doing back already?" someone called out to Rayleigh in a teasing tone.
Even though Rayleigh wore an eyepatch, there were those who could still discern his identity, and by now most of the people present already knew who he was. At first they had indeed been somewhat intimidated, but after spending enough time around him, they'd come to feel that he was... well, just like that. No different from an ordinary middle-aged man. Nothing about him resembled the First Mate of the Pirate King's crew.
"And you brought a new face along." The man noticed Shirakawa behind Rayleigh.
"Showing a new guy the ropes." Since Shirakawa had his entire face covered, the man had no way of knowing his true identity.
The gambling hall wasn't large, but it was fully equipped. The crowd was small, but every single person there was someone of significance. After a quick sweep of the room, Shirakawa spotted exactly who he was looking for.
The man's physical traits were simply too conspicuous. He maintained his Devil Fruit ability state at all times, which meant he never needed any disguise—because no one knew what his actual face looked like anyway. So Rayleigh and Shirakawa headed straight for him.
Morgans, naturally, had noticed the two men approaching him. He was, of course, among those who had long known Rayleigh's identity, but the figure behind Rayleigh gave him pause.
"Could he be another member of the Roger Pirates?" Morgans wondered inwardly.
But when his eyes fell upon the sword strapped to Shirakawa's back, they lit up. That blade—he knew it all too well. The papers had been reporting on it nonstop not long ago. Then he recalled the connection between the sword's owner and Rayleigh, and a grin spread across his beak. It really is him.
"Yo, Morgans. Long time no see."
Rayleigh grabbed him, chair and all, and pulled him away from the gambling table.
"Has it been that long? I seem to recall we saw each other just a few dozen minutes ago." Morgans arched a brow and gestured expressively as he spoke. He had a rough idea of what Rayleigh and his companion wanted. It was nothing more than fishing for information—in this world, there was practically nothing Morgans didn't know.
"Haha, no need to sweat the details," Rayleigh said with an awkward laugh.
"Go on, then. What do the two of you want with me?"
Even though Morgans couldn't beat Rayleigh in a fight—let alone Shirakawa—he remained utterly unruffled in the face of these two. His composure never wavered.
"I came to ask you about the whereabouts of the Treasure Tree Adam," came the voice from behind Rayleigh. This time, it was Shirakawa who spoke.
"If memory serves... aren't you supposed to be dead?"
Morgans crossed his legs lazily.
At those words, Shirakawa's eyes narrowed. A chilling wave of killing intent crashed over Morgans like a tide. The moment he felt it, Morgans' feathers stood on end, his expression shifted, and cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.
"Shirakawa."
Rayleigh barked a warning, and Shirakawa immediately pulled the killing intent back. Only then did Morgans manage to catch his breath, wiping the sweat from his brow with the distinct sensation of having just narrowly escaped death.
He had plenty of tricks to save his own skin, but even then, he wasn't confident he could slip away from the grasp of both Shirakawa and Rayleigh.
"I didn't expect I'd actually be right. You really did manage to fool the Marines." Before, he'd been about eighty percent sure. Now he was one hundred percent.
"Let's talk outside."
Rayleigh pressed a hand onto Morgans' shoulder, leaving him no room to refuse.
"Sure, why not." Given the situation, how could Morgans possibly say no?
Rayleigh and Shirakawa flanked him on either side, giving him absolutely no chance to flee.
"Do the two of you really need to treat me like this? I'm not going to run," Morgans said helplessly. Why did he feel like a prisoner in their hands?
"Who knows. I don't know you well. I'm not about to trust you just like that."
"It doesn't matter if you don't know me well—Rayleigh does! Isn't that right, Rayleigh? You know my character, don't you?"
"Uh... I genuinely don't trust your character."
The Roger Pirates had dealt with Morgans' news agency on multiple occasions, so both sides were quite familiar with each other. Rayleigh's remark was purely in jest.
"That's it. Rayleigh, you've gone cold and ruthless. You've turned your back and pretended you never knew me." Morgans' voice took on an almost tearful, plaintive tone—the kind that could break a listener's heart and move a witness to tears.
"Shut it." Hearing that tone, Rayleigh shot back immediately. That kind of voice coming from you just doesn't fit, no matter how you look at it.
"Haha." Shirakawa let out a couple of laughs. Seeing the dynamic between Morgans and Rayleigh, he relaxed his guard around Morgans somewhat. Shirakawa hadn't known that Roger had so much history with Morgans—he'd never picked up on any of that during his time on the ship.
The two of them brought Morgans to Shakky's bar, because it was the safest place for Shirakawa to show his face.
"Hey there, young man. You're back again." Seeing Shirakawa return, Shakky greeted him warmly.
"I'll be coming by a lot from now on."
"Good." Shakky smiled, then slid three drinks across the counter to the three of them.
"These drinks are free, right?" Looking at the glass in front of him, Morgans asked Shakky. Clearly, he too had been one of her fleeced customers in the past.
"What do you think?" Shakky replied, her smile unmoved.
"If it costs money, I'm not drinking." Morgans shook his head and pushed the glass back.
"Don't worry. I fleeced a big spender today, so consider this one on the house."
"That's more like it."
At the words big spender, Shirakawa coughed. He had a distinct feeling that she was talking about him.
Seeing Shirakawa remove his mask, Morgans wore an expression that said just as I thought.
"I really am curious how you managed to survive at the hands of Sengoku." Morgans posed the question to Shirakawa. Given Shirakawa's strength, his odds of coming out alive against that group of people should have been practically zero.
"I don't see any need to tell you that."
"Fair enough. So, go on—what do you want from me?"
"I want to know where the Treasure Tree Adam can still be found." Shirakawa asked his question directly.
Morgans' expression betrayed no surprise at all. For something simple, there would have been no need to seek him out.
Her eyes were so fragile they seemed as if the faintest touch might shatter them, like bubbles in the light.
Gazing into those eyes, Heisenberg drew a deep breath.
Then, in the next moment, he lifted Kara into his arms, pressing the girl's trembling body close against the warmth of his armor. Holding her like this, he slowly turned a full circle before all the gathered Kryptonians. After his gaze had swept across every pair of hopeful eyes, he asked softly.
"Do you miss home?"
"What?"
"I said, do you miss home, Kara?"
"Yes." Kara nodded firmly. Then she saw Heisenberg nod as well.
"Your parents missed home too. That's why they chose to stay with their homeland. Because not every possible future is worth abandoning one's country and the land they've lived on all their lives to chase after."
As he spoke, he freed his right hand and ruffled Kara's little head, then continued.
"Your parents, and the parents of many others—they haven't vanished. They simply chose to stay with their homeland."
"Even if it was the homeland's final moment?" Kara asked.
"Yes. Even if it was the homeland's final moment," Heisenberg answered with unwavering conviction.
Hearing his words, Kara was visibly saddened. Soft sobs began to escape her.
"Then why didn't they bring me with them? I wanted to be with them too. I love our home. I love Krypton too!!!"
Her voice grew louder, more impassioned with each word.
"Even though Krypton didn't have many cute animals or especially beautiful flowers. Even though Krypton's environment was harsh and the dust was thick. Even though Krypton only had six cities, and the people living in them were many, the houses and streets crowded... I was born there. I loved it there. Why didn't they take me with them?!" Kara asked, her voice thick with grief.
Looking at the heartbroken Kara, Heisenberg smiled, patting the girl's trembling back.
"And what about me, little one? Without you, without all of you... where am I supposed to find my home?"
He turned to look at Kal-El and smiled deeply.
"Kal-El. Would you want to be the last remaining life of Krypton?"
"No!" Kal-El shook his head with absolute resolution.
Then Heisenberg looked around and asked softly, "And the rest of you? Are you willing to stand at my side, to form the home and the nation I have always longed for and fought so tirelessly to build?"
"Of course!!!"
Over a hundred voices merged into one. Heisenberg nodded, satisfied.
He freed his left hand and snapped his fingers lightly. At the sound, warm sunlight flooded every corner of the Kryptonian botanical center.
Through the emotional impact Kara had brought, Heisenberg had abruptly grasped another meaning of the sun. It was unity. It was hope. It was creation from beginning to end, and growth from nothing into something.
When he truly became the hope of the entire Kryptonian race. When he truly felt the expectations his people had placed upon him. When countless lives truly offered everything they had to him and gathered around him—
The innumerable Kryptonian plants surrounding Heisenberg suddenly began to flourish with vigorous growth. As they grew at astonishing speed, they turned their blossoms toward him. Heisenberg should have quietly listened to the sound of flowers blooming. But what he heard was not the sound of blossoming. It was one quest after another—a pursuit of life, a yearning for active growth.
There is an old saying: all living things depend on the sun for growth. That is no mere figure of speech. Planets revolve around the sun. Life grows around the sun. Even Hell has its own red sun. Three of them, in fact!
As countless lives grew around him, Heisenberg's mind suddenly surged into action. Immeasurable knowledge streamed in from an unknown place, flooding his consciousness. That knowledge could not teach him how to be a worthy sun. Nor could it teach him how to pass on the flame of life or scatter the light of hope. But it taught him about the beginning and the end of life. He seemed to hear both Krypton's current frailty and its future glory.
Justice? Goodness? Those were far from the full picture. There was also struggle. Also competition. Also contentment with the present and yearning for life. And all the countless emotions that life was meant to grasp, only to be mercilessly stripped away by existence itself.
All of it intertwined and circled endlessly within Heisenberg's thoughts.
In that tide of emotion, Heisenberg experienced, for the first time, an infinite sense of fulfillment and happiness. It felt as though he could go on contemplating like this forever. Amid his reflections, he dimly understood the significance of this knowledge's existence. He heard it clearly, and realized it clearly. What was now flooding his mind was the very miracle the ancient gods had always pursued. The Life Equation. A power that could make all living things feel the greatest satisfaction and happiness. A power that could make life naturally revolve around him, this sun—to guard him, to obey him, and to draw from his side a happiness that belonged to each of them. It was a power so immense it seemed he had only to reach down and he could grasp it in his hands.
But in the very next instant, he simply raised his head.
Life indeed has countless beauties, but a beautiful life cannot be forged by happiness alone.
Heisenberg cast aside the blissful and contented feelings in his heart and instead spoke softly to his people—and especially to Kara, still in his arms.
"I have been alone for far too long. I have been waiting for you all this time. You have returned. I have a home now. And... you have come home, too."
As his words fell, the lost look in Kara's eyes steadily sharpened into focus.
As his words fell, Astra's blood-streaked face was filled entirely with joy.
As his words fell, every single Kryptonian, trembling, exchanged glances with one another.
Even the vast, penguin-shaped Kryptonian central intelligence—the Divine Kingdom—wore a satisfied smile.
Then Heisenberg continued, issuing an order to Kal-El.
"Kal-El. Take the tribespeople who have already undergone solar radiation exposure and continue using the passage I just blasted open. Carry out rescue operations for the remaining retrievable tribal signals!"
"Yes!" Kal-El bowed his head and responded with fervent enthusiasm.
Heisenberg paid no mind to Kal-El's acknowledgment and turned to the Divine Kingdom.
"Divine Kingdom. Extract the spectrum data I have previously recorded—the gentlest and most effective wavelengths for our people. Administer the first radiation procedure for my tribespeople who have yet to enter the new era."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The Divine Kingdom nodded, then waved an arm lightly at Astra. "Commander Astra, please follow me."
"All right." Astra nodded, glanced one more time at Kara in Heisenberg's arms, then turned and walked away.
Noticing Astra's expression, Heisenberg smiled and set Kara gently down onto the ground.
"Little one, go with your aunt. Receive the sunlight's blessing."
"Okay..."
Hearing Heisenberg's words, Kara looked at him timidly, yet with evident reluctance to leave. Then she turned around and, half-running, called back to Heisenberg as the distance between them grew.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I'll stay with you! I don't have a home anymore, so I absolutely won't let you be lonely, either. Because... because you don't want me to be lonely, either! We're family now. I like you, Your Majesty. Wait for me. I'll be back soon, just a little while. Wait for me!!!"
/-\
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