Chapter 254 - 254: Ace's Mental Knot

After bidding farewell to Hera and a happy Garp, Shanks also led his Pirate Crew away, continuing to wait for that opportune moment.

For him, another piece of good news was that Garp, feeling a sense of psychological balance, would no longer chase him all over the place.

After Ace woke up from his coma, he began chatting with Hera again.

"After this great war, no one should doubt your position as one of the Four Emperors anymore."

Ace nodded and said, "Yeah, I can finally have some peace for a while."

After this period of tempering, Ace had gained a hint of the majesty of one of the Four Emperors and had matured significantly.

Then, after a period of silence, Ace said, "Regarding the Marineford War, thank you. You were the one who sent many of the division commanders back, weren't you?"

Hera waved her hand: "What's between us? It's only what I should have done."

Ace fell silent again; he didn't quite know how to face this sister of his.

Although he understood that he was a pirate and Hera was a Marine, and that instead of blaming Hera for Whitebeard's death at Marineford, it was more accurate to say his own underestimation of the enemy gave Blackbeard an opening.

However, in his mind, he would still occasionally wonder if Whitebeard would have had a chance to leave if Hera hadn't been there.

He also knew his sister had tried her best to help him, and Whitebeard's death was a path he chose himself. Precisely because of this, this mentality of guilt and self-blame made Ace even more unsure of how to face her.

Hera looked at the silent Ace and sighed. Could they really never go back to the way things were?

Inside the City of Devouring Time, Whitebeard looked at the two of them acting so awkwardly with a look of disdain on his face and tapped on the boundary of the City of Devouring Time.

"Let me talk to this kid. Can he still be considered my successor acting like this?"

Hera thought about it, nodded, and said to Ace, "Wait a moment, someone wants to see you. Oh, and call Marco over too."

Although Ace found it strange who would want to see him and why it was being kept so mysterious, he still called Marco over.

The City of Devouring Time enveloped the three of them, cutting off perception from the outside world, and a young Whitebeard stepped out from the shadows.

When Hera raised the City of Devouring Time, Marco, sensing his connection to the outside world was cut off, thought it was a Marine trap, and his body moved before his brain could.

His feet gathered the flames of the Phoenix as he kicked toward Hera.

A powerful large hand grabbed Marco's kicking leg and threw him back, as a familiar voice rang in both their ears:

"Long time no see, my sons. Is this how you welcome your Pops?"

Marco showed a look of disbelief. Beside him, Ace had intended to stop Marco's attack, but when he saw the person emerging from the shadows, he froze on the spot.

Standing next to Whitebeard, Hera stood with her hands on her hips and said proudly, "Heh heh heh, how about that?"

Whitebeard slapped Ace across the face: "My son, how can you be so foolish? No one is to blame for my death at Marineford."

"That was the path I chose. This awkward personality of yours is nothing like mine or Roger's."

Then, he bent down and knelt on one knee on the ground, hugging Ace and Marco: "You must have suffered a lot while I was gone."

Hera curled her lip at the scene. For her, there would probably never be a moment in this life where she would need to kneel on the ground to hug someone else.

Feeling their Pops' long-lost embrace, both Ace's and Marco's eyes gradually grew moist.

Whitebeard laughed: "Gurararara! Why are you crying? I saw your battle just now; you fought very well."

"You're already one of the Four Emperors, so why are you still acting so awkwardly?"

Then, he said to Hera, "Miss Hera, please step out for a moment. I want to talk to these two alone."

Hera nodded and left the barrier constructed by the City of Devouring Time.

Outside, the other division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates, seeing their Captain and Vice-Captain isolated, feared it was a Marine plot and drew their weapons one after another.

When Hera stepped out of the City of Devouring Time and saw the Whitebeard Pirates' division commanders guarding their own faction, she gave a cold snort, her mood soured by the reminder of Whitebeard's height.

Conqueror's Haki emerged from her body, an overwhelming pressure bearing down on the division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates.

"Do you all want to start a war with the Marines?"

Even 'Flower Sword' Vista and 'Diamond' Jozu found it somewhat difficult to withstand Hera's pressure.

Vista, enduring Hera's Haoshoku, managed to open his mouth with difficulty: "We just want to see if the Captain and Marco are alright."

Hera withdrew her Haoshoku: "Wait. They are talking to someone inside and will be out shortly."

Jozu looked at Vista awkwardly and whispered, "I told you, if the Nightmare Admiral wanted to harm the Captain, she would have struck when he collapsed earlier."

Vista laughed awkwardly and went to exchange swordsmanship insights with Kuina.

Ain also exchanged Taijutsu techniques with Jozu, as they learned from each other's moves.

After a while, Marco and Ace walked out. Whitebeard had returned to the City of Devouring Time and did not appear before the other members.

Hera sent a voice transmission into her shadow: "What's wrong? Aren't you going back to your Pirate Crew?"

Whitebeard, back in the City of Devouring Time, shook his head: "No. My children have finally managed to grow up; why would I go back? To fight Ace for the Captain's position?"

"Where would I put this old face of mine then?"

Hera teased him: "I think you just find it too embarrassing. All that 'I am a remnant of the old era' and 'there is no ship in the New World that can carry me' stuff."

Whitebeard's face flushed slightly. At that time, he felt he was certain to die, so he used those words to bid farewell to his sons. He hadn't expected he would be able to live on.

And now that he had become so young, hearing those words again made him feel a bit embarrassed.

"See, when you encounter a question that's hard to answer, you stop talking again. Alright, alright, sleep. When you wake up again, you'll be able to reunite with your sons openly."

Whitebeard nodded and drifted back into a deep sleep.

Although Whitebeard didn't say it explicitly, Hera knew the main reason he didn't want to reveal himself was that he didn't want to cause her any new trouble.

After all, during the Marineford War, his body had sunk into the City of Devouring Time under the gaze of people all over the world.

"Don't worry, that day won't be too far off."

After Ace emerged from the City of Devouring Time, his mental knot untied by Whitebeard, he looked at this sister who had always been worrying about him and felt a surge of guilt for his previous behavior.

------------------------

I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.

Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.

It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?

[email protected]/SolyuraMT

"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"