Chapter 915 - 915: The Red-Haired Traitor

"Rosse, is there any point in bullying a kid like this?"

Shanks gritted his teeth and stared fixedly at Rosse. Those arms that belonged to Rayleigh were stretched straight at this moment, veins faintly visible.

"Then is there any point in expecting a kid to resist me?"

Rosse gave a light laugh, his tone full of casual mockery.

In his view, since they had the courage to resist him, they should have the awareness to be toyed with by him.

The rules of this world had always been simple. If the weak wanted to challenge the strong, they should be prepared to bear all the consequences.

"What, you're allowed to resist me, but I'm not allowed to toy with you?"

"Of course you can. You're strong, so that's your freedom," Shanks said through gritted teeth, his chest rising and falling violently, "But no matter what you do, you won't be able to break us."

"Why would I want to break you?"

Rosse raised an eyebrow, as if he had heard something amusing:

"You and Luffy resist me, and all I need to do is kill the people around you one by one, won't I?"

As Rosse spoke, he casually glanced at Lucky Roux and the others beside Shanks, his gaze inspecting them as though they were nothing more than insignificant objects, "Anyway, in your eyes, your companions are only expendable combat power. They're not important either. If I kill them, it shouldn't matter, right?"

As soon as these words came out, a strange expression appeared on Lucky Roux and the others' faces. That emotion only remained there for an instant before quickly sinking away.

Their expressions paused, and then they returned to their previous expressionless appearance, silently looking toward Shanks.

To be honest, if they could avoid dying, who would want to throw their life away?

They were not afraid of death. This was the awareness that came with being a member of the Red-Haired Pirates.

But they were afraid of dying without any value, afraid that their lives would be casually consumed at some point, without even stirring up the slightest echo.

At least in Lucky Roux's eyes, Bonk Punch's death had been completely meaningless.

Of course, perhaps in the very next second, he himself would also die just as meaninglessly because of some decision made by Shanks and Luffy.

But who could blame them when they had chosen Shanks as their captain in the first place?

They had stepped onto this path themselves. No matter how unwilling they were, they could only swallow it.

"Rosse, I don't want to argue with you about anything."

Shanks took a deep breath and worked hard to suppress the emotions surging inside him, doing his best to keep his voice from becoming too agitated, "A person like you will never understand the meaning of freedom."

"Yes, yes, yes. I don't understand. You do."

Rosse's tone became increasingly dismissive, even carrying a hint of contempt, "Being arranged by me to keep moving forward, going to the islands I've designated, experiencing the script I've already written, this is the freedom you're talking about?"

Rosse shook his head as though amused, while raising his hand and casually snapping his fingers.

Crash!

Under everyone's astonished gaze, a huge stone tablet slowly rose from the ground between the two camps, with broken stones and dust sliding down its surface.

The entire stone tablet was a dark bluish-gray, its surface engraved with densely packed ancient writing. The symbols gave off a faint, eerie glow under the light.

"The Poneglyph?"

Robin's spirits lifted, and her pupils suddenly contracted.

She had vaguely sensed before that the Poneglyphs they had been able to see were definitely not discovered by her by chance, but were something Rosse deliberately wanted them to see.

And the scene before her now undoubtedly completely confirmed her guess.

"This is your reward for being on the Sabaody Archipelago," Rosse said with a smile, a hard-to-describe meaning hidden in that smile, "If you want to know more, keep moving forward."

He paused, then changed the subject, "By the way, do you need Olvia to help translate it?"

As he said this, his gaze remained fixed in Robin's direction, as though observing the reaction of prey upon hearing a certain word.

Just one sentence caused Robin to break down instantly.

"No need!"

The words almost escaped Robin's mouth. Her voice was sharp enough to lose control.

She forced herself to look away and angrily turned her gaze toward the Poneglyph.

This time, Crocodile had already become a cold corpse, and with Rosse standing right in front of her, she could not even be bothered to record it. She directly recited the translated contents word for word, "Joy Boy, apostle of freedom, incarnation of Nika."

"He traveled across the seas, connected all races, and sought to use the power of the three Ancient Weapons to eliminate the barriers between the world and liberate all those who were enslaved."

"He journeyed forward alone, but there was no way to identify the vast road ahead, so he sought a red-haired confidant to serve as his guide."

"He gave his sincerity and built a shield of trust. His battle plans and the weaknesses around him were all revealed, without holding anything back."

"The root of disaster was born from this."

"The guide coveted life and feared death, ultimately betraying his trust and offering all the secrets to the opposing nations."

"A meticulous trap was quietly laid out, waiting only for the traveler to step into the cage step by step without realizing it."

"On the day the trap closed, the Sea God joined hands with the Sea King and swept in from all directions."

"The road ahead was blocked by the betrayer, while behind him he was surrounded by giant beasts of the ocean. Even with the ability to reach the heavens, there was no longer any room to maneuver."

"Even if his body could transcend the restraints of all things and laugh in the face of heaven and earth, he could not withstand the chill of a stab in the back and the crushing pressure of being surrounded by the four seas."

"The waves swept over his body, and joy fell into silence. When the noise dispersed, only endless silence remained."

"A generation's liberator did not die in battle, nor did he fall to a powerful enemy. In the end, he died through the betrayal of the person he trusted most."

"The stone is immortal, and the mark of sin shall not perish."

"Let this text preserve the truth and warn those of later generations: the sharpest blade has never been in the hands of the enemy, but hidden within the heart of the person beside you."

After murmuring these heavy words, Robin's expression became extremely complicated. In those eyes that had recorded so much history, emotions that even she herself found difficult to describe surged.

The contents of the stone tablet were actually very simple. Although the wording carried a hint of classical language, once translated, even Yasopp could understand the general meaning.

In short, back then, Joy Boy had roamed across the seas with such great ambition, but in the end, he still lost to the joint encirclement of the Sea God and the Sea King.

But the fundamental reason for his defeat was definitely not that Joy Boy was too weak. Rather, he had been stabbed viciously in the back by a red-haired guide who feared death and clung to life.

And speaking of red hair.

Everyone's movements stopped at the same time, and strange gazes simultaneously turned toward Shanks.

Afraid of death, red-haired, guide...

These words now seemed to have been carefully pieced together, and it seemed that they could all match him.

"What are you looking at me for? What does this have to do with me!"

Feeling those gazes, Shanks angrily shouted, his face filled with the indignation of being falsely accused, "Do you really think I'm that kind of person? This isn't some prophecy. It's merely a reality that happened long ago!"

"As for the connection, there is still some. You never returned to your ancestral family, so you may not know the details."

Rosse chuckled and looked at Shanks playfully, his gaze like a cat toying with a mouse beneath its paw:

"The Sea God mentioned on this stone tablet refers to the Jaygarcia Family. And that red-haired guide who betrayed his trust..."

"Heh, you're not going to say it was Figarland, are you? My ancestor?"

Shanks coldly interrupted him, a mocking smile hanging at the corner of his mouth, "It is true that I carry Figarland blood, but I've never acknowledged that surname, much less intended to bear their burdens."

As he spoke, he paused, then turned the tables, "Besides, your family isn't any better, is it? Clearly descendants of the Sea God, with such noble blood, yet in the end you're still just one of the Five Elders' families, and aren't you still ordered around by Imu like a dog?"

"Imu?"

Hearing this unfamiliar name they had never heard before, everyone present could not help but stir, becoming interested.

There seemed to be a great secret of the World Government hidden behind this name.

"Our ancestors dealt with Joy Boy. It's just that someone picked the fruits of victory halfway through."

Rosse chuckled, not annoyed in the slightest, "Now, Jaygarcia has finally taken back what originally belonged to it. As for Imu, they've already been swept into the trash heap."

Ever since he crossed the SS-rank threshold and stood at the pinnacle of this world, Imu was destined to be nothing before him.

A once lofty existence was now nothing more than dust beneath his feet.

"Heh, that still can't change the fact that you were suppressed for 800 years," Shanks mocked without mercy.

"Yes, yes, yes. Nothing compared to that Figarland of yours who learned to betray people from his ancestors."

Rosse did not care. Instead, he smiled even more playfully, "It's just that I don't know whether, a few years from now, you'll reenact the same drama on Luffy."

In fact, whether it was the so-called truth engraved on this stone tablet or the origins he had casually spoken of at this moment, all of it was false.

It was a lie carefully fabricated by Sora back then according to his ideas.

But because the Poneglyphs throughout the world had already been completely altered by him in secret, with the truth buried cleanly, even Olvia would only see a false history woven by someone.

Although, in truth, he did not mind bearing some dishonorable past.

Let alone those ancestors, even if something he himself had done were spread around, it would not matter.

After all, this was a world where power was truth. Being strong enough was far more important than bloodline and reputation.

But after all, this was a gesture of Sora's at the time, the effort she had put into him, so he tacitly allowed this lie to exist and let it spread.

"Heh, you can rest assured."

Shanks snorted coldly, but his gaze was several degrees firmer than before, "What you're imagining will absolutely never happen."

It was just that how much trust his firm assurance could stir in the hearts of everyone else present remained unknown.

It was not that everyone did not believe in Shanks's character. Rather, those who truly understood Shanks all knew it clearly.

The deepest obsession in his heart had never been helping Luffy grow, but achieving freedom for the entire sea.

To some extent, Luffy was merely the vessel through which he entrusted this ideal.

If, at this very moment, an alternative shortcut leading to freedom happened to be placed before Shanks.

Given the situation in which Rosse and the World Government had driven him to the verge of madness, he would inevitably reach out and seize it without hesitation.

Even if the price was abandoning Luffy, he would probably do it.

This realization was like a tiny thorn, lodged in the hearts of everyone who understood him.

"I very much look forward to seeing this happen."

Rosse gave a meaningful chuckle, bringing his conversation with Shanks to an end.

Since Shanks had already chosen this path destined to be lonely, and still wanted to walk it without wavering, then in Rosse's view, he was destined to become a pitiful clown who exhausted everything in the end yet obtained nothing.

Finally, Rosse slowly turned that unsettling gaze toward Robin, who had remained silent the entire time, "Robin, you've been very disobedient lately."

His tone suddenly became gentle and low, yet it made one's back feel colder than any threat, "But it's fine. I'll patiently wait for you in the sky. I'll wait for the day you change your mind and return to my side to apologize."

"Let's go."

As his voice fell, Rosse and the others' figures instantly disappeared under everyone's gaze, so fast that it was as though they had never appeared at all, leaving not the slightest trace or presence behind.

"They're... leaving just like that...?"

Only after confirming that Rosse had completely left did the hearts of everyone remaining, which had been held high, finally settle back down.

Quite a few people belatedly felt a wave of weakness and, with lingering fear, collapsed onto the ground, their limbs weak and unable to move at all.

Cold sweat soaked through their backs.

The pressure Rosse had brought them just now had simply been too suffocating, too despairing.

It was as though with just a thought from him, all of them would be reduced to nothing.

However, amid this breath of surviving the disaster, quite a few people also once again turned complicated gazes toward Robin.

No one had forgotten even a single word of what Rosse had said before leaving.

The tone in those words, that possessiveness that allowed no doubt, was even more like describing an object that had temporarily escaped his control but would ultimately be taken back.

However, precisely because of Rosse's words, they instead became even more certain of Robin's hatred toward Rosse.

After all, being treated like an object by someone, who could not hate that?

But Robin was ultimately different from these people.

No matter how rebellious she was, no matter how disobedient she became, that man probably could not bear to actually settle accounts with her.

Thinking of this, even Yasopp, who had never been particularly scheming, could not help showing some envy on his face, along with an annoyance he could not hide.

Why?

Why was it that when they resisted Rosse, they all had to put their heads on the line, and the slightest mistake could cost them their lives on the spot?

Yet this woman Robin did not need to bear this risk at all.

Feeling the complicated gazes of everyone, Robin remained as cold as frost, without even the slightest change in her eyes. The corner of her lips curled into a cold, mocking smile, "I have nothing to say. If any of you don't want to continue following along, you can come and tell me at any time. I can arrange for you to enter the World Government. I still have that much influence."

"Enough, Robin. We believe you."

Shanks took a deep breath and spoke in time, interrupting this tense atmosphere.

He knew clearly that now was definitely not the time for infighting.

Besides, at this point, what qualifications and capital did this small group of them even have to fight among themselves?

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