"What did you say to Oden back then? Why was he so strongly against you helping him?"

Whitey Bay cradled the sulking Rian in her arms. After Roy had lightly smacked her hand, the little girl was now pouting at him, babbling angrily from the safety of her mother's embrace.

Roy made a silly face at her, but instead of being scared, Rian giggled and reached out to play.

Kids were unpredictable.

As Roy continued making faces, he replied, "Not much, really. After driving the Beasts Pirates out, I wanted to bring Wano under Whitebeard's protection, but he refused."

"So that's why you two argued. I was wondering why you were so 'generous' to want to help him."

Twenty-five years ago, after Roger reached Laugh Tale, the first to disembark was Roger himself, followed by Kozuki Oden, who returned to Wano.

At that time, Rayleigh and Gabban were still on the ship. Rayleigh asked Oden if he needed help. In fact, even without Roger himself, the Roger Pirates were strong enough to drive the Beasts Pirates out with ease.

But Oden declined and chose to return to Wano alone.

Roy contacted Oden afterward.

As the de facto strategist of the Whitebeard Pirates, Roy naturally had his eye on Wano, a land rich in resources that could make the crew prosperous.

But once Oden heard of Roy's intentions, he flatly refused and said Wano's affairs should be settled by its own people.

Whitebeard found out about Roy's scheme and scolded him harshly.

"Since when do we exploit our own family's homeland? Where's your honor?"

That disagreement caused tension between Roy and Whitebeard. Roy claimed he wanted to help, but Whitebeard saw it as a veiled power grab.

"Hahaha, we're pirates. We don't act without profit. Why would we help someone who left the crew? If he had stayed, he'd still be family. But he chose to leave, so he's not a Whitebeard Pirate anymore. That made him a stranger."

"Strangers pay. Wano was the perfect price. But Oden was too stupid to take the deal. Everything wrong with Wano today is the fault of the Kozuki Clan's arrogance."

Whitey Bay frowned. "You're too harsh."

"Am I? Look at the territories under Whitebeard's flag. People live well. Now look at Wano after twenty years under Kaido."

Roy's voice turned icy.

"Oden's pride doomed them. The suffering of Wano's people? That's on him."

"I honestly don't get it. How does a ruler like that still have people who admire him? They must be fools."

Oden might have once been a decent person, if a little hot-headed. But as the story went on, Roy found him more and more annoying. Beyond his goofy smile and troublemaking, what did he actually accomplish?

Make oden soup?

Yet people treated him like a beloved hero. To Roy, he was just a naive fool, and everyone around him was playing along.

Look at Katakuri: one moment was all it took to make him shine. After discovering his sister had secretly helped him, he stabbed himself without hesitation. If not for that, would he have lost to Luffy?

What a joke.

Even Doflamingo, despite being a villain, was iconic and likable.

What did Oden have?

Just a dumb smile?

"Let's not bring up the past. Every time you talk about Oden, you get like this. No wonder you and Pops argued so often when this topic came up," Whitey Bay said with a frown.

"Newgate saw something in him. I never did." Roy nuzzled Rein. "Stay away from that old man, sweetheart. He'll rot your brain."

Whitey Bay sighed at the scene. Roy's thinking was extreme at times, but everything he did was for the sake of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Even when it came to Oden, it was just an excuse to help. With Whitebeard around, there was no way he could have actually taken Wano for himself.

It was Oden who overestimated himself and never imagined he wasn't Kaido's match, and ultimately died by Kaido's hand.

If he had asked the Roger Pirates for help, Wano would've turned out very differently.

Oden's refusal had cost Wano everything.

....

Meanwhile, Nekomamushi had set out early and arrived at a frigid winter island.

Snow and wind howled across the land. Once a place where people lived, only ruins remained.

"Boss, why did we come here?" one of the Musketeers asked Nekomamushi, whose hand had been severed.

"To find someone." Braving the storm, the group ventured inland until they saw a blazing fire.

"Found it."

In a snowy forest, a huge white-striped tiger rose to its feet and stared at Nekomamushi.

The Mink warriors immediately drew their weapons and stood in front of him.

"Easy, Whitey." A gentle voice called from behind the tiger.

The beast calmed down instantly, lay on the ground, and affectionately rubbed against the figure next to him.

"Such a fierce beast acting like a kitten?!"

The Musketeers were stunned. This white tiger was over ten meters tall, a massive creature, yet so obedient.

A group of people stepped out from behind the tiger. The man leading them wore a shirt and a cowboy hat.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Nekomamushi, leader of the Mink Tribe from Zou."

"The Mink Tribe? I've heard of you. Fought some of your people too. What do you want with us?"

"I came to find the 16th Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Izo."

"Looking for Izo?" Ace was briefly stunned.

Before long, someone who looked exactly like Ace walked out.

Seeing two Aces, Nekomamushi froze.

"Two of you? Twins? No way, you're completely identical!"

"Yep, it's really me, little cat!" the other "Ace" laughed.

"Poof!"

A cloud of pink smoke burst from his body, revealing nine fox tails curling back.

A familiar face appeared before Nekomamushi.

"A Devil Fruit user? Izo, when did you eat a fruit?" Nekomamushi exclaimed.

"It's been a while, little cat," Izo smiled.

"Long time no see, Izo, Karuchu," Nekomamushi greeted warmly, hugging Izo like a big cat.

"Karuchu, Nekomamushi… Hmm, you're injured. Who did this to you?"

...

If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.

[email protected]/DaoistJinzu