Words can deceive, but Haki never lies.

When Magnus saw Rona's Haki leaking out uncontrollably, its strength clearly a notch higher than before, he immediately knew she wasn't joking.

"You really plan to defect?"

He couldn't help but doubt it. In the original timeline, the next Fleet Admiral was indeed Kong, but that didn't mean Rona had no chance.

If she had aimed for it, she could have become the first female Fleet Admiral in Marine history.

And yet Rona wasn't even going to try?

She could more or less guess what Magnus was thinking.

"Hmph. You think being a Marine Admiral is easy? Being ordered around every day is one thing — the worst part is having to deal with those Celestial Dragons!"

Since she'd already decided to quit being an admiral, Rona no longer held back, venting her grievances right to Magnus' face.

"If it were about protecting ordinary civilians, fine — exhausting, but worth it. But protecting Celestial Dragons? Forget it."

Just thinking of the ones she'd met made her skin crawl. They all looked like walking birth defects.

And the worst part? Some even dreamed of taking her as a wife.

Although those around had quickly stopped him, Rona still remembered the look of dissatisfaction that Celestial Dragon had given her — as if marrying him would have been her greatest honor.

Because of that incident, she rarely went anywhere Celestial Dragons might appear, especially Sabaody Archipelago. Even Fleet Admiral Xiangshan never asked her to go to Mary Geoise.

"Looking back now, why didn't I just cut him down back then?"

Rona thought her past self must have been insane — throwing everything aside just to catch Magnus. Now that she'd abandoned that goal, she'd live for herself from now on!

Magnus could see her point. It wasn't easy for female officers to rise in the Marines. They had to fight pirates and then also fend off the unwanted attention of Celestial Dragons — and that was when most of them stayed in Mary Geoise.

Rona could refuse them because she was an admiral. But what about an ordinary female marine? Would the Navy offend a Celestial Dragon for her? Not a chance.

"If you're willing to work with me, I can find a way to free the slaves in Mary Geoise. They all have the 'Hoof of the Soaring Dragon' burned into them. To escape CP0 and the Marines, they'd need your protection — there's no other way."

Her proposal was tempting.

In fact, before setting out for Fishman Island, Magnus had already considered something like this. If the White Wolf Pirates wanted power strong enough to challenge the World Government quickly, they'd have to unite with its enemies.

And who would fight the World Government to the bitter end?

Slaves — those bought by the Celestial Dragons and branded with the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon.

Even if they escaped, they'd live their entire lives hunted by the Government.

The White Wolf Pirates could protect them.

If all Magnus wanted was to carve out territory, the crew was already strong enough:

Magnus at admiral level, plus Roya, Lily, Ed, Rocks, and Ripley — all big-name pirate level.

If Linlin was counted too, that made six.

Even the World Government wouldn't attack lightly.

But it still wasn't enough.

Magnus' ambitions went beyond that — even if it meant exposing the fact he had Pure Gold, he wanted to gather more strength.

Because he wanted to see for himself if the throne above the world was truly so secure.

Freeing the slaves of Mary Geoise would move that plan forward in a big way.

The only problem was… could Rona be trusted? Was she truly betraying the Marines, or was this all a trap for him?

"Forty-two years ago. Avisaru Island."

She suddenly spoke a place name — the beginning of the story.

"It was autumn. A pirate crew attacked the island's village. The nearest Marine base was over a hundred kilometers away, and the village guards were no match for the ruthless pirates."

"At that time, a young adventurer happened to wash up on the island — and he fought."

"One against a hundred, giving everything he had. In the end, after the pirates sacked the village, he saved one girl — the only survivor."

Rona looked calmly at Magnus, as if to awaken his memory.

"I was that girl."

She'd been only eight years old then, but old enough to understand what had happened that day — and the risk the young man took to save her.

Unfortunately, she'd passed out from her injuries right after he rescued her, so she never told him her name.

Later, she found out who her savior was.

White Wolf Magnus, a capable adventurer on the Grand Line.

His White Wolf title wasn't from the White Wolf Fruit — even before eating it, his hair was naturally white.

As an adventurer, he was much like a bounty hunter, often capturing wanted pirates.

Soon after, he even founded an adventurers' guild.

From the day he saved her, Rona followed his exploits, deciding that when she grew up, she would join his guild and become an adventurer herself.

Until one day, the adventurers' guild vanished — replaced by the White Wolf Pirates.

Magnus' first bounty was thirty million Beli — forty years ago!

Back then, she didn't understand why he'd abandon the guild to form a pirate crew.

Now she understood.

The roots of the world were rotten; change from the top down was impossible.

Only bottom-up revolution could work.

Overthrow the entire world.

Rona knew she didn't have that kind of conviction — so she hoped Magnus would bring that change, to do what she could not.

There had been times of doubt and disappointment… but now Magnus had done it, making the whole world take notice.

If that was the case, she didn't mind helping him.

She met his gaze, waiting for his answer.

But Magnus was thinking of something else.

"Forty-two years ago, you were eight… so you're fifty now?"

Her smile vanished.

"I've changed my mind."

"You can just die!"

(Though really — in the world of pirates, as long as you have dreams, you never get old!)

(End of Chapter)

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