As soon as Fleet Admiral Kong heard that Lloyd was supposedly on vacation, he called him again at once. At that moment, Lloyd was still in bed with Stussy in his arms.
Stussy was a little groggy. After Lloyd answered the phone, she murmured in a lazy voice,
"Master, let's sleep a bit longer~"
Kong, who was already desperately serious, froze for a moment upon hearing the soft voice. Lloyd cleared his throat awkwardly, gestured for silence toward Stussy, and then said,
"Commander Kong, what is it that you need?"
Kong didn't have time to question the female voice, and he immediately informed Lloyd about the situation with the Roger Pirates, urging him to return to Marine Headquarters as soon as possible.
Lloyd responded calmly, but he did not promise to return immediately. Instead, he said he had a few matters to finish before heading back, and would arrive by tomorrow.
With Kamui at his disposal, a single breath was all it took for Lloyd to travel from Mary Geoise to Marine Headquarters when he was alone.
After hanging up, Lloyd considered what Kong had told him.
From his memories of Earth, Lloyd knew that Gol D. Roger once held a crucial meeting with Whitebeard, and afterward Roger had bowed to Whitebeard, then taken Oden into his crew.
However, the timing seemed slightly different, so Lloyd couldn't be certain events would play out exactly as in his memory.
Yet, some of his actions had already intersected with the world line significantly, and a butterfly effect was expected.
Speaking of which, Lloyd had met both Whitebeard and Roger before, and he had even fought Whitebeard himself.
At that time he had been no match for Whitebeard. Not even Whitebeard, but even dealing with Oden proved difficult. Lloyd had needed to team up with Admiral Kizaru and Admiral Akainu, and only through his first moonlit transformation had he managed to cripple Oden, yet he still didn't kill him.
Nearly three years had passed since then. In less than three years, Lloyd had grown to stand on equal footing with both Whitebeard and Roger.
As for Oden, he was no longer worth Lloyd's attention.
Thinking of Oden, Lloyd's thoughts shifted to his son, Momonosuke.
That boy should be around three years old now…
Grand Line
On the deck of the Whitey Bay, Whitebeard was drinking fine wine with his many sons. Between Oden and Kozuki Toki sat a small child dressed like a samurai with an extremely odd hairstyle. That child was Momonosuke.
His chair had been specially made; otherwise, with his current height not yet a meter tall, he could easily be stepped on by his father, who stood nearly four meters.
Marco, his mouth full of food, called out to Whitebeard,
"Old Man, since Roger is coming this time, should we prepare something?"
Compared to three years ago, Marco seemed a touch more mature, but his background presence was still strong.
Whitebeard held a wine barrel and grinned,
"Gura… What preparations are needed? Wine? That's Roger's worry!"
Whitebeard's voice was so loud that Momonosuke covered his ears with a grimace. Kozuki Toki simply pulled him into her arms, and Momonosuke immediately settled against his mother's chest with a contented little sigh.
Not long after, Momonosuke looked at a female pirate on deck known affectionately as Whitey Bay with a pure, innocent expression, and said in his childish voice,
"Sister Whitey Bay, hug me~"
Whitey Bay, thinking nothing of it, got up to give him a hug.
Oden, seated nearby, suddenly extended his only remaining right arm and began rubbing Momonosuke's bald head with gusto. As expected, he misjudged his own strength and rolled Momonosuke's eyes back with his enthusiastic prompt.
Seeing this, Whitey Bay shrugged and returned to her seat.
Kozuki Toki gave Oden an admonishing look, but he only laughed heartily, then turned to Whitebeard,
"Whitebeard, with Roger's arrival drawing so much attention, the Navy will definitely take notice!"
Whitebeard replied nonchalantly,
"Even Garp has been exiled and imprisoned, showing how rotten the current Navy and World Government are. There's nothing to fear from them."
Oden's gaze fell to his empty right sleeve, and he said in a lower tone,
"I can't help but worry about the Navy named Lloyd…"
At the mention of Lloyd's name everyone in the room paused. Among them, a young man who looked slightly too mature for his age clenched his teeth and said,
"I don't know if he will show up this time. We Whitebeard Pirates still have unfinished business with him. He must die!"
Everyone nodded in agreement. Oden's expression carried approval as he said,
"Well said, Teach, your resolve is firm!"
Marshall D. Teach, the man who would become infamous as Blackbeard, slammed his fist on the table in rage,
"He's a bastard! He actually… killed so many of our comrades! We must not let this man go!"
Despite his words, what Teach truly meant was this: Lloyd had eaten the Dark‑Dark Fruit, a Devil Fruit Teach had always dreamed of possessing.
That alone was enough reason for Teach to want Lloyd dead immediately, or else he would never have another chance at the Dark‑Dark Fruit.
Satch, someone who had the closest relationship with Teach, saw his excitement and sighed to those around him,
"Teach is truly devoted, his room is covered with pictures of Lloyd that he stabs with a knife every day all these years!"
However, Whitebeard looked at Teach skeptically. When they had encountered Lloyd three years ago, Teach had only recently joined the Whitebeard Pirates, and he wasn't close with the others yet.
So it seemed strange that he would hold such deep hatred toward Lloyd, almost as if Lloyd had killed his father.
Oden, however, didn't overthink the matter. He bore the deepest hatred toward Lloyd among the crew, second only to Blackbeard.
After all, Lloyd had slain his two most loyal retainers, Cat Viper and Inuarashi, and had left Oden crippled.
Such hatred was irreconcilable.
Just thinking of Lloyd's face made Oden's teeth ache.
At that moment someone dashed into the cabin. A lookout from the deck called out urgently,
"Old Man! Roger's pirate ship is approaching!"
Before his words even finished, an overwhelming presence washed across the Moby Dick.
Many in the cabin instantly collapsed to the floor before they could react, eyes rolling back as they lost consciousness.
Footsteps sounded outside the cabin, growing steadily closer.
Those still conscious turned their eyes toward the entrance.
Under every gaze, Roger entered the room with a smile.
Whitebeard narrowed his eyes and said,
"Roger, is this how you greet people?"
Roger glanced at the Whitebeard Pirates who had been knocked unconscious and grinned,
"Sorry, I used a bit too much force."
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