"Hahaha! Emeth… see? 'That's' how you tie a knot!"
"Even against the vast sea, towering waves, raging storms, and violent winds, a good knot will hold fast for a very, very long time. That's what a knot is."
Roy heard a voice.
It was strange.
People usually described voices with words like 'bold', 'cheerful', 'gloomy', or 'deep'.
But this voice didn't fit any of those.
Its pitch was bright, its tone full of spirit, and its words overflowed with passion.
What was the right word for it?
The question surfaced in Roy's mind almost instinctively.
"I don't get it." A second voice answered.
"But... Joyboy, isn't a knot just another way of 'binding' a rope together?"
"You hate being tied down more than anyone. To avoid being bound, you even abandoned your original name."
Only then did Roy finally see the scene before him.
The sea shimmered beneath the evening sun. It was sunset, the sky glowing as the sun dipped toward the horizon.
He seemed to be standing on an island.
Not far away stood two figures: one enormous, one small.
The larger one was a giant robot. Roy had seen it not long ago on Egghead.
It was the ancient robot, Emeth.
In front of Emeth was a small grassy hill and sitting cross-legged atop it was a man.
At Emeth's question, he laughed before answering.
"That's right. I'm a pirate, after all. I hate being tied down.But I don't think a knot has to mean restraint."
He flicked the half-finished knot in his hand toward Emeth. The rope wrapped itself around the giant robot.
Then he flashed Emeth a broad grin.
"A knot is a bond, Emeth!"
On his head sat a straw hat wrapped with a strip of red cloth.
Despite his legendary reputation, there was nothing particularly remarkable about his appearance. He looked like an ordinary man in his thirties.
But the smile stretching across his face… It made everyone who saw it want to smile too and in that instant, Roy finally found the answer he'd been searching for.
How should this man be described?
'Freedom.'
His voice.
His smile.
Everything about him felt like the wind sweeping across the sea, a bird soaring through the sky, a fish gliding through the endless ocean.
It was as if nothing in the world could ever chain him.
Even if he were defeated...
Even if he fell...
He would never truly be brought down.
He was a man as free as the sun itself.
He was...
"Joyboy."
Roy instinctively recognized him.
He also understood what was happening. It was almost identical to when he'd entered Linlin's memories through the Memo-Memo Fruit.
What he was seeing now was a memory from the distant past.
"'Haoshoku Haki' is the power born from the soul..." Roy silently repeated the words to himself, feeling that Golden Lion's insight had just become even more convincing.
If Haoshoku Haki was power created by the soul...
Then the Haoshoku Joyboy had left inside this knot was naturally a fragment of his own soul.
And what Roy was witnessing now was the moment that knot had first been tied.
"A bond?" Emeth echoed.
"Yeah." Joyboy smiled as he untied the rope and continued weaving the knot.
"I hate being restrained, but I love the bonds I share with my friends... just like the bond between you and me."
"Those are the greatest things in the world."
But instead of smiling back, Emeth sounded almost angry.
"If that's true, then why won't you come with me?"
"Everyone's still waiting for you. We can still fight..."
It slapped its battered, scarred metal body as it spoke.
Yes.
The great war was already over.
They had lost because of betrayal.
Their comrades had scattered.
And yet Emeth knew...
If the man before him simply raised his arm and called out… Everyone would return to the battlefield without hesitation.
But...
"This isn't our era, Emeth."
Joyboy shook his head.
He gazed out toward the distant sea.
"We lost this time."
He didn't deny it.
He could almost see the darkness rising beyond the horizon, destined to spread across the entire world.
They had lost.
He had broken his promise.
He had betrayed the trust placed in him.
But at least...
They had left behind a spark.
"This is where we part, Emeth."
He looked at his friend, even if that friend was a machine.
"The Abyss will keep chasing my trail. I'll stay here for a while... get married, have children... maybe even found a small kingdom. After that, I'll head to the Final Island and leave the spark there... then I'll personally bid the Abyss one last farewell."
That was the plan he laid out for Emeth.
"But..."
Emeth clearly didn't want to part with his friend.
Because it knew…
Once they said goodbye...
They would never meet again.
Yet all Joyboy gave him was that warm, unwavering look.
"It's okay, Emeth." A broad smile spread across his face once more.
"I know hiding in the darkness is damp and miserable."
"I know saying goodbye hurts."
"I know waiting is agonizing."
"But..."
"I'll come back!"
He laughed loudly.
"When the promised era arrives, Joyboy will fight alongside all of you again, my friends!"
As he spoke, he finished tying the knot.
Holding it high, he raised it toward the setting sun over the sea, as though he meant to hang it back in the sky.
"No matter how long the night lasts, the sun will always rise again."
"I won't die."
He looked at his old friend and gently tossed the knot to him.
"Because there will always be people in this world chasing freedom!"
That was why he had abandoned his own name.
Because anyone who pursued freedom...
Could become 'Joy Boy'.
---
Roy watched as the Emeth of the past accepted the knot, rose to his full height, and strode away across the sea.
His gaze returned to Joyboy, still sitting quietly atop the little hill.
He couldn't help but admire the legendary pirate's spirit and generosity.
At the same time, though, he had no idea what was supposed to happen next.
Wasn't there supposed to be a clash of Haoshoku Haki?
Just as the thought crossed his mind…
"Hey, friend." A voice called out beside him.
Roy instinctively looked up.
Then, to his utter disbelief, he saw Joyboy smiling directly at him.
"You've been standing there for quite a while."
He greeted Roy as naturally as if they'd known each other for years.
Roy's shock was impossible to put into words.
He had experienced Linlin's memories before, but nothing like this had ever happened. Rocks and Whitebeard certainly hadn't turned around and started talking to him while he was watching.
"No need to be surprised." Joyboy seemed to have read his thoughts.
He adjusted the straw hat on his head, then grinned and pointed at himself.
"You heard me earlier, didn't you? I don't like being tied down."
"I'm 'free'... so even memories can't keep me trapped."
Free?
So even memories couldn't bind him?
Roy thought the explanation sounded completely absurd.
What kind of logic was that?
But Joyboy didn't elaborate.
He simply raised a hand and pointed to the ground beside him.
"So..."
"Want to come over and have a chat?"
'End of Chapter'
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