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Chapter 219: Coming Home in Glory
🕑 Added 2025-09-29 09:51:17 +0000 UTCChapter 219: Coming Home in Glory
The moonlight was like water, and the cold wind whimpered.
Shane walked into the depths of the crater and stood for a long moment over the body of the Golden Lion. Then, he reached out and gently closed the dead man's eyes. This man... he may have been a notorious pirate, but he had once possessed the spirit to change the world. He was a true legend of the old era. There was no shame in dying at Shane's hands.
Shane stood up, his gaze falling on the two broken swords and the blood-stained ship's wheel. He picked up the wheel and activated his Sacrifice ability.
[You have sacrificed the Golden Lion's ship's wheel. You have gained 6000 points.]
[The Golden Lion's Ship's Wheel]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Value: 6000 Points]
[Appraisal: A symbol of "Golden Lion" Shiki, carrying the immense historical significance of the Battle of Edd War. If not for that storm, not for this falling wheel, Gol D. Roger would have been defeated. Who, then, would have become the King of the Pirates?]
Six thousand points? That was more than he'd gotten from any of the current Yonko or Admirals. This trip, though not the fight he'd been hoping for, had been more than worth it. "I hope my Dragon Ball counterpart gets this in his shop next month," Shane said with a sincere smile.
RUMBLE!
Just then, the ground began to shake. As he had expected, without the power of the Float-Float Fruit to sustain them, the islands were beginning to fall. He shot up into the sky and looked down at the villages below. He saw people running in panic and frowned. The evacuation isn't complete? What the hell is Aokiji doing?!
He was about to head down when he noticed something. Below him, dozens of massive ice pillars now stretched from the sea to the sky, their tops flared out like giant saucers. The falling islands landed gently on these ice platters, their descent halted.
"Arara, what's the rush?" a lazy voice said from behind him. Aokiji was standing there, his hands in his pockets. "I am a Marine Admiral. When you give me a job, I get it done." He gestured to the ice pillars. "I've been working on this since you went up to fight. If all these islands had fallen into the sea, it would have caused a massive tsunami."
"You're pretty reliable," Shane said with a grin. He looked Aokiji up and down. The man was trying to act casual, but his breathing was heavy, and his shirt was soaked with sweat. To make an ice machine sweat this much... this must have taken a lot of effort. But it was a far better solution than the one he'd had in mind. Would Akainu or Kizaru have gone to such lengths to save the civilians?
"Hey," Aokiji said, a little unnerved by his stare. "What's with that look? Stop it. I don't want to hear whatever you're thinking." For some reason, he always felt like he was naked in front of this kid, like his every thought was being read.
"Don't flatter yourself. You think I'm trying to recruit you?" Shane scoffed, a little embarrassed that he'd been caught. "Just keep being a good little Admiral. We're not short-handed at the moment. But... if you ever decide you've had enough..." he grinned. "Come find me in the New World. We'll have a drink."
Will that day ever come? Aokiji didn't answer. He looked down at the fleet that was now arriving. "I've called for reinforcements. Shiki has a lot of men. You want me to handle them?"
"Sure," Shane laughed. "Just make sure you pay me the bounty. The Golden Lion's head is worth a lot of money."
"You think that's going to happen?" Aokiji shot him an annoyed look. An Emperor of the Sea, asking for a bounty? The nerve of this guy.
"Fine. No money. I'm leaving," Shane said. "Oh, and the civilians..."
"Don't worry. I'll make sure they're taken care of," Aokiji said, his voice serious.
"Good." Shane trusted his word. He took one last look at the battlefield, then waved goodbye and disappeared into the clouds.
Two days later.
Shane rode his hover-motorcycle across the familiar, azure waters of the East Blue. In the distance, he saw the silhouette of Cocoyasi Village. "Finally back..." he said, a smile spreading across his face.
The Grand Line was exciting, but this... this was home.
As he walked down the familiar country road toward the village, he was spotted by a group of playing children.
"Hey! Is that Big Brother Shane?!"
"It really is! He's back!"
"Quick, go tell everyone!"
Before he even reached the village entrance, he was surrounded by a cheering crowd. He saw Genzo, Dr. Nako, and his old crew, Manba, Fatty Joe, and Skinny, their eyes filled with tears of joy.
"Shane! The hero of our village has returned!"
"Boss! It's so good to see you!"
Genzo, his signature pinwheel spinning on his hat, gave him a bone-crushing hug. "You brat! We're having a party tonight! You're not leaving!"
"You got it, Genzo," Shane laughed. He clapped his old friends on the shoulder. "By the way, are the CP agents still watching you?" It seemed like a pointless question. If they were, he wouldn't have been greeted with smiles, but with rotten eggs and insults, as they had planned.
"Don't worry about them," Genzo said, puffing out his chest. "They started to slack off last winter. After the news of your big fight in the New World, they all packed up and left. Haven't been back since."
"Good." So the act worked. Huh? That's strange. If the show's over, why is that big white dog still glaring at me?
"Woof!"
That night, Shane, as expected, got completely wasted. The villagers took turns toasting him, and after a few hundred glasses of hard liquor, even an Emperor of the Sea couldn't stand. He passed out on the table and was carried home by Genzo and the others.
The next afternoon, he stumbled out of his bedroom, his head pounding, and collapsed onto the sofa in front of the fireplace. Just as he was about to lean back, a warm glass was pressed against his neck.
"You're finally awake. Here, drink this. It'll help with the hangover."
A familiar, gentle voice came from behind him. Shane froze. He slowly turned his head.
A woman with a deep red ponytail and a worn apron was sitting at the dining table, a cigarette between her fingers, a playful smile on her face as she looked at him.
"Hey. What are you staring at? Cat got your tongue? Or have you gotten too big, now that you're an 'Emperor of the Sea,' to greet your own mother?"
