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Whitebeard moved first, perhaps seeing his long-lost brother, which made the future King of the Sea eager to assess Larson's current strength.
He held a naginata in his hand and strode toward Larson. Larson did not dare to underestimate him, knowing that the man he faced was called the strongest man by later generations. Judging by his age, this was likely the time when the man was at his peak!
However, Larson's face showed an expression of excitement. Although Whitebeard was at his peak now, he had also been getting stronger over the years!
Larson wanted to experience the strength of the strongest man firsthand!
When the naginata struck in Whitebeard's hand, Larson did not retreat; he chose to block it head-on with his sword!
A true man fights with real swords and fist!
This was the best way to prove the strength of both.
"Bang!!!"
The weapons of both men collided. In an instant, a violent wind swept over the island, the clouds in the sky parted, and purple lightning flickered where their weapons clashed.
"Boom!"
The two were instantly separated, pushing each other back ten steps.
"Gurarara!"
Whitebeard couldn't help but laugh. He felt the thrill of being a strong man after a long time. He grinned at Larson. "Larson, the warm-up is over!"
Larson pointed his sword toward Whitebeard. "I will be serious next time."
Both of them wanted to test each other's current strength, so their earlier clash was merely a close contest to gauge one another.
The two fought from noon to dusk. This was a contest between truly strong men. The fierce winds generated during their battle could easily knock down a large tree, but unfortunately, no one else was watching this remarkable clash.
As the sun set, the fight between Larson and Whitebeard came to a halt. The two sat on the beach, with Whitebeard's naginata lodged in the sand beside him while only a broken sword lay beside Larson.
The two sat quietly on the beach, watching the sunset before them. No words were exchanged; they seemed to simply enjoy the beauty of reuniting after such a long time.
Larson reflected on the battle and sighed inwardly—he recognized that Whitebeard was indeed the strongest man on the sea of the future.
While he had held his own in their initial exchange, Larson knew that if the battle continued, he would inevitably lose. Thanks to his Sharingan, he felt fatigued after so long, while Whitebeard appeared unfazed and even more invigorated.
A monster, Larson thought to himself as he evaluated Whitebeard.
Moreover, Whitebeard had not used his Gura Gura no Mi ability during their previous encounter, but Larson also had a trump card he hadn't employed.
In essence, their fight was simply a process for them to showcase their respective strengths, and neither had taken it too seriously.
"Brother, come to sea with me," Whitebeard suddenly turned to Larson and said.
Larson replied calmly, "Okay."
It was as if he had agreed to something trivial.
The exchange between the two was as simple as asking if they had eaten that day and receiving a reply of "Yes."
Little did they know that Whitebeard's words would eventually lead to the formation of the Whitebeard Pirates, a dynasty that would last for a hundred years!
At that moment, Whitebeard couldn't help but recall a day 17 years ago, at the same location, when he had said the same words.
Unfortunately, all he received at that time was rejection. Even though he emphasized the beauty of the sea, the other man had remained indifferent.
Now, when he asked the same question, fortunately, he was not met with the same answer.
"I promised you," Larson replied, looking toward the distant sea. "If one day you leave the Rocks Pirates, you must come to me. I knew you would definitely come. Ever since I saw the newspaper about the demise of the Rocks Pirates last year, I've been waiting for you."
Whitebeard paused for two seconds before asking, "Brother, can you tell me why you refused to join the Rocks Pirates back then, but now you agree to join?"
Without hesitation, Larson explained, "Because I knew from the first moment I saw you that you were destined to become the King of the Sea. So I waited for you—waiting for the day you would become the captain. I wanted to get on your boat and conquer this sea with you!"
It was merely a lie, but it didn't matter what he said. He couldn't reveal to Whitebeard that he foresaw the inevitable demise of the Rocks Pirates, which was why he had declined.
Sure enough, he saw the shocked expression on Whitebeard's face as he processed Larson's words, and it was clear that Whitebeard had been successfully deceived.
Larson stood and playfully patted Whitebeard on the shoulder. "You must be hungry after all that fighting. Let's go eat first!"
"Then I won't be shy," Whitebeard patted his stomach.
Larson glanced at the broken sword on the ground and sighed. Given its condition, it had become unusable.
Whitebeard's face turned red. "I'm really sorry, brother. I'll find you a better sword when we get back."
Larson said, "Then it's a deal!"
During their earlier fight, neither had used Haki. Naturally, Larson's ordinary sword could not compete with Whitebeard's naginata, so it was understandable for it to break.
If Larson's weapon hadn't suddenly shattered, their battle might not have stopped at all.
However, the sword had been with him for so long that Larson couldn't bear to simply throw it away. He picked it up, planning to take it home and find a place to bury it.
As they walked back together, Whitebeard's towering height of six meters was considered normal in the world of One Piece, while Larson was only about two meters tall, despite his diligent efforts to grow over the years.
Thus, from a distance, it looked like an adult walking alongside a child.
As soon as Larson reached the door of his house, he saw his neighbor's aunt coming out.
"Larson, are you back? Is this the friend you were talking about?"
The neighbor's aunt approached, looking Whitebeard up and down. "It's just right. You and your friend can come to our house for dinner."
"Forget it, Auntie; thank you for the invitation, but my friend and I won't be going."
"How can that be?" she said with a serious face. "You promised me before. Anyway, I just have one extra pair of chopsticks. Besides, your uncle explained it to me in advance. If you don't go, I can't explain it to him."
"Fine... well," Larson conceded. "My friend and I will go there right away."
The aunt then smiled with joy. "I'll go back and wait for you!"
Larson walked into his hut with Whitebeard. As soon as they entered, Whitebeard smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to be so loved in the village, brother."
Larson casually set the broken sword aside. "Every year, the village encounters several groups of pirates. It's all thanks to me protecting everyone here. That's why everyone is so kind to me."
At this point, Larson's voice gradually lowered as the reality set in that he would be going to sea with Whitebeard, meaning he would no longer be able to protect the village, and no one would guard them from approaching pirates.
Whitebeard frowned, deep in thought.
After placing their weapons at home, Larson and Whitebeard headed to the aunt's house for dinner.
The aunt and her husband had been waiting for a long time. When they saw Larson arrive, both wore happy smiles on their faces.
"Sit down; come and try my cooking!"
The aunt greeted warmly.
As several people sat down together to taste the aunt's cooking, she noticed that Larson had been quiet, as if lost in thought. She asked, "Larson, is it that the food I made isn't to your liking?"
"Of course not; Auntie's food is delicious."
Larson hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to share that he would be leaving.
After he spoke, a heavy silence fell over the dinner table.
"Is that so..."
The aunt forced a smile. "Isn't it tomorrow that you leave? Let's continue eating; don't let it go to waste."
The man beside Whitebeard grew increasingly serious. He now understood the significance of Larson to the people in this village. Larson was like a guardian, protecting the community's safety.
But now that the guardian was heading out to sea with him, he felt it was vital to do something to continue Larson's role as the protector of the village.
Whitebeard stood up, and his six-meter-tall body conveniently blocked out the light in the room.
He looked at the aunt and said, "Do you have a larger piece of cloth?"
"A larger cloth?"
The aunt pondered for a moment before responding, "Just wait a second."
She quickly brought over a larger piece of fabric, and then Whitebeard began to draw on it. Soon, he completed a skull with a half-moon beard. However, after finishing the painting, he felt something was missing. He glanced at Larson beside him and suddenly realized what it needed. He lowered his head again to finish his work.
Larson understood what Whitebeard wanted to do when he asked for the cloth.
It would be a flag—a skull and crossbones flag—he wanted to hang the Whitebeard Pirates' flag in this village to signify that it was protected by him.
This was indeed a brilliant idea. Although the Whitebeard Pirates had just been established, Larson held great confidence in both himself and the current Whitebeard. He believed it wouldn't take long until everyone recognized the flag.
He watched as Whitebeard completed the flag's design, thinking it was finished, only to see Whitebeard start drawing again after examining Larson.
"All done!"
Satisfied, Whitebeard lifted his work to show everyone. It featured a skull with a white half-moon beard. However, there were now two blood-red eyes on either side of the skull.
Larson understood what those two blood-red eyes represented, and it didn't take much explanation from Whitebeard. They represented his Sharingan.
Even though Larson was in his thirties and had long surpassed the age of being easily moved by gestures, his eyes still turned red at that moment.
Though the aunt and her husband may not have understood the significance of Whitebeard's actions, Larson recognized that the flag of a pirate crew is a representation of the captain's identity, and the fact that Whitebeard could add his Sharingan to the flag showed how important Larson was to him. It symbolized that their pirate crew had been founded together.
The image of blood-red eyes behind the beard would not just be a pattern on this flag; it would also shape the impression that others would have of the Whitebeard Pirates in the future.
There would always be that figure standing behind Whitebeard!
And even though Whitebeard was tall, he was attentive. He noticed that Larson's eyes had shifted from two magatama to three. He wondered if Larson's eyes would ever change again after three magatama, so when he drew the eyes on the flag, he chose to depict a single red eye without the magatama.
If he painted magatama, it might become awkward if Larson's eyes changed again.
"Larson, this will be the flag of our Whitebeard Pirates from now on. What do you think?"
Whitebeard said proudly.
Larson sighed inwardly. What else could he say? Didn't he see that he was so moved he was almost in tears?