# Chapter 643: The Grudge of a Murdered Friend?
One early morning, the first rays of sunlight rose from the sea horizon, and fresh sea breeze began to flow, heralding a good day ahead.
A news bird was flying over the sea. When it flew past a large white ship that looked quite impressive, it noticed someone on the deck below waving at it.
So the news bird flapped its wings, turned downward, and landed by the ship's railing.
A tall man handed it one hundred berries. The news bird took the coin with its long beak, then pulled a newspaper from its shoulder bag and handed it to the man. After the transaction was complete, it flapped its wings and flew away.
"It's been a while since I bought a newspaper myself..." the tall man muttered, then sat down grandly on a huge chair on the deck, carefully holding the newspaper that was far too small for him and began reading.
"Gurararara!" As soon as he finished reading the headline, the tall man burst into loud laughter.
A man with a pineapple-shaped hairstyle emerged from the cabin, yawned, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and asked with a smile, "Old Man, what's got you so happy?"
Whitebeard Edward Newgate glanced at Marco, laughed heartily, and handed him the newspaper, saying, "Here, see for yourself. That kid Ian sure knows how to stir things up!"
Marco took the newspaper and started reading. But when he saw the headline, his drowsiness vanished instantly. His eyes widened as he exclaimed, "The Gran Tesoro Heist!?"
"Yeah! Gurararara!" Whitebeard laughed loudly. "That kid, together with Aokiji, actually stole all five hundred billion berries of reserve funds from Gran Tesoro!"
As he spoke, members of the Whitebeard Pirates on the Moby Dick gradually emerged from the cabin one by one, gathering around Marco with curious expressions, asking him to read the newspaper aloud.
"And Perospero and Katakuri? When did Ian get involved with the Big Mom Pirates?" Marco exclaimed in surprise as he read on. "Even Revolutionary Dragon showed up? It got this big?"
"Hey, it's only been a little over two months since the Battle of New Edd War, right?" Vista, the Flower Sword, twirled his handsome mustache and said, "He really can't stay still..."
"Is Tesoro an idiot?" Diamond Jozu crossed his arms and asked in confusion. "He knew to pay tribute to our Whitebeard Pirates, but didn't think to pay tribute to the Dragon Hunter Pirates too? And he ended up provoking Ian?"
"Who knows?" Marco shrugged. "Maybe because Ian is no longer a Warlord but hasn't become an Emperor yet, Tesoro thought it wasn't necessary?"
"I think Ian might have been after Tesoro's money all along!" Vista said. "Don't forget his Devil Fruit ability..."
"Hey, who cares!" Whitebeard waved his hand. "Ian is family. Whatever he does, we'll support him. That fool Tesoro got robbed, so be it. It just means the Whitebeard Pirates will lose a bit of annual tribute. No big deal!"
Marco and the others exchanged smiles and nodded. "The Old Man is right. But since the World Government allowed this news to come out and even specified the amount stolen from Gran Tesoro, they're probably trying to stir up trouble for Ian, right?"
"Yeah, five hundred billion berries!" Namur the Fish-Man nodded. "Now everyone knows Ian and his Dragon Hunter Pirates have a huge pile of money—enough to buy an entire country!"
"Even if they know Ian has money, so what? Do they dare to rob him?" Diamond Jozu snorted disdainfully. "No one could take that money from Tesoro, let alone from Ian! Who would dare to mess with him now? What is the World Government thinking? Do they really think this will cause Ian trouble?"
"What I'm more concerned about is the Big Mom Pirates," Marco said. "Old Man, why do you think Perospero and Katakuri were with Ian? I remember Ace once said that in Dressrosa, Ian took a lot of lifespan from Perospero. They should be enemies, right?"
Whitebeard furrowed his brow, also puzzled. But then his expression turned strange as he said, "What if... Big Mom wants to marry one of her daughters to Ian!? You know her personality..."
Marco and the others looked at each other, then suddenly burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs!
"Hahaha! Old Man, that might actually be possible!"
"Yeah, yeah! If that's true, it'll be hilarious!"
"Which daughter do you think Mama would marry off to Ian?"
"Hurry! Someone check how many of Mama's daughters are still unmarried!"
"No matter how many, Big Mom's daughters all have pretty bizarre looks, right?"
"Exactly! Given Ian's taste, I wonder if he'd run away when he sees the bride?"
"Hahahaha..."
The entire Whitebeard Pirates were amused by the Old Man's speculation. But despite the laughter, everyone deep down thought it was unlikely. After all, the Old Man had once shouted to the whole world, making it clear how deep Ian's connection was with the Whitebeard Pirates. The Big Mom Pirates had never gotten along with the Whitebeard Pirates. If Big Mom wanted to marry her daughter to Ian, it would be like forming an alliance with the Whitebeard Pirates. How could that be possible?
So everyone treated the Old Man's guess as a joke.
Little did they know, this guess of the Old Man's might actually come true...
After laughing for a while, Rakuyo, the commander of the Seventh Division, suddenly said, "I wonder if Ace and Izou have reached Wano Country yet. If they were here, they'd probably be laughing their heads off too!"
At the mention of Ace and Izou, everyone fell silent.
Not long ago, the Whitebeard Pirates had received intelligence that a major upheaval had occurred in Wano Country—it seemed a rebellion had broken out!
The exact details were unknown. Wano Country had always followed a policy of isolation, rarely interacting with the outside world. Ordinary people could hardly learn about the country's situation. However, the Whitebeard Pirates were an exception. Back in the day, Kozuki Oden, the head of the Kozuki Family of Wano, had sailed on Pirate King Roger's ship and reached Laugh Tale with him. Given Whitebeard's relationship with Roger—both rivals and friends—he naturally knew Kozuki Oden as well.
The Kozuki Family were originally the daimyo of Kuri in Wano, equivalent to feudal lords of that region. Because of Whitebeard and Roger's connections, both had been invited by Kozuki Oden to set foot in Wano. So while the people of Wano were xenophobic, they made an exception for the Whitebeard Pirates.
Not long after Ace joined the Whitebeard Pirates, he had visited Kuri in Wano under the banner of the Whitebeard Pirates. It was there he brought back Izou, who later joined the Whitebeard Pirates and became the commander of the Sixteenth Division.
Izou's homeland was Wano, so when he heard about the turmoil there, he became worried and wanted to go back and see for himself. Ace, who was close to him, volunteered to accompany him. They had been gone for almost a week now.
"Old Man," Marco asked, "Kaido has always had his eyes on Wano. Ever since he appeared, he's been gathering pirates to attack Wano, making the people there hate pirates. Do you think this turmoil in Wano might also be instigated by him?"
"It's definitely him!" Whitebeard snorted. "The worst time was when he gathered over a hundred thousand pirates to attack Wano, only to be defeated and driven back by the samurai of Wano... Isn't that why he realized ordinary pirates couldn't beat Wano's samurai and started thinking about building a Devil Fruit army? But later, because of Ian's interference, Doflamingo and Kaido's artificial Devil Fruit deal was blocked, and that plan probably fell through..."
"Indeed," Vista nodded, stroking his mustache. "Wano is famous for its samurai, numbering in the tens of thousands. Most of these samurai can rival swordsmen, and there are plenty of grand swordsmen too. How could ordinary pirates win against such fighting strength through sheer numbers? I once heard that during that attack of a hundred thousand pirates, a swordsman named Shimotsuki Kozaburo appeared. To protect his family, he single-handedly killed seven thousand pirates. It's simply..."
Vista clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Too bad that swordsman later died. Otherwise, I would have loved to exchange sword techniques with him..."
"Even though there's turmoil, it's not easy for the Whitebeard Pirates to interfere," Whitebeard sighed. "The Kozuki Family has a good relationship with us, but they are only daimyo, not the shogun—just a feudal lord. While we can guess the turmoil might be related to Kaido, if the Whitebeard Pirates get involved, things will become even harder to control. So for now, we can only let Ace and Izou go back and check things out first."
"Speaking of which, why has Kaido been so determined to deal with Wano?" Marco asked in confusion. "Old Man, do you know the reason?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Whitebeard shook his head. "But there's a rumor that Kaido once said while drunk that he has an irreconcilable grudge against Wano—the grudge of a murdered friend. I don't know if it's true..."
"The grudge of a murdered friend?" Marco and the others exchanged glances. Kaido, that madman, actually had friends? Who was so impressive as to be his friend!?
"Regardless, we'll wait for news," Whitebeard said, picking up a barrel of sake and gulping it down. He wiped the alcohol from his mouth and said, "Ace and Izou will make their own judgment. If they need the Whitebeard Pirates to act, we won't hesitate. Kaido may have friends, but doesn't Whitebeard have friends too!?"
Everyone chuckled. The Old Man had plenty of friends. Not to mention, even Fish-Man Island, deep beneath ten thousand meters of sea, had King Neptune as the Old Man's good friend!
Just then, Marco suddenly thought of something and said, "By the way, Old Man, should we inform Ian about this? If I remember correctly, his crew's first mate, Fujitora, is also from Wano..."
End of Chapter