"The future of my family...?"
Ozz froze for a moment, but he quickly came back to himself.
Right.
If it was Rocks, then saying something like this was perfectly normal.
As for Rocks himself?
The reason he asked this question was not because he was especially worried.
On one hand, he wanted to test whether the Observation Haki Ozz was so proud of was truly as miraculous as he claimed.
On the other hand, even if he told Ozz that he had family somewhere in this world, so what?
If Ozz's Observation Haki was really strong enough to see everything, then whether Rocks said it or not made no difference.
And if Ozz could not see it, then even if Rocks said he had family, the world was far too vast. Ozz would never be able to find them.
Still, Rocks was more willing to believe that this man, who was no weaker than he had been in his youth, might truly have that ability.
He poured Ozz a bowl of wine.
Ozz accepted it in silence. Even though he did not like alcohol, sharing a drink with a man like this was not unacceptable.
Two men who ruled over two adjacent eras, one already in middle age, the other still young.
After their bowls clinked, they drank it all in one breath.
Ozz smiled and wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth.
Drinking with a monster on the same level as himself for the first time was actually not bad.
Rocks did not seem anxious for Ozz to answer either. It was as if he did not care whether Ozz could truly see the "future."
Instead, his gaze slowly shifted downward, landing on an ordinary-looking burly figure among the many underlings.
"That fighter over there. Do you know him?"
Ozz raised his brow slightly and followed Rocks's gaze.
A burly man with a sword at his waist was bragging about something to the pirates around him. The others all looked envious, drinking and eating meat with him.
Seeing the old man's flushed, happy face after drinking, the corners of Ozz's lips also rose slightly.
"Yeah. He's very important family to me."
Ozz understood Rocks. He knew what kind of man the other party was, so he said it without concern.
Although Rocks was not exactly a righteous hero, he was a true overlord and a great man of the sea.
"Family, huh..."
Rocks's lips curled. He drained the bowl he had just filled, then looked ahead and spoke as if casually.
"No wonder that brat Kaido got beaten so badly. Hahahahaha!"
"Let me apologize to you on Kaido's behalf. That kid is simple-minded. He didn't mean to hurt your family."
When Ozz heard that, even his drinking motion paused for a moment.
Although Rocks said it in Kaido's name, for someone like Rocks, those words could already be considered lowering his pride.
Or, from another angle, it proved that he really cared about Kaido as a subordinate.
It also proved that he truly regarded Ozz as one of his own.
Like Harald, he was someone who could be considered an equal friend.
Sometimes, the way men got along was that simple.
A single drink, a few plain words, or one clash of Conqueror's Haki was enough.
Because spirit did not lie.
A petty man who wavered between sides and hid filth in his heart could never possess Conqueror's Haki potential comparable to Rocks.
And Ozz?
For those he acknowledged, and for those willing to sincerely befriend him, he naturally would not refuse friendship.
As for friends, although Ozz sometimes had the bad habit of stabbing people in the back for fun, he had never failed when it came to loyalty.
He waved away Rocks's attempt to pour more wine. Instead, he poured orange juice into both bowls.
Rocks froze, then showed a look of disdain.
His expression basically said, how could men drink this stuff? Men should drink wine.
Even so, despite his disgusted face, he still clinked bowls with Ozz in the end.
Ozz gulped it down.
After a moment of silence, he finally raised his eyes and slowly spoke.
The words he said made Rocks's eyes widen.
"What you're talking about... should be God Valley."
Rocks stared at Ozz in disbelief, but all he met were Ozz's calm eyes.
Even a man with Rocks's spirit could not help feeling his heart shake at this moment.
Did such a being truly exist in this world?
Someone who could peer so far into the future?
"This is ridiculous..."
Rocks seemed genuinely shocked.
After all, he had never told anyone about this matter. Even the World Government, which ruled the world, could not have uncovered it in a day or two.
Yet the man before him had exposed it with a single sentence.
"I'm starting to believe it now. Seeing the far future and all that..."
Rocks looked at him with a solemn gaze.
"Then... can you really tell me? It won't cause the future to become unpredictable or something like that, will it?"
Although Rocks said that, Ozz could clearly tell that he wanted to know.
"There's nothing I can't say. But changing the future isn't that simple."
Ozz knew that no matter where this world's future went, it would not affect his original world.
Besides, he might not truly be able to change everything.
Even without God Valley, there might be Devil Valley, King Valley, or some other valley.
What mattered was the direction of the world. That was the great current.
Rocks would eventually clash with Imu. That was something Ozz could not change.
Because he could not stop Rocks from pursuing his ideals and ambitions, and he also would not suddenly lose his mind and go looking for trouble with Imu.
After arriving here, Ozz only cared about two things.
One was fighting the strong and breaking through the limits of Conqueror's Haki.
The other was helping the old man fulfill his dream, so that this world's version of the old man could leave the Rocks Pirates with hope still in his heart.
So Ozz did not carelessly reveal every future.
The future was uncontrollable.
If he said now that Rocks's family was in danger and had them moved somewhere else, then perhaps someone who should have lived might die due to all kinds of accidents.
The entire flow of history would be thrown into chaos.
Whether they lived or died would completely exceed prediction.
"Saying too much may not be a good thing for you or your family."
Ozz slowly spoke.
"But I can tell you this. Your son becomes something of a ruthless hero in the future."
"My son?"
Rocks thought of Teach, the child who looked somewhat like him, and the corners of his mouth lifted.
"The future, huh. Looks like that brat managed to live until then."
Although the term ruthless hero was not exactly praise to Rocks, having a future already explained something.
His son would still be alive decades later.
However, Ozz's next words made his pleased expression freeze.
Then several black lines seemed to appear across his face.
"Yeah. Newgate, that guy, seems to die at your dear son's hands in the end."
Ozz said with a smile.
Speaking about recent events might have major effects.
But a story from forty years later?
Nothing had even taken shape yet. Ozz felt no pressure saying a little of it.
Instead, looking at Rocks's strange expression, the corners of his mouth rose slightly.
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