After reciting all the incantations, Whitebeard let out a long breath. Then, sensing something with his Observation Haki, a look of helplessness appeared on his face.
"Why are you here?"
He turned around and looked behind him, where he saw Ace, Marco, and a group of Whitebeard Pirates captains walking out of the cabin.
Ace, who was at the front, was pale. He looked at Whitebeard with a wry smile and said, "Dad! We were all very worried about you."
“Yes,” Marco said, his hands tucked into his bag, looking lazy but actually watching Whitebeard very intently. “Dad, after all, when Ace was exhausted, he was startled by the screams of those strange beings… If he hadn’t been so determined, he probably would have been mutated like the intelligence provided by the Navy.”
After a slight pause, Marco's face showed concern as he organized his thoughts, "You... aren't feeling quite right right now either."
"If you suspect I'm mentally unstable, just say so, you brat," Whitebeard chuckled and scolded, then added, "But don't worry, I'm perfectly mentally sound... I'm just doing this to meet up with some old friends."
Diamond Jozu's expression was strange. He also possessed Observation Haki! He had also heard Whitebeard's words... those bizarre, melodramatic words were truly hard to believe coming from his own father...
And really, are they looking for old friends? Who can they possibly reach for those messages?
At that very moment, the pitch-black mist suddenly surged up.
"...What?" Marco's expression changed drastically, and he immediately transformed into his phoenix form.
Ace clenched his fists, his face full of vigilance. "This feeling... is it the same as those enemies above Mary Geoise? No! This feeling... is far more terrifying than what we faced before. It's not even in the same league. It's suffocating."
Madara Uchiha stepped out of the mist, his face cold, his Rinnegan sweeping over the many Whitebeard captains present. His terrifying eye power brought them immense pressure.
Marco's eyelids twitched. This aura was definitely at the level of one of the Four Emperors of the Sea... perhaps even a strong one among the Four Emperors, like their father.
Following closely behind him was an elderly man with white hair wearing a Taoist robe, and... an Iron Man?!
"What are all these things?" Sachi was completely bewildered, then he saw the mist gradually begin to gather, eventually transforming into a young man.
Although one could sense that the young man was very young, his face could not be seen because a mist shrouded him.
"……Who are you?"
Tony Stark also realized what was happening. He looked Su Han up and down, his voice slightly wary.
"Please don't worry about me," Su Han replied succinctly.
The crew of the Moby Dick exchanged bewildered glances, even Whitebeard frowned, the situation before him was beyond his expectations.
After a moment's thought, he asked, "Are you here representing the Speaker of Parliament?"
Su Han remained silent, offering no reply. But in their eyes, this attitude was tantamount to tacit agreement.
Whitebeard exchanged glances with the other members of the Misty Space, gave a wry smile, and asked no further questions.
At this moment, Su Han was focusing some of his attention on the misty world.
...
Within the misty space.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Ying Zheng looked directly at Su Han, who was shrouded in mist, and asked, "Speaker of the Council, what was that star you invested earlier?"
Su Han realized that even in the One Piece world, he could still control the phantom with his consciousness, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
He put it succinctly, "An insurance policy that confirms they won't have any problems."
Su Han, his figure shrouded in mist, tapped the back of his chair lightly, causing a dramatic change in the surrounding environment, which transformed into the phantom image of the Moby Dick.
Huang Rong was startled, then realized what she meant and nodded thoughtfully.
"Is that so? Although we weren't there, we can still see everything that happened there thanks to the unique nature of the misty space?"
Ying Zheng did not speak, but only glanced at the figure shrouded in mist on the high-backed chair with a complicated expression.
"Is it because the Speaker of the Council wants to see what's happening in another world? That's why he's projecting these images... No, the Speaker of the Council is very likely omniscient and omnipotent. In other words, he can naturally sense what's happening in another world just by sitting there."
"Perhaps... he really is thinking of us."
With a sigh, Ying Zheng looked at Huang Rong and Xiao Zhi, who seemed completely unprepared for this. He felt a pang of emotion.
"This god... has been very kind to us. This is perhaps our greatest fortune."
Su Han breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that the guys weren't suspicious and were enthusiastically observing their surroundings. It was good that they could accept the explanation.
...
One Piece world.
Whitebeard was extremely generous. He smiled at the captains of the various squads behind him and said, "Men, prepare a banquet to entertain our distinguished guests."
The captains were stunned for a moment, then erupted in joyful cheers. Only Marco stared blankly, "Dad, are we paying for this banquet ourselves again?"
Marco said that the white-bearded man is very stingy, and they usually pay for their own drinks when they hold banquets. Who can afford that?
Whitebeard suddenly fell silent. He recalled the words Marco spoke in his hometown after his death, in the story he had watched, within the stars.
“Gulala,” the white-bearded man patted the armrest of his chair, a rare tenderness appearing on his face. “My dear sons, how could I possibly do such a thing? Go! Bring up all the wines I’ve been hoarding.”
Marco looked Whitebeard up and down with a look of horror, almost doubting that he had heard correctly.
"Dad...you weren't really affected by those monsters just now, were you? That's impossible. Even I wasn't affected by them."
Marco was gripped by self-doubt. Sachi, the cook, reacted quickly, rushing to the cabin and shouting, "Everyone, come with me to get it! Dad might regret it later!"
Immediately, all the team leaders followed closely behind.