Chapter 404: Your Father Is a Piece of Trash

Sacred Land, Sky City, Heavenly Prison.

As the nominal supreme rulers of the former World Government, the Five Elders were fortunate enough to become the first prisoners confined in the Heavenly Prison.

Besides the Five Elders, there were Fajirandu Gengku and the Shamrock father and son.

As for the rest of the Celestials and Divine Knights, they had paid the price their evil lives deserved: fused with the red soil of the Red Line.

Inside the Heavenly Prison, forged from unknown material, the Five Elders arranged themselves in sequence and sat against the wall.

Satan broke the silence.

“Gentlemen, we are still alive.”

The other four Five Elders, Gengku, and the Shamrock father and son understood the subtext in Satan’s words: if they were still alive, it meant Im had not perished.

If Im, who had made pacts with them, were dead, they would surely be dead too.

Wuquli took up the thread.

“Then where... has Im gone?”

Since Im attempted to sacrifice them and Seven Saint and others alive, the Five Elders no longer called her “Im-sama,” but referred to her directly by name: Im.

Honestly, it felt quite satisfying.

For centuries since becoming Five Elders, they had never dared speak Im’s name directly.

And they had served Im faithfully—even when they often failed in their duties—hadn’t they earned at least some merit through centuries of hard labor?

Yet Im treated them as disposable pawns, ready to sacrifice them alive.

Had Seven Saint not interrupted Im, they would surely be dead by now.

“Only Seven Saint knows.”

Gelin scratched his messy hair: “You think Seven Saint will do what to us?”

As the head of the Fajirandu family among the Celestials, Gelin had long served as commander of the Divine Knights, enjoying supreme power—even to execute any Celestial at will.

Now he was a prisoner, facing imminent death.

Gelin did not want to die; if he could live on, even at the cost of his soul, he would do it.

Hearing this, Satan chuckled.

“What will happen to us five... hard to say. But you, Gelin Saint—have you forgotten the woman you killed in the Valley of the Gods?”

Shamrock clenched his fist silently.

Gelin flew into a rage: “What’s it to you? You, Satan Saint, have no right to judge... what I’ve done.”

Satan still smiled.

“I indeed have no right.”

“But don’t forget—Red-Haired Shanks is Seven Saint’s brother. If Shanks learns the truth of that time, what do you think he’ll do to you?”

In the pitch-black Heavenly Prison, teasing Gelin was one of Satan’s few pleasures.

After all, this old fool had little ability but a huge temper.

He used to routinely disrespect the Five Elders.

At this moment, Gelin Saint felt regret for the first time—regretting why he had killed the woman who bore him twin sons.

It wasn’t guilt or conscience; it was that if his past deed were exposed, he would almost certainly lose his life.

Gelin did not want to die. Gelin wanted to live.

He wanted to live as before—enjoying the supreme power granted by his position as commander of the Divine Knights, taking any woman he desired.

Satan’s words continued to pierce Gelin’s heart.

“Gelin Saint, if I were you, and one of your sons was Seven Saint’s brother, I’d kneel down and beg for forgiveness immediately.”

“Provided Shanks is willing to come see you.”

Hearing this, Gelin was moved.

If this could let him live on, kneeling before Shanks and begging for forgiveness meant nothing.

Once dead, everything is lost.

Wealth, status, beauties... well, he had already lost everything—what was one kneel?

“Hmph! Who asked you?”

Meanwhile, in the Sky City’s Administrative Hall.

Shanks was leading the Red-Haired Pirates to bid farewell to Seven, Buggy, Lei Li, and Jia Ba.

“Seven, we’re ready to depart—continue the journey left unfinished.”

Though he said this, Shanks truly didn’t want Seven to be put in an awkward position, nor did he want to see his father and brother executed.

His father, as a Celestial, had committed countless crimes over the years—Shanks couldn’t even count them.

But from Long’s account of the Valley of the Gods incident alone, he already knew: even if his father were executed a hundred times, it wouldn’t be enough. His survival until now was solely due to Seven’s mercy toward him.

“Very well.”

Seven decided to respect Shanks’s choice.

“But before you leave, there’s something I believe... you have the right to know.”

“Huh?”

Shanks frowned: “No way, Seven—you secretly took another picture of me sleeping?”

It wasn’t unreasonable for Shanks to suspect; during the Roger Crew days, Seven had done this often—Shanks and Buggy were veteran victims.

“About your mother.”

Seven paused: “When Captain Roger confessed this to me, you were still a child, so I never mentioned it.”

“My mother?”

Shanks suddenly realized, and his expression turned blank: “We’re the same age, Seven—you’re only two and a half months younger. Just tell me—I want to know about my mother.”

“Your father is a piece of trash.”

“I know that.”

Shanks suddenly felt a bad premonition; knowing Seven as he did, this news would make him... suffer terribly, which was why Seven hesitated.

“Your mother’s name is Magnoelia. Like you and Shamrock, she had red hair.”

“She lived in the Valley of the Gods.”

“A year before the Valley of the Gods battle, Gelin chose the location for the Celestial Hunting Tournament and accidentally discovered the descendants of the Daiwei clan living there. He met your mother then.”

“A year later, on the eve of the Valley of the Gods battle, Gelin took you and Shamrock away from your mother.”

“And killed her.”

Seven’s words struck like a blade dipped in ice, piercing through all of Shanks’s defenses.

The moment he finished speaking, the light in Shanks’s pupils slowly faded—he seemed drained of all strength, swaying slightly, his eyes welling with uncontrolled tears.

“Seven... you... what did you say?”

“He killed my mother?”

Thin threads of red-black lightning flickered around Shanks—this was precisely why Seven hesitated.

Seven had considered hiding the truth forever; after all, besides the perpetrator Gelin and the participants in the Valley of the Gods battle—Satan—only he, the transmigrant, knew.

But he believed Shanks deserved to know, and so he chose to reveal the truth.

“Here is the access token for the Heavenly Prison’s array.”

Shanks took the token and turned to leave.

Seeing this, Lei Li and Jia Ba exchanged glances, called for Buggy, and silently followed.

What a headache—already old, and now having to handle the younger generation’s family affairs.

Both understood: Gelin deserved to die—but not at Shanks’s hands.