Chapter 405: Unworthy of Forgiveness

Sky City, Heavenly Prison.

The moment he saw Shanks appear, Garin's face flushed with excitement; he was about to enact the scene of father-son reunion when he suddenly noticed Shanks's bloodshot eyes.

Realizing Shanks already knew the truth, Garin Sheng said nothing, supported Lan Shan, and knelt directly on the ground.

"Child, I never wanted this either."

"It's all Im's fault."

"Im forbade the Holy Land's Heavenly Dragon clan from marrying women from the lower realms—if I brought your mother back to the Holy Land, she would only suffer worse."

This scene before him finally made Shanks understand what Saint Saint Saiwen had once said.

Some people are simply calamities.

To a mother he had never met, this monster in human form was her calamity.

Shanks's silence only strengthened Garin's belief: if he cried even more pitifully now, Shanks would surely forgive him.

After all, they were father and son.

"Child, I'm sorry to you."

Garin wept with snot and tears, striking his own cheeks wildly with both hands—crisp, brutal slaps, as if only such punishment could buy him a sliver of mercy.

Who else could he turn to but Shanks? He could never meet Saint Saint Saiwen Saint, so he could only hope Shanks would forgive him, allowing him to continue living.

And with his current strength, someday he could rise under Saint Saint Saiwen Saint's command.

"You haven't wronged me," Shanks gritted his teeth, each word trembling with suppressed rage.

"You wronged your mother—the woman you killed with your own hands."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Garin nodded frantically: "I wronged your mother, I wronged her, I'm an animal, I'm a scumbag, I deserve to die."

"You truly do deserve to die," Shanks said coldly.

He longed to kill this man immediately, to avenge his mother—but standing face to face with him, Shanks could never bring himself to strike.

After all, this was his... father.

This only gave Garin renewed hope for survival.

"Yes, yes, I deserve to die, I deserve to die, it's all my fault, child, it's all Father's fault."

Shanks found it laughable—how could he, Shanks, have such a father?

"You don't know you're wrong—you know you're going to die."

If he weren't Saint Saint Saiwen's brother, if Saint Saint Saiwen hadn't overthrown the World Government, if Garin hadn't been imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison awaiting trial and execution, this scumbag would never have realized his guilt.

Under Garin's tearful gaze, Shanks asked, word by word:

"Father, do you want to live?"

"I... I do," Garin paused. "But if my death would bring you peace, Father willingly accepts death—child, do it."

Hearing this, Shanks felt sick.

"Do you remember your mother's name? If you can say her name, I will beg Saint Saint Saiwen to forgive your sins."

Shanks's voice trembled slightly,

his final, pitiful hope—even fooling himself into believing this scumbag had once felt even a shred of genuine feeling for his mother.

But Garin only looked panicked, eyes darting away, lips quivering yet unable to utter a single word.

He didn't remember.

The woman he had killed with his own hands—the woman who bore his child—wasn't even worth remembering by name in his eyes.

"She... she... she..."

The chance to live was right before him, yet Garin could recall nothing—only that the woman had long red hair and lived in the Valley of the Gods.

He remembered she lived in the Valley of the Gods

because long ago, Garin had been crippled by two slashes from Rocks in the Valley of the Gods—but afterward, he became its king.

Garin had never regretted so much in his life.

Damn this brain—why couldn't he remember that woman's name?!

Was it because he'd had too many women around him these years?

Seeing this, Shanks's last faint hope vanished completely.

So his mother's brief life, in this scumbag's heart, wasn't even worthy of a name.

Greater than hatred was the bone-deep sorrow.

Glancing at the twin brother inside the prison, silently weeping and bearing his own face, Shanks turned and walked away without hesitation.

Leaving Garin screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Child, I remember!"

Shanks stopped, but heard Garin babbling to himself: "Your mother... her name was Emily, right?"

Seeing Shanks lift his foot without reaction, Garin panicked completely.

"America? Sophie? Margaret? Isa? I remember now! It must be one of them!"

Shanks didn't turn back—he dropped one final line:

"I once thought blood was an unbreakable root, but now I understand: someone like you, even with the same blood, is unworthy to be a father, and even less worthy of forgiveness."

"You don't even deserve my hand to kill you."

"Killing you would only sully my hands."

Leaving through the Heavenly Prison's array, Shanks saw Beckman, Buggy, Lei Li, and Jia Ba waiting at the gate—he smiled.

He was not alone.

His family had always been beside him.

Buggy cautiously draped his arm over Shanks's shoulder: "We're leaving—let's have a couple more drinks?"

"Alright, I'll go get Saint Saint Saiwen."

Seeing this, Baki exhaled in relief.

"Then I'll go summon Lachi Lu to prepare the banquet."

Shanks' origins made Baki strangely uneasy—he had grown up with Luo Jie too; might he also have some unknown lineage, one Luo Jie had told Saint Saint Saiwen about?

Precisely because of this, over the years Baki had never asked Saint Saint Saiwen about his origins.

He feared Saint Saint Saiwen might reveal some earth-shattering secret, forcing him to inherit some inexplicable blood feud or grudge.

Watching Shanks leave, Baki muttered under his breath: "Luo Jie really is something—always whispering secrets to Saint Saint Saiwen."

Lei Li and Jia Ba, hearing this, exchanged glances; something about Baki's Luo Jie felt deeply off.

Did Luo Jie truly know these secrets?

They had sailed together for years; they knew Luo Jie's undergarment color—how could they not know what secrets Luo Jie truly held?

As for secrets like Shanks' mother's fate, Lei Li was certain: Luo Jie had no idea.

According to Saint Saint Saiwen's account, Shanks' mother had already been killed a year before the Divine Valley battle, when Luo Jie's crew had just arrived there.

How could he have known a secret from a year prior?

No, it wasn't Luo Jie who was strange,

it was Saint Saint Saiwen—this kid was deeply suspicious. How did he know every secret?

Meanwhile, in the Sky City's Department of Internal Affairs.

Shanks entered Saint Saint Saiwen's private office.

"Saint Saint Saiwen, I need a favor."

"Sigh," Saint Saint Saiwen sighed. "Everyone says being the King of the World is great, but why am I already a lonely old man so soon? With us like this, you actually use the word 'beg'..."

"Spit it out."

"Saint Saint Saiwen, my brother Xia Mu—can you forgive him..."

Saint Saint Saiwen's good son Luffy had once said: Shanks' brother? If Shanks really had a brother, he must be a good man.

So Saint Saint Saiwen chose to believe Luffy.

"No problem."

"Good—I'm short a head guard."