The peace of the Moby Dick was shattered by the arrival of a ship that was less a vessel and more a whimsical, candy-coated nightmare. Towering gingerbread men stood as sentinels on its deck, and the air around it carried the cloying, artificial sweetness of a thousand confectioneries. At its helm, a tall, slender man with an impossibly long tongue, clad in flamboyant, candy-striped attire, surveyed the Whitebeard Pirates with an unsettling, saccharine smile. Perospero, Big Mom's eldest son, had arrived.
"Perorin!" Perospero called out, his voice dripping with a false bonhomie that set everyone on edge. "Greetings, Whitebeard Pirates! Mama sends her… sweetest regards! And a little reminder, lick-lick!" He flicked his long tongue, tasting the air.
Whitebeard, seated on his throne, regarded the candy minister with a stony expression. The IV drip was a constant companion now, his breaths more labored than ever. "Perospero. To what do we owe the displeasure?" His voice, though weaker, still carried the weight of an Emperor.
"Displeasure, Oyaji? Perish the thought!" Perospero feigned shock, clutching his candy cane staff. "Mama merely wishes to discuss… a mutually beneficial arrangement. A little matter of a favor owed, perhaps? For a certain… fruitful endeavor some years ago?" His eyes glinted, fixing on Gunnar, who stood near Marco, his small frame tense.
The deck fell silent. The unspoken debt for the information that had led Whitebeard to the Seed of Despair, a debt incurred with Big Mom, had finally come due.
Marco stepped forward, his expression grim. "What does Big Mom want, Perospero?"
"Straight to the point, Phoenix! I like that!" Perospero cackled. "Mama proposes an alliance! A grand union between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates! Imagine it, lick-lick! Two Emperors, united! The world would tremble! No one could stand against us! And all it requires is a little… formalization."
"An alliance?" Jozu rumbled, his diamond arm glinting. "With Big Mom? After all the bad blood?"
"Oh, bygones, Jozu-kun, bygones!" Perospero waved a dismissive hand. "Mama is willing to be… forgiving. For the right price, of course. A political marriage, perhaps? To seal the deal? Mama has many… eligible daughters. And sons!" His gaze flickered towards Gunnar again, lingering a moment too long, making the boy's skin crawl.
Whitebeard's eyes narrowed. "My family is not for bartering, Perospero."
"Of course not, Oyaji! Merely… strengthening bonds!" Perospero's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Think of it, Whitebeard. Your health… it is no secret it wanes. This alliance would secure your legacy, protect your precious sons when you are… indisposed. Mama is offering a lifeline, a candy-coated shield!"
A tense discussion erupted amongst the commanders. Vista argued against it, citing Big Mom's treachery. Haruta voiced concerns about being swallowed by the larger, more domineering Charlotte family. Rakuyo just grumbled about the thought of having to eat sweets all day. Only a few, desperate for any measure that might protect their ailing father, even considered the grim proposal.
Gunnar watched, his heart sinking. He knew what an alliance with Big Mom entailed. He remembered fragments, not just from his own past, but from the whispers of the Devil Fruit, the echoes of Rocks D. Xebec, a man who had once allied with a younger, equally ambitious Charlotte Linlin. He saw the calculating glint in Perospero's eyes, the barely veiled threat. He saw the lines of pain deepen on his father's face as he listened to his commanders debate a future that seemed to offer only bitter choices.
He looked at Teach, standing silently at the edge of the group, his expression unreadable, yet Gunnar felt a familiar, chilling sensations, he knew the future.
Then he looked at himself. Small, still struggling with every step, his body a vessel of immense, barely controlled power that had already cost him so much. He was a weakness, a burden, the reason his father had sought the cursed fruit in the first place.
An idea, desperate and terrible, began to form in his young mind.
"Father," Gunnar's voice, though quiet, cut through the heated discussion. All eyes turned to him. He stepped forward, his gait still uneven, but his golden eyes burned with a fierce, unwavering resolve.
"Gunnar?" Whitebeard looked at him, a mixture of concern and surprise in his gaze.
"This alliance…" Gunnar began, his voice gaining strength. "Big Mom… she wants something to bind you, to control you. She wants a piece of your family." He took a shaky breath. "Father… your word… the debt for the fruit… it must be honored. But not… not like this. Not with one of my brothers or sisters."
He looked directly at Perospero, then back at Whitebeard. "I… I will go."
A stunned silence fell upon the deck. Even Perospero looked momentarily taken aback.
"Gunnar, what are you saying, yoi?!" Marco exclaimed, stepping towards him.
"Little anchor, you don't know what you're offering!" Jozu boomed.
Gunnar stood firm, his small chin jutting out. "I know. I know what her 'family' is like. But… Father risked everything for me. He endured so much. I… I am the reason for this debt, in a way." His gaze flickered to Teach, a silent accusation in his eyes that only he understood, then back to his father. "I will not let your sacrifice be in vain. I will not let you be forced into something that will bring you more pain."
Perospero's saccharine smile faltered, replaced by a flicker of genuine surprise, then a calculating gleam. He hadn't expected this. A child, offering himself? It was… unusual. And potentially, very useful or useless.
"Perorin!" he exclaimed, recovering his composure. "Such a brave little lollipop! Offering yourself for your Papa? How… touching! Lick-lick!" He pulled out a large, candy-striped Den Den Mushi. "Mama will be delighted to hear of such devotion! She does so adore loyalty!"
He dialed, the Den Den Mushi mimicking his unsettling features. A moment later, a booming, imperious female voice, one that could curdle milk and make grown pirates tremble, erupted from the receiver: "**MOSHI MOSHI! PEROSPERO! HAVE YOU SECURED THE OLD WHALE'S AGREEMENT, OR ARE YOU STILL LICKING YOUR THUMBS?! MAMAMAMAMA!**"
"Mama, dearest!" Perospero chirped, his voice oozing false sweetness. "Progress is being made! Whitebeard is… considering your most generous offer. And an interesting development, lick-lick! One of his… younger sons has volunteered himself as a symbol of this new, sweet alliance!"
There was a pause on the other end, then Big Mom's voice, laced with suspicion. "**Younger son? Who? Don't tell me he's fobbing me off with some cabin boy, Perospero! I want a powerful son-in-law! Someone to add strength to my family, not a disposable brat to marry off to one of the lesser daughters!**"
Gunnar stood taller, though his legs trembled slightly. He would not be dismissed.
Perospero, sensing an opportunity, held the Den Den Mushi towards Gunnar. "Speak up, little morsel! Tell Mama Linlin why she should even consider such a… petite offering."
Gunnar met the unseen gaze of the Yonko, his small voice surprisingly steady. "My name is Gunnar D. Newgate. And I am not… disposable."
Big Mom's voice boomed again, impatient. "Newgate? Another one of his adopted strays? What power do you possess, boy? Can you shatter islands? Command armies? Make me a wedding cake worthy of a Yonko?! MAMAMAMA! I have no time for weaklings!*
A flicker of the green fire that had once burned in Ymir's eyes sparked in Gunnar's golden gaze.
"I…" he began, then paused. He looked at Whitebeard, at the weariness etched on his father's face, the subtle tremor in his hands. He thought of the future he sometimes glimpsed, the darkness that threatened to consume them all. This wasn't just about honoring a debt anymore. This was about buying time, about diverting a threat, about protecting his father with the only currency he possessed: himself, and the monstrous, unpredictable power within him.
He took a deep breath. He looked not at Perospero, but directly at where he imagined Big Mom to be. "And I am not an adopted stray, Charlotte Linlin."
His voice, though still a child's, carried a sudden, undeniable authority, an echo of something ancient and powerful.
"I am his son. His blood son."
The weight of Big Mom's question hung heavy over the Moby Dick. All eyes were on Whitebeard, awaiting his answer. The revelation, so casually, so desperately thrown out by Gunnar, had sent shockwaves through everyone present.
Whitebeard slowly rose from his throne, a monumental effort. He looked at Gunnar, at the boy's fierce, determined stance, his own features so apparent.
He turned his gaze towards the candy-striped Den Den Mushi, towards the unseen Yonko on the other end. His voice, when he finally spoke, was low, heavy, carrying the weight of a long-held secret and a father's weary heart.
"Yes, Linlin," he rumbled, the admission costing him. "It is true."
"Gunnar… he is my son. My blood." Whitebeard continued, his gaze never leaving the Den Den Mushi. "It was… a complicated matter.." His eyes flickered towards Gunnar, a hint of pain in them. "He was the result of… circumstances."
"But the truth," Whitebeard declared, his voice regaining some of its old, unwavering strength, "is undeniable. He is my son."
Perospero, recovering from his shock, quickly interjected, his voice once again dripping with opportunistic sweetness. "And the resemblance, Mama, lick-lick! It's quite uncanny! Those golden eyes, that stubborn chin! Remove a few decades and a mountain of muscle, and it's like looking at a miniature Whitebeard, perorin!" He saw the potential leverage, the value of this revelation, and he was eager to press it.
The Den Den Mushi was silent for another beat, Big Mom clearly processing this monumental news. A blood heir to Whitebeard. Not just another adopted son, but flesh and blood. The implications for power, for alliances, for the very future of the pirate world, were immense.
Finally, her voice came again, no longer scornful, but filled with a new, rapacious hunger. "MAMAMAMAMA! A blood son! Well, well, Whitebeard! You old dog, still full of surprises! This… this makes our little discussion infinitely more interesting!"