The Pirate King's Regret

When the name appeared on the Sky Screen, the seas around the world sounded at once.

It was not the sound of waves.

It was a low-frequency resonance from the depths of the sea, as though the entire ocean were making way for the name.

[Top ten regrets, number one]

[Pirate King, Gol D. Roger]

The moment the name appeared, every ship sailing in the world came to a stop.

In a stormy region of the New World, the Red Hair Pirates' ship lay steadily at anchor amid the wind and waves. Shanks stood at the bow, one hand on the brim of his straw hat.

Behind him, Benn Beckman was about to say something, but after seeing his captain's back, he closed his mouth.

Shanks's shoulders had gone taut, his posture nothing like his usual carefree stance.

He was standing with effort.

At Marine Headquarters, Garp pulled his cap lower, pressing its brim down to his brow.

Staff Officer Tsuru glanced at him.

"Your expression changed."

"You talk too much, old woman."

Garp muttered, but his voice was a shade hoarser than usual.

On Level 6 of Impel Down, Ace sat in the darkness of his cell. The chains of his handcuffs rattled softly, not because he was struggling, but because he was trembling.

Jinbe's voice came from the next cell.

"Ace."

"Yeah."

"Are you all right?"

Ace was silent for a long time.

"They're going to cover my father."

His voice was very quiet.

"I've never called him my father."

The question appeared on the Sky Screen.

[Question: What was Gol D. Roger's greatest regret in his life?]

[A. He left the One Piece on Laugh Tale and ushered in the Great Pirate Era, but also brought about the deaths of countless people.]

[B. He entrusted his son to Garp, but could not ensure that he would grow up safe.]

[C. He chose death at the end of his life, leaving his lover and unborn child to face the world alone.]

[D. He never got the chance to say thank you to those who had given everything for him.]

When the four options appeared, Rayleigh closed his eyes on the Sabaody Archipelago.

His arms fell from their crossed position, and his imposing presence receded in an instant. The legendary first mate became an ordinary old man.

"D."

He spoke a single letter.

Luffy looked at him.

"Rayleigh, how do you know?"

Rayleigh opened his eyes. Something very old stirred in the wrinkles at their corners.

"Because he really never did say it."

His voice slowed.

"It wasn't that he didn't want to."

"He couldn't bring himself to say it."

"He thought saying it would be like saying goodbye."

"He didn't like saying goodbye."

The countdown on the Sky Screen reached zero.

[Correct answer: D]

The image lit up.

The first scene was marked as taking place twenty-six years ago, one week before Roger's execution.

A small tavern in Loguetown, East Blue.

The tavern was run-down, its wooden tables and chairs pitted by the salty sea air. Empty barrels were piled in a corner, and a swaying oil lamp hung from the ceiling.

Roger sat at a table in the back of the tavern.

Three drinks stood before him.

One was his.

The other two sat across from him, where no one was seated.

The tavern keeper wiped glasses behind the counter, occasionally looking up at him.

"Sir, aren't the people you're waiting for coming?"

Roger picked up his glass and took a sip.

"They're not coming."

"Then what about those two drinks?"

"Leave them."

Roger set his glass back on the table and tapped its side twice with his finger.

"One's for Rayleigh."

"One's for all the brothers on the crew."

His voice was relaxed, carrying his usual tone, as though he were making a joke.

But the tavern keeper noticed that his finger paused for a beat on the second tap.

The Sky Screen showed a close-up of Roger's face in profile.

He wore a smile everyone who knew him had seen before: carefree and without a worry, as though the whole world had little to do with him.

But his eyes were different.

His eyes were fixed on the two drinks across from him.

He looked at them for a long time.

A line of text appeared on the Sky Screen.

[System mental scan: One week before his execution, Roger returned to Loguetown alone and sat in this tavern for six hours. During that time, he drank eleven glasses of liquor. The two drinks across from him remained untouched throughout.]

Six hours.

He had sat alone for six hours facing two drinks no one drank.

The scene changed.

Time: Three days before the execution.

A seaside cottage somewhere in the South Blue, with reefs and breaking waves visible through the window.

There were two people in the cottage.

Roger and Garp.

They sat facing each other across a low table. A pot of tea sat on it, already cold.

"It's not like I run an orphanage."

Garp's voice was loud.

"What do you take me for, the Pirate King's free babysitter?"

Roger laughed.

"You're the Marine I trust most."

"Don't give me that."

Garp slammed a fist on the table, making the teapot jump.

"Give me one reason. One reason I should raise your son for you."

Roger's smile diminished a little.

It did not disappear. His broad, carefree grin became a smaller curve.

"Because this child hasn't done anything wrong."

"He hasn't even been born yet."

"But from the day he's born, the whole world will want to kill him."

Roger looked at Garp. Something was changing in his eyes, slowly, like a current deep beneath the sea shifting direction.

"I've done everything I can. The One Piece is where it belongs, and I said what needed saying with a laugh on the last island."

"But there's one thing I can't do."

He pressed a hand against the table.

"I can't stay alive to protect him."

Garp's fist was still pressed against the table, his knuckles white, but he said nothing more.

"Garp, how many years have you chased me?"

"I've lost count."

"How many times have we fought?"

"Even harder to count."

The corners of Roger's mouth curved up again.

"Then you should know I've never begged anyone for anything in my life."

"But this time, I'm begging you."

Garp met Roger's gaze for three seconds.

After three seconds, he took his fist off the table, sat back in his chair, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You owe me."

"Yeah."

"You won't be able to repay me in this life."

"Yeah."

"The Pirate King begged me."

Garp's voice dropped.

"Do you know how it feels to hear you say that?"

Roger did not answer.

Garp crossed his arms more tightly.

"I'll raise him for you."

His jaw tightened.

"But your son won't have to pay your debt. You'll pay it yourself in your next life."

Roger stood up.

He walked to the door and placed a hand on the frame, his back to Garp.

The Sky Screen showed him from behind.

His back was broad. Even with a terminal illness, even with only three days left to live, his shoulders were still held wide.

He stood in the doorway for two seconds.

"Garp."

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

When those words came out of his mouth, Garp's whole body jerked.

He uncrossed his arms and planted both hands on his knees, his nails digging into the fabric of his trousers.

"What did you say?"

"I said thank you."

Roger did not turn around.

"This might be the only time in my life I've ever said those words to someone."

"But it'll only be this once."

He pushed the door open, and the sea breeze rushed in.

"I won't have time to say it to the others."

The door closed.

Garp sat in the cottage, the tea gone cold and the table knocked askew in front of him.

He buried his face in his hands.

"You bastard."

His voice was muffled against his palms.

"All the things you won't have time to do, you're leaving me to take care of them one by one."

The scene on the Sky Screen shifted to the final segment.

Time: The day of the execution.

Loguetown, the Execution Platform.

The whole world had seen this scene countless times: in the news, in newspapers, and on the walls of every tavern.

But this time, the Sky Screen showed it from a different angle.

Not looking up from the crowd in the square.

Looking down from the Execution Platform.

Roger's perspective.

He knelt at the top of the Execution Platform, two halberds held against either side of his neck.

The square was packed with people.

He looked down.

In the front row of the crowd stood a red-haired boy wearing a straw hat.

Shanks.

His eyes were red, and he clutched his straw hat in his hand, his knuckles white from the force of his grip.

Roger saw him.

The corners of his mouth curved upward.

The Sky Screen slowed his expression at that moment.

Roger was smiling.

But his lips moved at the edge of his smile. The movement was so slight that the curve of his smile concealed it.

The Sky Screen magnified the movement of his lips.

Two words.

"Thank you."

Soundless.

Just like when Dragon said Luffy's name, soundless.

He silently thanked Shanks in the crowd.

Then his gaze moved away from Shanks and searched the crowd.

He was looking for someone.

A line of text appeared on the Sky Screen.

[In the final ten seconds before his execution, Roger searched the crowd seven times. Target of search: Silvers Rayleigh]

[Rayleigh was not present]

Roger did not find Rayleigh.

His gaze swept across the crowd seven times before finally settling on an empty space.

His lips moved again.

This time, the Sky Screen did not magnify the movement of his lips.

But a line of text appeared in the corner of the screen.

[Roger did not find Rayleigh in the crowd, but he spoke his final words toward a place where Rayleigh was not]

[System lip-reading analysis: Partner, thanks]

Soundless.

A soundless thank-you for someone who was not there to hear it.

Then the two halberds came down.

The screen cut to black.

In the Sabaody Archipelago, Rayleigh stood where he was, his body swaying.

He braced a hand against the wall beside him to keep himself from sinking to the ground.

"I know."

His voice was barely audible.

"I know you were looking for me."

"I didn't go."

His fingers left five scratch marks on the wall.

"Because I was afraid that if I went, I'd try to stop you."

Luffy stood in front of him, his straw hat clutched in his hand, his eyes fixed on Rayleigh's face.

He saw what a first mate looked like when, after twenty-six years, he shed all his disguises and composure for the first time.

"Rayleigh."

"I'm fine."

"You're crying."

"It's the wind."

Rayleigh raised a hand and wiped his face, leaving the back of his hand wet.

He looked down at the wetness on his hand, froze for a second, then laughed.

"It's been twenty-six years."

His voice changed, taking on a tone Luffy had never heard from him before.

"I thought I'd gotten past this."

The assessment text began to appear on the Sky Screen.

[Regret assessment: The greatest regret of Gol D. Roger's life was not death, nor leaving behind an unborn child, nor ushering in the Great Pirate Era]

[His greatest regret was that he owed too many people a thank-you, but only had time to say it once]

[He said it to Garp]

[He made no sound when he said it to Shanks]

[He did not make it in time to say it to Rayleigh]

[He did not say a single word of it to all the brothers who had sailed with him]

[Pirate King Gol D. Roger faced death with a smile and ushered in an era with a smile]

[But when he left smiling, he took with him all the words he had never spoken]

The whole world fell silent.

The last line on the Sky Screen was still glowing.

[Since Gol D. Roger is deceased, the system will deliver his reward in a special form]

[The reward will be announced shortly]

In the tavern, Lin Qi watched the emotional data on the screen.

Every value had surpassed the highest record for the entire series.

He put down his beer, his finger hovering over the system panel for a long time.

"What should I give him?"

He looked at the last frame on the screen after it had gone black: Roger on the Execution Platform, silently saying thank you toward an empty space.

"A dead man."

"A lifetime of thanks he owed."

His finger came down.

The reward text began to appear on the Sky Screen.

[Reward one: The system will extract Gol D. Roger's final mental record from the original timeline and broadcast a passage Roger never said to anyone to the whole world in the form of a holographic projection]

[The recipients of this passage are: everyone he did not have time to thank]

The moment it appeared, aboard the Red Hair Pirates' ship in the New World, Shanks's hand fell from the brim of his hat.

On Level 6 of Impel Down, Ace's chains rattled violently.

In a corridor at Marine Headquarters, Garp's Marine cap fell to the floor.

In the Sabaody Archipelago, Rayleigh leaned against the wall and slowly sank to the ground.

People all over the world held their breath, waiting for the words on the Sky Screen that were twenty-six years late.