As the world situation shifted and churned,
Gol D. Roger, captain of the Roger Pirates and one of the era's central figures,
was currently...
Pining for love.
"I never thought Shakky had opened a shop on Pirate Island. I heard it was incredibly popular~"
The other crew members reacted much the same way.
"Let's go see Shakky!!!"
"That's Rocks's territory..."
Rayleigh's expression shifted repeatedly. He had never expected a dispute to arise between him and Roger over a woman.
The cause was a flirty little note Shakky had slipped to Rayleigh.
"Seriously, Austin and Shakky get along pretty well too. Why does he have to pick a fight with me..."
Rayleigh was somewhat helpless.
But Roger was clearly full of righteous indignation.
"Austin and Shakky could never happen, but you're different, Rayleigh!!!"
At this point, Roger probably seemed a little brain-dead to Austin.
Or perhaps he had simply been dazzled by beauty.
That opinion persisted until several months later, when the Roger Pirates arrived at Hachinosu Island.
The Rocks Pirates' captains were gathered in Shakky's establishment.
What relieved Austin was that Rocks had already broken free from Shakky's unreasonable charm buff. He now wore a foolishly lovestruck grin.
"What is it, Captain Rocks? Did something good happen?"
Austin bought a million-Beli glass of fruit wine from Shakky. He did not care in the slightest about being fleeced like a fat sheep, looking every bit the rich spendthrift.
He walked over to Rocks and could not help grinning.
"So it's Austin. With your ability, you should have seen it long ago..."
Rocks smiled, referring to Austin's Observation Haki that could peer far into the future.
"My Observation Haki sees the future. It doesn't read minds~"
Austin clinked glasses with Rocks and drained his in one gulp.
"But you don't need Observation