An Island Not for Children

"Worororororo! You kid can really drink!"

"Bwahahaha! What a joke! I'm an amazing drinker!"

Roa, drinking for the first time since transmigrating, slapped the table as he raised his cup and drained it in one gulp.

Mere alcohol? Watch my tough body, tempered through countless hardships, neutralize it!

Now that they had agreed to form a private alliance, the atmosphere at the banquet naturally became very pleasant.

It should be said that their values were quite compatible. Kaido might not have Roa's sunny optimism of treating everyone else in the world as NPCs, but he was also a passionate, lively social-Darwinist guy whose emotions became especially overflowing after a few drinks.

Coupled with the friendship they had forged in the Rocks Pirates, their conversation naturally flowed with gusto.

They were reminiscing about their glorious days on Beehive Island. As they talked, Kaido even started laughing and crying, becoming extremely emotional.

Bullet wolfed down his food while looking up at Roa and Kaido, who were drinking like sworn brothers.

They were so strong!

Whether it was Lord Roa or this guy named Kaido, both were powerhouses so powerful that he could only look up at them from afar!

When he had witnessed their battle earlier, Bullet had felt a surge of anxiety.

It was the anxiety of being so weak—of seeing the man he followed and the enemy he faced both being so powerful, while he himself could not help at all!

Get stronger!

He had to become stronger!

Bullet sped up his eating. Unlike Lord Roa, food was the source of his strength!

Dylan, meanwhile, quietly ate in calm silence, neither hurried nor slow, showing little reaction.

He only needed to quietly follow behind this lord, just as he had always done.

And Lord Roa would naturally lead him to the pinnacle of the seas. That was only natural—something destined to happen.

As Roa and Kaido chatted, Roa suddenly asked, "By the way, Big Brother Kaido, do you know where Aunt Stussy is?"

"Stussy?"

Kaido looked slightly surprised. "What do you want with that woman?"

Back in the Rocks Pirates, that woman had been one of only two officers who had treated Roa coldly.

Kaido suddenly thought of a possibility, and the look he gave Roa became somewhat strange. "That woman is running the pleasure trade in the New World now. Don't tell me you—"

"What kind of dirty joke are you making to a child, Big Brother Kaido? Do you want the Marines to arrest you for corrupting a pure young boy's ears?" Roa said indignantly.

"A pure young boy?"

Kaido twitched his lips.

"Anyway, I want to ask Aunt Stussy for directions," Roa said.

The Vinsmoke Family had no territory and had always roamed the seas. It would not be easy to confirm Judge's whereabouts.

Roa's intelligence-gathering ability was basically nonexistent, and Kaido, whose subordinates were all a bunch of worthless losers, was about the same.

So he needed to find someone with outstanding intelligence capabilities.

For example, Aunt Stussy.

Or rather, Cyborg Stussy.

"Call it whatever you want."

Kaido neither agreed nor disagreed with Roa's explanation, then told him where Stussy was.

Not long afterward.

The enormous azure dragon rose into the sky, winding upward through flame clouds.

Standing on the deck, Roa waved at his departing big brother. "Take care of yourself, Big Brother Kaido! Remember to call if anything comes up!"

"You're not getting any younger. While you're building your career, don't forget to deal with your love life too! If it's inconvenient to raise a child, I can help you! I'm still waiting to hold my grandniece!"

Even Kaido, already flying away, could not help turning back to glance at Roa and his nonsense.

Nutcase.

"Lord Roa,"

As Roa watched Kaido's departing figure, Dylan's voice came from behind him. "Can Kaido really be trusted?"

"It doesn't matter,"

Roa shrugged and said nonchalantly, "Why talk about trust with pirates? Shared interests are enough."

At least when it came to overthrowing the World Government, the two sides truly had an unbreakable foundation for cooperation.

Besides, there probably would not be any opportunity to cooperate in the short term, because the New World at this stage was not their stage yet.

"Anyway, set sail,"

Roa stretched and yawned. "Let's go find Aunt Stussy."

With no black aura to eat, he just wanted to sleep. At least in his dreams, he would not crave it so badly.

"Yes."

Dylan nodded.

"Lord Roa!"

Bullet suddenly spoke up.

"What is it, Bullet?"

Roa glanced back.

Young Bullet looked solemn. "After witnessing your strength, I finally understand how insignificant I am. I want to become even stronger! Please guide my training!"

Guide him?

Ah...

Something so boring was not as good as sleeping.

Roa's eyes shifted.

"True powerhouses are tempered through battle." Roa, who had become this strong purely through eating, said this with a straight face. "So, Bullet, play with them for a while."

With a snap of his fingers, the thralls staggered out of the cabin like zombies. Their lifeless—or perhaps simply unreadable—pure-black eyes locked onto Bullet.

"I see!"

Bullet actually took this to be the secret behind Lord Roa's strength. Although he had never seen Lord Roa fight seriously in the six years he had known him, how could Lord Roa's words possibly be wrong?

The boy clenched his fists. "I understand, Lord Roa! Let them attack me with everything they have!"

Having never suffered the setbacks of life, Bullet was far more normal than his original counterpart. His blood could boil, and he could be filled with excitement.

"Have fun."

Roa waved a hand, and the thralls instantly pounced on Bullet.

Bullet was immediately plunged into a hard fight.

After all, Roa had specifically picked out the thralls who could use Haki. Otherwise, they would not have been able to threaten Bullet at all.

These were the absolute elite among the thralls. Not one had a bounty below one hundred million, and some even exceeded three hundred million.

Bullet's two types of Haki had only awakened recently and were still at a beginner's level. He had not used his ability much either, so naturally, he could not swiftly defeat a group of opponents like this.

Still, he was already very impressive.

But he was still far too weak!

Roa lounged in a reclining chair nearby, leisurely watching Bullet fight.

Sure enough, that claim in the movie about fifteen-year-old Bullet drawing with Rayleigh was nothing but Buggy's bragging.

If he had been second only to Roger and equal to Rayleigh, then where would that have left Gaban?

If he had truly been that strong, would he have drawn with Crocodile after leaving the Roger Pirates? Would he have needed twenty years of training and an Awakening just to reach the level of a Four Emperor? Wasn't peak Rayleigh at the level of a Four Emperor?

Sigh, what had happened to society? Why was everyone so impatient? Could they not keep their feet on the ground? It had to be a problem with the system. Imu, repent!

Not long afterward.

New World, Velvet, night.

This island was not large, nor did it possess many resources. Yet countless ships were docked at its harbor, all because it was home to a very special town.

Wearing a pair of huge sunglasses across his nose, Roa swaggered through the streets with Bullet and Dylan.

Large and small display windows lined both sides of the street. Looking at the raggedly dressed women inside, Roa could not help sighing repeatedly. "This is far too inappropriate for children. I need to gather some evidence so I can report it to the Marines."

"This one's too small. It doesn't seem very promising. Oh! This one's a little too big. Humanity's potential is truly astonishing!"

"A Longneck Tribe member? Too ugly—huh? Impressive, there are even ways to play like that?"

"A Mink Tribe catgirl? Fluffy isn't unacceptable."

"They even have mermaids? That is outrageous. Those legs have not even split apart yet, have they?"

"Hey, an octopus Fish-Man is going too far, isn't it? Humanity's fetishes truly cannot be underestimated!"

"What? They even have Giants? Incredible! The courage to forge a path through the wilderness is precisely humanity's hymn of praise!"

After making one round, Roa had used up all the surprise he had not felt in six years.

There was some real stuff here, Auntie Stussy.

After stopping and going along the way to gather evidence, the three of them finally arrived before a brightly lit high-rise building.

On the terraces of the building's many floors, pitiful ladies in ragged clothing displayed just how impoverished they were to the people below.

The men below were stirred into righteous indignation and squeezed into the building one after another.

"Scarlet Sleepless City. Lord Roa, Stussy should be inside."

Dylan was as calm as ever. He had only the dream of following Lord Roa to the pinnacle of the sea, not such pointless desires.

"Let's go!"

Roa revealed a resolute look. "I want to see just what the hell is going on!"