No Serious Person Writes a Diary?

As Stussy pushed Shaya forward, using her powerful Observation Haki to lock onto the scent and Haki Garp had left lingering in the air, they arrived at a corner of a village on Baterilla Island.

There, two burly men were locked in a standoff around a beauty with long, light pink hair...

"Roger, hiding behind a woman—what kind of skill is that?"

"If you've got the guts, come out and fight me!"

Garp stared at the burly man cowering behind the woman, his voice booming with anger.

"You persistent bastard, Garp—why did you have to chase me all the way here?"

The disheveled middle-aged man with short black hair and a long beard, hiding behind the pink-haired woman, showed no sign of stepping out from behind her upon hearing Garp's words. He snapped back at Garp.

"Enough talk! Let's fight!"

Garp couldn't be bothered to waste words with the scruffy brute; as he spoke, he was ready to throw down.

"Fight my ass! I promised Rouge that as long as she's present, I'll never pick up a blade. So give up on that idea of a duel to the death with me!"

That scruffy-looking brute was none other than the legendary Pirate King, whose name thundered across the seas—the man who had sailed around the world, the most heinous criminal of the era: Gol D. Roger...

Hearing Garp's words, Roger's eyes bulged, his beard bristling as he all but roared at Garp.

"Don't bring that up—it just pisses me off!"

"You filthy bastard, forcing a young woman to marry you..."

"Damn it, you're an animal! If I don't bring you in today, my name isn't Garp!"

Garp's gaze swept over Roger and the beauty before him, and fury surged in his chest. The woman looked barely in her twenties; standing beside Roger, they seemed more like father and daughter than husband and wife. That old bastard Roger, cradle-robbing like that—it was utterly intolerable.

"Forced my ass! Rouge and I are in love, freely!"

Roger shot back at Garp with a roar.

"Free my ass! You're a pirate—the worst of them all! What decent person falls in love with a pirate? Let alone the most notorious Pirate King in legend?!"

"Even if you really did fall in love with this lady freely, it's because you, you gutless bastard, hid your identity and never told her your name or your profession!"

Garp retorted at Roger, then turned to the young woman Roger had 'taken hostage,' softening his voice. "Miss, don't be afraid. Tell me the truth—did this bastard Roger force you? Don't worry, today Monkey D. Garp will get justice for you! I'll make this scumbag Roger kneel and beg for your forgiveness..."

"No, I knew who Roger was from the very beginning. I know everything about him. I truly love Roger with all my heart."

To Garp's surprise, the young woman gently shook her head, then declared that her love for Roger was genuine, not coerced.

"Huh?!"

This time, it was Garp's turn to be utterly stunned.

"Hahaha, did you hear that, Garp?"

Roger gloated triumphantly at Garp.

As he spoke, he gently took the young woman's hand, flaunting their affection right in front of Garp, rubbing it in.

"You bastard..."

Garp's eye twitched as he watched Roger clasp Rouge's hand.

"This is quite something."

"To think the legendary Pirate King Roger is hiding out on some nameless island, married to an ordinary woman, and even planning to have a child..."

"If anyone else found out..."

"They'd probably drop their jaws in shock!"

"Am I right, Gol D. Roger?"

Just as Garp's temples throbbed from the shock of Roger and Rouge's display of love...

With the soft rustle of tires on dirt, Stussy pushed Shaya in his four-wheeled cart straight up to Roger, Rouge, and Garp.

"You? You are..."

When Roger saw Shaya sitting in the cart, his pupils contracted. He stared at Shaya in shock for a long moment, then his brow furrowed deeply as a surge of anger rose within him. Looking at Shaya with concern, he asked, "Shanks! What happened to your legs? Did that bastard Garp break them?!"

"Garp! If you've got a problem, take it up with me!"

"Picking on a kid—what kind of man does that?!"

"Rouge, I'm sorry, but today I have to break my vow and take up my blade..."

Roger moved to go inside and fetch his sword, clearly intent on avenging Shaya.

"Pirate King Roger..."

"There's something I have to tell you, and I'm sorry."

"I'm afraid I'll disappoint you—I'm not Shanks. My name is Shaya."

"Full name, Figarland Shaya Saint. As for the Shanks you mentioned, he's likely my brother, whom I've never met."

Shaya looked at Roger and introduced himself.

"Figarland Shaya Saint..."

"So you really are Shanks's brother?"

"No wonder you two look so alike—almost identical!"

Roger's expression froze slightly at the words, then he spoke softly.

"I'm the younger brother; Shanks should be my elder brother."

Shaya nodded lightly, explaining.

"Then, younger brother of Shanks..."

"What exactly did you bring Garp along to see me for?!"

After confirming Shaya's identity, Roger walked up to him with a smile, leaning down to look at him, bringing with him an overwhelming sense of pressure.

"Heh..."

Shaya looked at Roger, so close, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

So this was the man Teacher Kaido had spoken of...

The one who had conquered the entire sea with sheer Haki alone?

The pressure was practically dripping off him...

"Roger, you're about to die!"

Shaya wasn't trapped by Roger's oppressive aura. Calmly meeting his gaze, he softly spoke the truth—that Roger had no more than a few years, or even months, left to live.

"Hm?"

Roger's expression froze slightly at Shaya's words.

Though it was no secret that Roger was gravely ill, it shouldn't have come from the mouth of a Celestial Dragon.

"At this rate, you might not even make it to your child's birth."

Before Roger could speak, Shaya continued.

"You..."

Roger wanted to ask Shaya—how did he know these things?

Could it be that Shaya had some connection with Shanks?

Thinking it over, Roger could only conclude that Shaya and Shanks were linked.

"After you die, what will happen to your child and wife?"

While Roger was lost in thought, Shaya looked at him and pressed on.

"..."

Roger's response was silence.

Before Roger could speak, Shaya seemed to see through his thoughts and continued: "I know—you're probably planning to entrust your wife and child to Garp, aren't you?!"

"Huh? Entrust them to me?"

This time, it was Garp's turn to be baffled.

Garp had assumed Roger would leave his wife and child to other members of the Roger Pirates! Who would have thought Roger would entrust them to him...

"Roger, you've underestimated how much the World Government values you."

"And besides, Garp here is unreliable! He can't even take care of himself..."

After saying this, Shaya didn't forget to take a jab at Garp.

"How does this involve me again?!"

Garp frowned at Shaya's words.

"If Garp's unreliable, who can I rely on?"

"Rayleigh? Or Gaban?"

When Roger mentioned Rayleigh and Gaban, his brow furrowed tightly.

Rayleigh and Gaban—as his comrades, they were flawless. But as teachers or father figures for his unborn child? Better to spare them! No one knew Rayleigh and Gaban better than Roger.

"Should I rely on Oden?"

Roger stroked his chin, as if he was actually taking Shaya's words to heart.

"Oden? Even less reliable—he can't even handle his own mess..."

"Besides, can you really rely on a man who writes a diary?"

"What decent person keeps a diary? Roger, do you keep a diary?"

Shaya rolled his eyes the moment Roger mentioned relying on Oden.

"I'm not a navigator—I don't keep a diary..."

Roger shook his head immediately.

Even if he had written one before, he would never admit it now.

This concerned the face of the Pirate King.

"Garp, do you keep a diary?"

Shaya said, then turned to look at Garp beside him.

"Me? I don't keep a diary either."

"Not just a diary—I've never even written a mission report!"

"I've always had my superiors begging me to take promotions and raises!"

Garp stated truthfully.

"See? What decent person keeps a diary?"

"And if you write down your true feelings, can they even be called true feelings anymore?!"

"Oden? Just a lowly brain-dead man."

Shaya said, a flicker of contempt in his eyes.

If Roger hadn't brought up Oden, he wouldn't even deign to comment on this man—written as Kozuki Oden, read as brain-dead, effeminate, and mentally deficient.

Losing with a flying dragon riding his face—really, Oden, just restart if you can't cut it!

Your son Momonosuke? I'll take care of killing him for you.

Your wife and daughter? I'll look after them.

Oden? Just go dance naked in that pot of boiling oil and be at peace!

Please read! Please read! Please read! Brothers~