The Birth of a King, and the Arrival of a New Era!

Hearing Ortolan's words, Dragon frowned and said softly, "The Age of the Origin?"

However, seeing Ortolan's mysterious demeanor, he didn't ask any further questions. Instead, he continued, "These are not words you, as Marines admiral, should be saying..."

"Then, as Marines, what should one say?" Ortolan smiled and glanced at Dragon, then said, "Swear to defend Mary Geoise to the death? Swear to defend the Celestial Dragons to the death?"

Dragon paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "Have you also come into contact with that darkness? Do you know how shameful it is to see the Marines's justice?"

"Indeed, as you said, the higher you climb in the Marines, the more you will feel the darkness and quagmire behind justice. As of now, I haven't encountered these yet," Ortolan said calmly, waving his hand.

"If you don't want to continue living like this, why not choose to join me? We, the Freedom Army, don't have so many restrictions..." Dragon offered his olive branch at the opportune moment.

Ortolan refused, saying, "There's no need for that. You have your stance, and I have my thoughts. The reason I'm telling you so much is just to plant a seed."

"Seeds?" Dragon pondered for a moment, then glanced meaningfully at Ortolan before falling silent.

Time flies, and the execution at noon is fast approaching. Just as Ortolan was enjoying the sea breeze and waiting for the new era to begin, a commotion began to rise in the central square of Loguetown.

The crowd grew noisy, with a restless atmosphere. The Marines soldiers on guard also gripped their rifles, their faces serious.

Roger has arrived!

From the far end of the square, two executioners, each wielding a long-handled execution knife, escorted a figure along the path maintained in the square.

That figure was none other than Roger.

He was wearing a burgundy captain's coat, his hands were handcuffed with prisoner's shackles, and his feet were bound with iron chains. With each step he took, the iron chains dragged on the ground, making a grating sound.

As the piercing sound drew closer, the once restless square gradually returned to silence.

Almost everyone held their breath, watching as the king of pirates walked toward his end and final destination.

Ortolan had never quite understood what the phrase "kingly demeanor" truly meant until he saw Roger walking toward the Execution Platform, and then he suddenly grasped the meaning of the phrase.

That guy, he was clearly a prisoner about to be executed, with shackles on his hands and chains on his feet, being escorted to his death by the executioner.

At this moment, however, he stood tall and proud, with an air of confidence and even a faint smile on his face.

At this moment, it seems that everyone has the illusion that Roger is not a prisoner on the verge of Execution Platform, but a supreme king who is walking step by step toward his throne!

That towering Execution Platform was not his final resting place, but rather the place of his glorious coronation as king!

"Such demeanor is truly rare..." Dragon murmured, somewhat shocked.

"I see..." A look of understanding flashed in Ortolan's eyes, as if he had figured something out.

That's right, at this moment, he finally understood why Roger, the guy whom the World Government arbitrarily called the 'Pirate King,' was later recognized as the 'King' by a group of Great Pirate.

It's important to know that, although Roger was called the 'Pirate King' by the official government of the pirate world before, the big shots in the New World never thought that Roger was qualified to be the king of pirates!

His title of Pirate King hasn't reached the point where he's considered a 'person' yet.

Now, Ortolan finally understood that the moment Roger truly became the Pirate King was not any of the previous events, but rather the day he became the Pirate King!

On this day, Roger will be crowned king. The reason he is considered the Pirate King by everyone is because on this day, he will ascend his throne and, with blood and life, usher in a great era for pirates!

"To walk towards the end with composure and generosity, is it not also a kind of romance..." Ortolan said softly with a smile on his lips.

At this moment, the live broadcast equipment in Loguetown had already been turned on, and Roger walked step by step to the Execution Platform under the watchful eyes of everyone in the world.

Garp and a host of other high-ranking Marines officers were right in front of him.

However, Roger did not stop there, but continued to move forward steadily and calmly.

Roger paused briefly as he passed Garp, smiling as he Garp, "When does a person truly die, Garp?"

Upon hearing this, Garp paused, a sense of foreboding creeping over him. He looked at Roger with a wary gaze.

Roger chuckled softly, "Farewell..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped onto the steps of the Execution Platform and slowly ascended to the highest point under Garp's surprised and complicated gaze.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a building in the Sabaody Archipelago, Pluton Silvers Rayleigh sat on the edge of the roof, holding a small bottle of liquor, drinking as he watched Roger's execution being broadcast live.

As he watched Roger calmly ascend the Execution Platform, he inexplicably recalled Roger's last words to him when they parted.

"I will not die, Rayleigh."

"Ha..." Rayleigh exhaled a breath of alcohol, a smile appearing on his lips as he looked at Roger on the live stream screen and whispered, "Farewell, Roger."

In Loguetown, on the Execution Platform, Roger reached his end. He sat cross-legged on the Execution Platform, like a king looking down upon his subjects, surveying the crowd in the central square.

Soon, he noticed a familiar straw Straw Hat among the crowd, and beneath Straw Hat, a head of Red-Hair —it was Shanks.

At this moment, Shanks and Buggy were hugging each other, both of them looking very sad and reluctant to part. After noticing Roger's gaze, they even burst into tears.

"Have they come to say goodbye to me? What adorable little guys..." Roger smiled to himself.

He looked up again, towards the end of the road, towards the sea. At that moment, his gaze seemed to have traversed thousands of mountains and rivers, and he saw Lu Rouge gazing at him with gentle eyes at the end of the world.

Only at this moment did a hint of regret and reluctance flash in Roger's eyes.

As a pirate, his life was already complete and glorious, but as a husband and wife, he felt he was really terrible.

As noon approached, the executioner behind Roger asked, "Finally, is there anything you'd like to say?"

"Ah..." Upon hearing this, Roger immediately raised the shackles on his hands. "My wrists are itching, can you help me get these things off?"

The executioner, upon hearing this, was both shocked and furious. "What nonsense are you spouting?"

"How stingy! If things have come to this, would I still run away?" Roger shrugged, slightly annoyed.

Meanwhile, atop the clock tower, Dragon finally couldn't contain his curiosity and asked, "Now that things have come to this, what exactly did you mean by this so-called 'New Era'?"

"It's coming..." Ortolan said with an expectant smile, without giving a direct answer.

Dragon frowned in confusion, looking at Ortolan and then at Roger on the Execution Platform. He was completely baffled as to what he meant.

At that very moment, in the final minute of noon, suddenly, in the square, a seemingly ordinary young man, around twenty years old, appeared as if possessed by fate and courage, raised his hand and shouted towards the Execution Platform: "Roger!!!"

In an instant, it seemed that everyone's attention was drawn to this daring fellow.

On top of the clock tower, Ortolan could no longer contain himself and burst into laughter. "Hahahaha, who is it? Is it fate? Or did Roger have it all planned out in advance?"

"What's wrong with you?" Dragon looked at Ortolan, who was laughing wildly, with surprise and disbelief.

Before Dragon could get an answer to his question, the young man, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism, shouted, "Where did you hide all the treasure you found?!"

On the Execution Platform, Roger burst into laughter upon hearing these words.

"Hahahaha..." Roger laughed for a moment, then declared with overwhelming force, "Want my treasure? If you want it, you can have it all! Go find it! I've left all my treasure there!!!"

At this moment, as far as Roger's eyes could see, there was the vast, boundless blue sea!

All the treasures, all the answers, lie within this ocean!

At the very moment Roger responded, Garp suddenly realized what was happening and shouted in shock and fury, "Execute him! Execute him immediately!!!"

A sharp executioner's blade pierced Roger's body from behind, and blood flowed from his body, staining the Execution Platform with a desolate crimson hue.

I felt my life slipping away at an extremely fast speed, and I felt that I was about to die.

At this moment, Roger showed no panic whatsoever; in fact, he even wore a hopeful smile on his face.

At that moment, he saw it: at the end of his vision, at the end of the sea, the gate to New Era had been opened!

That surging, towering wave, powerful enough to turn the whole world upside down, is sweeping in with unstoppable momentum!

At this moment, the true Pirate King was born! At this moment, New Era truly began!