Roger Pirates and Bar (Seeking Follow-up!)

Night

The stone stronghold in the Highland was filled with the aromas of roasted meat, all kinds of pastries, and extremely rare vegetables.

Having experienced two celebrations in just two short days, the few remaining people of the Canaan Kingdom all revealed joy they had not felt in a long time.

The joy brought by the evening feast gradually dispelled the fear they had accumulated over many years, until the delicious food entered their mouths.

Only when the delight rising from their taste buds enveloped their hearts did they feel that everything they had experienced these past few days was not merely a beautiful dream.

But Louis paid no attention to any of this.

His attention was wholly focused on Red-Haired Shanks seated beside him, and he fell into deep thought.

Beside Louis sat a young man who constantly had a toothpick in his mouth, his shoulder-length black hair tied into a ponytail. There was also a little girl in a yellow dress with two-toned long hair.

They were none other than the future user of the "Dont Move" Fruit and the young songstress Uta, who would pull seventy percent of the world's population into an illusory world.

Just as Louis was lost in thought, he noticed a curious gaze falling upon the wings on his back.

He turned and met those violet eyes.

Realizing she had been found out, the red-haired songstress openly stepped forward and pointed curiously at the snowy-white wings behind Louis.

"Louis, are the wings on your back decorations?"

"Where did you buy them? Do they come in black and white?"

Louis raised a brow at that. Then, beneath Uta's gaze, he spread one of the wings on his back, exposing rows of neat, full feathers beneath the firelight.

"They're actually real?" Rather than feeling disappointed, Uta's violet eyes shone with a different kind of brilliance.

She looked eager to try, as though she wanted to reach out and touch them, but her good upbringing kept her from acting on the impulse.

Beside her, Benn Beckman studied Louis's wings with a thoughtful expression as well.

On the other side, Shanks noticed what was happening with Louis and smiled.

He then patted Louis on the shoulder and asked cheerfully, "Little brother Louis, how is Akuldona doing?"

"..." This confirmed it for Louis—Shanks truly knew where he came from.

Moreover, Louis had already formed a rough guess about the connection between them.

After letting out a long sigh, Louis nodded and answered, "He's doing well. He's already the strongest member of the tribe."

Shanks's smile widened at those words, as if he were happy to hear news of an old friend.

Seeing this, Louis took out the Vivre Card with the name written on it and threw a question back at Red-Haired Shanks. "Were you the ones who accidentally visited Bar back then?"

Shanks stared blankly at the Vivre Card in Louis's hand before breaking into a brilliant smile.

"Momora's Vivre Card..."

Shanks recalled the man who now carried Captain Roger's mission on his shoulders.

Then he looked up at Louis again and said with a smile, "That's right. Back then, I went to Bar with Captain Roger and the others. We met your people and made quite a few friends."

"..." Louis's vision went dark. His tribesmen had kept their mouths far too tightly shut—after all these years, not a single one of them had ever mentioned the name Roger.

When Louis received the Vivre Card, he had thought some unknown powerhouse had visited Bar.

Who the hell knew who Mr. Momora was?!

None of the fanworks Louis had read had ever mentioned that name, much less that he had been one of the Roger Pirates.

"Just now, when I saw the color of your wings, your hair, your skin, and the fact that there were no flames on your back, I didn't connect the dots at first."

As he spoke, Shanks pointed at Louis's clothes. "But I quickly noticed the Toga Robe you're wearing. It's a style of clothing the Sky Islanders on Bar are very fond of."

The Sky Islander branch on Bar was extremely isolated. Even other Sky Islanders did not know of their existence, and their clothing style was unique—no one else imitated it.

"..." Louis fell silent once more.

Seeing that, Shanks's lips curled upward. "Come to think of it, this is the first time I've seen one of your people wear this kind of clothing."

Louis said, "My mother is a native of Bar, so I don't dislike clothes in this style."

"Is that so? So that's why you're different from the people I met back then. I thought you'd dyed yourself to disguise yourself!!" Shanks suddenly understood. He had thought Louis had dyed himself as camouflage.

Louis shot him a sidelong glance, the wariness in his heart turning into speechless exasperation.

Beside Louis, Beckman and Uta were both stunned. They had not expected to encounter two people connected to Shanks on this trip.

"Little Louis, is Akuldona stronger than me now?" Before he realized it, Shanks's form of address had become much more familiar.

Beckman shook his head at that. He felt Shanks was beyond saving. He was actually asking a child such a question—how could the kid possibly know how strong Shanks was...

"You're a little stronger," Louis answered after thinking it over.

Beckman: "..."

Shanks became even happier at that, smiling so broadly that wrinkles appeared on his face, prompting Uta to roll her eyes.

He then explained to his companions that when he was younger, he and another friend had challenged the person he was talking about together, yet still failed to defeat him.

He did not blame the Lunarian's flight or flames for making them impossible to break through. He simply said that he had lost.

"He said back then that if I could beat him, he'd consider joining my crew."

"Beckman, we'll soon have another powerful companion!"

Louis raised a brow at that, then said meaningfully, "Is that so? Then you'd better go find him sooner."

After all, although Louis had been born on Sky Island, he had also brought changes to this world.

For example, finding a Sky Island and intercepting a Devil Fruit...

"..."

Shanks sensed that something was off and instinctively wanted to ask something.

But at that moment, an accident occurred.

A piercing wail suddenly rang out, drawing everyone's attention.

Louis's pupils contracted slightly. One hand reached for the spear on his back while his Observation Haki instantly locked onto the source of the disturbance.

In an instant, Louis's expression darkened.

The entire Red-Haired Pirates crew immediately went on alert as well. Beside them, Yelena's face changed, and she instinctively ran toward the source of the disturbance.

Then came a second cry, then a third—followed by more and more anguished wails.

Louis narrowed his eyes as motes of dawnlight began to emerge from his body.

The next moment, Light Gold radiance blossomed and spread outward, enveloping the area.

Specks of dawnlight drifted down from the sky like snowflakes, merging into the bodies of those rolling on the ground. Warm vitality bloomed, flowing into the source of the abnormality Louis sensed—their stomachs.

But Louis's brow soon furrowed again, and he slowly uttered a single word. "Poisoned."

It was a potent poison. For some unknown reason, it had erupted inside the stomachs of more than a dozen people. Even with Louis's abilities, he could only keep them alive.

After all, Louis's medical education had ended before it even began. He knew nothing of medicine and could not handle anything beyond external injuries.

Shanks, who had arrived before Yelena, lost all trace of his smile upon hearing this. His expression turned cold and terrifyingly grim.

After hearing Louis's assessment, Shanks did not question it. Instead, he urged his companion, "Hongou!!"