The Coming Execution

The era's rampage was about to begin.

This world was about to enter the Great Pirate Era, and countless people hoped to find the treasure of Pirate King Roger—One Piece.

But Dawn had no power to change what Roger intended to do, nor did he want to.

Too many things were involved: the Void Century, the answers hidden within the Poneglyphs, and even the major events and course of history that would unfold after the Great Pirate Era began.

There was too much to consider, and he could not guess why Roger would use his own life to usher in the Great Pirate Era.

It was a mystery, but Dawn had never denied the necessity of it.

The era's rampage was a growing pain, but perhaps it was something this world had no choice but to endure. What Roger had planned to accomplish through his own death was beyond Dawn's ability to guess.

From Dawn's perspective, history had to unfold as he remembered it for him to make plans around it.

And that was thanks to his extraordinary memory after transmigrating here.

This plan began with Roger's death and would continue until the point where the plot became unknown to him.

The planning and preparations throughout that period might even span twenty years!

Dawn intended to use the memories in his mind to steadily accumulate strength, companions, and every benefit he could get his hands on, all to fulfill his own plans.

Besides, even if Dawn shut Roger's mouth and prevented him from shouting those words on the execution platform to begin the Great Pirate Era, Roger might still have a backup plan to spread the news.

And as the one who proposed it, Dawn would certainly offend the Roger Pirates. Setting aside everything else, Red-Hair alone would be enough to give him hell.

Even if Roger did not exist, the Great Pirate Era would gradually arrive anyway. Roger had merely set off the fuse ahead of time.

And at the root of it all were the Celestial Dragons.

These scum, worse than pigs, took pride in being "descendants of the creators" and regarded everyone else as lowly creatures beneath them.

Overbearing and arrogant, they even believed themselves too great to breathe the same air as others. They wore bubble helmets for that very reason, treated everyone else as disposable slaves, and took pleasure in tormenting them.

No, to them, anyone who was not a Celestial Dragon was not even considered human.

On top of that, the Celestial Dragons enjoyed every privilege.

If they were offended, Marine Headquarters or CP0 had to mobilize all their military strength to protect them and uphold their dignity.

They were pig-like trash who thought themselves gods, yet they possessed immense power and could commit every vile act imaginable without restraint.

With such lawlessness flowing down from the top, it would be stranger if the Great Pirate Era did not arrive.

Think about why Roger had been able to send the era into a frenzy, why so many people had answered his call. Wasn't it because they could no longer survive?

Roger's death had merely been the spark.

If people could live decent lives, Dawn believed most would not choose to become pirates with nine chances of death for every one chance of survival.

As for those adventurers like Luffy, setting some of them aside, the rest were villains like the ones under Big Mom and Kaido.

And even Big Mom, when she was young, had been nothing more than a kind-hearted, food-loving brat.

It could not be denied that the pirate population seemed enormous. But without the vast number of people who had first been forced into becoming pirates, perhaps those two Four Emperors would not have been able to recruit so many subordinates.

Who was to say that the pirates now serving under the Four Emperors had not once been ordinary farmers in one of the Four Blues, only to become heinous pirates after surviving by the skin of their teeth?

It was like raising venomous insects in a jar. Circumstances kept driving huge numbers of people into desperate straits, forcing them to become pirates. They slaughtered one another, and those who rose above the rest ravaged the seas; some joined the Four Emperors.

But how many could preserve their original hearts amid the endless slaughter and cruelty of the sea?

Dawn believed most people would do anything to survive, and afterward become pirates capable of every evil.

Thus, it was the massive pirate population that created the rampant piracy of the Great Age of Piracy. The Four Emperors alone could only be strong individuals, not Four Emperors.

They might possess strength comparable to the others, but without the forces and manpower to control vast territories in the New World like emperors of the sea, they could not become Four Emperors.

So where did those people come from? Why did people endlessly choose to become pirates without knowing whether they would live to see tomorrow?

Wasn't it because they could no longer make a living?

The first group of people who could not survive became pirates, ravaged the seas, and made even more people unable to survive, eventually forming a vicious cycle.

And the Celestial Dragons bore most of the blame for that.

After all, as the saying went, no trade, no killing.

Where did the Celestial Dragons get all the slaves they needed?

They had to capture them, naturally giving rise to the slave trade and leaving families ruined and people dead.

The Celestial Dragons also demanded vast amounts of Celestial Gold and treasures.

So every nation had no choice but to pay enormous amounts of Celestial Gold. Kings and nobles began squeezing money from their people, with some taking even more for themselves.

Then the people could no longer survive and turned to piracy, creating yet another vicious cycle.

If a single pirate rampaged and destroyed enough, many villages would be left with ruined families and no way to survive.

So in the end, it was all the Celestial Dragons' fault! Otherwise, why would Luffy's father, Dragon, have founded the Revolutionary Army?

And Roger's death happened to ignite all of it.

At that moment, saying that Loguetown was heavily guarded no longer sufficed to describe it.

Not only Loguetown, but even the surrounding seas were guarded by powerful Marines. Its defenses could be called the strongest in history.

But so what? The tide of the era would never stop. It surged onward without end, crushing everyone who stood in its path!

After arriving in Loguetown, Dawn and the others did not sightsee. Following a day of rest, they immediately entered a state of alert.

The group was eating lunch at a restaurant.

Although the chef was quite skilled, and the grilled meat, fried rice, seafood, and other dishes were delicious, everyone ate in silence without saying a word.

Because that afternoon was the time of Roger's execution!

As the training camp's chosen seedlings, Dawn and the others had been assigned to the innermost perimeter, positioned on both sides of the execution platform to help maintain order!

That was practically the closest possible position from which to witness Roger's execution!

Hina, Sola, and the others were only children, and the pressure weighed heavily on them. After all, that was the Pirate King!

Even though they knew this final line of defense was merely an arrangement by the higher-ups to let them witness Roger's execution while doing ordinary stability-maintenance work, and that they would not even face ordinary civilians, much less powerful figures of the sea.

Still, it was the final line of defense in name. It was impossible for Dawn and the others not to be nervous.

As for the rest of the security arrangements, Dawn and the others did not know. Aokiji and the others were the true guards, and their movements and assignments were absolutely confidential.

But there was no need to think too hard about it. When the time came, the execution platform and even Loguetown would be surrounded by vast numbers of Marines and World Government personnel.

If anyone intended to cause trouble, they would certainly be eliminated before they could even make a move!

There could be no mistakes in the execution of the Pirate King!