The Town of Beginnings and Endings (Happy New Year, everyone)

"We finally made it!"

"The birthplace of Pirate King Roger, the man who ushered in the Great Age of Piracy—and the place where he met his end."

"Loguetown, the town that symbolizes both beginning and end."

After docking, Rody and the others disembarked and split into two groups. Mike and Carmen went to pick out ingredients and essential supplies for the ship, while Rody took Nami to see the execution platform—the place where Pirate King Roger had died.

"Standing beneath the execution platform, looking at the surging crowds and bustling streets... Roger's execution in Loguetown might have been a good thing for the town's residents," Rody remarked.

Loguetown had an excellent geographical location. It was the last town where one could resupply before entering the Grand Line from the East Blue. Pirate King Roger had been born and died here, drawing countless tourists and travelers to Loguetown. Though it also attracted quite a few pirates, this was the East Blue, known as the weakest sea, where there were few powerful pirates to begin with. Even when powerful pirates passed through, whether out of respect for Roger or pride in themselves, they would not casually destroy or plunder Loguetown.

Looking at the execution platform, Rody vaguely saw a man in a red captain's coat standing atop it, long nose hairs protruding from his nostrils and curling like a pair of mustaches. Shackles bound his hands, yet he was laughing heartily. Even in chains, his laughter carried an air of boldness, freedom, and carefree abandon.

"Rody, was Pirate King Roger executed here?"

"It just looks a little taller than an ordinary execution platform. There doesn't seem to be anything special about it," Nami said, puzzled.

"Yes. It was just that ordinary." The execution platform was now completely empty, as though the blurry figure Rody had seen moments ago had merely been an illusion.

After taking one final look at the execution platform, Rody turned around, put an arm around Nami, and left with a sigh.

Rody and Nami strolled through the streets, casually buying clothes, jewelry, and the like. Seeing that it was about time, they prepared to meet up with Mike and the others.

But at the same time, Mike's group, who were out shopping for supplies, ran into trouble.

"This South Blue Shandong fish is really fresh! I can already think of several ways to cook it," Carmen said excitedly as she looked at the white sea fish Leo was carrying.

"Since we've bought about everything we need, let's hurry up and find the captain," Windfire Wheel said. With people on the street constantly staring at him, he felt uncomfortable all over and only wanted to leave Loguetown as soon as possible.

"That's because you're too unusual, Mr. Windfire Wheel," Mike said with a smile.

"Can't be helped. No matter where I am, I'm always this outstanding, this unique." Windfire Wheel put his hands on his hips, looking smug.

"Hey, Captain, look what we found!"

"A motorcycle that can stand upright, walk, and talk!" a group of burly pirates in the crowd shouted upon spotting Windfire Wheel.

"Where? Where is it? You bastards aren't screwing with me, are you?"

"Let me see."

Casually pushing aside the pedestrians blocking his view, Toby the Boxer grinned in the direction his pirate underlings were pointing.

"If you dared to lie to me, you..."

"Oh? It really is a motorcycle that can walk and talk!"

"Hey, motorcycle, you belong to me from now on," Toby said excitedly as he looked at Windfire Wheel.

"First of all, my name isn't 'hey.'"

"My name is Windfire Wheel."

"Second, whose kid are you? Why aren't you hurrying home for dinner? Remember to drink more milk," Windfire Wheel mocked, looking at the short but powerfully built young pirate before him.

"It's over, it's over. Captain's going to get mad."

"Captain hates it most when people talk about his height."

"And that motorcycle dared to mock him like that."

Toby's face darkened, the muscles between his brows twitching. He stared expressionlessly at Windfire Wheel and slowly said, "Motorcycle, do you not know who I am? If you don't, I can forgive you."

"I'm Toby the Boxer, with a bounty of 13 million Berries."

"Our captain is a great pirate with a bounty of 13 million Berries!"

"Scared now?"

"What do you say, motorcycle? Aren't you going to obediently come with us?" Toby's underlings shouted arrogantly.

"What boxer? What scissor-hands? Never heard of you."

"A mere 13 million Berry bounty. Do you know who my captain is?" Windfire Wheel looked at the pirates with disdain.

"Who?" Seeing how confident Windfire Wheel was, Toby asked gravely.

"Hehe, I'm afraid I'll scare you to death if I tell you."

"Quit wasting time."

"Then listen carefully. My captain is Rody the Slaughterer, with a bounty of 50 million Berries!"

"Haha, scared now?" Windfire Wheel said arrogantly as he looked at Toby.

The moment Windfire Wheel announced Rody's name, the pirates who had been shouting moments ago immediately fell silent. Toby also furrowed his brow.

"Captain, maybe we should just forget it."

"Yeah, Captain. Let's forget it. It's not worth going up against Rody the Slaughterer, who has a 50 million Berry bounty, just for a somewhat unusual vehicle."

"I heard he recently wiped out the Krieg Pirates, the largest pirate crew in the East Blue. Krieg's fleet of fifty pirate ships and five thousand men was completely destroyed. Of those five thousand, fewer than one thousand survived the slaughter. Even Krieg, the captain of the Krieg Pirates, had his head cut off by the Slaughterer."

"Captain, we shouldn't provoke someone that vicious," the pirates urged nervously, trying to persuade Captain Toby to give up on taking Windfire Wheel.

"You idiots, use those not-so-smart brains of yours. How could one person possibly destroy fifty pirate ships unless the Marines launched a large-scale encirclement operation or they were caught in a storm?"

"If the Marines had deployed a massive fleet to wipe out the Krieg Pirates and their pirate fleet, they definitely would have publicized it everywhere. But the Marines didn't, which leaves only one possibility: the Krieg Pirates encountered a storm and their entire fleet was destroyed. Rody the Slaughterer then came across Krieg, who had been severely injured by the storm, killed him, and cut off his head,"

"Afterward, the Slayer bragged everywhere that he'd wiped out the Krieg Pirates. But that guy's boasting was way too outrageous—one person destroying fifty pirate warships and five thousand pirates? Anyone could tell that was impossible," Toby analyzed smugly.

"Really, Captain?"

"Of course it's true."

"Captain, you're incredibly smart."

"That's why I'm the captain." Hearing his underlings' praise, Toby proudly raised his head.

"Hey, you lot, stop talking to yourselves over there. I saw with my own eyes that the captain wiped out the Krieg Pirates. Pirates like you would all be killed with a single wave of the captain's hand. If you don't want to die, get out of here," Windfire Wheel said irritably.

"Hmph, stop trying to scare us. We won't believe your lies." With that, Toby ordered two burly pirates to seize Windfire Wheel.

At that moment, Mike stepped out from the crowd. With a casual swing of his cane, he easily knocked the two pirates to the ground.

"Who the hell is this old bastard?!"