Loguetown, Central Square.
The sky was cloudless for miles, and the scorching sun hung high overhead, baking the stone-paved streets until they were blisteringly hot.
In stark contrast to the clear weather was the atmosphere in the square, oppressive to the extreme.
Tens of thousands of civilians, reporters, pirates, and bounty hunters had come from all over the world, packing the place so tightly that not even water could seep through.
They were like participants in a grand yet twisted festival. The air was thick with sweat, alcohol, and an almost frenzied excitement.
This was a death spectacle watched by the entire world.
Marine base, dormitory.
Rayne put on a brand-new Marine uniform.
He did not wear a mask.
Calmly, he looked at his blurred reflection in the window glass—a handsome, refined young man.
"Dong—dong—"
A dull bell rang out from deep within the base.
The time had come.
Rayne left the dormitory and joined the escort unit made up of elite Headquarters personnel. Along with another stern-faced Headquarters lieutenant colonel, he followed behind that man, one on each side.
Gol D. Roger.
The moment he stepped out of the base gates and onto the final road leading to the center of the square, a tsunami of cheers crashed head-on into him with tangible force.
His senses, far beyond those of an ordinary person, suffered an unprecedented and terrifying impact at that moment.
The distinct shouts, laughter, sobs, and curses of tens of thousands of people blended together, making his brain buzz.
It looks exactly like it did in the manga from my previous life...
Rayne looked at the sea of people before him, and the thought instinctively flashed through his mind.
No... it's completely different.
He immediately overturned his own conclusion.
Everything... was too real.
The pungent stench of countless bodies and cheap alcohol in the air was real.
The faint tremors beneath his feet, caused by countless people trampling the stone pavement, were real.
The twisted expressions on the faces of the surrounding civilians, mixed with fanaticism, greed, fear, and excitement, were real.
Rayne's gaze eventually settled on the tall figure walking several meters ahead of him.
He was no longer a legendary symbol on a page, no longer a two-dimensional character on a screen.
He was a "real" person.
Rayne could see the subtle wear left by years at sea on his famous red captain's coat; he could hear the heavy clack-clack of the special shackles on his feet dragging across the stone pavement; he could see his black hair fluttering gently in the sea breeze.
That man wore handcuffs, smiled calmly, and walked toward his own death.
And Rayne...
Rayne lowered his head and looked at the white-gloved hands that would soon raise an execution rifle.
...was the one who would personally send him on his way.
Only at that moment did Rayne realize from the depths of his soul that he had transmigrated.
He was no longer a "reader" separated from the story by a screen, casually passing judgment on its plot.
He was a "participant" in this real, brutal world filled with limitless possibilities, someone about to personally kill the "protagonist of the old era."
A complicated emotion—absurd, cold, and tinged with a sickening thrill—surged wildly within his chest.
Looking at the man ahead who was about to die by his own hand, Rayne's mind was stripped of all distractions, leaving behind only an unprecedented chill and focus.
When Rayne's feet stepped onto the enormous wooden execution platform, more than ten meters high and built specifically for the Pirate King, the clamor of the whole world seemed to drift away from him.
He could see the boundless sea of people below, formed from tens of thousands of fanatical, twisted faces. He could hear the wind and his own steady heartbeat, suppressed within his chest.
At the edge of his vision, several enormous one-eyed Visual Transponder Snails were transmitting every moment here to all corners of the world in real time.
He and the stern-faced Headquarters lieutenant colonel stood behind Roger with rifles in hand, one on either side.
On a lower platform beneath the execution stand, Marine Admiral Sengoku solemnly held a lengthy indictment.
Farther away, in the shadows of a building, Marine hero Garp—the man who should have been standing in the most prominent spot, basking in the cheers of the entire world—stood alone with his arms folded, leaning against the wall. His dog-eared cap was pulled so low that no one could see his expression.
Beside Sengoku, Chief Staff Officer Tsuru frowned deeply. Her wise eyes were filled with concern over this overly smooth "celebration."
Sengoku stepped forward and began reading the crimes of Pirate King Gol D. Roger to the entire world.
"In the year 1484 of the Sea Circle Calendar, Gol D. Roger led his pirate crew in ravaging the seas and challenging the World Government..."
Sengoku's voice was solemn and murderous, but Rayne was not listening at all.
He raised his eyes, and with vision far beyond that of ordinary people, carefully surveyed the crowd below.
He saw them.
Amid the roaring tide of people was a red-haired boy in a straw hat, Shanks, crying so hard he could barely breathe; beside him was a red-nosed boy, Buggy, crying so hard that snot bubbles had formed.
A young swordsman, Mihawk, with a cold expression and eyes sharp enough to cut through everything.
Crocodile, a cigar clenched between his teeth, looking utterly defiant.
A blond young man, Doflamingo, wearing sunglasses with an arrogant curve at the corner of his mouth.
Gecko Moria, tall and not yet sporting a beer belly, with a sickly excited smile on his face.
And Smoker, a white-haired young Marine soldier mixed in with the Marine ranks, staring at the platform with a face full of glory and yearning.
And, in the most inconspicuous corner, Monkey D. Dragon—a man in a hooded cloak with strange patterns tattooed on his face, who looked like nothing more than an indifferent observer.
All the future big shots are here...
Rayne murmured inwardly, admiring the grand play called the "new era" that was about to begin.
And he was the one responsible for raising the curtain.
At last, Sengoku finished reading the lengthy indictment. He raised his right hand high, then slashed it down and issued the final, commanding order that rang across the entire square:
"Execute him!"
In that instant, the entire world fell silent.
As if by reflex, Rayne instantly raised the rifle in his hands and aimed at Roger's back, right where his heart was.
But his mind buzzed, turning completely blank.
Wait? We're doing it now? What the hell? The sequence is wrong! What about the final words? Shouldn't some random passerby jump out and ask where the treasure is, then Roger gives that declaration that starts a new era? Why are we jumping straight to the final step?!
That's not how this is supposed to go!
Like a statue, he remained standing with his rifle raised, completely motionless.
This strange "hesitation" plunged the entire scene into deathly silence. The lieutenant colonel stared at him in astonishment. Captain Stork below nearly lost his soul in terror. Sengoku's brows twisted into a deep frown, while Tsuru's eyes filled with shock and suspicion.
In the shadows, Garp's folded hands unconsciously clenched.
The entire world waited for the gunshot that would end an era, yet at that moment, only the wind could be heard in the square.
Rayne's heart pounded wildly as he made the calmest and most insane gamble of his life!
No... not enough! Roger right now is only a "captured Pirate King."
His [Crime Index] might not be low, but it is nowhere near its peak!
Starting a chaotic Great Pirate Era and drawing every ambitious person in the world out to sea—this sin, which will plunge the world into turmoil for the next twenty years, is the greatest achievement of your life, and my greatest fortune!
Say it, Roger! A man like you won't be willing to die so quietly, will you?
Say those words!
As though he had heard the cry from the depths of Rayne's soul, Roger, who had been waiting for death with a calm smile, seemed to notice the unusual silence as well.
He slowly turned around, and for the first time, those incomparably deep eyes that had seen the end of the world fell upon the boy behind him.
Rayne saw neither fear nor hatred in those eyes, only a hint of curiosity toward this unexpected pause, along with a kind of... understanding, as though Roger had long since seen through everything.
At that moment, Rayne even had the illusion that Roger had seen through the mature soul inside his fifteen-year-old body, a soul that did not belong to this world.
He understood the fleeting "stage" that this boy had created for him.
Then, using the last of his strength, he unleashed that bold laugh and declaration that would open an era upon the entire world:
"Want my treasure?"
"If you want it, then go find it at sea! I left everything in the world there!"
Before you continue