Roger Pirates

The sea still churned with lingering waves, like a roaring beast unwilling to calm down.

The air after the Lightning Roar was filled with scorching heat and a tearing sensation. Above the chaos, two figures faced each other across the sea and sky.

One was the future Pirate King.

The other was a mysterious youth whose thunderbolts spanned an era.

Heaven and earth seemed split in two by their auras.

Half the sky had been dyed blood-red by Roger's Conqueror's Haki;

the other half was illuminated by Rock's lightning into a blinding platinum white.

The Oro Jackson's mast creaked and groaned as if it might snap at any moment;

the massive ship swayed violently from side to side, and the pirates on deck were completely dumbfounded.

"Are they going to split the sky apart...?"

"Who the hell is that over there?! That kind of monstrous power—"

Rayleigh gripped the railing until his knuckles turned white, his scalp tingling. "You've got to be kidding... That kid can actually match Roger blow for blow?!"

Just as everyone thought a second assault would come in the next moment, Roger suddenly withdrew his power.

His Conqueror's Haki receded like a tide. With a clang, Ace slid back into its sheath.

The air instantly felt half as heavy.

Then Roger raised his head and shouted into the sky, "Hey!! I can tell you don't mean us any harm!!!"

"Want to come down and have a drink? Hahahaha!!!"

Three seconds of silence passed, then every pirate on deck was stunned. "Huh—?!!"

Rayleigh was so startled that his glasses slipped down half an inch, and he nearly fell over. "Seriously, Roger?! You were just fighting him...!"

Rock was stunned in midair as well.

They had just been greeting each other with their strongest moves, and now Roger was inviting him for drinks? Roger was way too easygoing.

"Why is everyone like this..."

Lightning flickered.

"Bzzzt—!!"

Silver-white lightning exploded through the air. Rock turned into a streak of silver-white electricity and drifted gently down onto the deck, standing face-to-face with Roger at close range.

The crew immediately tensed. Rayleigh waved from behind them. "Calm down. This guy probably isn't an enemy."

Only then did everyone dare breathe a little easier.

Rock looked at Roger and asked, "You're that confident I don't mean any harm? What if I casually split your ship apart with lightning? None of you would survive."

Roger burst into laughter and pointed at his ear. "Because I heard it."

"Your thunder has no killing intent."

"At least, not right now."

Rock's eyelid twitched. He muttered under his breath, "So the Voice of All Things had already begun to take shape at this point..."

Roger froze for a moment, then grinned brightly, his eyes shining. "Yeah! This world is talking!!!"

Looking at him, Rock suddenly understood why this man would become the Pirate King.

Roger stared at Rock as well, fiery light blazing in his eyes. "You're interesting, kid."

"Come on—"

"Let's have a drink together!!!"

The sea had been turned upside down by the aftermath of their clash, but when Roger shouted, "Boys!! Time for a feast—!!!"

the entire Oro Jackson instantly switched from a scene of apocalypse to a carnival at sea.

"Ooohhhhh—!!!"

"A feast! A feast—!!"

"Bring up the barrels!! Meat!! Meat!!!"

"That last attack made me think I was going to die! I need three barrels to calm my nerves!!!"

The ship still swayed from side to side, but the pirates had already started dancing to its rocking rhythm.

Drumbeats, clinking cups, roaring voices... It was so lively that even the sea breeze seemed steeped in the scent of alcohol.

—This was the Roger Pirates.

—After a battle came a feast, so quickly that fear did not even have time to linger.

Waves slapped against the hull, and the whole ship trembled, but nobody cared.

As long as there was booze to drink, nothing was a big deal.

After some time, the sea gradually calmed, and night spread across the water.

The Oro Jackson's deck was brightly lit, the aroma of grilled meat drifting away alongside boisterous laughter.

Rock held a cup of wine as he sat at the edge of the deck. Watching Roger dance nearby with slightly flushed cheeks, he could not help raising an eyebrow.

This pirate crew's style was... way too unrestrained.

Rayleigh approached slowly with a drink in hand and stopped beside Rock.

He glanced at Roger, who was drunkenly dancing, and smiled helplessly. "Sorry about that. Our captain is just like this..."

Rock waved a hand. "I don't mind~ Actually, I came aboard with a bit of an ulterior motive too."

"An ulterior motive?"

Rayleigh was about to ask further when he saw Roger stagger over as though he were stepping on the sea breeze. Holding half a barrel of alcohol, he plopped down between them.

"Brother Rock—!! Hahaha!! You're really something else!!!" He slapped Rock on the shoulder. "You actually dared to go to Hachinosu and provoke Rocks! That's something I've wanted to do for a long time, but Rayleigh has always stopped me!!"

Rayleigh said, "You call that 'being stopped by me'? I call that 'being dragged back by me.'"

Rock leaned back half a meter from the alcoholic fumes, yet still kept a polite smile.

"Well~ Since I decided to descend into the world below, I had to first see the most famous people on the seas."

Roger's eyes visibly lit up at those words. Then he tipped his head back, took a huge gulp of liquor, and laughed heartily.

"The most famous people? Haha... That guy really is a monster! But—"

"I think you've got the makings of someone famous too, kid."

Roger raised the barrel, ready to keep drinking, when he suddenly remembered what Rock had said earlier.

"Right, what did you mean when you said you 'descended into the world below'?"

Rayleigh pushed up his glasses and followed up, "And how did you get to Hachinosu?"

"Ordinary people wouldn't dare take you anywhere near that place..."

Rock thought about it and decided there was no need to hide it, so he answered casually, "Ah, it's nothing much."

"When I first set sail, I happened to run into the Kuja Pirates."

"Then I hitched a ride on their ship... straight to Hachinosu."

"Pfft—!!!"

The moment those words fell, Roger suddenly spat out his drink as if he had been struck by lightning.

The spray of alcohol formed a spectacular crescent-shaped stream and, with unbelievable precision, splashed entirely across Rayleigh's face.

"..."

The liquor ran down Rayleigh's glasses, cheekbones, and chin. His expression did not change in the slightest, but his eyes stared daggers at Roger.

"Roger..."

Ignoring Rayleigh's anger, Roger's face twisted in shock. He grabbed Rock by the shoulders and roared, "What did you say?! The Kuja Pirates?!"

"You! You actually got to ride on their ship?!!"

The deck instantly erupted. "Those are the Kuja Pirates!!!"

"Men get kicked into the sea if they go aboard!!!"

"Wait... He not only boarded their ship, they even took him to Hachinosu?!"

Rayleigh wiped the alcohol from his face as he added, "Those are Kuja ships, where men are forbidden from setting foot. Any man who gets close is shot full of arrows."

"How... did you get aboard?"

Rock said, "I just boarded normally. Aren't you all exaggerating a little?"

Roger and the crew roared in unison, "That is not exaggerating—!!!"

"Those are the Snake Princesses!!!"

"There are only a handful of men in the whole world who can get off their ship alive!!!"

The festive atmosphere instantly turned into a different kind of shock and wailing.

Rock pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed softly.

"What an age of oppression..."