Roger Pirates

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

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

One was the future Pirate King.

The other was a mysterious youth whose thunder spanned the era.

Heaven and earth were torn in half by their auras.

One half was dyed blood-red by Roger's Conqueror's Haki;

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

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

the massive ship swayed from side to side, and the pirates on deck were utterly stunned.

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

"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 boy can actually match Roger blow for blow?!"

Just when everyone thought a second clash was about to come, 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!!!"

"Why don't you come down and have a drink?! Hahahaha!!!"

After three seconds of silence, every pirate on deck cried out in shock, "Huh—?!!"

Rayleigh was so startled that his glasses slipped halfway down his nose, and he nearly fell over. "No way, Roger?! You were just fighting him...!"

Rock froze in midair as well.

They had just been exchanging ultimate moves, and now Roger was inviting him for a drink? Roger was way too carefree, wasn't he?

"One after another... why is everyone like this?"

Lightning flashed.

"Bzzz—!!"

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

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

Only then did everyone dare to breathe again.

Rock looked at Roger and asked, "You're that confident I don't have hostile intentions? If I casually split your ship apart, none of you would survive."

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

"Your thunder doesn't carry any killing intent."

"At least, not right now."

Rock's eyelid twitched as he murmured softly, "So Voice of All Things had already begun to take shape at this point..."

Roger paused at his words, then broke into a wide grin, his eyes shining brightly. "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, a blazing light igniting in his eyes. "You're interesting, kid."

"Come on—"

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

The sea had been thrown into chaos by the lingering force of their battle, but with Roger's cry of, "Boys!! Time for a feast—!!!"

The entire Oro Jackson instantly switched from a "scene of doom" to an "ocean carnival."

"Oooooohhhhhh—!!!"

"A feast! A feast—!!"

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

"I thought I was gonna die just now! I need three barrels to calm my nerves!!!"

The ship was still swaying from side to side, but the pirates were already dancing to its rocking rhythm.

Drumbeats, clinking cups, shouting... it was so lively that even the sea breeze seemed steeped in alcohol.

—This was the Roger Pirates.

—After battle came a feast, so quickly that fear never had time to linger.

Waves slapped against the hull, making the entire ship shudder, but no one cared.

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

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

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

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

This pirate crew's style was... a little too unrestrained, wasn't it?

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

He glanced at Roger, who was drunkenly dancing away, 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 myself."

"An ulterior motive?"

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

"Brother Rock—!! Hahaha!! You're one incredible guy!!!"

He slapped Rock on the shoulder. "You actually dared to go to Hachinosu and provoke Rocks!

That was something I'd wanted to do for ages, but Rayleigh kept stopping me from doing it!!"

Rayleigh said, "You call that 'stopping you'? I call that 'dragging you back by force.'"

Rock retreated half a meter from the alcoholic fumes, yet still maintained a polite smile.

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

Roger's eyes visibly lit up at that. Then he tipped back his head, 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 his barrel, about to keep drinking, when he suddenly recalled what Rock had said earlier.

"By the way, what did you mean when you said 'descend into the mortal world'?"

Rayleigh pushed up his glasses and continued, "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 was nothing much."

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

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

"Pfft—!!!"

The moment he finished speaking, Roger suddenly spat out his liquor as though he had been struck by lightning.

The spray formed a spectacular crescent of liquid and, with absurdly precise accuracy, splashed entirely across Rayleigh's face.

"..."

Liquor trickled down from Rayleigh's glasses, over his cheekbones, and off his chin. His expression did not change in the slightest, but his eyes stared death 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 exploded into uproar. "Those were the Kuja Pirates!!!"

"Men get kicked into the sea if they board their ship!!!"

"Wait... he didn't just board it, they even took him to Hachinosu?!"

Rayleigh wiped the liquor from his face as he added,

"That is a Kuja ship, where men are forbidden from setting foot. Any man who approaches gets turned into a pincushion by their arrows."

"How... did you get aboard?"

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

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

"Those are the Snake Princesses!!!"

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

The lively feast instantly turned into a different kind of shock and wailing.

Rock, meanwhile, pressed one hand to his forehead and sighed softly.

"Seriously, what a deeply repressed era..."