The World of the Pirate King

Thunderclouds churned across the sky.

A Thunder Dragon coiled within them.

The entire town of Loguetown remained shrouded within that enormous Thunder Cage.

Lightning continuously flashed between the clouds and the ground, like dragons swimming through the high heavens.

Beneath that lightning, Rock's expression gradually returned to calm.

That declaration of power, enough to intimidate the world, was merely a chess piece he had already placed.

In truth, all of this had been within his expectations.

He had deliberately gone to see Roger before for only one reason—

To confirm whether that man had intended to say those words from the very beginning.

Whether he had already decided to use his own death to ignite an entire era.

But on this timeline, things had quietly diverged.

The current sea was no longer entirely the same as its original history. The pirates' momentum had not swelled to an uncontrollable extent.

Under the Navy's long-term suppression led by Rock, order across the seas was far more stable than before.

Most pirate crews that once rampaged through the Four Seas, burning, killing, and plundering, had been suppressed.

Those who remained either hid in the shadows, barely clinging to life, or fled deep into the Grand Line, not daring to show themselves easily.

More importantly, Roger had learned something in advance.

His wife and unborn child would both be properly protected.

—That changed many things.

Because that man had never truly been someone without attachments.

Perhaps, in the final moments of his life, he would not have been willing to personally usher in an era destined to bring endless bloodshed and chaos.

If Roger had not spoken those words, if that cry of "Go find it! I left everything there!" had never rung out.

Then—

This sea might have remained quiet for many years,