Roger's End, the Dark-Dark Fruit!

Question: Who was the one who ushered in the Great Age of Pirates?

Gol D. Roger?

No, no, no. It wasn't Roger, but the person in the square beneath the execution platform who asked where One Piece was moments before Roger was executed.

Without that random bystander, Roger probably wouldn't have said a word before his death.

Of course, even without that person, the Great Age of Pirates would still have begun. After all, people had already started to speculate.

Since Roger could reach Laugh Tale, others had hope too.

Mislanda turned his gaze toward the people in the square.

Thanks to the Navy's extensive publicity, people from all over the world had gathered here.

Among them, Mislanda spotted figures who would become famous on the seas in the future, such as Dracule Mihawk, Donquixote Doflamingo, Crocodile, Moria...

Then, he suddenly saw Shanks and Buggy hiding in a corner.

It was obvious that the two of them were crying.

While Mislanda scanned his surroundings, Roger had already reached the execution platform. Mislanda immediately leaped down from the rooftop and squeezed into the crowd.

At that moment, no one even dared to breathe as they stared fixedly at the proud, solitary figure atop the platform.

"Hey, Pirate King!"

Suddenly, a somewhat childish voice shattered the silence.

The familiar voice caught Roger's attention, and he turned toward it. Everyone in the square looked over as well.

An eight-year-old child was shouting at the top of his lungs.

"That's Mislanda! Why is he here?"

Seeing that Mislanda was the one shouting, Shanks and Buggy's hearts skipped a beat.

After the Roger Pirates disbanded, Rayleigh had taken Mislanda away. If Mislanda was here, then Rayleigh...

Roger on the execution platform thought of the same thing!

Rayleigh had definitely come. He simply hadn't shown himself!

"Hahahahaha! Kid, what are you calling me for?"

Roger laughed heartily. He was extremely happy at that moment!

Then, under everyone's gaze, Mislanda asked the question they all wanted answered.

"Pirate King, you've been to the end of the Grand Line, so you must have obtained One Piece. Where did you put it?"

Upon hearing the kid's question, everyone immediately turned their eyes to Roger, wanting an answer.

But it gave the Marines inside the Navy building behind them a fright.

This was no joke. If Roger gave them an answer, they did not dare imagine how chaotic the seas would become.

They immediately gave the order to execute Roger at once!

"Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Suddenly, Roger burst into laughter. He had already understood what Mislanda wanted to do.

"Kid, and all of you people—if you want my treasure, then go find it! I left everything there!"

"Shut up! You are not allowed to speak!"

Hearing that, the two executioners hesitated no longer and thrust their long blades straight into Roger.

Squelch! Squelch!

In the next instant, Roger's body was pierced through.

The Pirate King was dead!

A light rain suddenly began to fall from the sky, as though mourning the king's passing.

The crowd below stood stunned for several seconds before erupting into excited cries.

With Roger's ambiguous answer, quite a few people already began considering setting sail to become pirates!

(Ding, mission complete. Distributing reward!)

"Wait, I need to find somewhere quiet!"

Mislanda decided not to linger and immediately began squeezing his way out of the crowd.

I need to leave while the chaos lasts. This isn't a place to stay!

But to Mislanda's surprise, before he could push his way out, a large hand grabbed him by the collar and lifted him into the air.

He hurriedly looked over and saw a burly Marine staring at him.

And that Marine was none other than the Hero of the Navy, Garp!

This is bad!

Looking at Garp holding him in his hand, Mislanda was nearly drenched in cold sweat!

This was the man who had chased Roger across the world. Mislanda, as he was now, was practically an ant before Garp!

Seeing the nervousness on Mislanda's face, Garp smiled.

"Hey, kid, where are you from?"

"I'm an orphan from Loguetown. Do you need something from me?"

In a situation like this, there was only one thing to do: pretend!

Garp didn't know Mislanda anyway. He wouldn't attack a child, would he?

That was right. Back when he was with the Roger Pirates, Mislanda had never appeared before the Marines, so they had no idea Rayleigh had an adopted son!

"I see!"

Seeing that Mislanda did not seem to be lying, Garp felt too embarrassed to make things difficult for a child.

"Kid, don't ask such strange questions next time. You can go!"

With that, Garp set Mislanda down.

After being put down, Mislanda thanked Garp and immediately left the place!

Elsewhere, seeing that Mislanda was safe, Shanks, who had been prepared to risk his life to save him, also breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew Garp. Once someone fell into his hands, it was nearly impossible to escape.

This was already the best possible outcome!

"Buggy, do you want to come with me and continue making our way across the seas?"

"Who would go with you? Haven't you caused me enough trouble? Go by yourself. I'm staying in the East Blue!"

And so, the three minors from the Roger Pirates went their separate ways!

In a forest outside Loguetown, Mislanda was hiding.

After leaving the execution platform, he could no longer wait to claim his reward—the system's perfect version of the Dark-Dark Fruit!

The Dark-Dark Fruit was one of the most terrifying Logia Devil Fruits. It possessed a horrifying gravitational pull like a black hole, capable of crushing anything it absorbed. It could also suppress the powers of other Devil Fruits; once touched, other ability users would temporarily lose their powers.

But that wasn't all. The Dark-Dark Fruit could even steal an ability user's powers!

In the original story, Blackbeard used the Dark-Dark Fruit to seize the powers of many ability users. Whitebeard was one of the victims!

However, the Dark-Dark Fruit also had significant drawbacks: damage received was doubled, and its user could not transform into an element.

But none of that could shake the Dark-Dark Fruit's status. Blackbeard had lurked at Whitebeard's side for decades just for the Dark-Dark Fruit!

And what Mislanda was about to receive was a perfect version of the Dark-Dark Fruit, without its drawbacks and even free from the constraints of seawater and Seastone!

It was easy to imagine just how excellent this reward was—truly excellent.

Given Mislanda's current situation, this Dark-Dark Fruit could not have come at a better time!

Haki, martial arts, and physical strength were all still a little too early for an eight-year-old like him. For now, he could only use Devil Fruit powers to strengthen himself!

In the next instant, a black vortex appeared before Mislanda. He reached inside, and an indigo fruit covered in spiral patterns immediately appeared in his hand!

Without the slightest hesitation, Mislanda picked up the Dark-Dark Fruit and took a bite!