An Encounter with the Future Pirate King Roger

After finishing the ship, Rono spent another day sorting through his parents' belongings.

He made a family portrait of himself and his parents into a necklace and hung it around his neck. He also took all the Beli in the house with him.

After saying his farewells at his parents' graves,

Rono went to the harbor and stepped aboard a sailing ship about the same size as the Going Merry.

Rono had named the ship the Revenge.

The sun was setting.

The mountains stretched like a sea, and the setting sun was as red as blood, bathing the ocean in red. It was beautiful, yet sorrowful.

Standing on the Revenge's deck, Rono turned to look back at the island where he had lived for ten years.

His happy life with his parents, playing with his friends, and getting along with the island's residents-

Memory after memory rose in his heart, and Rono felt conflicted.

In that moment, a scene from Naruto came to mind: Sasuke saying goodbye to Sakura as the Sound Four took him away.

Back then, Sasuke hadn't said goodbye to Naruto, Kakashi, or the others. He had quietly slipped away while everyone was distracted.

Had Sasuke felt something like what he was feeling now?

But those feelings were quickly replaced by hatred and anger!

Without saying goodbye to anyone, Rono left the village where he had lived for ten years and resolutely set out to sea!

Rono's goal was clear: to grow stronger, then do everything in his power to kill the Celestial Dragons!

No-to kill every last one of them!

He would make those beasts feel the fear of being killed, too!

As long as he could find strong people, he would be able to pick up decent rewards.

The strongest pirate crew on the seas right now was undoubtedly the Rocks Pirates.

Rono remembered that Rocks's goal was also the Celestial Dragons, and that the Rocks Pirates had many powerful monsters.

Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Charlotte Linlin, John, Ochoku, Silver Axe, and the others would all become famous powerhouses on the seas in the future.

If he stayed by the side of those powerful people, he would surely grow stronger very quickly!

At the thought, Rono pushed the oars and sailed toward the Grand Line.

The seas nowadays weren't yet like the Great Pirate Era after Roger's death, when pirates could be seen everywhere.

The East Blue was peaceful, and even the pirates there were all small fry.

They were only a little stronger than ordinary people.

These pirates weren't even strong enough to qualify for a bounty.

He encountered two groups of pirates in a row, but couldn't pick up any attributes or useful abilities from either group.

He casually used Conqueror's Haki, knocking both groups of pirates unconscious.

After looting all the Beli from their ships, Rono left, quite satisfied.

"I'm running low on fresh water. I'll have to replenish my supply."

Back aboard his ship, Rono realized that he had been at sea for almost a week.

His food supplies and fresh water were nearly used up.

So Rono decided to stop at the nearest island and replenish his fresh water.

Luckily, he had raided two groups of pirates in the past few days and amassed a small fortune.

He moored at a nearby inhabited island, brought the Revenge to a stop in the harbor, and went ashore to find somewhere to replenish his fresh water.

This time, Rono filled every room except his bedroom with fresh water.

After all, he was the only one aboard, so he had no use for the other rooms. This would save him time, too.

Time was money, and Rono didn't want to keep stopping to replenish his fresh water. That would waste too much time.

"Hey, hey, is this your ship? What a fine ship you've got!"

Just as Rono had finished filling the last room, an unfamiliar voice suddenly came from the deck, making him immediately wary.

The Conqueror's Haki inside him began to stir.

Could those pirates from earlier have come looking for revenge?

That was what Rono thought. The moment he opened the door, he prepared to strike first and unleash his Conqueror's Haki.

But the next moment, Rono suddenly froze!

Because he recognized the person!

That familiar straw hat, that radiant smile. Although he was dressed very plainly and carried a patched-up bundle, the person before Rono still came as a shock!

That's right. The man before him was none other than the future Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, who would one day become famous across the world and usher in the Great Pirate Era single-handedly, earning the admiration of pirates everywhere!

According to the timeline, Roger had indeed only just set out to sea. He was still alone, without even a single crewmate.

"You're Roger?" Rono quickly composed himself and asked.

"Huh? You know my name? Am I that famous?"

Roger was excited, not expecting to be recognized. Could he already be famous on the seas?

"By the way, what's your name?" Roger asked Rono, too carefree to wonder why Rono knew his name.

"My name's Rono."

Rono hadn't expected to meet Roger just by stopping at some island to replenish his fresh water.

Looking at Roger, Rono's eyes lit up, like a starving man looking at a feast.

He hadn't expected to run into the future Pirate King here!

He might look a little silly, but he was the future Pirate King, after all!

Wouldn't it be a huge score if Rono could pick up some special ability from Roger? He was very eager to find out.

"So your name's Rono! That's great!"

After hearing Rono introduce himself, Roger immediately became interested.

"Rono, don't you think it's fate that we met here?"

"Would you like to come with me and turn this world upside down?"

Roger flashed his signature smile and directly invited Rono.

That line sounded a little familiar.

Wasn't that what he'd said when he invited Rayleigh?