In the year 1495 of the Sea Circle Calendar,
When the first rays of sunlight fell upon Kuraigana Island,
Everyone, packed and ready to go, bid Saga farewell and boarded the White Dove.
At the dock, Hawk Eyes was the last to board. He bowed deeply to Saga.
"Master, thank you for teaching me all these years."
"Go, and show the world your swordsmanship."
Saga patted Hawk Eyes on the shoulder, a glimmer of tears in his eyes.
Once Hawk Eyes was aboard, everyone waved goodbye to Saga.
As the anchor was raised, the White Dove slowly sailed out of the bay. Roy stood at the bow, the sea breeze stirring his long blond hair and his black cloak flapping behind him.
"Set sail! Our destination is Mock Town!"
In the cabin's meeting room, Roy spread out a nautical chart and placed a finger on Jaya Island.
"We'll go here first, then head to Sky Island and get the Rumble-Rumble Fruit for Tesoro."
"There's an old acquaintance waiting for us there, you know?"
"Thank you, boss!!!"
When Tesoro learned they were going to get him the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, reputed to be the strongest Logia fruit, he was visibly excited.
"Huh? Captain, is there someone else we know?"
Savi scratched his head. He didn't care much about the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, but he was curious about the acquaintance Roy had mentioned.
"Yeah. You joined late, so you might not know, but if it weren't for him back then, Sengoku might have caught Tesoro, Stella, and me."
"Captain, you mean Rayleigh!!"
"Is he on Sky Island too?"
"Yeah. We're going to get you the Rumble-Rumble Fruit this time, and while we're at it, we'll match ourselves against the Roger Pirates and see how far we are from the strongest fighters."
Bullet grinned. "Perfect timing. I can try out my newly practiced moves."
Hawk Eyes silently wiped the Black Blade Yoru, fighting spirit surging in his eyes.
He knew the Roger Pirates had two top-tier great swordsmen. As a swordsman himself, how could he pass up the chance to challenge them?
After three days at sea, the crescent-shaped outline of Jaya Island appeared on the horizon.
Tesoro held up a telescope and looked at Jaya Island's harbor.
"Captain, there are a lot of pirates in Mock Town. The harbor's full of pirate ships."
"Don't worry about them. Let's go to a tavern on the island and ask around first."
Roy stood at the bow, looking unconcerned. He paid no mind to the pirates Tesoro had mentioned.
If they dared to provoke him, he could just kill them.
The White Dove slowly docked at the harbor, and the group disembarked one after another, following Roy into Mock Town.
The streets of Mock Town were bustling. Pirates of all kinds roamed freely, and the sounds of fighting occasionally came from the alleys.
As soon as Roy and his companions entered town, countless hostile gazes turned their way. It was hard for a group of young people like them not to attract attention in a pirate town.
"Hey, look at those newcomers..."
"That blond kid looks familiar, doesn't he?"
"Hmph! They're just a bunch of brats."
Whispers spread through the crowd, but no blind fool dared step forward and provoke them.
With Roy standing 2.8 meters tall, Bullet five meters tall, and the distinctive presence of Hawk Eyes, a group like theirs was bound to make people wary.
"Bang!"
A boy of eight or nine came charging out of an alley and ran straight into Bullet's leg. He fell backward and looked back the way he had come.
A pirate came charging out of the alley after him.
"Bellamy, you little thief..."
After rushing out of the alley, the pirate saw Roy and his companions staring at him. Before he could finish, he assumed they were Bellamy's helpers and ran back without looking over his shoulder.
Seeing the pirate chasing him run away, the boy got up and made a face at the man's retreating back. Then he turned to leave.
"Hey, kid, your name's Bellamy, right?"
Roy remembered Bellamy.
In the future, he would gain the power of the Paramecia Spring-Spring Fruit and mock Luffy. After Luffy defeated him, he worked hard to grow stronger and successfully joined Doflamingo's family.
Even after Doflamingo told him to kill Luffy, whom he admired, he didn't betray Doflamingo, choosing instead to die at Luffy's hands.
How should he put it? He liked Bellamy's character.
"I'm Bellamy. What of it?"
Seeing how arrogant the kid was, Bullet stepped forward, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and kicked him in front of Roy.
"Kid, you ran into my man, and we helped drive your enemy away. Either way, you ought to say thank you, shouldn't you!!"
"Th-thank you..."
"Good. Now take us to a tavern in town. Then I'll let you go. Otherwise, I'll have this big guy beat you up. How's that?" Roy said, trying to scare him.
Bellamy looked at Roy, then at the burly Bullet. He swallowed nervously before nodding.
He was genuinely afraid that Bullet's fist, bigger than his head, would come down on him.
With Bellamy leading the way, the group soon arrived at the largest tavern in town, Memories of Mont Blanc.
Not far from the tavern, Bellamy pointed it out to them, then took off running, leaving Roy speechless.
"Bang!"
Just as Roy was about to enter, a figure flew out of the tavern, burst through the doors, and landed right at his feet.
A red light flashed in Roy's eyes, as though he had seen something interesting, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
Inside the tavern, a group of pirates were drinking. Their blond leader wore sunglasses, a black suit, and a pink feather coat draped over his shoulders.
He was none other than the future Shichibukai, Donquixote Doflamingo, with a circle of his family's officers seated around him.
He was moving his fingers, clearing out the other pirates in the tavern.
"How interesting!"
Roy chuckled, pushed open the tavern doors, and led the way inside.
Ignoring the pirate corpses strewn across the floor, Roy walked up to the bar.
"Boss, bring me a few servings of cherry pie, and your best liquor."
Luffy was someone who ate anything, and Roy wanted to try the cherry pie that even he had found disgusting, to see what it tasted like.
After ordering, he went and sat down at an intact table, paying no attention to the situation in the tavern. He wanted to see what young Xiao Ming would do.
As Roy and his companions sized up the group opposite them, Doflamingo was also sizing them up.
"Bhehehe, D-Doffy, the one over there looks like 'Heavenly Dao' Roy, the pirate with a five-hundred-million bounty a few years ago. Should we take them out here?"
The ugly, snot-nosed man leaned close to Doflamingo's ear and spoke in a low voice.
At the mention of five hundred million, a flicker of surprise crossed Xiao Ming's eyes. He took a careful look at Roy, then gave a lackey behind him a look.
"Fufufufu..."
"Looks like he's quite an impressive newcomer."
The lackey understood and walked over to Roy's group.
"Hey! You lot..."
"Bang!"
Before he could finish, Roy gave him a look, and the lackey went just like the pirate who had flown out earlier.
He smashed straight through the tavern doors and lay on the ground, his fate unknown.