At Marine Headquarters, Sengoku the Buddha, having accepted his assignment, headed for his personal warship. Following behind him, Borsalino, who was still a Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral, held the intelligence report with an amused look on his face.
"How frightening. They actually dared to attack a Celestial Dragon. But there are only two blurry figures. How are we supposed to find them?"
"We'll find clues once we reach Sabaody. Set sail immediately!"
Meanwhile, Roy was leading Tesoro and Stella to Shakky's Rip-off Bar.
"Boss, how are we going to leave Sabaody?"
"We'll find a way. The Marines won't find us anytime soon. Once the deal's done, we can just steal a pirate ship."
Roy pushed open the door to Shakky's bar. Rayleigh, sitting at the counter, made him stop short. What's Rayleigh doing here? Shouldn't he still be searching for the way to Laugh Tale with Roger at this point?
"Oh! Kid, judging by that look, you know me. So could you start by telling me your name?"
"Of course, Mr. Silvers Rayleigh, Pluton and the right hand of the Roger Pirates."
"My name is Ronamiru Roy, and these are my companions, Tesoro and Stella."
Rayleigh's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Roy, who had identified him outright. Then he smiled freely and waved a hand, unconcerned.
"You're an interesting young man, just like Shakky said!"
"All right, enough talk. Let's make the deal first!"
With that, he handed Shakky a box. "There are two hundred million Beli in here. Give me what I asked for."
After checking the money in the box, Shakky casually took a stack of booklets and two Log Poses marked with islands from behind the counter.
Roy put the Log Poses in his pocket and leafed through the documents. Finding nothing wrong, he beckoned to the two behind him, intending to leave.
Seeing Rayleigh still drinking, he kindly warned him, "Mr. Rayleigh, if you have nothing else to do, you should leave Sabaody early too. A Marine Admiral will be coming to this island before long."
Rayleigh paused at that, then released his Observation Haki and carefully surveyed the area.
The Sabaody Archipelago was in chaos. Because a Celestial Dragon had been attacked, all the Marines on the islands had been mobilized and the ports had been sealed off. Marines and numerous Cipher Pol members were searching everywhere.
When the pirates in the lawless area received the news, they fled the Sabaody Archipelago one after another. Quite a few unlucky fools were caught by the Marines as well.
Seeing that something was wrong with Rayleigh's expression, Roy immediately released his own Observation Haki to sense what was happening on the island. He discovered that quite a few Marine soldiers were holding pictures of Stella and searching their way toward them.
"Damn it, I was careless." Sensing the situation, Roy felt foolish. Although he and Tesoro had not been exposed, they had rescued Stella. With the capabilities of the Marines and the World Government, would it be hard to find him through her?
Noticing the Observation Haki Roy had released, Rayleigh narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Is that a special kind of Observation Haki?"
"Kid, you're the ones who caused all this on the island, aren't you?"
"Yeah. Wasn't it to scrape together the information fee for Miss Shakky?"
"So, Uncle Rayleigh, with your abilities, you should already know what's happening on the island, right? Want to leave together?"
"Why should I leave with you? I should be safer on my own!" Rayleigh replied with a smile.
"Uh..."
Rayleigh's answer left Roy stunned. Right. With enough strength to swim across the Calm Belt even in his old age, why would Rayleigh take a few burdens like us along?
Roy felt that with his current abilities, escaping with Tesoro and Stella would not be much of a problem. If worse came to worst, he could simply use Telekinesis to fly them away.
But when he saw Rayleigh, he still hoped they could leave with him. After all, with an Emperor-level powerhouse beside them, their chances of escaping should be safer.
Seeing Roy at a loss, Rayleigh's lips curled up slightly. "I could take you with me, but what would I get out of it?" he teased.
"Hahaha..."
For Roy, who had watched the One Piece anime, knowing the vast majority of the world's secrets was his greatest bargaining chip!
"Then, Mr. Rayleigh, what do you think of this piece of information: how to reach the final island?"
Rayleigh, who had originally been planning to take them along, suddenly grew serious when he heard Roy's words. "Kid, you've given me quite a surprise."
Then his expression relaxed. "But if we found it because someone else told us how, what would be the point of going to sea?"
He downed the drink in his hand, said goodbye to Shakky, and turned toward the bar's back door.
"See you next time, Shakky."
"Goodbye, Rayleigh."
"If you kids aren't afraid of dying, then go ahead and follow me. It would be too much of a pity for a mysterious little fellow like you to die here."
The Roger Pirates really were a bunch of idealists. Roy gave a helpless, bitter smile. Rayleigh was actually unmoved by his offer of a way to make finding Laugh Tale easier for them. All Roy could do was shake his head with a wry smile and follow.
The three youngsters followed behind Rayleigh. Tesoro leaned close to Roy's ear and asked curiously, "Boss, why are we following him? Is this uncle strong?"
"Very strong. You could say his strength puts him among the very strongest in this world."
"Wow. Doesn't that mean we can leave easily?" Tesoro shouted happily.
Stella smiled happily too. The girl Roy had rescued from the Celestial Dragons had followed quietly by his side ever since he saved her. On learning that they could leave safely, she was genuinely happy.
Seeing how happy Tesoro and Stella were, Roy did not disturb them. He would let them enjoy themselves a little longer, because he could sense that a large number of Marines were closing in around them.
Rayleigh, running ahead, seemed to have noticed this too. He quickened his pace and warned the three behind him, "Kids, the Marines have found us. We need to hurry. If you fall behind, nobody's going to save you."
A few minutes earlier.
Aboard Sengoku the Buddha's personal warship, Admiral Sengoku received a report from his subordinates that the culprits who had attacked the Celestial Dragon had been found. He had the Marines on the island surround them, then ordered Borsalino, the fastest among them, to go on ahead and prevent the enemies from escaping by sea.
Roy was now using his ability to carry the two beside him, while he ran hard, keeping close behind Rayleigh.
Rayleigh turned to glance at the two floating beside Roy. "Kid, is that your ability? You're a Devil Fruit User too?"
"Yeah! What do you think? I stole it from the Celestial Dragons."
"Tch, what a cocky brat!"
As the four of them raced toward the place where the ship was moored-
Whoosh!
A sleazy-looking Marine in uniform and sunglasses appeared, blocking their path.
It was Borsalino, who had come to Sabaody ahead of the others on the Admiral's orders.