"Zesi, fight me again!"
"Bullet, wait until your injuries heal!"
"These little injuries are nothing. This time, I'll definitely beat you!"
Two years had passed since Bullet had last challenged Roger and then been defeated by Zesi.
Not long after Zesi defeated him, Bullet had challenged him again, this time even using his Devil Fruit ability.
Unfortunately, his Devil Fruit ability was countered perfectly by Zesi's Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Even when the earth's crust rose from underground, Zesi could shake it and cause earthquakes.
That went even more for Bullet hiding inside bullet.
Besides, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was ideally suited to dealing with such large-scale attacks.
Zesi's Tremor-Tremor Fruit easily shattered Bullet's fused outer shell, and even transmitted vibrations straight inside to attack Bullet.
So Bullet was defeated once again.
When the Roger Pirates left, Bullet chose to join them.
He declared that sooner or later, he would defeat Zesi.
This time, they had only just finished a battle when Bullet came to challenge Zesi again.
Before long, the two were fighting once more.
Bullet had improved greatly since joining the Roger Pirates.
But when it came to improvement, no one could compare to Zesi.
Zesi had made tremendous progress in Armament Haki in particular.
By now, Zesi could circulate his Armament Haki instinctively.
This allowed him to train his Armament Haki even while eating and sleeping.
Training his Armament Haki every moment of every day, twenty-four hours a day, he couldn't help but make tremendous progress.
He could now use colorless Armament Haki.
Together with his training with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, Zesi was now fully as strong as Rayleigh, replacing Gaban as one of Roger's right-hand men.
Recently, something had hung like a dark cloud over everyone in the Roger Pirates.
Roger had contracted an incurable disease and did not have long to live.
They had found Crocus, a highly skilled doctor, to help manage Roger's health, but he could only delay the onset of Roger's symptoms.
With little time left, Roger decided to fulfill his dream and lead his pirate crew around the world.
The problem was that they had no way to find Laugh Tale.
Thirteen years earlier, Roger had already led his crew to the final island indicated by the Log Pose, Lodestar Island.
But the Roger Pirates had then discovered that it was not the end of the world.
The location of Laugh Tale was carved on four red stones.
And the writing on those red stones was the text of the Poneglyphs, which the World Government had forbidden anyone from studying.
Roger and the others could not read the writing on them.
"There are only two places in the world that can read the Poneglyphs!" Zesi spoke up then.
Hearing Zesi's words, Roger and the others all turned to him in surprise.
"Zesi, you know who can read these Poneglyphs?" Roger asked.
"That's right!"
"Then who can read the writing on them?"
"One is Ohara, the island of archaeology in the West Blue. Although the World Government has explicitly forbidden anyone from studying the Poneglyphs, those historians who aren't afraid to die are still secretly studying them. They might be able to read some of the writing."
"The other is the clan of stonemasons who carved these Poneglyphs, now the Kozuki Clan of Wano Country. For instance, that samurai in the Whitebeard Pirates, Kozuki Oden!" Zesi said.
"Let's go. I'm going to see Whitebeard!" Roger stood up and said.
The reason he had not chosen to seek out Ohara's scholars was that they were all scholars without the strength to truss a chicken.
If Roger and the others went to find them to study the Poneglyphs,
then, from what they knew of the World Government, it would inevitably bring utter destruction upon Ohara.
So, without even thinking about it, Roger decided to see Whitebeard!
Although he knew Whitebeard would never let his family leave, he was confident he could persuade him.
"Hey, Roger, you're not going over there just like that, are you? This time, you're trying to poach one of his family. You know Whitebeard's temper. We'd better send someone ahead with a message, arrange a place to meet, and have a proper talk then."
"Right! Wahahaha, Rayleigh, you're the crafty one after all. Send him some gifts first. That guy will have a harder time saying no after accepting something. Didn't he really like Zesi's wine last time? Take a jar of the prized wine from the cellar and send it to him. He won't be so hard to talk to then!" Roger said with a grin.
"What do you mean, crafty? This is called wisdom!" Rayleigh said with a faint smile.
"But who should we send?" Roger asked.
Roger swept his gaze over everyone before finally settling on Zesi.
"Me?" Zesi said, taken aback.
"Wahahaha, Zesi, go make the trip. Your ability lets you fly by stepping through the air. You're the best person for it!" Roger said with a laugh.
"All right, then. I'll make the trip!"
"Come back soon!"
Then Zesi took a jar of fine wine that their crew had treasured for a long time, too reluctant to drink it, and shot away through the air.
Before long, he had vanished from everyone's sight.