"What happened? Did you fight Whitebeard?"
When Zesi returned to the Roger Pirates, the crew cried out in surprise at his disheveled appearance.
"I didn't fight Whitebeard. On my way back, a Kaido fell out of the sky. Trouble came out of nowhere, and I ended up fighting that monster!"
"Kaido? You mean Kaido of the Beasts?"
"That monster seems pretty strong!"
"He even challenged Captain Roger before!"
Kaido had gone to sea at a very young age, and the Roger Pirates had dealt with the Rocks Pirates before, so naturally, they knew him.
After the Rocks Pirates disbanded, Kaido wandered the seas, challenging powerful opponents everywhere. Naturally, he hadn't passed up the chance to challenge Roger.
"Kaido? That guy has a pretty tough body. How did it go?"
"Heh heh, I won, of course!"
"Wahahaha! Then let's throw a feast to celebrate Zesi's victory!"
"Yeah!"
"Captain, Whitebeard is still waiting for us!"
"Then we'll feast while we head toward Whitebeard!"
The Roger Pirates then set sail for the Whitebeard Pirates.
A few days later, the two powerful pirate crews of the New World met on a deserted island.
"Whitebeard!"
"Roger!"
When the two pirate crews met, everything else could wait until after a fight!
First, the two captains clashed, and then their crews joined the battle.
The fight lasted three days and three nights.
Of course, they weren't fighting nonstop for three days and three nights.
Roger and Whitebeard could manage that, but their subordinates couldn't.
They took breaks between bouts. They weren't mortal enemies, and they weren't fighting to the death.
After three days and three nights of fighting, no one had been seriously injured, much less killed!
Three days later, the two pirate crews who had been fighting earlier were already chatting with their arms around one another's shoulders and holding a feast.
During the feast, Roger told Whitebeard about his idea of sailing around the world, saying he wanted to accomplish a feat no one had ever achieved.
Following that line of thought, Roger brought up the Poneglyphs.
He also took out his Poneglyph rubbings to show Whitebeard and Kozuki Oden.
The moment Kozuki Oden saw the rubbings, he said he could read the writing.
He said it was a code unique to their Kozuki Clan.
Roger then asked Whitebeard to lend him Kozuki Oden for a year.
Naturally, Whitebeard refused.
In the end, Kozuki Oden himself asked Whitebeard to let him go, saying he wanted to decipher the writing on the Poneglyphs.
Whitebeard finally agreed.
And so, Kozuki Oden and his family boarded Roger's pirate ship.
To thank Whitebeard, Roger left him a shipload of treasure, along with food and fine liquor.
Whitebeard kept the liquor and treasure but returned the food to Roger.
To find the Poneglyphs.
After Kozuki Oden came aboard, Roger returned to the first half of the Grand Line, searching everywhere for traces of the Poneglyphs.
They visited Water 7, went to Sky Island, descended to the underwater Fish-Man Island, and saw Joy Boy's apology.
After returning to the New World, they seized a red Road Poneglyph rubbing from Charlotte Linlin and found another red Road Poneglyph in the Mink Tribe's Country of Zou.
They already had one, and they had a rough idea of where the last one was.
Soon, they had everything they needed to reach Laugh Tale.
Before long, news spread across the seas.
Roger had done it. He had sailed around the world, found Laugh Tale, and obtained a treasure unlike any other. People called him the Pirate King.
"Wealth, fame, power. The man who obtained everything the world had to offer, Gol D. Roger!" Rayleigh read from the newspaper.
"My name is Gol D. Roger! But Pirate King does have a nice ring to it!" Roger said.
"But thanks to that name, everyone's coming after us now, Roger!"
"Looking back on it now, it really was a miracle... The Roger Pirates are hereby disbanded!"
"What?!"
After expressing his thanks, Roger announced that the Roger Pirates were disbanding, and everyone cried out in surprise.
"I don't agree with us disbanding just like this, Captain!" Just then, a voice rose in objection.
Everyone turned toward the voice.
The speaker was none other than Zesi.
"Hmm?" Roger looked at Zesi.
"Captain Roger, I know you're disbanding the Roger Pirates because of your health, or perhaps you have your own considerations and plans. But I don't think disbanding the Roger Pirates like this is a very good idea," Zesi said.
Everyone looked at Zesi.
"Captain, we completed a voyage no one else had ever completed. The World Government is even spreading the word that you're the Pirate King and that you obtained the world's one-of-a-kind One Piece. We've become the Pirate King's crew, too. Every power in the world has its eyes on us, and the World Government will never let those of us who went to Laugh Tale and learned that secret off the hook. Once you pass away, Captain, the World Government will do everything it can to erase everyone connected to you, including us."
Roger fell silent at Zesi's words.
The others' expressions fell silent as well.
"Mr. Rayleigh, Gaban, Oden, and I might not fear being hunted down by the Marines, but what about everyone else? What about old man Crocus, Shanks, and Buggy? Never mind them-most of the people here couldn't escape if the Marines devoted their full strength to capturing them. I'm sure you all know how capable the World Government's spies are. Even if we hide, they'll find us sooner or later!"
Naturally, they knew all too well how capable the World Government's spies were!
Everyone present was certainly strong by pirate standards. They could even be said to have the strength to hold their own.
But if their opponents were the World Government and Marine Headquarters, they would hardly have the strength to resist.
"That's why I want to take over this pirate crew."
"I know that after the crew disbands, some people will retire, and others will want to form their own pirate crews. But I hope those who want to stay will join me in building a force capable of deterring the World Government, so it won't dare settle scores with the crew members who want to retire!" Zesi said.