"Thank you for the hospitality, Domiton!"
Gol D. Roger expressed his gratitude to the wild boar–type Mink standing before him.
Domiton was the current ruler of Zou. His strength was formidable, and under his command were more than one hundred elite Mink warriors. Any one of them, if placed on the seas, would easily be worth a bounty in the tens of millions of Berries. As for the squad leaders—their strength was comparable to pirates with bounties exceeding 100 million.
For a single nation, such military power was astonishing.
Fortunately, Roger was a special case. The Mink Tribe held a favorable impression of him, and Domiton had shown goodwill in return. After deciphering the Road Poneglyph and staying two days under their hospitality, Roger decided it was time to depart.
Zou was wondrous indeed.
But his body would not allow him to waste any more time.
More importantly, the allure of the final island far surpassed that of Zou.
Of course, there was another reason he didn't voice aloud—
He had a deeply ominous premonition. As if some ferocious beast had its eyes fixed on him.
All four Road Poneglyphs had now been deciphered.
According to the information they had obtained, the location of the final island had been revealed before the Roger Pirates.
Laugh Tale.
If all went smoothly, they would arrive there in half a month.
And that also meant—
The Roger Pirates would disband within a month.
Such was the turning of an era.
There was little to say—only a trace of melancholy. A man hailed as the pride of his generation would ultimately fall not to an enemy, but to illness.
Just as the Roger Pirates bid farewell to the Minks, Buggy and Shanks excitedly stepped forward—
BOOM!
A massive explosion thundered from the distant forest.
"What happened?!"
Domiton's expression instantly darkened.
That direction led to the Whale Forest—the sacred land of the Mink Tribe.
It was absolutely forbidden to defile.
More than twenty elite Mink warriors were stationed there year-round. Ordinary Minks would never enter without cause.
Which meant—
Someone else had.
Shing!
A bull-type Mink suddenly drew the blade at his waist, the cold edge aimed directly at Roger and his crew.
The scene was abrupt, but none of the other Minks stopped him. Instead, all eyes turned toward the Roger Pirates—filled with suspicion, anger, and hostility.
"Humans! What have you done?!"
The bull Mink's temper flared.
"Huh?! What does that have to do with us?!" Buggy yelped, hiding behind Rayleigh while craning his neck in protest.
"Who else could it be? Zou hasn't seen outsiders in decades! And the moment you arrive, something happens in the Whale Forest!"
The Mink's hostility intensified.
Roger, however, paid him no mind. He simply looked at Domiton.
That look said everything.
"Lower your blade, Gordon."
"But Chief! These humans—"
"It wasn't them."
Domiton's eyes narrowed toward the Whale Forest.
"A powerful presence is approaching."
Roger, Rayleigh, and Scopper Gaban felt it as well.
Unlike Domiton's caution, however—
Their expressions darkened.
"He really came," Gaban muttered, drawing his twin axes and preparing for battle.
Rayleigh shoved Buggy aside and stepped forward, blade drawn.
"W-Who is it?!" Buggy stammered as the booming footsteps grew louder, each one pounding against his heart.
"It's Roldy," Shanks answered grimly.
His Observation Haki, already sharper than Buggy's newly awakened ability, had sensed it clearly.
"AAAAH! It's Roldy! We're doomed! Another kingdom is going to be destroyed!" Buggy wailed, scrambling wildly before clinging to Roger's leg. "Captain! Let's run! That lunatic's here again!"
As if to confirm his words—
A massive ancient tree was uprooted and hurled from the distance like a spear, targeting Roger's group with frightening precision.
Rayleigh's eyes flashed coldly.
A slash shot forward, cleaving the massive trunk cleanly in half.
The attack itself meant little.
But it signaled one undeniable fact—
Roldy had arrived.
From the distant forest, a dark figure shot into the sky.
The aura surrounding him was like that of an Asura—brutal, murderous, unmistakable.
Even hundreds of meters away, the savage grin on Roldy's face was crystal clear.
"Who is that?!" Domiton roared furiously.
An unknown outsider had trespassed into their kingdom, entered their sacred land, and destroyed life within it.
This was a direct challenge to him—the King of Zou.
"He's a pirate, like us," Roger answered gravely. "But there's bad blood between us."
What Roger didn't expect was—
Domiton shot forward like a cannonball, charging straight toward Roldy in midair.
A sea of question marks practically appeared over the Roger Pirates' heads.
Wait—
Didn't Roldy have Mink blood?
Wasn't the Mink Tribe famously united?
And yet their king had attacked without hesitation.
Roldy, exhilarated at finally finding Roger, was equally startled when a completely unfamiliar figure barreled into his field of vision.
And the hostility was unmistakable.
Strangely—
From this opponent, he smelled something.
Something deeply unpleasant.
A scent that triggered instinctive disgust from the marrow of his bones.
BOOM!
Their fists collided.
A clash of strength capable of splitting mountains.
As the overwhelming force surged through his arm, Domiton's pupils contracted.
"Who the hell are you?" Roldy snarled. "You've got a death wish standing in my way!"
With his enemy before him, Roldy's temper flared violently.
Yet he was shocked.
The man before him matched his strength evenly.
And Roldy wasn't even using the Mo-Mo no Mi.
His natural monstrous power alone already surpassed most.
Roger and Shiki couldn't rival him in pure physical strength.
Only Whitebeard could contend with him under normal circumstances.
And yet—
In this kingdom, such a powerhouse existed?
"State your name, boy!" Domiton demanded, a strange emotion flickering in his eyes.
"Fitt Roldy."
"Fitt…? You're that man's son?!"
Domiton's expression twisted.
"It matches. It all matches. That cursed scent!"
"Die!"
One of nature's cruelest laws:
A new king rises upon the bones of the old.
Among the Mink Tribe, this was no exception.
Except in rare cases of peaceful abdication, most transfers of power were decided through battle.
Domiton would never forget—
In his youth, burning with ambition, he had challenged the former king.
He was utterly defeated.
Though spared, he endured endless ridicule.
When he sought a rematch—
The former king had already left.
He had gone to sea.
Domiton's own ascension to the throne had not come through victory or inheritance.
The previous king had simply never returned.
In the eyes of many Minks, his rule lacked legitimacy.
No matter how well he governed, the historians of the Mink Tribe would never record him as the rightful successor.
The previous King of Zou—
Was named Fitt Simodo.
Roldy's father.
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