"You bastard, I told you all that out of goodwill, and you still doubt me!?" Shiki froze for a moment before bursting into curses.
"It's just too much of a coincidence," Roger said, a bit embarrassed. "You were just talking about going back to the New World to stir things up with Linlin and the others, and then right after that you tell me there's a Poneglyph at her place. How could that not make people suspicious?"
"Hmph!" Shiki snorted coldly. "Believe it or not. Anyway, Linlin once mentioned that there's one of those Poneglyphs she picked up as a kid on Whole Cake Island. Though it's not quite like what you described—it's red."
"Red?" Roger's eyes lit up. "You're sure it's red?"
"Yeah. Why?" Shiki asked.
"Hahahahaha! Then I owe you one, Shiki. Running into you here was the best thing that could've happened! Hahahaha!" Roger laughed heartily, throwing an arm around Shiki's shoulders.
Roger's overly friendly attitude made Shiki a bit uncomfortable, but hearing that Roger owed him a favor felt pretty damn good, and he couldn't help letting out a satisfied snort.
In the past, Roger wouldn't have known—but thanks to Valthior, he had already learned in advance that finding the Final Island required locating four red Poneglyphs.
He had been wondering where to even start.
Now he had a direction.
At the very least, there was a red Poneglyph on Charlotte Linlin's home turf—Whole Cake Island!
This also indirectly confirmed that Valthior's information was credible.
Around the same time, the clash between Gaban and Silver Axe began to wind down. . Surprisingly, the two of them seemed to be on decent terms.
"Hey, Kyo," Gaban said, "weren't you and Shiki on bad terms? Now that the Rocks Pirates are disbanded, how about joining our crew?"
Just like Rayleigh earlier, Gaban immediately tried to recruit him.
Silver Axe strapped his massive battle axe back onto his back and glanced at Gaban. "If I get to be captain, I might consider it…"
"That's a bit difficult. Guess we'll have to pass then," Gaban said after pretending to think for a moment, waving it off.
Clearly, Silver Axe didn't think much of the Roger Pirates. In his eyes, they didn't even look like proper pirates—no territory, just drifting aimlessly across the seas without structure.
Silver Axe wanted to ride the tides of this era, to compete for power and dominance.
Compared to the Roger Pirates, he actually favored Shiki more.
At first, his relationship with Shiki had indeed been terrible. The two had plenty of past grudges. But after joining the Rocks Pirates, those conflicts had been set aside.
During that time, he had gradually come to understand the other members of the crew.
And then he realized…
Whitebeard seemed like he had a screw loose, always wanting to play house.
Kaido was still too weak—far from being able to stand as a major player in the coming era.
Linlin had great potential, but she was either pregnant or preparing to get pregnant, wasting most of her natural gifts—truly a shame.
On top of that, Silver Axe had a bit of a chauvinistic streak and didn't want to follow a woman like Linlin.
As for the others—John, Ganzui, Wang Zhi—they just weren't quite on that level.
Instead, Shiki—the one he had always clashed with—actually possessed the bearing of a king.
Only then did Silver Axe realize…
Maybe the reason he and Shiki had always disliked each other was because they were both equally ambitious?
Now that Rocks was dead and the crew was finished, Silver Axe needed to think about his next move.
And at present, he and Shiki seemed oddly… compatible.
...
Before long, Stania Island returned to calm, and the Roger Pirates began resupplying.
The harbor, however, had been mostly destroyed, and the surrounding streets were heavily damaged as well. Inevitably, some innocent people had been caught up in it—but thanks to Shiki scaring many away earlier, the casualties were likely limited.
And, of course, whether it was Shiki's ruthless crew or the relatively mild Roger Pirates, no one paid much attention to it.
Pirates were pirates.
They weren't good people pretending to be pirates.
At their core, they looted and destroyed.
Inside a tavern—
The Roger Pirates and Shiki's group gathered together, drinking and chatting, the atmosphere lively.
"If we're talking about those strange stones, there's one in the Sea Forest of Fish-Man Island too," Babel said, leaning his massive body against the wall. He held an entire barrel as his drinking cup. "It's been there as long as I can remember. People say it's been there for hundreds of years."
"Really? We've been in and out of Fish-Man Island so many times and never noticed," Roger said happily. "We'll check it out next time."
"Oh right," Rayleigh added, "Babel mentioned earlier that his younger brother, Sunbell, really wants to join our crew. Next time we go to Fish-Man Island, we can get in touch with him."
Clearly, while Rayleigh hadn't managed to recruit Babel himself, Babel had recommended his younger brother instead.
"No problem. I've been thinking we need a fish-man on the crew anyway," Roger said with a grin. "It'd make a lot of things much easier."
No one knew what situations they might encounter while searching for the Poneglyphs. Having a fish-man who could move freely underwater would undoubtedly be a huge advantage.
"I think that guy Marlon once said there's one somewhere in the West Blue too… though I can't remember where," Silver Axe muttered, holding his drink.
"Wait, speaking of him—I heard he died. Is that true?" Gaban asked curiously.
Shakky, sitting nearby, nodded. "Yeah. That bastard Wang Zhi did it. He drugged the drinks that day—for both me and Marlon…"
At the mention of Wang Zhi, Shakky clenched her teeth in anger.
A flash of killing intent crossed Rayleigh's eyes as well. "If I get the chance, I definitely won't let that bastard off."
Marlon had also been a major figure in the Rocks Pirates, and in the West Blue, he was highly influential.
Everyone knew the Four Blues each had their own distinct characteristics.
The North Blue was infamous for its harsh environment—constant wars between nations, with Germa stirring chaos. That sea was either at war or heading toward one.
As a result, order had broken down. Populations couldn't be effectively utilized and instead became sources of chaos. Criminals thrived there—it was a paradise for the underworld. Later, Doflamingo would rise from that very sea.
The South Blue, while not as war-torn, lived under the heavy pressure of the World Government. Most nations tried desperately to curry favor, hoping to become the next peaceful East Blue.
But that same pressure gave rise to strong resistance. Over the past 800 years, it wasn't just the Revolutionary Army that challenged the World Government—South Blue had produced many such movements. Because of that history, the World Government maintained strict control there.
The East Blue needed no explanation—it had already been "tamed" by the World Government. Among the Four Blues, it was currently the most stable region. Valthior had often heard officials in Mary Geoise refer to it as a "sheep pen."
Though ironically, when something did happen there, it was always something big—and the same went for the people it produced.
As for the West Blue—
It was dominated by mafia culture.
And Marlon, whom they were discussing now, was a legendary figure there. He had unified the various mafia families of the West Blue, effectively becoming its underground emperor—and had been the biggest financial backer of the Rocks Pirates.
And yet, in a twist of fate, such a powerful figure had been schemed to death by Wang Zhi.
Which left one question—
Where exactly in the West Blue was the Poneglyph he had mentioned?
...
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