Even though the Mink Tribe wanted to hold a grand banquet for the Roger Pirates, the crew politely refused in the end.
Mainly because they felt too embarrassed.
After all, they had just wiped out the Kozuki Clan in Wano, the Mink Tribe's sworn brothers. Then they came here right after and joined a party?
That would really be too shameless.
...
Night fell. Outside the city walls, inside the cabin of the Oro Jackson.
Roger sat on the sofa, watching Gaban plot points on a sea chart by combining the four coordinates with navigation calculations.
Valthior stood by the window, looking at the forest outside, lost in thought.
"What are you thinking about?" Rayleigh asked casually as he walked over with his small wine bottle.
"I'm thinking about where the last two Poneglyphs are," Valthior said softly. "Also… why doesn't the East Blue have any Poneglyphs?"
"The East Blue…" Rayleigh's eyes showed a trace of nostalgia. Then he smiled. "That's Roger's hometown. As for why there are no Poneglyphs there, maybe it's because the East Blue was the World Government's base from the very beginning? After all, the Nerona family hails from the East Blue. Maybe Joy Boy worried about that and didn't place any Poneglyphs there."
"That makes sense," Valthior nodded.
After that, the two became quiet again, standing side by side and looking outside.
A long while later, Rayleigh suddenly spoke again.
"The whole world will eventually be swallowed by the sea… that's a scary guess. Do you think there's any way to stop it?"
"At least right now, I have no clue," Valthior replied softly. "Hundreds of years ago, the World Government started building Tequila Wolf in the East Blue. It's a giant bridge meant to connect every country in the East Blue. Maybe… when the disaster comes, only the East Blue nations will survive."
But after saying that, Valthior's eyes suddenly changed.
He looked at Rayleigh in surprise.
"If that's true… then Imu wants to cleanse the whole world?"
The Celestial Dragons and the World Government's core lived high above on the Red Line, completely safe from the sea rising.
And in the East Blue, the World Government's most stable stronghold, construction on Tequila Wolf had continued for over seven hundred years.
When the sea swallowed the world, maybe only the East Blue and the Red Line would survive.
Places like Zou, Fish-Man Island, and Skypiea that could avoid the disaster would only be rare exceptions.
Using this method, Imu could destroy all forces that resisted him.
And after the world-ending disaster was over, the entire world would fully belong to Imu.
Maybe only then would he truly become the so-called "King of the World."
Just then, Gaban suddenly spoke up: "The location is confirmed!"
"Oh!?" Roger instantly sat up from the sofa and looked at the table.
Valthior, Rayleigh, and the others quickly gathered around too.
The map on the table covered the whole world. Gaban had spent years making it himself, while also combining many maps from around the world.
Valthior had seen many sea charts before, but Gaban's was by far the most complete.
Right now, on the New World section of the map, near the other side of the Red Line and northwest of Lodestar Island, there was a red circle marked in an otherwise normal area.
"Using the navigation calculations and matching the four coordinates from the Poneglyphs, this is the final point," Gaban said seriously while tapping the red circle with his finger. "If nothing goes wrong, the final island is here!"
"That place…" Roger muttered softly. "The Sea of Mist."
Rayleigh smacked his lips lightly. "We went in there before, but we just kept going in circles…"
Back then, after they realized something was wrong at Lodestar Island and discovered there was still one final island they hadn't found, the Roger Pirates still knew nothing about the Poneglyphs.
So they tried relying on luck and entered the Sea of Mist, which wasn't far from Lodestar Island, hoping to find the final island by chance.
After trying several times and finding nothing, they started searching for another method.
Now it seemed that the final island really was inside that sea area!
"This time we have the guidance of the star leading technique and the correct coordinates. We won't get lost again…" Gaban said.
Then he looked toward another island in that sea area, one he had marked long ago.
An island important enough for Gaban to specially mark could only be one place—
Elbaf.
"Elbaf is pretty close too. It's right on the way," Gaban grinned.
"So?" Valthior looked at Roger.
Roger grinned brightly and laughed.
"Do we even need to think about it? Of course we're heading to Elbaf! Once we find the last two Poneglyphs, we can head straight for the final island, complete our dream of sailing around the Grand Line, and see what kind of 'great treasure' that bastard Joy Boy left behind for us!"
...
Meanwhile, in the New World.
A giant three-masted ship was sailing across the sea.
Compared to this huge warship, even the standard Marine battleships surrounding it looked tiny like toys.
This giant ship was called the Asgard, the personal ship of the Giant King, Harald.
After making a contract with a mysterious existence in Mary Geoise, Harald had been ordered to return to Elbaf and build a pentagram array.
At the same time, he had received a promise from the World Government—
Once he completed this mission, Elbaf would officially become one of the allied nations.
Maybe Harald himself had not fully realized it yet, but as he sat on the deck feeling the sea breeze, his aura had already changed slightly.
A contract mark from the Holy Knights was engraved on his arm, and his whole presence had become colder and darker.
Confusion and ruthlessness flashed through his eyes from time to time, as if his mental state was unstable.
The sea breeze brushed past his face as Harald recalled what he had seen in Mary Geoise.
On the Empty Throne, the throne meant to symbolize opposition to dictatorship… there was actually someone sitting there.
No.
According to the Five Elders, that was a god.
At first, Harald didn't believe that claim.
But after signing the contract, he slowly started feeling that maybe it really was a "god."
"Has my mind been affected?" Harald muttered.
He released his Haki, trying to sense and remove something from himself, but found nothing.
Now he already realized something was wrong.
But the World Government's promise was like sweet poison, pulling him forward step by step.
As long as he built the pentagram array, he would officially become a member of the Holy Knights.
And Elbaf would become an allied nation.
This had been his dream for many years.
To achieve it, he had even turned against Rocks and abandoned him to die.
Now that things had reached this point, even though Harald felt something was wrong, he could no longer turn back.
He could only choose to trust that Mary Geoise would keep its promise.
...
On another Marine warship—
Sengoku crossed his arms and looked at the giant king aboard the large ship with doubt in his eyes.
"The Giant King is about to become a new Celestial Dragon… really unbelievable," Zephyr said softly while smoking a cigar and wearing his Marine coat.
"Don't you think Harald seems different after coming down from Mary Geoise?" Sengoku asked as he turned toward his old friend.
Zephyr frowned slightly.
"Yeah… I feel the same. Honestly, I thought we got along pretty well, but after coming back from Mary Geoise, he barely talks to me anymore…"
"He's become much colder toward the Marines too," Sengoku said thoughtfully. "Like a king looking down on everyone. Is it because he's about to become a Celestial Dragon? Or was this always his true nature, and before was just an act?"
Clearly, even though Sengoku was a Marine Admiral, he didn't know anything about the contract.
Secrets like that were not something a fighter like him had the right to know.
"Maybe he just hasn't adjusted to his new identity yet. Maybe he'll get better after some time," Zephyr comforted him.
Then he asked, "Have you ever been to Elbaf?"
"No," Sengoku shook his head. "Elbaf isn't an allied nation of the World Government. How could I casually go there?"
Zephyr laughed.
"Same here. I hope we'll finally get to see the land of giants."
While the two Admirals talked, not far away stood a tall, skinny figure wearing a Marine coat and captain shoulder badges, quietly looking at the endless sea.
That figure was Borsalino.
Sengoku had high hopes for him, and he was also Zephyr's student.
So this time, when the two Admirals escorted Harald back to Elbaf, they brought him along too.
...
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