"..."
Hearing those words, countless people felt a sudden sense of relief wash over them.
Of course, some were still unhappy.
"Tch..."
"And here I thought I'd finally get to enjoy myself. You're ending it already?!"
Gripping his kanabo tighter, Kaido suddenly tensed. He tilted back his wine gourd for one last hard swig, and then crushed it in his hand.
That reaction immediately drew everyone's attention.
Countless eyes turned toward him.
Ozz, the Seven Warlords, Roger, Rayleigh, Shanks, Sengoku, Garp...
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Kaido's back.
Alright then. Maybe he had fought enough after all.
After thinking it over for a moment, he finally calmed down. Returning from his dragon-man form to normal, he walked to a spot not far from Ozz and fixed him with a burning stare.
"Oi!!! Ozz!!!"
Ozz met his gaze head-on, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Yeah. I wasn't lying. Excited?"
"One day, this world will witness a war even more terrifying than the Paramount War."
"And that day... isn't far off."
"Worororororo!!!"
Kaido threw his head back and roared with laughter, utterly satisfied.
"Interesting! I'll be waiting for that day you spoke of!!!"
With that, his body transformed into a massive azure dragon and flew up into the clouds.
"Ozz, I should be leaving too."
Just as Ozz watched the dragon vanish into the heavens, another figure came to his side.
"Captain Roger?"
It was the aged Roger himself. Together with Rayleigh, the two white-haired old men had come before Ozz.
"You really did grow into a proper man, Ozz!!!"
Roger looked at Ozz's towering height, well over three meters, and his mature, handsome features, and his expression filled with genuine gratification.
"Well, it has been over twenty years since we last met..."
"But you understand, don't you, Captain Roger? This method can't keep you in this world forever."
The awakened form of the Bake-Tanuki Fruit really did have the power to recreate the strength of the person drawn and briefly pull their soul back from the underworld.
But it was not permanent. Even with Ozz's overwhelming strength as the user, he could not fundamentally overturn a rule-based power like this.
At best, Roger could probably remain for another ten days or half a month.
"That's enough. Let me spend those days taking one last look at this sea... and at the two of them."
The old Roger's eyes filled with memory.
At this moment, he no longer resembled the Pirate King.
He looked more like an old man. An old man whose eyes were full of the past.
"What? You're not insisting on going to see Aunt Shakky anymore?"
Rayleigh teased him from the side.
Back then, Roger had nearly fallen out with him over Shakky. Even now, in old age, Rayleigh still remembered it clearly.
"Shakky?"
Hearing that name, Roger instantly thought of the woman he had once been wildly infatuated with in his youth, the so-called most beautiful woman in the world.
Looking back now, that was nothing more than the recklessness of youth.
She had been his white moonlight, but never his destination.
"No... I've got no desire to compete with you for her anymore, Rayleigh."
Roger grinned broadly.
"The me of today has a family of my own!!!"
Rayleigh had only been joking in the first place. Hearing that, he burst into hearty laughter.
"In that case, I'll spend these last few days with you."
"Let me see what kind of woman managed to become the wife of the Pirate King."
That actually surprised Ozz a little.
"I thought you'd go find Luffy first, Uncle Rayleigh."
"Well, no need to rush that."
Rayleigh smiled and explained casually, though Roger looked puzzled.
"Who's Luffy?"
"He's the kid wearing the straw hat you gave Shanks. The one who inherited your will."
"Is that so..."
Roger only smiled at that.
Dreams, inherited wills, all that sort of thing had nothing to do with a dead man anymore.
Just then, Shanks also walked over.
He had noticed Roger's presence long ago, but never dared come closer.
Now that Roger was about to leave, he finally couldn't hold back anymore.
"Shanks!!!"
Seeing the mature, rugged man before him, Roger laughed loudly.
"You look a lot more mature now, but you're still just a brat, same as ever. Always wanting to challenge Ozz. Remember back then..."
Shanks had just started feeling emotional. He had even been on the verge of tears, ready for a heartfelt reunion. The moment he heard that, he coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem... Captain Roger, have a safe journey."
"A safe journey, my ass!!! And what about me, Shanks, you bastard?!"
Buggy came over at that moment too.
The few members of the Roger Pirates gathered together, meeting again after more than twenty years. It was enough to move anyone.
But there would always come a time to part.
"Well then, we'll be going now, Ozz, Shanks, and Buggy!!!"
"Oh, right. If you run into Bullet in the future, pass along a message for me!!!"
Ozz froze for a second, and then Roger's booming laughter rang out again.
"Tell him the goal of becoming the strongest in the world isn't me anymore!"
"Tell him to come find you, Ozz!!!"
"Nani?!"
Ozz's mouth twitched.
He watched as the two old men boarded a surviving pirate skiff, carrying an unconscious young man with them.
At this point, the three brothers had all been lulled to sleep by the intense battle, Akainu's relentless pursuit, and Ozz's final burst of Conqueror's Haki that had crossed the sea.
Old Roger and Rayleigh now set sail together, carrying the unconscious Ace, heading toward the East Blue.
"Kaah!"
Click.
Under the setting sun, that scene was captured in a photograph.
In the picture, Rayleigh was telling Roger about everything that had happened over the years. Beside them, Ace slept deeply.
And the little boat drifted steadily toward the horizon.
Just like when they first set sail.
Back then, it had been two young men in a tiny boat, setting off on a journey the moment the thought came to them.
Now, today, it was the same. Two men in one little boat, sailing together toward the end of their story.
Only, the two young men had become two old men.
And now there was a son with them too.
Watching the little boat slowly fade from sight, the three former apprentices were overcome with emotion.
Buggy was already crying his eyes out. Shanks, too, lowered his head as tears streamed silently down his face.
Only Ozz, though his own eyes were wet, still waved with all his strength and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Hey!!! Captain Roger! When I first boarded your ship, I promised I'd turn the world upside down!"
"I did it!!!"
Hearing those words, the two old men burst into heartfelt laughter and waved back at Ozz.
Then they sailed on, toward the end of their legend.
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The tides are shifting, and secrets linger in the dark... Step into the shadows early on P@treon, where the next chapter awaits before the world sees it.
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