Chapter 534: The Sea Chart
Roger was the first to board the ship.
His companions followed closely behind.
The Roger Pirates once again voyaged on the Great Sea in their complete form.
Despite having sacrificed many companions, the Roger Pirates were still a Top Power on the Great Sea, second only to the Flying Pirates.
They still possessed the strength to defeat any pirate crew except for the Flying Pirates.
As long as their main crewmates suffered no losses, none of this would change.
"Let's go, head to Roland Island and find the last puzzle piece," Roger said seriously to his companions.
Along the way, they had paid too great a price and lost too many companions.
Sometimes, even Roger himself wondered if he had made a mistake.
"It seems the Roger Pirates are coming."
On Roland Island, a small island floating in the air at the center, wrapped in a bubble.
True Zero, wearing the first generation Sound Nest Battle Suit, stood inside the modestly sized base.
At this moment, he was having a remote video call with Ignis.
On the giant footage projected by the Den Den Mushi, Ignis's figure appeared, wearing a cloak, his appearance unclear.
Behind him stood a young Garp, arms crossed, leaning against the wall.
At this time, they were located at the current base camp of Sound Nest, the "Sky-Air Mother Nest".
Ignis felt a little emotional, not expecting the Roger Pirates to still be alive.
First, they faced the full encirclement of the World Government, and when escape was impossible, they embraced death to find life, jumping into the dangerous Deep Sea Whirlpool.
This method, which was completely suicidal, instead allowed the Roger Pirates to be reborn and survive.
It truly could be called a miracle.
Having received Hades's order, Ignis planned to hand over a rubbing of the Road Poneglyph to the Roger Pirates on Roland Island.
Therefore, he also had some expectation for this strongman who could be recognized by his father.
Since he was not in the Kronos Kingdom, Hades had not specifically sent anyone to notify him, so Ignis was not aware beforehand that the Roger Pirates still existed.
He had originally planned to give up, but unexpectedly, the Roger Pirates reappeared.
"Leave this to me this time, there won't be any problems."
True Zero wasn't overly nervous.
As a clone possessing the gene of many strongmen, he himself had some shadow of them, especially Goenitz, who served as the main template.
The ability to think calmly at all times was True Zero's excellent trait.
He had now graduated from the Royal Military Academy and was undergoing training in the military.
But at the same time, he was also developing the "Deep-Sea Mother Nest".
His main mission was to secretly control Dute Island, the island adjacent to the "Deep-Sea Mother Nest".
This was because of his Devil Fruit ability, the Clone-Clone Fruit.
The Clone-Clone Fruit was a Devil Fruit located in the Kronos Kingdom Treasury, which Ignis had taken out and given to True Zero.
This was an ability that didn't require much development; its role was to create clones.
He could create three clones.
One clone possessed seventy percent of his own strength.
Two clones possessed fifty percent of his own strength.
Furthermore, the death of a clone would not have any impact on the main body.
If the ability awakened, all three clones would possess seventy percent of his own strength.
It seemed like a very powerful ability, yet it was also somewhat redundant.
In battle, it could achieve the effect of a group fight, but it didn't help his own strength.
A better aspect was the enhanced learning ability, as one person learning was equivalent to four people learning.
Moreover, the memories of the several clones were completely interconnected and controlled by the main body.
After True Zero ate the Clone-Clone Fruit, he sent his strongest clone to the "Deep-Sea Mother Nest", while the other two clones stayed by his side.
Since Roland Island was designated as a stronghold by Ignis, serving as the public base camp.
Coupled with his own desire not to be exposed, he had True Zero send a clone to temporarily oversee Roland Island.
Apart from True Zero, there were no other members of Sound Nest on Roland Island.
Sound Nest was still developing, and there was no rush to begin construction on Roland Island.
If any problems arose, Roland Island could be given up at any time.
There were many similar islands on the Great Sea; they were never irreplaceable.
This was also Ignis's caution.
Even if the Roger Pirates directly attacked True Zero's clone, it wouldn't have much impact on them.
After all, it was just a clone; even if it was lost, it could be remade.
"It doesn't matter. Let's see if we can get something from them. Even if it's just a rubbing, we can't just give it to them for free."
Ignis was curious about the Roger Pirates, but he wasn't particularly interested in them.
After all, Ignis also knew the intelligence that Roger was close to death, which meant the Roger Pirates would disappear from the Great Sea in a few years.
He didn't believe the Roger Pirates would still exist after losing approximately two-thirds of their main crewmates and with their Captain, Roger, dead.
Fish-Man Island is the territory of the Kronos Kingdom, and the Road Poneglyph also belongs to the Kronos Kingdom.
In Ignis's view, although his father had said to hand the item over to the Roger Pirates through his hands, how exactly to operate it depended on him.
As far as he knew, the Roger Pirates had little to no contact with the Kronos Kingdom, or even the Pluto Pirates.
The reason his father did this must be for a deeper plan.
Only giving a rubbing also showed the importance of the Road Poneglyph.
No matter what, it couldn't be easily given to the Roger Pirates.
Although the Roger Pirates were powerful, the item was with him.
In other words, the initiative was in his hands.
The ultimate goal of the Roger Pirates was something the Kronos Kingdom didn't care about, and Ignis didn't care either.
If there was something Ignis wanted, it was only the Sea Charts in the Roger Pirates' hands.
These Sea Charts recorded the various islands the Roger Pirates had encountered throughout their voyage.
Many of them were not recorded by the world.
Roland Island, for example, was one of the more unique islands among them.
Most people in the New World didn't know of this island's existence, only some people in the surrounding Sea Area were aware.
However, the dangerous surrounding environment coupled with the lack of a safe way to enter or exit meant people wouldn't use it as a base camp.
It was inherently cut off from commerce, making it difficult to obtain interests.
Wanting to land on the island could easily result in the fate of ship destruction and death.
Even if others knew that Sound Nest's base camp was on Roland Island, landing on the island would be a troublesome matter.
Just the surrounding reefs and whirlpools could block most factions.
If Roland Island were in the First Half of the Grand Line, or the Former Half of the New World, it would definitely be considered the first choice for building a secret base by the World Government and the Marines.
These unknown islands, which might hide special resources, were like treasures one after another.
If they could be developed, huge interests could definitely be obtained.
Ignis didn't value a large amount of treasure now; no matter how much treasure the Roger Pirates had, it wouldn't be that much.
And those special islands represented the future, and would have a significant role for the Kronos Kingdom.
The Roger Pirates' subsequent voyage had no further obstacles.
Relatively, they instead slowed down their pace of voyage.
The time left for them was getting less and less, and everyone cherished the time they had left voyaging together.
On the journey to Roland Island, the Roger Pirates first purchased wood to repair the Oro Jackson, restoring it to its most perfect state.
In addition, they found an Uninhabited Island with a beautiful environment, and brought the personal belongings and favorite items of the companions who had already sacrificed, burying them on the island near the Coast, in a place where the Great Sea could be seen at a glance.
This was a late mourning, and a necessary sense of ceremony.
However, in the time before, they had been searching for companions, allowing the Roger Pirates to reassemble.
(end of chapter)