Now that they had confirmed the existence of the Road Poneglyphs, the Roger Pirates had one immediate priority: to find someone who could read the ancient language.
That person, they believed, might be the samurai from Wano aboard the Whitebeard Pirates' ship.
"Roger! We've located the Whitebeard Pirates!" Rayleigh reported, handing over intelligence from Shakky.
"They've been docked at this island for a few days. Must be something keeping them there. If we hurry, we might just catch them!"
"Perfect! Let's go—full speed ahead!" Roger exclaimed with growing excitement. He could feel it—they were getting closer and closer to the Final Island.
While the crew sailed in pursuit of Whitebeard, Fang Yi noticed that something odd was going on between Buggy and Shanks.
Buggy had been throwing angry and hurt looks toward Shanks lately, with a trace of sadness behind the glare. Shanks, on the other hand, was trying to avoid Buggy altogether.
Fang Yi couldn't ignore it any longer.
"Shanks, what's going on between you and Buggy?" he asked seriously. "If there's a misunderstanding, you need to fix it. We're crewmates—we should be able to trust each other with our lives."
Shanks opened his mouth… then fell silent.
"What, you can't even tell me?" Fang Yi sat down and patted the spot beside him. "Come on. Whatever it is, I'll help you sort it out."
Shanks let out a bitter laugh. "It's not that easy."
As Fang Yi had guessed, the "Devil Fruit" Buggy had eaten was a fake—a normal fruit swapped in secretly.
But the next day, when Buggy was preparing to stash away the real Devil Fruit and a treasure map he'd stolen from the BIG MOM Pirates, Shanks had caught him red-handed.
In a panic, Buggy shoved the real Devil Fruit into his mouth to hide it, only to accidentally swallow it.
And that wasn't all—the treasure map had slipped from his hands and blown overboard. Frantic, Buggy jumped into the ocean to retrieve it… But the moment he hit the water, he found he couldn't move or swim—the curse of the Devil Fruit had taken hold.
Though Shanks managed to pull him out and save him, Buggy had been furious ever since.
He blamed Shanks for all of it—for eating the Fruit for real, and losing the treasure map. That map had been hidden in the same box as the Devil Fruit and the Road Poneglyph clue, and Buggy had been saving it for a big solo score in the future.
Worse, now that he was a Devil Fruit user, he couldn't swim anymore—he'd never be able to dive for deep-sea treasure again.
Buggy had long believed that the ocean floor, not some island, was where the world's real riches were hidden. He'd dreamed of claiming all that treasure for himself someday.
Now? That dream was crushed, and he blamed Shanks for ruining it.
Fang Yi burst out laughing as Shanks finished explaining, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.
"Pfft—hahaha! He swallowed the real Devil Fruit?!"
Shanks looked embarrassed. "Yeah. So now what? I don't know what to do…"
"Don't sweat it," Fang Yi said, shaking his head. "For people like us, Devil Fruits can be a bit of a gamble, but for someone like Buggy, it's not a bad deal. At least now he has actual combat ability. What Fruit did he eat, anyway?"
Shanks hesitated. "I'm not sure. He wouldn't tell me."
Fang Yi smiled. "Well, you're not Buggy—you don't know what he wants. Trust me, he cares way more about treasure than power. And so what if he's a Devil Fruit user? Barrett is, too, and he's a strong pirate! Just give Buggy another treasure map—he'll forgive you."
Meanwhile, aboard the Whitebeard Pirates' ship, as the crew expanded, Whitebeard had decided to formally split the crew into divisions and assign division commanders for better organization.
"Hey! I don't want this job!" yelled Kozuki Oden, whom Whitebeard had just named 2nd Division Commander. "I'm not looking to be a leader—I just want exciting adventures!"
BAM!
Whitebeard bonked Oden on the head with a massive fist, leaving a huge bump.
"You idiot! Take some damn responsibility!"
And so, under intense pressure from Whitebeard, Oden reluctantly accepted the position.
It wasn't that Oden disliked leadership—he just didn't want the burden. After all, as the sole heir to the shogunate of Wano, he had walked away from real power. What he wanted was to see the world, not rule it.
His heavily pregnant wife, Toki (Amatsuki Toki), offered warm congratulations. She knew the strength of the Whitebeard Pirates, and was happy that Oden would have this role of importance among them.
Toki had once been rescued by Oden during his early adventures. At the time, Whitebeard had refused to let Oden board his ship unless he passed a test. Just as Oden was about to succeed, he stopped to rescue Toki from danger—an act of kindness that impressed Whitebeard enough to let him join anyway.
From then on, both Oden and Toki became part of the crew—and a couple. Now, Toki was close to giving birth, and the Whitebeard Pirates had been staying at the same island for over a week, the longest they had ever anchored anywhere.
Originally, Oden had wanted to keep sailing, but Whitebeard and the others had insisted that staying put was safer until Toki gave birth.
"Whitey-chan, we've wrapped up the crew divisions—let's get moving again!" Oden suggested that once things were settled.
"But… Toki's condition…" Whitebeard hesitated.
He was itching to continue sailing, too—staying still wasn't in his nature. But Toki had shown no signs of going into labor yet.
"Let's just keep sailing! I'm fine," Toki smiled. "And we have a ship doctor. Everything will be alright."
Whitebeard thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright. Stock up on extra supplies—especially things the baby might need. Once we're ready, we sail!"
"Woohoo! Let's go!" Oden shouted with joy.
Three days after the Whitebeard Pirates set sail, the Roger Pirates arrived at the island—too late.
"They were here, but left three days ago," they were told.
Even Fang Yi could only sigh in frustration.
"Can't believe it," Rayleigh muttered. "We hurried all this way, and still missed them."
The ocean was vast. Finding a pirate crew without a fixed base was next to impossible.
"Captain… what now?" Fang Yi asked Roger with concern.
He already knew about Roger's illness—he had suspected it for a while. After all their time together, Roger and Rayleigh had let small hints slip, and on the voyage here, Fang Yi had directly confronted them about it.
When Roger confirmed it, Fang Yi's heart sank.
Over the years, Fang Yi had come to see Roger and the crew as family. He had wanted to change Roger's fate, to keep him from dying of an incurable disease. But before he could even start, the truth was already written. It crushed him.
Now, all Fang Yi could do was help Roger reach the Final Island as quickly as possible.
He had even considered telling Roger the locations of all four Road Poneglyphs once they found Oden—just to save time, and start looking for the Ope Ope no Mi (Surgical Fruit).
Fang Yi was convinced that if they could find someone with the power of the Surgical Fruit, they could save Roger.
But now, they had failed at the very first step—they hadn't even met Oden.
"For now, we'll search for the other red Road Poneglyphs, while continuing to investigate the whereabouts of the Whitebeard Pirates," Roger said softly, standing at the ship's bow, eyes fixed on the sea.
"Rayleigh… no news on the Surgical Fruit yet?" Fang Yi asked quietly.
Rayleigh shook his head. "Nothing. It might be like you said—the World Government may already be holding onto it."
"With the captain's condition… that Fruit is our only hope. If even Crocus can't cure him, I don't know who else can," Fang Yi said gloomily.
"Don't worry," Rayleigh assured him. "I've asked Shakky to use all her contacts to track it down. If she finds anything, she'll let us know immediately."
With their lead cold, Roger ordered the crew to rest and resupply on the island. They had been rushing nonstop, and supplies were running low.
And so, the race for the Final Island continued.