While Fang Yi began plotting his future, Buggy and Shanks were in the middle of a heated argument.
"Damn you, Shanks! You caused me to eat a Devil Fruit! I still haven't forgiven you, and now you want me to buy you a drink? In your dreams!" Buggy yelled outside a tavern.
"Come on, Buggy—it happened years ago. And now you're stronger than before. Besides, I just forgot my money," Shanks replied helplessly.
Despite the argument, Buggy eventually paid—but nagged all the way, ending their shopping trip on a sour note.
When the pair returned early, Fang Yi—who was heading out for a bite—felt puzzled. Buggy kept badmouthing Shanks as they walked in.
"Guys… we're still shipmates, right? Let's stop fighting," Fang Yi urged with a smile.
"I'm done with him!" Buggy snapped.
"Hey!" Fang Yi scolded. "After everything... surely our bond matters more?"
Buggy caught himself and muttered as he walked away.
"Shanks—he's just tired," Fang Yi tried to reassure him. But when Shanks quietly excused himself and left, Fang Yi was left speechless. Something had changed in Shanks since Roger's departure—he wasn't reacting like his old self.
Fang Yi decided not to press it. These things are better handled by Captain Roger himself.
A few days later, Roger and the crew returned to the port, where Fang Yi, Shanks, and Buggy waited.
"Captain, did you find the Great Treasure on the final island?" Buggy asked anxiously.
Roger chuckled. "Indeed—there is a Great Treasure."
"You saw it?" Fear lit Buggy's eyes. "You didn't bring it back?"
"Bring it back?" Roger laughed uproariously. "I didn't just leave it—I left everything!"
Fang Yi looked startled. Roger had truly left all the treasures behind?
News of Roger's arrival at the final island spread quickly, and the newspapers erupted:
"The Pirate King Is Born!"
"Gol D. Roger—Undisputed Pirate King!"
Fang Yi read aloud: "Gol-DOH Roger?"
"Heh—my name is Gol D. Roger, but Pirate King suits just fine!" Roger laughed.
"That explains why the government dropped the D from your name," Rayleigh chimed in.
"Ah… the Void Century, the 'D.' Ancient Weapons—they're all jokes now," Roger mused, thinking of what he'd seen on Laugh Tale.
"What did you see, Captain? You've got me even more curious than before!" Fang Yi asked.
"Ha! Kiddo, go find out yourself! What you seek… awaits at Laugh Tale!" Roger teased.
"Laugh Tale?" Fang Yi grinned.
"Yes. I coined that name. Cool, huh?" Roger smiled.
Fang Yi countered: "I'm curious—but I'm not going there."
"Why not?" Roger asked.
"Knowing or not knowing—it doesn't matter. I want to see all the different people and places myself. The world's past will reveal itself when the time is right," Fang Yi replied.
Roger's eyes softened as he looked at Fang Yi. Then he laughed: "Kid—you're something else!"
"I'd have loved to see it. Would've been amazing to live in Joy Boy's era," Roger sighed, gazing far away.
The crew smiled at his wistfulness.
Fang Yi hesitated but spoke: "I may never return… but that's okay. You're already the Pirate King."
Roger burst into laughter. "Damn right I am!"
"But now we've got trouble ahead," Shanks said, growing serious. "Becoming Pirate King—now the Navy and World Government won't just sit back."
"Let them feel a bit of pain," Fang Yi suggested. "We could capture a Navy Commander, trade him for Barrett."
Roger shook his head: "Relax, Yi-ge. I'll handle Barrett."
Indeed, after the pirate king's declaration, bounty-hunters, Navy agents, and rulers of the World Government all sought Roger.
Then, the mood lightened aboard Oro Jackson.
"Looking back at these years... It's a miracle," said Crokus seriously. "Roger, I worry about how little time you have left."
"Kiddo—my fate's tied to you all," Roger said softly.
Fang Yi's face froze.
Then Roger took a deep breath: "Yi-ge, I've been lying. Dini never cured me."
Silence.
"But spirit cures me. That's enough," Roger smiled, comforting.
The crew fell silent. Even Rayleigh joined quietly.
Fang Yi was outraged.
Roger continued, "His ability couldn't affect me—my haki wouldn't allow it."
Now Fang Yi understood. It wasn't Dini's fault: Roger's strength forcibly repelled the healing ability.
Rayleigh patted him on the shoulder: "You tried your best."
"I believed it too…" Fang Yi whispered, eyes haunted.
Roger lifted his head, scanning the sky. "We came too early."
He'd once heard mermaid voices by Fish-Man Island:
Our king will be born soon!
Far away in the sea…
Two kings will meet one day...
Ten years to birth, fifteen to grow.
It's almost time. This time will succeed.
That memory struck him. One was the mermaid princess Poseidon, the other the inheritor of Joy Boy's will.
Let's feast! Roger shouted suddenly. The mood lifted as the crew cheered.
Though Fang Yi smiled weakly, his mind raced.