That's right, the ones who had arrived were none other than Roger and Rayleigh.
"You… how are you here?" Baichuan asked in shock. This was completely unreasonable.
"Why shouldn't we be here?" Roger countered with a smile.
"No, I mean, how did you get here so fast? You beat us here."
"Because we're not wanted men," Roger replied with a grin. "So we didn't have to take any detours."
"Captain, I missed you so much!"
Once Baichuan and Roger had finished their brief exchange, Buggy immediately launched himself into Roger's arms.
"Captain, you have no idea how scared I've been! We almost didn't make it back alive!"
"Oh? What happened? Did you guys almost die?"
"Exactly! We ran into the so-called strongest person on the island, some guy named Roger. He even beat Baichuan to the ground in just a few moves. If Barrett hadn't shown up, you probably wouldn't be seeing us now!"
"What happened to that Roger?"
Roger's tone instantly darkened. He was visibly angry. Every crew member was like family to him; anyone who hurt his family had crossed the line.
"He was killed by Barrett."
"What?"
At that moment, King Kaither, who was standing nearby, cried out in disbelief.
"Roger is dead?"
"Of course. If you don't believe me, ask your daughter."
"Is that true, Lynn?"
The king turned toward his daughter, his voice full of urgent hope, needing confirmation from her mouth.
"It's true, Father. Roger is dead."
"Wonderful! That's wonderful… my son can finally rest in peace."
King Kaither looked to the sky and sighed deeply, struggling not to let his tears fall.
"By the way, what are you two doing here? Is something going on?"
"I've decided," Roger said calmly, "that this island should have only one nation."
"What?"
The words were spoken in a mild tone, but their impact was like an atomic bomb in everyone's hearts.
"Captain… are you going to do something this crazy?"
"Of course. I've already decided to help Mole Kingdom unify the entire island."
"Is that true, Father?"
Hearing Roger's words, Katherine looked to her father with excitement.
"It's true," the king nodded with a smile. Though he was never very ambitious, if he could bring about unification, it would fulfill the long-standing dream of his ancestors.
"I knew it, Captain, you've never been one to sit still. So what's your plan? Use force to make the other nations submit?"
"Force? That's what brutes rely on.
We're going to reason with them, appeal to their logic and emotions."
"Heh."
Baichuan let out a laugh. He didn't believe a word of it.
Sure, Roger talked about reason, but only after overwhelming them with force. Otherwise, who would even listen?
"So, when do you plan to act?"
"We already did."
"When?"
"About ten days ago. I sent Barrett to the Colon Kingdom's capital, and sent Jabba and Seacule to the Biya Kingdom."
"And you still say this isn't a show of force?"
"I believe it won't take long before the unification is complete."
Sure, maybe the other two countries had clever strategists, but no scheme could stand up to overwhelming power.
Especially Barrett. Just thinking of him made Baichuan silently mourn for the Colon Kingdom's royal family.
If negotiations failed, the entire royal bloodline might be wiped out.
"Alright, let's go inside. I've already had lunch prepared for you," said King Kaither.
"Great."
Baichuan was also curious to try a royal palace meal.
He wanted to see if it lived up to the legends, like the imperial feasts of old.
When they saw the long table full of dishes, Buggy and Shanks nearly popped their eyes out.
It wasn't that they'd never seen food like this; it was just that after a month of hardship with Baichuan, this feast made them giddy with joy.
They didn't even wait for the host to say anything; both reached out and dug in with their hands. The cutlery on the table was decorative.
"Slow down. No one's taking it from you," Shanks said to Buggy, who had stuffed his mouth full.
"Don't talk! You're doing the same thing!"
Indeed, Shanks' cheeks were just as puffed out as Buggy's.
Thankfully, there was still one person at the table eating "normally": Baichuan.
Though he looked like he was chewing slowly and gracefully, anyone paying close attention would notice that his eating speed surpassed both Shanks and Buggy.
"Captain Roger, uh… what's with them?"
King Kaither didn't even know what to say as he watched the trio gorge themselves.
"Sorry for the embarrassment."
Roger normally ate the same way, but today he was keeping up a refined image in the palace… even if he occasionally slipped up.
"No worries. I'll have the kitchen prepare more food."
Soon, evening fell.
King Kaither had rooms arranged for everyone to rest in.
But Baichuan found himself completely awake, unable to sleep.
"What's wrong? Drinking alone out here?"
Rayleigh, who lived in another room, stepped out onto his balcony, holding a jug of wine. He gestured toward Baichuan.
"It's nothing. I just feel… too weak."
"Because of that guy Roger?"
"Yeah. I was completely helpless against him.
When I saw Shanks fall before me… I was overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness.
Luckily, we ran into Barrett. If anything had happened to them… I don't think I'd ever forgive myself."
"Good. That means you learned something."
Rayleigh didn't comfort him; instead, he scolded him, like a mentor would.
"Your heart has changed since the day you first joined the crew.
Do you even remember what you wanted back then?"
"I wanted to become strong."
"Exactly. And what do you want now?"
"To become even stronger."
"You're lying."
Rayleigh's tone was sharp.
"After gaining some strength, you've gotten comfortable.
When did it start? Probably when you managed to take five of my moves, right? That's when your heart began to shift. Come with me."
Rayleigh jumped down from the balcony.
Baichuan didn't know what he was planning, but he still followed.
They stopped in an open field.
Just as Baichuan was about to ask what was going on, he suddenly felt an immense pressure crush down on him.
It wasn't Haki, yet it radiated with pure martial might.
"Now tell me, do you think you can still handle five moves?"
As Rayleigh spoke, the pressure vanished.
"…So you were never even fighting me seriously," Baichuan said with a bitter smile.
Rayleigh was right.
Ever since the day Baichuan had lasted five moves against the Dark King, he'd begun to feel proud, maybe even complacent.
After all, few people could do that.
But what he hadn't known was that Rayleigh had been holding back the entire time, fighting him like it was a game.
"That's why you still have a long road ahead of you."
Rayleigh turned and left, leaving Baichuan standing there, lost in deep thought.
What Baichuan didn't know was that Roger had seen the whole thing from afar.
Rayleigh might have known, or maybe not.
"As expected," Roger murmured, "Rayleigh does know how to teach people."