The Lunalien kid next to him watched, dumbfounded.
"Is this the Pirate King who once stirred up the world? How can he be such an idiot?"
A long while later,
The two sat on the deck, drinking low-quality ale.
"I didn't expect my first drink after being resurrected to be this bad."
The unpleasant metallic taste from the bottle's mouth made Roger purse his lips repeatedly, extremely displeased.
Rayleigh didn't humor him, saying directly, "This slave ship doesn't have good liquor. If you can bear it, it's not too late to drink after we land."
Meaning, who's to blame if you're too greedy to wait?
"Are there still slaves?"
Hearing Rayleigh's words, Roger's expression subtly darkened.
Rayleigh nodded and said, "Yes, there are slaves. Fish-Man Island still hasn't seen the light of day. The Celestial Dragons have already proclaimed themselves gods and remain a very powerful force on this great sea."
Roger asked somewhat dejectedly, "Did the plan fail?"
He was referring to the Great Pirate Era.
Back then, he set sail full of dreams, finding companions and defeating enemies along the way, finally reaching Raftel and becoming the Pirate King.
But he found that even becoming the Pirate King couldn't change the oppressed world.
That's why, when he was dying, he wanted to say those words and start the Great Pirate Era.
He wasn't sure if he would succeed,
But, gravely ill, he could only use his last cry to awaken everyone's yearning for freedom and dreams.
Rayleigh first nodded, then shook his head, saying, "It succeeded, but it also didn't succeed."
"The Great Pirate Era was a success. In the years after your death, countless people, inspired by your words, flocked to the sea, hoping to find the treasure you left behind."
"But the result was a failure."
"Most of the treasure hunters were not the freedom and dreams you expected, but rather despicable pirates who only knew how to cause destruction everywhere. More than ten years have passed, and the World Government and Celestial Dragons still sit at the pinnacle of power."
Although the process was successful, the outcome was a failure.
Because this was an incorrect beginning to begin with, the ending was already predetermined.
"Is that so? It seems I've become a sinner of the era."
Roger's face was dejected.
This was not his intention, but there was nothing he could do.
If he had been young and healthy at the time, he might have had more choices and a different future.
But being gravely ill, the Great Pirate Era was the best choice he could make at the time, and he didn't expect it to end in failure.
Rayleigh looked at the dejected Roger and slowly, as if catching his breath, said, "However, Shanks, whom you placed great hopes in, gave this sea new vitality."
"Shanks!"
Mentioning the apprentice he thought highly of, Roger's eyes lit up, and he asked, "How is he now?"
"He was once a Four Emperors of the New World."
Rayleigh said with a half-smile, "And now, he's the President of the Adventurers' Guild. He didn't continue to inherit your will, but instead issued a new Adventurer's Declaration. Even I was shocked at the time."
"Adventurer's Declaration?"
Upon hearing "Adventurer," the Lunalien kid next to him brightened up and started chattering, describing it.
Roger listened carefully to his narration and quickly pieced together the details about Adventurers.
Finally, he exclaimed, "What a magnificent declaration! It's even broader than my Great Pirate Era. Shanks, that kid, really didn't disappoint me."
"Disappoint you?"
Rayleigh said mercilessly, "Looking at it now, it's you, the captain, who might make Shanks feel ashamed."
"What?"
Roger immediately glared, saying, "Rayleigh, old man, do you want to fight?"
The Lunalien kid, and the slaves freed by Rayleigh who were in the ship's cabin, all looked at the two with strange expressions.
Ever since they learned that Rayleigh was the Vice-Captain of the Roger Pirates, they had been greatly shocked.
Whose Pirate King's right-hand man would disguise himself as an old slave and sneak onto a slave ship?
Then came Roger's resurrection.
This was their second shock; the Pirate King, who had been dead for many years, had actually appeared alive before them.
Then came the third shock.
Compared to the legendary Pirate King Roger, Big Mom who ruled the Totto Land, Kaido the Governor of the Beasts Pirates, and Whitebeard with his overflowing Haki, he somehow seemed a bit slow-witted.
Although his hair was gray, Rayleigh confidently said, "You're no match for me now, Roger, kid!"
"Are you serious, Rayleigh? I'm not sick now."
Hearing this, Roger's lips also curved into a smile,
His eyes filled with fighting spirit.
Two minutes later,
Roger was hog-tied and bound on the deck, thrashing about like a drowning fish.
"Rayleigh, old man, what in the world is going on? Are you a monster? How could you even block my Divine Thunder?"
Roger felt like he was doubting his life.
He was in his prime now, yet he was defeated by Rayleigh effortlessly, without any suspense.
It was well-known that, apart from Devil Fruit users, most martial arts masters would slightly weaken in strength as they aged.
Had Rayleigh been hiding his strength all along?
You should have said so earlier!
If you had said so earlier, I would have let you be the Pirate King, and I would have been your right-hand man.
Rayleigh took out a contract fruit and handed it to Roger's mouth, saying, "Eat this fruit, and you'll understand what's going on."
"A Devil Fruit?"
Roger shook his head repeatedly, saying, "Although I don't reject Devil Fruit abilities, I don't want to eat one. I'll become a landlubber and won't be able to swim, that's not freedom! Wait… no, that's not right…"
He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes suddenly widening.
He stared intently at the contract fruit.
He had the ability to hear the voice of all things, but he couldn't hear any sound from this fruit.
The so-called ability to hear the voice of all things,
In the Pirate World, it was an incredibly domineering and abnormal ability.
Unlike spiritual power, it was more like a free soul actively detaching from the body, extending its tendrils into the world, and after soul resonance with any life, perceiving the other party's emotions and the content of their soul.
Even inanimate objects would retain sounds that could be heard through the passage of time.
But on this fruit,
Roger couldn't hear even the slightest sound.
It was as if a power transcending the world had created a fruit completely unconnected to all things, resulting in no residual sounds whatsoever.
Roger didn't understand, but he was greatly shocked, and asked, "Rayleigh, old man, where did you get this fruit?"
"The Game Merchant."
Rayleigh, in brief words, recounted what had happened since the Game Merchant appeared.
"From the Otherworld, creating a game that can lead to countless Otherworlds to hunt pollution, allowing everyone to break free from the shackles of fate and fulfill any wish?"
Roger's face flushed, and he clenched his fists.
He directly broke free from the ropes binding him and looked at the contract fruit with an expectant expression.
Without hesitation, he swallowed it whole.
"Idiot captain, just like a Devil Fruit, you only need to take one bite! Are you trying to choke yourself to death?"
plz support me if you can.
patreon.com/Mano99
all the fanfic is 30 chapter a had and you will get 1 chapter everyday.