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"Garp—! You idiot!"
"Hm? What's wrong?" Crunch, crunch — the sound of him biting into a doughnut. "Hahaha! I'm about to break my own record again!"
BANG!
Sengoku snatched the doughnut from his hand. "Get over near Roger! I've got a bad feeling about this!"
"…Alright," Garp said, his face finally turning serious.
Roger scratched his back. "Ahh, that's better… thanks."
"No problem," the executioner replied.
Roger chuckled, lowering his arms and sitting cross-legged on the platform. "Alright. Let's get this over with."
Ruhl swallowed his fear and raised his twin blades for the strike.
"Hey—Pirate King!"
A voice from the crowd made Ruhl pause.
Below, a man in a vest cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, "Where'd you hide all your treasure? Is it on the Grand Line? You found it, didn't you? The legendary treasure!"
"Shut your mouth!" Ruhl barked.
But deep down, a shiver of unease ran through him. Something was wrong… terribly wrong.
The man in the crowd didn't care. He yelled even louder: "The one and only treasure—One Piece!"
…
"This isn't good…"
Hidden nearby, Sengoku and the others reacted instantly. Some moved to intervene—
"Don't!" Sengoku barked. "It's too late. Roger won't die until he's said what he came to say. He has that kind of will… Damn it, so that's your plan, Roger… Where the hell is Garp?!"
"I see him, Vice Admiral Garp, he's—"
"Well?!"
"…Asleep."
"WHAT?!"
"No, wait—he's awake now. Walking over."
"That damn fool…" Sengoku growled.
…
Roger's laugh boomed across the square: "Hahahahahahahaha…!"
"Do you want my treasure?"
"Unauthorized speech is forbidden!"
"If you want it, I'll give it to you! Search for it! I left everything I own in one place!"
"Execute—!"
Ruhl roared, and his twin blades plunged into Roger's chest.
Silence.
And then—
"OOOOOOHHHHH!"
The cheers of thousands shook Loguetown to its core.
The Great Pirate Era had begun.
Now, the eyes of the world were fixed on one thing — the treasure left behind by Gol D. Roger: the One Piece.
"That bastard… Roger played us perfectly," Sengoku muttered, his face grim.
The whole point of a small-scale execution was to project one message to the world: The Pirate King isn't even worth the Marines' concern. His crew didn't even dare show up.
But Roger had shattered that image.
Now, to the people, there was only the treasure. The Marine plan… was in ruins.
"Still… at least it's done. Retrieve Roger's body. The Gorosei ordered it specifically."
"Yes, sir!"
Ruhl let out a long breath. There had been surprises, but the execution was complete.
"…What are you doing?" he asked, seeing his fellow executioner crouch beside the body.
"Nothing… Just checking if the Pirate King is really dead."
He touched Roger's neck.
"Well?" Ruhl's heart pounded.
This was Roger. Even with wounds like these, there was always the impossible chance he might still be alive. And if he wasn't dead…
"…Oh, he's dead."
The man's lips curled into a smile — and Ruhl felt an icy dread stab through him.
"In that case… Roger's body is mine."
In the next instant, a mass of black shadows erupted, engulfing the entire execution platform.
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