The after-effects of the Haki training were brutal; Kyle felt like every bone in his body had been taken apart by Roger and Rayleigh, then carelessly glued back together, ready to fall apart at the slightest touch. When their rickety boat finally docked at a seemingly deserted island, Kyle practically crawled onto the beach and collapsed face-down in the sand.
Captain, just leave me here.
"Kuhahaha! Adventure! Adventure!" The moment Roger's feet touched solid ground, he was like a wild dog let off its leash. His eyes gleamed as he let out an incomprehensible cheer and plunged headfirst into the dense, primeval jungle, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
This was classic Roger.
"Isn't he afraid of venomous snakes and fierce beasts in there?" Kyle grumbled weakly from his spot on the sand.
"He's probably hoping to find them," Rayleigh said, jumping lightly off the ship to land beside Kyle. "He said he sensed something interesting."
"Something interesting? I think he was just bored and needed something to smash." Kyle rolled his eyes, struggling to sit up and brush the sand off his body.
Rayleigh didn't reply, instead pacing slowly along the coastline, observing the island's vegetation and the tide. Kyle had no choice but to follow, stretching his sore muscles as he looked around. The island was teeming with primitive life; towering trees blocked out the sun, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of earth and plants.
"Speaking of which, Rayleigh-san," Kyle said, kicking a small pebble, "how did you and that maniac Roger meet anyway?"
Rayleigh pushed up his glasses, his gaze drifting toward the distant horizon as if lost in a brief memory. "My house had burned down, so I was living on a boat I'd stolen." His voice was calm as he recalled the fated words. "He found me and said, 'I am Gol D. Roger! Our meeting is destiny, Rayleigh! Will you come with me and turn this world upside down?'"
Kyle stroked his chin, his focus on a different aspect of the story. "A stolen boat? You didn't happen to steal Roger's boat, did you? Or maybe… did Roger set your house on fire?"
Rayleigh just stared at him in silence.
…
BOOM—!!!!
Just then, an earth-shattering roar erupted from the center of the island, interrupting their conversation. The ground vibrated violently, as if some enormous creature were rampaging through the forest. In the distance, hundreds of birds shrieked as they took to the sky, and a massive cloud of dust rose above the trees, mixed with the sharp snapping sound of breaking timber.
Kyle and Rayleigh exchanged a look, both thinking the exact same thing.
"I knew it…" Kyle rubbed his forehead, an expression of utter resignation on his face.
Rayleigh sighed, but the look behind his glasses sharpened. "Let's go see what kind of trouble Roger has gotten himself into this time."
Without another word, the two of them blurred into motion, speeding toward the source of the commotion. When they arrived at the center of the island, the scene before them made them stop in their tracks. The once-dense jungle was now a chaotic, massive clearing. The ground was covered with crisscrossing slash marks and huge craters, and broken, smoking trees lay everywhere.
In the center of this destruction, two figures were engaged in a fierce, storm-like battle.
"Kuhahahaha! Excellent! This is excellent!" Roger laughed heartily, his longsword in hand. Each swing carried the force to split mountains. Opposite him was a tall young man of similar age, with long hair tied back, wielding two massive battle axes. His attacks were wide, open, and incredibly ferocious. Each collision of axe and sword erupted in a shower of blinding sparks and a deafening metallic roar, the shockwaves alone scraping away the top layer of the surrounding earth.
Kyle's pupils contracted sharply. Two axes, that tall figure, those sunglasses, that untamed fighting spirit… This person is…
"Scopper Gaban!" Kyle gasped inwardly. This was the man who would become the number three of the Roger Pirates, the "Bronze" of the legendary "Gold, Silver, and Bronze" trio!
Roger and Gaban clearly noticed their arrival.
"Oh? You're here!" Roger grinned, and the look in his eyes instantly changed. "Then I can't drag this out any longer!"
His entire aura shifted. The previous enjoyment of battle vanished, replaced by a supreme pressure that seemed to command the very world around him. With a roar, black and red lightning-like energy began to coil furiously around his blade, emitting a terrifying crackling sound.
Gaban's face changed drastically. The aura Roger was now emitting was completely different, but he didn't retreat. Instead, he let out a defiant roar of his own, pouring all of his strength into his twin axes as he charged!
"Good eyes!" Roger laughed in approval. He raised his longsword high, aiming it at the incoming Gaban.
"Divine Departure!"
There were no flashy effects, no superfluous movements. It was just a simple, horizontal slash. That single strike, entwined with Conqueror's Haki, seemed to ignore the distance of space, instantly crossing the gap between them to strike Gaban's crossed axes.
Time seemed to freeze for a moment.
The look of astonishment had not yet faded from Gaban's face when an irresistible, incomprehensible force passed straight through his axes and slammed into his body.
Crack!
His proud twin axes wailed as spiderweb-like cracks spread across their blades. In the next instant, Gaban was sent flying backward as if he'd been hit by a high-speed train. His eyes rolled back, a stream of blood shot from his mouth, and he smashed through seven or eight large trees before finally crashing to the ground, unconscious.
One strike, a decisive victory.
The clearing fell silent. All that remained was Roger, standing with his sword resting on his shoulder, grinning. Kyle silently swallowed, his eyes wide with awe. So this is the power of Conqueror's Haki coating… Coach! I want to learn that!
Roger strode over to the unconscious Gaban, not to finish him off, but to observe him with great interest. He then glanced at Gaban's cracked battle axes. "Kuhahaha! What an interesting fellow!"
He seemed to have completely forgotten that he was the one who had caused all this, turning to Rayleigh and Kyle to shout, "Hey! Wake him up! I have something to ask him!"
About ten minutes later, a wary Scopper Gaban, awakened by a small shockwave from Kyle, was leaning against a tree trunk, staring at the three strangers before him.
"You're strong!" Roger said, squatting in front of him and handing him a water pouch. His smile was bright and completely genuine. "I'm Gol D. Roger! These two are Rayleigh and Kyle. What's your name? Do you have a dream?"
Gaban was stunned, clearly not expecting this kind of reaction from his opponent. He hesitated for a moment before taking the water pouch and drinking a few gulps. "Scopper Gaban…" he said in a deep voice. "My dream… is to travel the world. To see everything on this great sea with my own eyes! And then… to marry a big woman!"
"Oh—!" Roger's eyes instantly lit up. He slapped his thigh and stood up excitedly. "Travel the world? That's a good dream! I approve!"
Shouldn't the focus be on the second part of that dream?! Kyle thought.
Roger extended a hand to Gaban, giving him a smile bright enough to illuminate the entire forest. "Gaban! Come aboard my ship! Let's go turn this world upside down together!"
Gaban looked at Roger's clear, sincere eyes and the infectious, heroic spirit on his face, and he was completely stunned. A moment later, the tension on his face dissolved into a relieved smile, and he nodded vigorously.
"Alright!"
Kyle, standing by, witnessed this scene, and his brain struggled to process what had just happened. That's it? They have one fight, Roger asks about his dream, says 'I approve,' and just like that, an SSR-level character is recruited? Roger's charisma is a superpower in itself!
He looked at Roger and Gaban, who were now chatting happily, then at Rayleigh, who had a familiar "I'm used to this" expression on his face. The whole world felt like a ridiculous improv show.
Wait a second, Kyle thought.
Rayleigh is the Pirate King's right-hand man1, and Gaban will be his left hand... So what does that make me?!