"Tell me, Roger…"
A deep, steady voice echoed through the haze of Roger's dream.
"What do you regret?"
Gol D. Roger snapped his head up, eyes narrowing on a vague silhouette. The figure's features were blurred, concealed in the shifting mist of the dreamscape. Roger couldn't make out the man's face, but the timbre of his voice suggested someone in his early twenties.
The details didn't matter. What mattered was the question and Roger felt an instinctive pull to answer it.
A crooked grin spread across his face. "Regret, you say? Hah… seems even I've got a few of those."
The shadow Wayne gave a quiet laugh. "Care to share them?"
Roger's smile faltered. A heavy sigh escaped him, carrying more weight than his booming laugh ever could. "When my wife was pregnant… at the very time she needed me most, I wasn't there. A husband should stand by his wife, yet I… I couldn't."
He turned his head, eyes blazing with raw sincerity as they locked on Wayne. "That's my regret."
Wayne's voice was calm, almost measured. "Then let's make a deal."
Roger tilted his head, intrigued.
"I'll see to it that your wife is taken to safety. I'll ensure her protection until your child is born."
Roger let out a rough chuckle. "Sounds like a fine bargain. But tell me, what's the price?"
"Your strength. After your death, you will pass it on to me."
Roger hesitated for a fraction of a second. To a man already condemned by disease and destined for execution within days, death was inevitable. Whether illness claimed him or the Navy's blade, his life would end all the same.
He laughed again, louder this time. "Hahahaha! A fair price, indeed. But how do I give you this power?"
The moment the words left his lips, a chime rang inside Wayne's mind.
Ding! Gol D. Roger's commission received. Multiverse Commission System activated. Task generation in progress… Newbie Gift Pack issued.
Commission Order: The Pirate King's Final Wish
Objective: Escort Portgas D. Rouge from Baterilla Island to a safe location and ensure the safe birth of her child.
Rewards:
Roger's Strength (current state) condition: Roger's death.
Roger's Conqueror's Haki (at peak) condition: the safe birth of his child.
5,000 Points can be exchanged in the system shop.
Wayne closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. At long last, the cursed "golden finger" of this new world had awakened. Out of every unlucky soul to be thrown across worlds, he must have been the unluckiest.
Other transmigrators awakened as child prodigies, Marines, or rising pirates with limitless futures. He, on the other hand, had awakened inside Impel Down as a convict shackled by chains and late-stage tuberculosis.
His body was already broken. Even with Roger's power, survival was uncertain. But the system offered a sliver of hope.
He had been granted three chances to enter dreams and negotiate. He had already squandered one through inexperience. With only two left, he needed to tread carefully. Choosing Roger had been a calculated risk one that had paid off.
Roger, though the Pirate King, was still a man carrying regrets. Wayne had banked on that truth, and the gamble worked.
"Open the Newbie Gift Pack," Wayne commanded.
Rewards granted: Reincarnation Card x1; Designated Location Teleport Card x1; Personal Storage Space (100m³).
Reincarnation Card: Upon use, the host dies and reincarnates. After reincarnation, the lowest attribute is increased by one grade. Dissatisfied with your life? No problem. You can always start again.
Designated Teleport Card: Teleport instantly to any existing location within this world.
Wayne's lips curled. The system understood his plight perfectly. His body was crumbling; tuberculosis gnawed at his lungs. Even with Roger's might, this shell wouldn't hold. Reincarnation was the only real future.
Still, if he wanted to maximize gains, he needed to complete Roger's commission first. Only then would reincarnation grant him a true advantage.
He skimmed through his system profile.
Host: Wayne (formerly Griffin D. Wade)
Swordsmanship: D-
Six Powers: F+
Constitution: E- (terminal; disease suppressed; life expectancy 10 days)
Observation Haki: None
Armament Haki: None
Conqueror's Haki: None
Devil Fruits: None
Special Ability: Soul Dream Dialogue (enter others' dreams; 1 use remaining)
Overall Rating: F- Weaker than an Indian fighter jet. Hopeless. Just wait for death.
Wayne groaned aloud. "Seriously? I cross worlds just to get slapped with tuberculosis and an insult from my own system?"
He clenched his fists, his voice rising in frustration. "Answer me! Why me? Why this body?"
But the system offered no answer.
Forcing himself to calm, Wayne looked back at Roger. "Don't worry. Your wife and child will never suffer because of you."
Roger's laughter thundered through the dream. "Hahahahaha! Then I can rest easy."
He lifted his hand. A faint light shimmered, and the figure of a woman appeared beside him. Portgas D. Rouge his wife, radiant and gentle even in this dreamlike haze.
"This is my wife. I entrust her, and our unborn child, to you."
Though Roger had asked Garp to watch over them, Marines were Marines. Their duty and their identities would always complicate matters. A man who could enter dreams and bargain with souls was far better suited for such a task.
"Don't be afraid," Wayne said quietly. But before he could continue, the dream began to shatter.
"Damn… time's up." Roger's figure flickered. He grinned one last time. "Ah, but before I go, I'll leave you with one more regret…"
The dream collapsed.
Impel Down, Beast Hell.
Wayne's eyes snapped open. His body trembled under the weight of his sickness, but his mind burned with clarity. Roger had given him another commission at the last second.
Commission Order: Poseidon
Objective: Witness the awakening of Poseidon.
Reward: "Haki: From Novice to Master" and 2,000 points.
Wayne leaned against the cold wall of his cell, his breath shallow. "Roger… you really are a good man."
But this second task couldn't be fulfilled yet. Poseidon the Sea King's voice wouldn't awaken until two years later, when Luffy and his crew reached Fish-Man Island.
The urgent matter now was Portgas D. Rouge. If he didn't intervene, she would die after carrying Ace for twenty months, leaving behind a tragic legacy. The reward for saving her and the child was none other than Roger's peak Conqueror's Haki an opportunity Wayne could not afford to lose.
The Designated Teleport Card was his best bet. With it, he could escape Impel Down's hellish depths and appear directly on Baterilla Island. That would save time, but timing was everything.
Part of him wanted to linger wanted to witness Roger's execution with his own eyes, to see the spark that would ignite the Great Pirate Era. But there was no time. Unless…
His thoughts drifted to one man. The Pirate King's fiercest admirer the Golden Lion, Shiki.
If history stayed true, Shiki was at this very moment wreaking havoc at Marineford, only to be subdued by Sengoku and Garp and thrown into Impel Down.
Wayne smirked faintly. "If I play my cards right, maybe I don't need to rush to Baterilla just yet. Maybe I can make use of Golden Lion Shiki…"
He coughed violently, blood staining his lips. His body was failing, but his mind was sharper than ever.
"Golden Lion Shiki… how should I trick you?"
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