That's right.
The man standing before him was none other than the one who would one day become legendary—the pirate admired by countless crews across the seas, the man who would single-handedly ignite the Great Age of Piracy:
Gol D. Roger.
By this timeline, it made sense. Roger had only just set sail… and he was still alone—no crew, not even a single companion.
"You're Roger?" Rono asked, forcing his emotions back into place.
"Huh?" Roger blinked, startled—and then looked almost thrilled. "You actually know my name? Am I already that famous?"
He didn't seem to care why Rono knew him. With the kind of carefree boldness that fit his face, Roger grinned and shot the question right back.
"By the way—what's your name?"
"I'm Rono."
Rono hadn't expected this either. He'd only stopped at a random island to refill fresh water… and he'd run into Roger.
And the moment he truly looked at him, Rono's eyes lit up—like a starving man spotting a table full of food.
The future Pirate King.
He looked a little foolish, sure… but foolish or not, he was still Roger.
If Rono could "pick up" anything special from him…
That would be a massive win.
"Oh! Rono—so that's your name!" Roger's interest sharpened immediately, as if he'd just found a treasure map. "Rono… don't you think it's fate that we met here?"
Then he flashed that signature smile.
"How about it—wanna come with me and turn this world upside down?"
Rono froze for half a beat.
That line…
It sounded way too familiar.
Wasn't that the exact thing he said when he invited Rayleigh?
Author's Note (from the original RAW)
I'm seeing a lot of people arguing about when Roger set sail.
The original work never states an exact date for Roger's departure.
A lot of people base their guess on Brook saying he "heard of Roger."
But please look closely at Brook's original wording on Sabaody. What Brook said was basically:
"Gol D. Roger… I feel like there was a rookie like that… or maybe I haven't heard of him."
That's not confirmation. It's the opposite—uncertain.
And that kind of "one line that can be foreshadowing or nothing" is one of Oda's favorite tricks. He can keep it flexible.
So why are people acting like Roger's sailing date is locked in stone?
Go check the God Valley reveal chapter. Sengoku says Rocks was the first enemy Roger ever faced—and also the strongest enemy.
Pay attention to the word first.
If Roger had already been sailing for more than ten years like some people claim, you're telling me he met no worthy enemy for over a decade… and then suddenly Rocks is his "first"? That doesn't add up.
It's far more reasonable that Roger set sail not long before the God Valley battle.
Also, it's well known Oda loves symmetry. Luffy set sail in 1520—how long passed until Marineford? Just a few months.
Add two years, and Luffy went from rookie to Yonko-level in about two years. He even climbed from "commander level" to fighting Kaido head-on, learned advanced techniques, and awakened new forms—within days in-universe.
The manga took years to serialize, but in the story, Wano only lasted a handful of days.
For true geniuses, explosive growth can happen in a very short time.
So setting Roger's departure as "now" is not a problem.
You don't have to like this book—but stop calling me "clueless" or accusing me of making things up when the canon itself never confirmed what you're claiming.
You can call my book bad, my writing weak, my prose ugly—I can take that.
But what annoys me is people who don't read carefully "educating" others about things the original never established, and then acting confident about it.
That's when my urge to rebut kicks in.