Sabaody Archipelago, Lawless Area Port.
They had clearly agreed to regroup in three days, but now, on just the second day, everyone had already gathered.
Not only had they successfully held a farewell party for Shakky, but the Oro Jackson had also finished its coating.
Up on the mast, Blumarine spotted Valthior and Gaban approaching from afar and immediately shouted:
"They're here! They're here! Lord Valthior has returned with his servant Gaban!"
"Oh!? The Lord is back?" Roger sprang up excitedly from the deck. "Hurry, hurry! What are you all standing around for? Come with me to welcome Lord Valthior!"
Before long, Valthior and Gaban reached the port.
And then—they saw something ridiculous.
Every member of the Roger Pirates was dressed in the luxury branded outfits Lincoln had personally delivered to the ship the day before. They stood neatly on both sides of the gangway like a formal reception line.
Before Valthior could even ask what the hell they were doing, Roger took the lead and shouted:
"Welcome the Great Lord Valthior back to his loyal Oro Jackson!"
Then Rayleigh, Donquino, Doringo, and the rest all shouted in unison.
The whole scene left Valthior both amused and exasperated. He waved his hand and said, , "You may all dispense with the formalities."
"Heh, this kid actually started acting the part," Spencer said with a laugh.
"Hahahaha! I'm just playing along with your performance. Seriously, what's with all this?" Valthior laughed.
Roger stroked his silk captain's coat with a satisfied expression and said, "Our Roger Pirates have never been this extravagant in our lives! Everyone's happy receiving your gifts."
"I hereby announce that from now on, just like Rayleigh, you are a Vice-Captain of the Roger Pirates!"
Good grief, so spending a bit of money gets me the role of Executive Vice-Captain?
Of course, Valthior knew it didn't mean much in practice. After all, even Roger himself wasn't taken too seriously half the time.
Still, the crew genuinely was happy.
As top-tier pirates, they weren't lacking in money—given their strength, robbing made cash come fast.
But the key was—they had never really received proper gifts before.
To Valthior, it was just a casual gesture. But to them, it meant something. It was something they would remember.
It wasn't about whether they could afford it—it was that it came from a friend, a companion. That made it special.
After a round of laughter and celebration, they got down to business.
Originally, they planned to stay here for three days, but now there was no need. Since the ship was already coated, heading to Fish-Man Island as soon as possible was the priority.
At the same time, Valthior shared the intelligence he had gathered from Mary Geoise.
On one hand, the Marines would no longer turn a blind eye to the Roger Pirates.
On the other, their pursuit of the World Pirates to Linderland Island might result in them colliding with the Whitebeard Pirates and the Golden Lion's Flying Pirates, who were about to clash there.
"Come to think of it, these past two or three years have been way too comfortable," Roger said, clearly excited after hearing this. "Sure, it's been good—we could focus on finding the Poneglyphs and handling real business."
"But lately, I've been feeling itchy all over—like my body just can't stretch out properly!"
"Yeah, exactly!" Doringo said while holding Shanks. "It's been ages since we caused any big trouble. Our bounties haven't even gone up. Whitebeard's is several hundred million higher than ours now—it feels like we're losing!"
"That won't do. We need to go to the New World and make a big splash!"
"Your bounty's only seventy million, right? And you're already comparing yourself to Whitebeard?" Nozdon burst out laughing.
"Tch! If we hadn't been laying low for the past three years, mine would've passed a hundred million already!" Doringo shot back without hesitation.
Leaning against the mast, Rayleigh smiled. "Looks like everyone's fired up. So, Captain—what do you say?"
Roger grinned broadly. "What else is there to say? Get your heads in the game! We're heading to Fish-Man Island right now. Once we finish business there, we're going to Linderland and stir up a storm!"
"Shiki, Newgate—they've had the spotlight long enough. It's our turn to be arrogant now!!!"
Seeing this, the navigator Gaban laughed. "Then what are we waiting for? Hoist the sails and weigh anchor! We move now!"
The crew cheered and immediately got to work.
Valthior, as usual, went to the rear of the deck with Nozdon, helping operate the capstan to haul up the anchor.
Before long, the Oro Jackson slowly departed the port. After about a hundred meters, the coating bubble fully inflated, and the entire ship gradually sank beneath the sea.
Come to think of it, although Valthior kept mermaids at home, he had never actually been to Fish-Man Island.
And not just him—aside from oddballs like the Donquixote family, most Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise rarely went there.
The reason was simple—it was too dangerous.
The deep sea didn't care whether you were a Celestial Dragon or carried the blood of the Twenty Kings.
If something went wrong down there, you'd most likely end up dead.
So most Celestial Dragons never went out of their way to visit Fish-Man Island. Mary Geoise was far more convenient—there were ports connecting to every sea. Why go looking for trouble?
As for the Roger Pirates, they had been to Fish-Man Island many times. Whenever they entered or exited the New World, they usually passed through there.
Gaban, being a top-tier navigator, could handle even unfamiliar routes with ease—let alone one he had traveled countless times.
With the ship submerged, they sailed steadily toward Fish-Man Island.
Although Fish-Man Island lay deep beneath the sea, it was only about 10,000 meters down. From Sabaody, it wasn't far—riding the sea current, they could arrive in about half an hour.
Gaban was observing the deep-sea route, while Roger sat beneath the mast, holding a Den Den Mushi and talking to someone.
"That's right—we've already entered the sea and just caught the current. At most, we'll reach the Sea Forest in half an hour. Just wait for us there," Roger said energetically.
Over the past three years, as they sailed the seas, the Roger Pirates had taken on some new members. Valthior was no longer the newest recruit—some of the newcomers even called him "senior."
Of course, now they should be calling him executive vice captain.
Still, overall, none of the newcomers matched the important figures from Valthior's memory. They were mostly combatants, and even differed from the original Roger Pirates he remembered.
It was clear—his presence had already caused quite a few changes.
But now, a new important crew member was about to join.
Sunbell—the younger brother of Barbel, a high-ranking of the Flying Pirates, known as the Catfish Fish-Man.
Back in the West Blue, Barbel had mentioned this before, and Roger had obtained Sunbell's contact information from him. Although they hadn't visited Fish-Man Island much in recent years, the two had kept in touch through Den Den Mushi.
During previous visits, Sunbell had interacted with the Roger Pirates multiple times. He wasn't a stranger—which was why he had taken the initiative to request joining their crew, even asking Barbel to pass along the message.
"Then I'll wait for you at the location of the two Poneglyphs. It's within the Sea Forest anyway," Sunbell's deep voice came through the Den Den Mushi.
Just as Valthior remembered—
At this time, the Sea Forest housed two Poneglyphs.
And one of them… was that most mysterious Road Poneglyph.
Who knew where that thing would end up later?
..
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