"So, what do we do with these Poneglyphs now? Leave them here? Or should we move them somewhere?" Rayleigh asked, patting the crimson Road Poneglyph.
Roger said with a look of disgust, "That apology letter thing was left here for Fish-Man Island by Joy Boy himself. Let's not touch it—it's bad luck."
Clearly, Roger still found that thing utterly repulsive.
The others had no intention of moving it either. It was just too useless—completely meaningless.
"We should take the Road Poneglyph with us," Gaban thought for a moment before saying. "It can definitely be used as a bargaining chip."
"Exactly. According to what Shiki said, that Linlin woman has a Road Poneglyph too. She might not be willing to share the information on it, but we can always trade. We don't need the original anyway—just a rubbing is enough," Roger nodded with a smile.
Valthior hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What if Linlin refuses to share… and also refuses to trade?"
The moment he said that, everyone in the Roger Pirates turned to look at him.
"I told you, he doesn't act like a Celestial Dragon at all. His moral standards still need to drop a bit," Rayleigh commented with a sigh.
"This is my fault as captain. It's been three years, and all we've been doing is archaeology. We've barely done any actual pirate work—a major mistake," Roger said regretfully.
Gaban patted Valthior on the shoulder and said, "Kid, how can you ask such a low-level question? We're pirates. If we give her face, we call her 'Linlin' and talk nicely. If we don't give her face, we send her straight to the grave, take the Poneglyph, wipe out the Big Mom Pirates, and end the Charlotte Family line!"
"Hey, hey, that's a bit much," Rayleigh waved his hands quickly. "There's no that kind of deep grudge. We'll just snatch the Poneglyph and give her a couple of slaps. That'll settle it."
"Exactly. We're not demons, after all," Roger nodded.
Listening to this conversation, Valthior couldn't help but picture an absurd scene in his mind.
The Roger Pirates landing on Whole Cake Island, then saying to Charlotte Linlin:
"Linlin, come over here and kneel. We've got a favor to ask."
Clearly, while the crew respected figures like Shiki and Whitebeard, when it came to Charlotte Linlin, none of them really took her seriously at this point.
Just as Gaban said—out of respect for the old days drinking together on Hachinosu, they'd give her face and call her Linlin.
If not? Straight to the grave.
When Roger wasn't sick, he really was that bold.
After joking about Charlotte Linlin for a bit, the group returned to discussing the Road Poneglyph.
In the end, they unanimously agreed to take it with them.
"Once we find the Final Island, a lot of people will definitely follow in our footsteps," Roger said with a loud laugh. "When that time comes, we'll hide this Road Poneglyph somewhere interesting and let others search for it. Don't you think that'll be fun? Hahaha!"
With that decided, they didn't linger in the Sea Forest for long.
When they returned to the Oro Jackson, they saw Doringo holding three-year-old Shanks in one arm, while gesturing animatedly with a group of merfolk and fish-men with the other.
"Mary! Long time no see!" Roger greeted loudly when he saw the leading mermaid.
She was indeed an older mermaid—her figure had long since gone out of shape, her face was full of wrinkles, and she reeked of stale alcohol. She held a long smoking pipe in her hand.
Judging by her appearance, she was at least over fifty.
"Roger, you brat—heading to the New World again?" Sister Mary exhaled a puff of smoke and raised an eyebrow.
"Gotta keep your business running, right? Without pirates like us coming and going, how would you afford your lifestyle?" Roger replied casually.
After a brief pause, he glanced at the burly fish-men currently measuring the Oro Jackson and asked, "Picked up a new batch of shipwrights?"
"Hahaha, all fine young lads. But since Sunbell's already joining your crew, don't even think about poaching anyone else from me," Mary said smugly.
Rayleigh seized the moment and added, "You promised last time you'd teach me coating techniques. You didn't forget, did you?"
"You actually want to learn that? What for?" Mary asked in surprise.
While they were chatting, Valthior's gaze shifted to a sturdy fish-man holding a measuring tape and working diligently.
The fish-man didn't look very old—around seventeen or eighteen—but he was about five meters tall, with a bright red body and a bold, cheerful expression. He worked with great enthusiasm, and the other fish-men around him clearly respected him.
Valthior had already found him familiar. After getting closer and listening for a bit, he confirmed it—those fish-men were all calling him "Boss Tiger."
Now Valthior was certain.
If nothing unexpected happened, this fish-man coating the Oro Jackson was none other than Fisher Tiger—the man who would one day climb the Red Line with his bare hands and ignite the slave liberation movement.
"Tiger, didn't you go out to sea?" Just as Valthior was thinking this, Sunbell wandered over and started chatting with him.
"Sunbell-senpai," Tiger grinned, revealing a bold smile. "Just got back a few days ago. Taking a short break. I heard Auntie Mary had work here, so I brought a few brothers from the neighborhood to lend a hand—earn some money for our next adventure."
After a brief pause, he added, "But I didn't expect it to be coating the famous Roger Pirates' ship. I also heard from Auntie Mary just now—are you planning to sail with them too, Senpai?"
"That's right. I met them a few years ago and always wanted to go see the surface with them. This is my chance," Sunbell replied.
From their casual conversation, Valthior gradually pieced together the situation.
Fisher Tiger was already the recognized leader of Fish-Man District, highly respected among the fish-men. And long ago, he had declared his dream of becoming an adventurer—to personally see what the world above the sea was like.
Starting the year before last, he had begun acting on that dream, venturing to the surface as a fish-man adventurer several times.
Nothing had gone wrong during those trips, though due to limited funds, he hadn't traveled very far.
But starting this year, Tiger planned to undertake a grand journey across the Four Seas—leaving the Grand Line to explore the East, West, South, and North Blues.
Valthior couldn't help but think that Tiger truly was a great fish-man.
He wondered whether Tiger would still end up like in the original story—captured midway through his journey and taken to Mary Geoise as a slave.
Although the thought crossed his mind, Valthior had no intention of interfering.
After Roger and the others finished chatting with Sister Mary, they called everyone together, preparing to head into Fish-Man Island to enjoy themselves.
At the current pace, the coating would likely be completed by noon tomorrow.
When that time came, they wouldn't delay—they would head straight for the New World.
...
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