New World, Merveille.
Shiki looked at the newspaper in his hand, which carried the news of the Roger Pirates' disbandment and the declaration about the great treasure, and his expression shifted with some uncertainty.
A burst of footsteps came from far away and gradually drew closer. Shiki raised his head to look, only to find that the one who had come was his old love-hate rival, Silver Axe.
"Kyo-chan, what do you think of the news in the paper?" Shiki asked.
"Of course I'm looking at it while sitting down," Silver Axe replied with perfect calm.
The corners of Shiki's mouth twitched twice before he said, "Stop joking around here. I'm talking about..."
"The great treasure and Roger's more than sixty billion berries?" Silver Axe raised his brow and said.
"That's right." Shiki nodded, then continued, "Roger and the others followed the Poneglyphs and finally reached that final island, so maybe there are Ancient Weapons there, right? Could the great treasure he mentioned be a power capable of overturning the world? Even putting that great treasure aside, those more than sixty billion berries are real, solid money..."
Of course Shiki knew that Roger really did have more than sixty billion berries. That bastard had even used it back in Elbaf to mock him for being poor.
But Shiki had never imagined that Roger would have such boldness.
He had actually taken that huge fortune of more than sixty billion berries and dumped all of it on Laugh Tale, leaving it behind as a reward for those who came after him.
That made Shiki's feelings extremely complicated. He had always been proud, believing himself inferior to no one, but this time, Roger's generous and daring move truly made Shiki feel that he fell short.
"You kept saying you were going to keep that money and retire as some ordinary rich man, but in the end, you left all that wealth to the sea you loved most, huh, Roger..." Shiki thought to himself, feeling genuine admiration.
If it were him, he felt that there was no way he could ever do the same.
Forget leaving behind more than sixty billion berries; he would have moved the whole of Laugh Tale away, leaving no chance for anyone else to discover it at all.
"I really did underestimate Roger's spirit a little. Originally, I still looked down on that Pirate King title of his, but thinking about it now, just for the more than sixty billion berries alone, he's worthy of the name," Silver Axe said as well, his tone rather complicated.
In fact, that was exactly how it was. Before this, there might still have been people who looked down on Roger's title as Pirate King.
They believed Roger had no right to be called a king at all.
But now, with more than sixty billion berries thrown onto Laugh Tale in one move, anyone who still refused to accept it could go argue with that sixty billion.
Got the ability? Then you throw out more than sixty billion too.
No money? Then what right do you have to even bring up the name of Pirate King?
"I want those more than sixty billion berries, and I also want Laugh Tale's great treasure!" Shiki first expressed his true desire, but then immediately said, "But if I go looking for it, doesn't that mean I'm admitting Roger is the Pirate King? That I'm going to search for the treasure he left behind? That makes it damn hard for me to save face!"
"Is your face more important, or are the real benefits more important?" Silver Axe looked at Shiki and asked.
Shiki's expression was extremely unhappy, but in the end, he still muttered, "Of course the benefits are more important..."
He was a very practical man. Even if he was extremely displeased, he still had to admit what he truly thought deep down.
But the moment he thought about how searching for that treasure meant acknowledging Roger as the Pirate King, he felt disgusted.
"Damn it, Roger. That bastard must have been worried that everyone wouldn't accept his title as Pirate King, so he put the money there, didn't he? Now look what happened. If you don't accept it, then don't go looking for the Pirate King's treasure. But if you want to look for the treasure, you have to admit that he's the Pirate King. Damn it, that's so fucking sly!" Shiki cursed.
An open scheme. A pure, naked open scheme!
"To me, it doesn't matter either way. He has already announced the disbandment of the Roger Pirates, so from now on, he no longer counts as our rival. For the sake of those more than sixty billion berries and that great treasure, what's the big deal if we admit he's the Pirate King?" Silver Axe said after thinking it over.
Shiki fell silent for a moment, then used a bit of self-comforting logic to hypnotize himself. "That's right. Besides, maybe the reason that guy disbanded his pirate crew is because he felt he couldn't carry the name of Pirate King and was afraid I'd go looking for trouble with him. He's scared of me, that's why he disbanded!"
Silver Axe froze for a second, then said, "Are you stupid? Didn't he already say back in Elbaf that he was going to disband? It's not like he only decided to disband after becoming Pirate King."
The corners of Shiki's mouth twitched, and he gnashed his teeth as he said, "Saying it is one thing, doing it is another. How can those be the same? I often say I'm your dad too, but I haven't gone and fu—"
Outside the great hall, Babel was holding a newspaper and leaning beneath a tree, reading its contents with great interest. Especially when he saw that his younger brother, Sunbell, now had such a high bounty as well, he felt somewhat pleased.
Then, all of a sudden, the roof of the palace where Shiki was staying violently exploded apart. Immediately after, Shiki flew out through the huge hole, shot straight into the sky, and vanished into the clouds while running for his life.
Silver Axe then jumped onto the roof while roaring and cursing, shouting that he was going to beat that shameless bastard Shiki to death. However, all he could do was stomp around in anger, because there was no way he could catch Shiki, who had already burrowed into the clouds.
Babel was clearly already used to the way those two bastards got along. He only sighed that they would have to spend more money repairing this damn house again, then covered his face with the newspaper and quietly fell asleep.
...
Aboard the Moby Dick.
Newgate put down the newspaper in his hand, clicked his tongue, and said, "That guy Roger is actually going to disband his pirate crew?"
"Pops, what kind of nonsense is that? He takes the title of Pirate King and then disbands right after? Isn't that cheating? He's not even giving anyone a chance to beat him!" Jozu said, extremely dissatisfied.
"Beat him at what? And how would you beat him?" Newgate saw things clearly and said directly, "Did Roger become Pirate King by defeating someone? No, no, no. He became Pirate King by finding that final island and by throwing more than sixty billion berries there in one grand move. Now, anyone who wants to search for that great treasure has to acknowledge that identity of his. If you want to compete for that title, prepare sixty billion first."
"Then are we not going to search for this final island?" Jozu could not help asking.
In the original story, Newgate had no interest in such things. He had never intended to search for the final island. He merely drifted around the sea, playing his own pirate family game.
But that was because Laugh Tale did not have Roger's more than sixty billion berries sitting on it.
Now there was a very real sum of more than sixty billion berries placed there. What pirate would not be tempted? What did pirates do? They plundered and searched for treasure on the sea.
Someone had already told everyone exactly where the treasure was. If you still didn't go look for it, were you even worthy of calling yourself a pirate?
"We'll look for it, of course..." Newgate first nodded, then continued, "But there's no need to rush. We should search slowly, steadily, and with a plan. What's the point of running around like headless flies?"
At this point, he took out a Den Den Mushi and said, "Besides, that guy Roger is disbanding his pirate crew just like that. Who knows whether we'll still be able to meet on this sea in the future, or what kind of position we'll stand in if we do meet again?"
Thinking of this, he suddenly felt like drinking with Roger.
At the very least, before Roger stepped off the stage of this era, the two of them should meet properly once more, so there would be no regrets left in the future.
Newgate was not the sentimental type either. Since the thought had come to him, he did not delay and directly made the call through the Den Den Mushi.
Before long, Roger picked up on the other side and said, "Hello? Newgate? What's up?"
"Ah, Pirate King, it's been a long time since I last checked in on you. Gurararara," Newgate said with a loud laugh.
"Ahahahahaha! Just hearing your voice tells me you're as lively as ever!" Roger laughed heartily.
"You're really disbanding?" Newgate asked directly after laughing.
"That's right. Didn't we already announce it in the newspaper? How could that be fake?" Roger said in a very open and carefree tone, as if he felt no reluctance at all.
In truth, over the past two nights, he had often secretly wiped away tears while looking at the Oro Jackson.
"With a guy like you gone from the sea, things are bound to become pretty boring..." Newgate said with some emotion.
"The sea never lacks interesting people. I've already seen countless people fighting to set sail. So, what do you think? My grand move wasn't bad, was it?" Roger said, sounding quite proud.
"Damn bold," Newgate praised without holding back, then added, "It's been a long time since we drank together. After all, before this, we were rivals. But now that you're leaving this line of work, how about coming aboard my ship for a proper drink?"
"Hahahahaha! Where are you? Once I finish handling the last bit of business here, I'll go find you right away!" Roger agreed without the slightest hesitation.
It was obvious that this guy wanted to drink too.
Newgate thought for a moment, then asked, "Forget it. I'll come find you instead. Are you still on Hachinosu?"
"I am, I am!" Roger replied.
"Then wait for me there for a while. I'll be there soon," Newgate said.
After that, both sides hung up the Den Den Mushi, and the Moby Dick raised its sails and set off.
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