Hachinosu.
Although Wang Zhi's forces were gone, and although the Roger Pirates had caused a huge uproar here, Hachinosu was still extremely lively.
People came and went, and villains and pirates could be seen everywhere. It seemed as if everyone was waiting for the arrival of the next island master.
There were also many ambitious people on the island, all full of drive and waiting for a chance to take this place for themselves.
As for why they were not fighting over it right now?
Of course, it was because the Roger Pirates were still gathered here and had not yet gone their separate ways.
Who knew what they were thinking? Better to wait and see first. At the very least, they should wait until this group of disasters left before trying to seize the position of island master.
Roger and his crew had not gone to occupy Wang Zhi's base either. They had merely swept away all the treasure there, then returned together to the Oro Jackson.
For the past two days, everyone had been discussing how they would go their separate ways and dividing up their belongings.
On the deck, Roger said cheerfully, "That guy Newgate wants to drink with me. I was originally thinking of leaving today, but in that case, let's wait a bit longer and leave in a couple of days."
"Stop making excuses. Isn't it just that now that the moment has really come, you can't bear to part with everyone?" Valthior leaned against the mast and complained. "I already suggested it before. Let's not disband. Let's keep being pirates. Laugh Tale is only the finish line, not the peak of the sea. There are plenty of people who don't accept your title as Pirate King in their hearts, aren't there? Wouldn't it be better if we beat them into accepting it first?"
"I've already put out the word that we're disbanding. How can I regret it now? Besides, everyone already planned to go their own way long ago..." Roger said with some reluctance.
"Let's make this clear first. Even if you regret it now, I'm not playing along anymore. The two of us have already decided to retire on Sabaody Archipelago..." Rayleigh said with a smile, one arm around Shakky.
"I'm not doing it either. I can't wait to go to Elbaf and find Ripley!" Gaban also shouted noisily.
"Heh, you two heartless bastards." Seeing this, Valthior laughed and shook his head.
At that moment, Sunbell spoke up and said, "Enough with the nonsense. Let's get back to dividing the loot and disbanding properly."
"Everything in the great library goes to me. Anyway, you illiterate fools can't understand any of it," Valthior said directly.
"Does anyone want the sea chart to Laugh Tale? Valthior, do you want it?" Gaban asked, waving the sea chart in his hand.
"I do," Valthior immediately said. "This thing counts as your life's work, doesn't it? It's probably the most detailed sea chart in the world... We can't just burn it, right?"
Previously, Roger had thrown away the Log Pose for Laugh Tale, but the nautical chart that Gaban had spent so many years carefully drawing could not be tossed aside so casually. After all, it was not only Laugh Tale on that chart; it also included all the sailing information recorded by the Roger Pirates.
Many strange and bizarre islands that couldn't be found on ordinary sea charts were all there.
Since the rest of the crew were disbanding and quitting piracy, they had no need for them, so the charts ended up with Valthior.
Spencer happened to walk out of the cabin just then and said, "Nozdon and I have finished sorting and counting all the things we took from Wang Zhi. After adding everything up, it comes to about fourteen billion berries. We can all get a share..."
"Hahahahaha, we've made some of it back! This trip to Hachinosu wasn't wasted!" Roger laughed loudly when he heard that.
When he left Laugh Tale, he had been completely broke. After coming to Hachinosu, he had finally become a good deal richer again.
From Morgans, he had extorted 1.5 billion berries for the exclusive news rights and another 200 million for the separate interview fee. Adding Wang Zhi's head, worth 300 million, Roger had already gained exactly two billion berries earlier.
Now there was another fourteen billion berries to divide.
Excluding the two apprentices Shanks and Buggy, who would only get some pocket money, there were thirty-four other members to split the 14 billion berries with!
That meant each person could still get over 400 million berries. After doing the math, Roger realized he would end up with nearly 2.5 billion berries in hand.
As long as he didn't go gambling like a madman, that would be more than enough for him to live comfortably for quite a while.
Everyone claimed this and that, and they quickly divided up all the various items on the ship, packing them into their own luggage.
When everything was finally done, they all sat on the deck and fell silent.
Roger reached out and stroked the deck of the Oro Jackson, his eyes filled with reluctance. "We can all leave… but what are we going to do with this old partner?"
The Oro Jackson was the three-masted sailing ship that Roger and his crew had commissioned from the master shipwright Tom in Water 7, back before Valthior had even joined them.
It had carried the dreams of the Roger Pirates, taking everyone through wind and waves, and helped them conquer this sea.
Everyone had washed its deck, repaired its damage, mended its sails, and cleaned the barnacles and seaweed from the bottom of the hull.
They had long since come to see it as a silent companion, the most important member of the Roger Pirates.
And now, at the moment of parting, everyone could leave, but only the Oro Jackson seemed like a child about to be abandoned.
Nozdon wiped his tears and said, "Why don't we just do what Valthior said and not disband? Let's live together with the Oro Jackson for the rest of our lives. Aren't pirates supposed to die on their ship, to die on the sea?"
"Stop saying foolish things. You all know that I'm very interested in coating, and after this, I plan to become a coating craftsman on Sabaody Archipelago. Why don't I take the Oro Jackson with me?" Rayleigh said after a moment of silence.
"There are too many outlaws on Sabaody Archipelago, and battles break out there every day. On top of that, it's too close to Marine Headquarters and Mary Geoise, and Celestial Dragons often appear there as well. It's not a good, stable environment. If the Oro Jackson rests there, I feel like something will happen to it sooner or later..." Gaban said after hesitating for a moment.
As they kept talking, everyone's eyes all turned toward Valthior.
"Hey, Valthior, since you're going to keep being a pirate after this anyway, why don't you take this old partner in too?" Roger said directly.
"This old partner is already the symbol of the Roger Pirates. I'm going to form a new pirate crew, so it wouldn't be right to use it as my flagship..." Valthior first shook his head, but then the corner of his mouth curled up as he said, "But if none of you can do it conveniently, then just leave it to me. I'll dock it in Wano and find a group of people to maintain and look after it every day. There definitely won't be any problems. And if there's a chance in the future, when everyone gathers together again, we can still board the ship and remember this moment together!"
With Valthior taking over and the Oro Jackson placed somewhere like Wano, a land easy to defend and hard to attack, everyone felt that it was very suitable.
What was more, maintaining a ship cost a great deal of money. Many people might have enough money to buy a ship, but not necessarily enough to keep one in good condition.
But Lord Valthior definitely would not care about that small amount of money. Looking at economic conditions, he was certainly the member of Roger's crew who could provide the best conditions for their old partner, the Oro Jackson.
So after Valthior spoke, everyone expressed their support one after another.
At this point, the Roger Pirates' belongings had been divided, and all matters had been arranged.
After looking around at everyone, Roger raised the bottle of liquor in his hand and said, "Then, for my final captain's order..."
As Roger's voice sounded, everyone raised their cups and bottles as well, looking toward this pirate captain who usually seemed unreliable, but who was in truth deeply accepted by them all.
"I hereby announce that the Roger Pirates are disbanded from this moment on. Brothers, from now on, all of you had better keep living well!!!" Roger shouted loudly, then said, "Cheers!!!"
"Cheers!!!"
On this day, no one left the Oro Jackson.
Everyone stayed aboard their old partner and drank themselves dead drunk.
On this day, for the first time in a long while, everyone did not drink Valthior's expensive wines.
Instead, they purposefully spent money on Hachinosu to buy a large quantity of the cheap, low-grade rum that pirates loved most. Concurrently, they sang that familiar song, Binks' Sake.
They sang and danced, crying, shouting, and laughing, concluding the most important journey of their lives.
The Roger Pirates, who had conquered the vast ocean and donned the ultimate crown, officially disbanded today!
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