"Gulp… ha!"
After half a cup of alcohol, a man wearing a black headscarf with a red nose looked extremely dejected.
"Captain Roger… sniff…"
"So many Marines have gathered in Loguetown. That bastard Garp's ship left a few days ago. Maybe we still have a chance, Shanks…"
Beside him, the red-haired Shanks wearing a straw hat did not respond. Instead, he turned his head and glanced at the people drinking in the tavern.
"Bang."
Buggy slammed his cup down heavily. "Damn it, Shanks, didn't you hear what I said? If… if Rayleigh and the others all came…"
Before Buggy could finish, Shanks spoke, "The vice captain and the others understand the captain's will and choice, and they accept it. We came here to see the captain off, not to save him."
Buggy stood frozen for a long time.
"But…"
"There are no buts. I also respect the captain's choice. No one in this world can capture the freest man, Captain Roger. This is his own decision."
After a long silence, Buggy drank the remaining half cup in one go.
In a corner of the tavern, Rowan sat quietly drinking, wearing a cloak. His shadow clone had already gone to bathe, while he stayed here waiting for someone.
However, after half a day passed, even until nightfall, the cloaked figure he was waiting for did not appear.
During this time, Mihawk, one of the future Seven Warlords, came in to ask if there was any wine. Crocodile, with a large cigar in his mouth, sat quietly at another table.
As expected, the man Vegapunk described as someone who hated war did not like drinking much.
Pulling his hood lower and putting on a black mask, Rowan left the tavern.
At this moment, his shadow clone had already returned to the temporary residence and was pretending to be drunk.
Just as Rowan stepped out of the tavern, a man in a dark green cloak walked past the entrance. As the wind brushed by, Rowan caught a glimpse of his side profile.
What a coincidence.
At this point in time, he was still known as the leader of the Freedom Army, Monkey D. Dragon.
Unhurried, Rowan followed the figure ahead. The streets gradually became more deserted, and soon they had left the town.
At that moment, Dragon stopped.
"A masked man. Are you from the World Government's intelligence agency? Come out."
Turning around, Dragon looked at Rowan. "Did your superior not tell you that if you discover my whereabouts, you should report immediately instead of tracking me alone?"
The moment his words fell, his hand had already reached Rowan.
Rowan crossed his arms to block.
"Bang."
The sudden burst of force pushed Rowan back repeatedly, and his arms went numb.
"The gap is huge…"
Rowan shook his arms and stood up. "But I am not one of those Celestial Dragon lapdogs from CP. In fact, if you look at the future, our positions are the same."
"Future? Position?"
Dragon frowned. "I am not interested in such mysterious talk. If you are not from the World Government, then let this end here."
Rowan smiled. "Maybe you should wait. I have something you need right now. The Freedom Army, formed by people who cannot survive otherwise, should be lacking money and weapons."
Dragon, who was about to leave, stopped.
After a moment, he said, "Come with me."
…
More than ten minutes later, in the basement of a closed grocery store.
"So this is one of your ways of obtaining weapons. Loguetown is close to Reverse Mountain, so even without using Marine or World Government routes, supplies can still be sent to the Grand Line."
Rowan looked at Dragon. "But bringing me here like this, aren't you afraid this place will be exposed?"
Dragon replied calmly, "That is why you need to convince me. Also, if your position is the same as mine, shouldn't you take off your mask now?"
After thinking for a moment, Rowan removed his mask. "I just arrived in Loguetown today. I waited for you in the tavern for a long time, then remembered that you do not like drinking and prefer tea."
Dragon looked at Rowan's face. Very young.
"You know a lot about me. Or is this some kind of Devil Fruit ability?"
"You can think of it that way."
Rowan did not deny it. "Right now, I have a batch of treasure and weapons. It is not a lot, but you should need it."
As his words fell, long blades from the Naruto world, flintlock guns from the pirate world, and modern firearms from the Adventures world appeared in front of him.
Then they materialized into reality.
"This ability… creating objects out of nothing?"
Dragon's hand tightened.
No one understood the current situation of the Freedom Army better than he did. No money, no weapons, even food required support.
The East Blue was his hometown. He knew more people here, and because of his father, it was relatively peaceful, making it easier to obtain supplies.
Even so, it was only a drop in the ocean.
But if the ability of the person in front of him could create weapons, then the newly formed Freedom Army could be fully armed.
"Do not think too much."
Rowan interrupted his thoughts. "These things do not appear out of nowhere. There is also some treasure, but it is not here."
Dragon fell silent for a while, thinking deeply before speaking.
"I do not know the reason, but these things are indeed what I need right now."
Rowan shook his head slightly. "No. Money and weapons are necessary to arm a force, but you have not made your decision yet, have you?"
"The Freedom Army gives oppressed civilians the courage to resist. That is the meaning, right? But the strong in this world cannot be fought against just because ordinary people pick up weapons with courage."
"The Freedom Army is still very weak. So weak that the World Government has not even paid attention to you yet. This is an opportunity, but only if you understand what you want to do."
What do I want to do?
A trace of confusion flashed in Dragon's eyes.
As the son of the Marine hero Garp, he had been trained in the ways of the Marines since childhood. He understood how powerful the strong in this world were.
The combat strength of ordinary people was sometimes nothing more than numbers that would collapse after a wave of Conqueror's Haki.
But…
What he had seen in his youth made it impossible for him to remain indifferent.
So… he had to do something, even if he himself hated war.
[Note:According to Vegapunk's recent memories, at this time the Revolutionary Army was still called the Freedom Army. In the same year as the destruction of Ohara, Ivankov brought him to find Kuma, and together with Ginny they formally established the Revolutionary Army.]