"…"
"!!!"
Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
At the true summit of power in the world, within the Room of Flowers,
the Five Elders, who always carried themselves with authority and composure, all had their pupils contract as they stared at the old man on the Den Den Mushi screen, the one with two thick moustache tufts, a full head of white hair, and a huge grin showing all his teeth.
Cold sweat rolled down their faces.
How was this possible...
That man Roger...
was still alive???
"Impossible!!! More than twenty years ago, the Navy had already confirmed Roger's terminal illness. Even the executioners were personally sent by the World Government..."
"How could someone who died over twenty years ago have quietly survived until now?!"
"How could something this absurd happen?!"
The Five Elders' brows twitched as they cried out in shock.
Their voices immediately drew Imu's attention.
That merciless, indifferent gaze swept over them, instantly making the Five Elders feel as though they had fallen into an icy abyss. They hurriedly lowered their heads and knelt properly once more.
Fortunately, Imu did not seem to care about their breach of decorum. Instead, as if deep in thought, Imu continued watching the image on the Den Den Mushi.
"I see. So one of the D. clan who created the current era, hm?"
"But..."
"Not every D. possesses the qualification to shake the highest authority."
Imu had naturally kept an eye on Roger before, but had never placed too much importance on him.
As far as threat level went,
Roger had never compared to Rocks of the David line from long ago,
nor did he compare to Ozz now, whose talent was enough to rival, and perhaps even surpass, the Twenty Kings.
Those layered, emotionless eyes remained fixed on the farce unfolding through the Den Den Mushi. Imu did not turn around to look at the Five Elders kneeling on the floor.
Instead, a deep and unreadable voice rang out.
"Explain yourselves. Why were you so desperate to request an audience?"
"I trust it was not merely because of this so-called greatest war."
There was no emotion in Imu's voice.
As though this Paramount War, with its outrageous participants, enormous scale, and vast military strength, amounted to very little in Imu's eyes.
After all, this was someone who had witnessed truly grand spectacles.
To such a being, a battle where even Conqueror's Haki could not spread across an entire sea was nothing worth dwelling on.
At that moment, the Five Elders' expressions became exceptionally grim.
Beads of sweat formed on their faces. Their brows tightened.
In the end, Saint Warcury clenched his teeth and forced himself to speak.
"Lord Imu, we have already issued an order to Marine Headquarters to classify Ozz as a target as well!!!"
"Hm?"
Only then did Imu seem to show a bit of interest. That name was still remembered.
It belonged to perhaps the only figure of this era whose strength had reached that level.
"Because..."
The Five Elders' eyes turned savage.
"The secret experiment he has been conducting threatens the very foundation of the World Government itself!!!"
Imu stared at them coldly.
"He wants to... clone Joy Boy..."
"and bring him back into this world!!!"
At those words,
Imu's eyes widened instantly, then a look of shock and fury appeared.
"You said Joy... Boy?"
"Yes. Not Nika, but Joy Boy!!!"
Silence filled the room.
Contrary to expectations, there was no thunderous rage, no burst of Conqueror's Haki.
The Five Elders remained kneeling with their heads lowered, sensing only an eerie calm.
They were instantly confused.
Why?
Only after a long while did an indifferent voice break the silence.
"That is impossible."
Imu cast them a cold glance, then returned to watching the Den Den Mushi screen.
The name had clearly soured Imu's mood somewhat,
yet instinctively, Imu still refused to believe it. Joy Boy had vanished too far into the ages,
so far that no human alive besides Imu had ever seen him.
And now, someone who had never even laid eyes on a figure like Joy Boy dared to claim he could recreate him.
To Imu, that was nothing more than a fool's fantasy.
"The Sun God Nika may perhaps reappear in this world. Of that, I have no doubt. But..."
"There is only one Joy Boy. His greatness did not come from the Nika Fruit. Even without it, his Conqueror's Haki alone would have made him the strongest person in all history."
"Even that young king named Ozz could never possibly bring Joy Boy back."
Imu stared at the young man on the broadcast, the long-haired, strikingly handsome face still carrying a faint smile, and the eyes seemed to narrow slightly.
"Still, you have acted correctly. For him to touch a nerve of the World Government so directly, even one who possesses the qualifications of our kind must be met with a response."
The voice paused.
"Go. Add more fuel to this war."
...
"Alright... Buggy, you've cried enough already, haven't you?"
Old Roger looked helplessly at Buggy, who was still clinging to him like an ornament and refusing to let go.
But Buggy was completely overwhelmed.
"I really... really never thought that in this lifetime I'd get to see you again, Captain Roger!!!"
Only after leaving the Roger Pirates and having to fend for himself had Buggy finally understood just how hard it was to survive on the sea.
If not for Ozz, Buggy didn't even know how many setbacks and hardships he would have had to go through.
"Hey, Captain Roger, I still don't know why you came back to life, but please, please rebuild the Roger Pirates!!!"
"I'm willing to be your apprentice again!!!"
"Don't be so wilful, Buggy."
Ozz could only sigh. Buggy was way too emotional.
And while Buggy clung to Roger, all the subordinates who had been following him this whole time looked as though their brains had short-circuited.
Their mouths hung open as they stared at how naturally Buggy acted in front of those two legendary figures, as though he had returned home.
"Hey, hey, hey... sure, the Pirate King still being alive is shocking enough, but!!!"
"Captain Buggy is actually this close to Pirate King Roger and Black Spear Ozz, and even asked to rebuild the legendary Roger Pirates!!!"
"Yeah, yeah!!! A living legend on par with Black Spear actually said he'd willingly go back to being an apprentice on Roger's ship..."
"How loyal and sentimental do you have to be for that?!"
"We'll worship you forever, Captain Buggy!!!"
Roger heard all that and bared his teeth in a broad grin.
"So you really became a captain, Buggy. Hahahahaha!!!"
"Alright... let's go see some old friends first!!!"
"And also..."
When old Roger reached that point, his expression dimmed a little, as if from guilt, or perhaps nostalgia.
"My foolish son too..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The tides are shifting, and secrets linger in the dark... Step into the shadows early on P@treon, where the next chapter awaits before the world sees it.
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"