Rayleigh stubbed out his cigarette, gazing at the youngest Fleet Admiral in Marine history with lingering emotion in his eyes.
He shook his head and let out a light chuckle.
"Purely in terms of achievements, Roger truly can't compare to you. Moreover, one of you is a pirate who turned the world upside down, while the other is a Fleet Admiral determined to end the Great Pirate Era - there's simply no basis for comparison."
"I came here solely to coat my ship," Orion's tone was placid, as if stating the most ordinary matter.
"As long as you remain content with your current situation, the latter half of your life will be more stable than anyone else's on these seas."
His tone shifted abruptly, his eyes carrying a hint of amusement.
"Putting aside everything else, the fact that Shakky has willingly accompanied an old coot like you all these years, living this mundane life, already makes you superior to all those so-called great pirates who once knelt before her skirts. After all, she was once the world's most beautiful woman who made countless heroes and champions become her devoted followers."
Rayleigh's smoking hand froze abruptly, cigarette ash scattering down.
He stared at Orion in astonishment, and only after a long moment did he exhale a thick cloud of smoke, smiling wryly.
"I never expected you'd even know about those old stories."
"I've said it before - there are few secrets in this world that escape my notice," Orion's reply was breezy and unconcerned.
Rayleigh fell silent.
As he looked at Orion, an extremely peculiar feeling welled up in his heart.
Though this was their first formal meeting, the other's gaze seemed as if he'd known him for a lifetime.
No, not just him - the way he looked at everyone was like this, as if their life trajectories had long been written in his script.
"Indeed," Rayleigh nodded thoughtfully, "You give me a strange feeling, as if you understand all of us perfectly."
Orion merely smiled, neither confirming nor denying.
Seeing this, Rayleigh didn't press further, tactfully changing the subject.
"You could easily enter the New World directly from the Holy Land via the Red Line. Why take the long way around, coming to Sabaody Archipelago for coating and entering through Fish-Man Island?"
"When taking trainees out for experience, one should naturally follow the complete route."
"You personally leading trainees for experience?" The surprise on Rayleigh's face deepened, "It seems these kids are quite extraordinary."
"Indeed, they're extraordinary," Orion's lips curved slightly upward, but his words dropped like a depth charge into the sea.
"One is the son of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger - Portgas D. Ace."
"The other is the son of the Revolutionary Army leader Monkey D. Dragon - Monkey D. Luffy."
"..."
Every expression on Rayleigh's face instantly froze solid.
...
Meanwhile, at the edge of a forest somewhere on Sabaody Archipelago.
"Hah... hah... We made it! We finally made it out!"
Sanji leaned forward with hands on his knees, panting heavily as he looked at the familiar shopping street in the distance, nearly weeping with joy.
Beside him, Ace and Sabo also appeared utterly exhausted, their clothes covered in mud and grass stains.
Only Zoro remained unfazed, still carrying his three swords with a look of utter dissatisfaction as he clicked his tongue.
"Tch, we got out so quickly. How boring."
"Boring my ass!!" Sanji instantly bristled, launching a flying kick toward him.
"You damn moss-head! You call that fast?! We've been wandering in this damn forest for nearly an hour!!"
"Shut it, curly-brows!" Zoro easily dodged, retorting with a stern expression. "If it weren't for me, we'd still be going in circles! I was the one who led us in the right direction!"
"Is that what you call the right direction?!" Ace couldn't hold back either, pointing at a charred tree in the forest.
"We've circled around that tree I marked seven times! Seven times!"
"Exactly," Sabo massaged his forehead with a despairing sigh. "Zoro, I'm begging you, never tell anyone you know directions from now on, okay?"
"Hmph, only fools can't appreciate my superb sense of direction." Zoro curled his lip and stopped arguing.
The four of them bickered noisily as they entered the commercial street.
...
Meanwhile, at Shakky's Ripoff BAR.
The bar door was shoved open with a bang.
"SUPER! What a fantastic bar!"
Franky struck his classic pose as he strode in confidently.
Behind him, Brook leaned on his sword cane, his hollow eye sockets scanning the women at the bar counter.
"Yohohohoho, what a dazzling constellation! Lovely ladies, though this might be abrupt, could you let me have a peek at your panties?"
The moment he finished speaking, an icy killing intent instantly locked onto Brook.
Hancock eyes filled with disgust.
If not for the fact that he was Orion's crew member, this skeleton would already be reduced to stone dust.
"You shameless skeleton, if you dare say one more word, this empress will make sure you never find peace in the afterlife."
"Ah! Such an ice-cold beauty! I feel like my heart's about to stop beating! Though I haven't had a heart for a long time! Yohohohoho!"
Shakky just shook her head with a smile at these lively characters and continued wiping glasses.
Hawkins quietly found a corner seat and took out his Tarot cards.
"Hey, fortune-teller, what are you calculating this time?" Franky asked curiously as he moved closer.
Hawkins expressionlessly flipped over a card.
"The probability of bloodshed occurring in this bar: ninety percent."
...
At the Coating Dock.
The smile had long vanished from Rayleigh's face, replaced by unprecedented shock and bewilderment.
Roger's child?
He slowly lowered his head, looking at the long-extinguished cigarette butt between his fingers, turbulent waves stirring in his murky eyes.
After a long while, he finally looked up, revealing a bitter smile uglier than crying.
"It makes sense that you'd know so many secrets even we weren't aware of, and that you found Roger's son."
"But what I never expected was that not only did you not execute him, you threw him into Marine, and now you're personally taking them out for training."
"Fleet Admiral Orion, perhaps this era truly will become great because of you."