"Really?!" Roger said excitedly, not at all like someone who had just been told they had a curse on them and that their death was set.
"Yeah... the Dead Sea Scrolls... I don't remember much of what's in it, but I can still tell you some things," Rayleigh said.
"Especially since the book is full of pictures, and there's very little writing."
"What does it say?" Toguro asked quickly.
"I can tell you, but can you remove the curse on Roger?" Rayleigh asked.
Toguro frowned. "I think this is a clue I should get, not something I have to give up more for."
It's true that he was the one who told the Roger Pirates about these things, and he's already given up some clues. Now it's the Roger Pirates' turn to share their information.
"But, don't even think about getting rid of the curse. Not even Tunfo, a real big demon, could do anything, let alone me, a demon who started halfway through."
His words made the Roger Pirates' faces turn to ice, because it was like telling Roger he was doomed and no one could save him!
But Roger himself didn't seem to care much. He just urged Rayleigh to say, "Hurry up and tell me about the Dead Sea Scrolls! You're killing me!"
"You... okay." Rayleigh looked at Roger, sighed, and then said helplessly.
"But because the book is mostly pictures, I can only tell you what the pictures showed, because I can't understand the little bit of writing on them."
"In a huge space, there's a body nailed to a cross, with a spear stuck through its heart."
"She seems to be attractive to some strange creatures. Countless people want to get her body and keep moving towards this space."
"Later, someone touched the body, which caused a huge disaster."
"What disaster?!" Toguro pressed.
"I don't know, but almost half the world was destroyed." Rayleigh was thinking about what he'd seen before, but suddenly his face changed!
"?!" Rayleigh suddenly grabbed his head, his face struggling.
"Rayleigh!" Roger immediately ran over and helped Rayleigh up, asking quickly, "What's wrong?!"
"No..." Rayleigh's body seemed to be electrocuted. His face was twisting, and finally some confusion appeared in his eyes.
"My... memory is gone." Rayleigh said painfully.
Then, the change in his body slowly disappeared.
"I don't know why, but my memory of the Dead Sea Scrolls stops there," Rayleigh said, holding his head and breathing quickly.
"It must be Makima's doing." Toguro sat not far from Rayleigh and said calmly, "I knew she wouldn't let us know all this so easily."
"The woman on the cross sealed in the huge space must be the witch's body, right?" Rayleigh's body returned to normal. He took a deep breath, and at the same time, he felt an endless desire to know more about this.
He knew he must have said something important about the world, and maybe it was related to Makima's plan.
They have always felt a vague fear of Makima, because the strength and mystery she shows make her completely incomprehensible, but now it seems they have caught some clues left by Makima!
Roger saw that Rayleigh seemed okay and breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't help saying, "That's right, Makima got the witch's body. If the Dead Sea Scrolls are correct, doesn't that mean... she already has a very important advantage?"
"Also, what are those monsters? Why does touching the witch's body cause half the world to be destroyed?"
"I don't know... everything needs to be explored further." Toguro shook his head. "The things Makima wants to do must be extraordinary."
Everyone agreed with this.
"We want to continue exploring, but what about the curse on Roger?" Mumei said at this time. "Did Makima put this curse on him too?"
"I don't know," Toguro said directly. "But if there's anyone in this world who can do something about this curse, maybe it's her."
"..."
Roger didn't answer. Should he go to Makima?
He's worked with Makima twice, but really, he's just been used by her twice, right?
The first time was to deal with Aatrox, and the second time was to deal with Kozuki Oden, so Roger really didn't want to see Makima again.
"Let's leave it at that," Toguro said. "We both know what we wanted to know. This time, we each got what we needed. Maybe we'll meet again in the future."
He drank the last of his wine, then stood up and left the ship.
After he left, the Roger Pirates looked at Roger with worried expressions.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?!" Roger waved his hand, saying quite optimistically, "I might live for another eight years. It's not like I'm going to die tomorrow. You're making me nervous!"
"Go to Makima?" Rayleigh asked. "Maybe Makima has some way to deal with the curse on you. Toguro is right about that."
After all...
She saved Sengoku once.
Sengoku was also dying at the time, seriously injured by the demon lord Aatrox, but Makima still saved him in that situation. Maybe Roger can be saved too.
And Roger knows more than they do, because he knows through An that Sengoku wasn't even just dying at the time, he was practically dead. But Sengoku still lived in that situation, but at the cost of a devil fruit.
"Anyway, don't worry about it yet," Roger said. "Let that damn curse go to hell. I won't stop because of something like that."
He drank it all in one gulp and shouted loudly, "I will never die before I find the ultimate treasure!"
.........
"A curse and the Dead Sea Scrolls...?"
Meanwhile, on an unknown island, An, who had finished testing all the data, also received news about Roger.
She also learned all the information that Toguro brought. Her heart was like a churning sea, but on the surface, she tried her best to keep her expression from being seen.
The witch's body in Wano Country that Tunfo and Toguro have been looking for...
Was taken away by Makima?
So where is she now? Nailed to a cross as mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls?
An suddenly looked at Makima. At this time, she felt that Makima might be more terrifying than any demon.
What does she want to do? Does she want to make things happen as the Dead Sea Scrolls say, and destroy half the world?
She...
Maybe she can use her identity to take a look, to see the Dead Sea Scrolls on Pandora Island, and to see if there is a witch's body there and in The Black Order!
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