Chapter 3: Encounter, Future Pirate King Roger
After building the boat, Rono spent another day packing up his parents' belongings.
He made a family photo of his parents and himself into a necklace and hung it on his chest, and also took all the Berries from his home.
After going to his parents' graves to say goodbye.
Rono came to the port and stepped onto the sailboat, which was about the same size as the Going Merry.
This ship was also named by Rono himself as the "Revenge."
It was just sunset.
The vast mountains were like a sea, the setting sun like blood. It illuminated the sea, turning it bright red—very beautiful, yet very sorrowful.
Standing on the deck of the Revenge, Rono looked back at the island where he had lived for ten years.
The happy life with his parents, the playing around with his friends, and the time spent with the island's residents.
Bit by bit, it all flooded his mind, and Rono's feelings were somewhat complicated.
In that instant, Rono's mind flashed to the scene in *Naruto* where Sasuke, being taken away by the Sound Four, said goodbye to Sakura.
Sasuke at that time didn't say goodbye to Naruto, Kakashi, or the others. He took advantage of a moment when no one was paying attention and left quietly.
At that moment, were Sasuke's feelings somewhat similar to his own right now?
But very quickly, such emotions were replaced by hatred and anger!
Without saying goodbye to anyone, Rono left the village where he had lived for ten years and resolutely set out to sea!
Rono's goal at this time was very clear: to get stronger, and then do everything possible to kill the Celestial Dragons!
No, to kill *all* of them!
Let those beasts also feel that fear of being killed!
As long as he could find strong people, he could pick up good rewards.
Right now, the most formidable pirate crew on the seas was undoubtedly the Rocks Pirates.
Rono remembered that Rocks's target was also the Celestial Dragons, and the Rocks Pirates also had many powerful monsters.
Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Charlotte Linlin, John, Wang Zhi, Silver Axe, and others were all future, famous powerhouses on the sea.
By being around these strong people, his speed of becoming stronger would definitely be very fast!
Thinking of this, Rono pushed the oars and sailed towards the Grand Line.
The seas today were not yet like the Great Pirate Era after Roger's death, with pirates visible everywhere.
The current East Blue could be said to be calm. Even if there were pirates, they were all small-fry level pirates.
Their strength was only limitedly stronger than ordinary people.
These pirates' strength didn't even qualify them for a bounty.
He encountered two groups of pirates in a row, but Rono couldn't pick up any attributes or useful abilities from either group.
He casually used his Conqueror's Haki and knocked both groups of pirates unconscious.
After looting all the Berries from both pirate ships, Rono left, satisfied.
"It looks like I'm running out of freshwater. I need to restock."
Back on the ship, Rono realized he had been at sea for almost a week.
Food and freshwater were almost gone.
So, Rono prepared to dock at the nearest island to replenish his freshwater.
Fortunately, he had robbed two pirate crews these past few days and accumulated some wealth.
He docked at a nearby inhabited island. Rono stopped the Revenge at the port and went ashore to find a place to replenish his freshwater.
This time, Rono planned to fill every room except his own bedroom with freshwater.
Anyway, he was the only one on this ship, so he didn't need the other rooms. This would also save time.
Time is money. Rono didn't want to keep stopping to restock freshwater; it was too much of a waste of time.
"Hey, hey! Is this your ship? What a nice ship!"
Just as Rono finished filling the last room, a strange voice suddenly came from the deck, causing Rono to instantly become vigilant.
The Conqueror's Haki inside him began to stir.
Could it be that the pirates from before had come for revenge?
Rono thought this, and the moment he opened the door, he prepared to strike first by releasing his Conqueror's Haki.
But the next moment, Rono suddenly froze!
Because he saw the person clearly!
This... This is?
The familiar straw hat, the bright smile. Although he was dressed extremely simply and carried a patched-up bundle, the person in front of him truly shocked Rono!
That's right. The person before him was the future, famous Pirate King, adored by pirates all over the world, who single-handedly started the Great Pirate Era: Gol D. Roger!
According to the timeline, Roger had indeed just set out to sea at this time. He was still alone, without a single crew member.
"You're Roger?" Rono quickly adjusted his composure and asked.
"Arere? You know my name? Am I that famous?"
Roger got excited too. He hadn't expected to be recognized. Could it be that he was already famous on the seas?
"Oh yeah, what's your name?" The thick-skinned Roger didn't care why Rono knew his name and asked him back.
"My name is Rono."
Rono hadn't expected that he would actually meet Roger just by stopping at a random island to restock freshwater.
Looking at Roger, Rono's eyes lit up, like a starving man seeing a delicious meal.
To think he'd meet the future Pirate King here!
Although he looked a bit goofy, this was, after all, the future Pirate King!
If he could pick up some special ability from Roger, wouldn't that be a huge gain? Rono was very much looking forward to this.
"So your name is Rono! That's great!"
After hearing Rono introduce himself, Roger immediately became interested.
"Rono, don't you think us meeting here is fate?"
"Are you interested in turning the world upside down with me?!"
Roger flashed his iconic smile and directly invited Rono.
These lines... seem a bit familiar.
Aren't these the lines he used to invite Rayleigh?