Chapter 216: The Era of Rampage, The Era of Boredom
Hearing Nereus ask this, Roger was taken aback for a moment before bursting into loud laughter.
Nereus's words were spot on; everyone had their own motives, and Roger himself was no exception.
Entrusting his child to Garp was Roger's own "scheme" against the Marine.
He believed Garp wouldn't just ignore the child; he trusted his own judgment of character.
As for Nereus's question...
"During this final voyage, I discovered many things. For example, this world used to be one massive, connected landmass. The Four Blues and the countless islands that exist today are the result of a war from back then.
"That massive war shattered the world into pieces.
"I also discovered the truth that the World Government has always tried to hide.
"Without a doubt, the current World Government is the victor of that era; they reaped the fruits of victory.
"But they are terrified. They fear the true 'D', and they fear everything from the past. If they had truly won through absolute strength, why would they be so afraid of the losers?
"This proves that their past victory was not an honorable one. If it happened all over again, even the World Government couldn't guarantee they would win. That's why they want to completely smother these things.
"When I first set out to sea, I wanted to turn this world upside down.
"Only by leaving one's homeland and sprinting toward freedom can this world undergo a complete and utter transformation!"
"Wahahaha! Roger, you bastard... I actually admire you a bit now! Those idiots in the World Government must be running around like headless chickens by now!
"Publicly executing you seems to have been their most foolish decision yet."
While Roger summarized his thoughts, Rocks's laughter barely stopped. Not being able to personally participate in this chaotic era was Rocks's greatest regret.
As for the consequences of ushering in the Great Pirate Era, Roger and the others hadn't considered them.
This massive chaos might accelerate the World Government's collapse, but in the process, the World Government wouldn't be the only one affected.
Whether in the Grand Line or the Four Blues, the world would face the devastating impact of countless rookie pirates. The people setting sail weren't revolutionaries with grand, noble aspirations; they were pirates born from the temptation of wealth, power, and various other desires.
Roger had ignited the entire sea with his own life.
By making non-affiliated nations suffer miserably, the World Government had successfully highlighted the superiority of their affiliated nations.
But under the World Government's rule, centered entirely around the Celestial Dragons, the entire sea had long become a powder keg.
Roger was the spark. At this moment, whether in the Four Blues or the Grand Line, countless people set foot on their journeys with the Great Treasure as their ultimate goal.
The curtain on what would be known as the Great Pirate Era had been drawn. Nereus didn't linger in the River of Death space for too long, quickly pulling his consciousness back to the outside world.
The onlookers had long dispersed. They were frantically scrambling to board ships and set sail, as if leaving a step earlier guaranteed they would claim the Great Treasure.
According to World Government regulations, even fleets belonging to affiliated nations had to submit an application to Mary Geoise before entering the Grand Line.
Only after the application was approved could they sail; otherwise, they would all be branded as pirates.
Back in the day, the fleet of Mont Blanc Noland from the North Blue had been delayed by this very application process for years.
These people now setting out to sea had practically already branded themselves with the label of "pirate."
The torrential rain showed no signs of stopping. The air was filled with all sorts of laughter—laughter that grated harshly on Garp's ears.
He had thought entrusting him with an unborn child was the "grand finale" Roger had prepared. He didn't expect that to not even qualify as an appetizer.
"Roger... you absolute bastard..."
Turning himself in, knowing he didn't have much time left... everything finally made sense.
With just one sentence, he had turned all the Marines' recent efforts into worthless bubbles.
The deterrence brought by killing the Pirate King couldn't even begin to compare to the sheer temptation of that colossal treasure.
The boiling frenzy in Loguetown was enough to show it all. Spurred by Roger, an unimaginable number of people were about to walk the path of piracy.
"An era of pirates..."
Amphelite muttered to herself. She, too, understood exactly what consequences Roger's words would trigger.
The rain couldn't extinguish the flames of a Lunarian. None of them held umbrellas, simply standing amidst the downpour. For Nereus and Chloe, this curtain of rain actually felt quite comfortable.
"This trip is over. It's time for us to go home," Nereus said. "Looking at this frenzy, it won't be long before the pirates start showing up outside our borders."
As the midpoint of the Grand Line, the island dividing Paradise and the New World, Fish-man Island would face the most massive impact.
The seven magnetic routes of the Grand Line might disperse the pirates initially, but ultimately, all these people would converge on Fish-man Island. If this were the Fish-man Island of the original timeline, this era would have been an unmitigated disaster.
Lacking the strength to handle the crisis themselves, they would have had to rely entirely on Whitebeard's protection to maintain order.
But things were different now. Today's Fish-man Island possessed the power to weather the impending storm.
However, this massive influx of rookie pirates would deal a severe blow to the existing order. It was entirely foreseeable that many, lured by the temptation of profit, would attempt to violate the established bans.
It would require sufficient iron and blood to make these people understand what the rules truly were.
The news of the Great Treasure simply couldn't be suppressed. Even without newspapers and reporters, the revelation spread like wildfire through word of mouth.
The news of Pirate King Roger's death, coupled with the legend of the ultimate treasure, ONE PIECE, swept across the world like an unstoppable plague.
In just a few short days, this news even penetrated the supposedly impenetrable iron walls of Impel Down.
"Ooh! Ooh! Ooooh—!"
At the very bottom of Impel Down lay the lightless Eternal Hell.
This was the secretive Level 6. Most people in the outside world didn't even know a sixth level existed in Impel Down.
Those imprisoned here were monsters the World Government deemed taboo, entities they sought to completely erase from history. Their fates were nothing more than a death sentence or rotting away until they died.
Yet at this moment, unprecedented, fanatical roars erupted from this level.
"The Great Pirate Era has begun! Let me out! The outside is my true battlefield!"
However, deep inside one of the cells, the Golden Lion lay on the floor looking utterly despondent, completely out of sync with the surrounding frenzy.
"Roger is dead, and a bunch of trash starts barking. This sea has really gotten boring.
"Harald submitted to the World Government, that guy Nereus is definitely brewing some conspiracy, and Newgate is fully focused on playing house... Heh, I really don't understand what you guys are thinking.
"But the era after Roger... should be yours to rule now. Who will be the master of this new era... It's quite something to look forward to..."
The Golden Lion kept muttering to himself, full of disdain for the other pirates in Impel Down. Despite how fiercely they were shouting now, the moment Vice Warden Magellan came down here, they would all instantly fall dead silent.
"Forget it, I'll rest for a bit... Damn Garp and Sengoku, once I heal my injuries, I'll go back out there and have another 'chat' with you."
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