Chapter 217: The Town of the Beginning and the End
Loguetown had now acquired a brand-new moniker.
As the place where Roger first set sail, and ultimately the place where his journey concluded, Loguetown was endowed with a completely new significance entirely because of one man.
The start and the finish, the Town of the Beginning and the End—this became Loguetown's new title.
And right now, Loguetown was in an incredibly unique state.
In the waters surrounding Loguetown, several flags gradually emerged over the horizon. Painted with various iterations of the skull and crossbones, there was no doubt these were pirate ships.
Spurred by Roger's declaration regarding the Great Treasure, the pirates of the East Blue were the very first batch to be stirred into a frenzy.
If Roger could start from the East Blue and ultimately become the Pirate King, then so could they.
But what awaited them was not a brand-new voyage, but a sky blackened by a localized downpour of cannonballs.
"Fist Meteor Swarm!"
Neatly stacked cannonballs were brought from the racks to the docks by Marine soldiers, where Garp acted as a human artillery cannon, hurling every single one of them out to sea.
Though it was just one man, he unleashed a barrage of firepower far more ferocious than a coordinated coastal battery volley.
"I can't just let you bastard brats... set out to sea like this..."
Looking at the shattered remains of the pirate ships sinking beneath his barrage, Garp let out a heavy sigh. It was obvious this sigh wasn't drawn from physical exhaustion, but from sheer mental fatigue.
An era of rampaging chaos, an endless, incalculable swarm of pirates, and the heavy burden Roger had unceremoniously dumped on him—all of it left Garp feeling utterly drained.
Loguetown had seemingly become a pilgrimage site in the eyes of pirates, especially those from the East Blue who, influenced by Roger, desperately wanted to surge into the Grand Line.
Since Loguetown was the absolute final resupply stop in the East Blue before entering the Grand Line, various factors led to the entire pirate population of the East Blue converging on the town right now.
However, the transmission of information always suffered from a delay. These pirates only saw Roger's grand declaration; they completely ignored the fact that, due to Roger's execution, Loguetown was currently heavily garrisoned by a massive Marine force, including several of their absolute top-tier combatants.
Even the Great Pirates of the New World wouldn't encounter a lineup of this caliber unless the World Government explicitly issued an order for a decisive war.
In a sense, the very first wave of East Blue pirates was completely wiped out near Loguetown before they even had the chance to enter the Grand Line.
The truly smart ones had set sail the very moment Roger was executed, back when the Marines' attention was still entirely focused on Roger himself. They certainly wouldn't throw themselves directly into the net now.
There were also those who, lacking the personal capability to leave Loguetown immediately, remained residing in the town, biding their time until the Marines finally departed.
Currently, the Marines' primary focus was on those preparing to leave port or those who had just arrived. For the people who showed no immediate intention of setting sail, the impact was minimal.
Right now, Buggy was sitting inside the tavern that bore Roger's name on its signboard, listening to the patrons boast about his captain's legendary name, while fantasizing about a future that he felt was entirely unrealistic.
At this moment, Buggy was equally lost. The Roger Pirates had disbanded long ago, and Roger's death had brought a permanent end to it all.
Previously, Buggy had his own ideas. He had always believed that Roger viewed Shanks as his true successor.
The very moment Shanks received Roger's straw hat and the weight of Roger's expectations, Buggy had been standing right there watching.
Losing his own treasure map, accidentally swallowing the Chop-Chop Fruit, and becoming a lead weight in the water...
A lot of that was his own fault. If he hadn't been so greedy for the fruit's monetary value, he wouldn't have panicked and swallowed it whole when Shanks surprised him.
But regardless of the past, in Buggy's eyes, Shanks's future was infinitely brighter than his own.
Since Roger's wish was for Shanks to inherit his mantle, Buggy was willing to give up certain things and support his friend for the sake of that dream.
Just like how Rayleigh had supported Roger, Shanks was already the captain in Buggy's eyes.
However...
"I've changed my mind. For now... no, I'm not planning to go just yet. But I will continue being a pirate."
When Buggy asked Shanks when he planned to set sail and take his own ship to Laugh Tale, Shanks had hesitated.
To Buggy, this hesitation was an act of cowardice. It was a "betrayal" of Roger.
"I misjudged you, Shanks, you bastard... So the King of the next era... isn't you..."
This was the era Roger had ignited. As the successor chosen by Roger, Shanks should have been the very first to set sail. That was Buggy's most straightforward line of reasoning.
After that, the two parted ways. What Shanks was off doing now, Buggy didn't know. What he himself should do, Buggy also didn't know. He simply lingered in the tavern, consumed by a lingering sense of pessimism.
As for Nereus and his family, although they were preparing to end their trip and return to Fish-man Island, they were still lingering in Loguetown for the time being.
Traveling from the East Blue back to Fish-man Island was going to take some time regardless, so there was no need to rush.
Buying some souvenirs before heading back was also perfectly normal.
Loguetown wasn't originally a tourist destination, nor was it famous for any particular local specialty. Ironically, the businesses booming the most right now were the various weapon shops.
Whether they were pirate ships, merchant vessels, or even small fishing boats, it was best to carry weapons for self-defense when setting sail. In an ocean like the East Blue, where "ordinary people" made up the vast majority, firearms and blades still held sufficient deterrence.
And those ordinary people who had just decided to become pirates had an utterly massive demand for weapons.
As a result, the original owners of these weapon shops were currently making a killing. They were even eagerly hoping Garp and his forces would hurry up and leave so their business could flourish even more.
"These kinds of swords are a dime a dozen everywhere. There's no need to bring this kind of trash back from the East Blue, is there?"
Amphelite was a sword user herself. While she couldn't recite the names of all the Meito from memory, she could instantly distinguish a good blade from a bad one.
Whether it was the weapons hanging on the walls or the ones haphazardly tossed into barrels and onto shelves, in her eyes, they were all incredibly mediocre. In terms of quality, they were even inferior to the standard-issue blades distributed by the Marines.
If the user's technique was lacking, these swords would snap after just a few heavy clashes.
"You can't have expectations that are too high for a sword worth only a few tens of thousands of Berries. Besides, there are actually some decent blades hidden in here," Nereus remarked casually.
While they spoke, Chloe was curiously peering into a wooden barrel nearby.
Neither Amphelite nor Nereus interfered with her. Sharp objects posed no danger to her. No matter how sharp a blade was, it still required someone with sufficient strength to wield it in order to unleash a truly powerful slash.
These weren't magical divine artifacts. If they were just sitting there, even if Chloe squeezed the blade tightly with all her might, the most it would do is leave a faint white mark on her palm.
Given her height, the wooden barrels holding the swords were quite a bit taller than she was. Yet, one particular sword among them gave Chloe a very strange feeling.
Compared to all the ordinary swords in the shop, this one seemed as if it could "speak"...
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