Heading out to sea is a massive hurdle for some, yet a total breeze for others.
Usually, it's a question of your principles, your conscience, or your physical limits. But in the world of One Piece, it boils down to one thing: the ship.
Forget the god-tier abilities and reality-warping powers; for anyone serious about the ocean, the ship is your lifeblood. This holds true for the Marines and pirates alike. On these bizarre waters, it doesn't matter how terrifyingly strong you are or how much raw power you pack—you still need to eat, and you still need to sleep.
Sure, you have absolute freaks like Rayleigh who can swim across the Calm Belt, and Li Ke himself had managed it under Roger's wing, but for most people? Not a chance. Even the Pirate King's crew had Buggy the Clown on board. By the end of their journey, the Straw Hats weren't all multi-million berry powerhouses either—let's be real, Nami and Robin's combat stats against an Emperor were "meh" at best. Useful, but not exactly "swimming across the ocean" useful.
Then there's the Devil Fruit factor. While plenty of high-tier users treat seawater like a minor annoyance, there's no denying that fruit powers are the backbone of a crew's military might.
Which leads to the current situation...
"Maintenance, huh..."
Li Ke stared at their ship, currently docked in Loguetown, the very picture of boredom.
"That's right. Plus, we have to handle the departure paperwork and register our Bounty Hunter credentials," Robin remarked from her sun lounger. She was soaking up the rays while watching Nami diligently work on her charts.
"The World Government keeps a tight leash on these seas. If you're a famous scholar or traveling via merchant and Marine routes, you can get away with roaming around. But if your ship is packed with weapons and ammo, and you have zero cargo or entry records? They'll slap a 'Pirate' label on you before you can even weigh anchor."
In this world, not every pirate dreams of the Grand Line.
Many are just locals playing both sides. Privateering licenses are handed out like candy. And even without a permit, it's a common story: when the Navy shows up, they're law-abiding citizens; the moment the Navy leaves, they hoist the black flag. Some even spend their downtime farming just to stay fed. This fractured social structure is practically inevitable here. That's why many nations see joining the World Government as a win—by paying the exorbitant Heavenly Tribute, they buy the protection of a permanent Marine garrison.
Of course, that protection comes with the inevitable rot of World Government infiltration. It's not rare to see them spark a rebellion or unleash a wave of pirates on a country just to seize a strategic port or geographic advantage.
When you look at it that way, there isn't much difference between the Marines and the pirates.
Li Ke watched a pirate ship sail right into Loguetown's harbor while the Marines on the pier didn't even blink. In other waters, those men were outlaws; here, on this specific territory, they were "official personnel."
While the Navy has administrative power over local towns, to the nobility, the Marines are basically just high-end mercenaries. Only in territories directly under the World Government's thumb does the Navy wield full law enforcement authority.
Though, "authority" and "sovereignty" are loose terms in a world where a freak like Arlong can occupy a handful of villages and play king. Any noble with half a brain knows how to read the room. When a dozen warships drop anchor and a few Marine Captains stand at your front door, the question of whether you're a "law-abiding citizen" or a "pirate" depends entirely on how much you annoy them.
"This world really is a bore," Li Ke muttered.
He tossed his notebook aside and stopped studying the map. The global landscape was exactly as he'd suspected: clear, cynical, and stagnant. As long as the World Government acted even remotely human, the people at the bottom would never stand a chance at a real uprising.
"Hmm... that's a fascinating insight. I didn't realize you were a scholar, too."
Robin looked at Li Ke's writings with genuine surprise. His analysis of the global situation was incredibly organized. Concepts she had struggled to piece together over the years suddenly became clear and logical under his breakdown of the maps and newspapers.
He had mapped out the intricate web between the Marines and the pirates, the World Government and its affiliated kingdoms, and the stark divide between member and non-member nations.
And most importantly... his theory on why the World Government is so obsessed with the Poneglyphs and the "One Piece."
"Your take is that to the World Government, the actual treasure and the Void Century don't actually matter?"
Robin watched him, her interest piqued. To most, the One Piece was either a hoard of wealth that could buy a kingdom, the secret to Roger's strength, or some kind of "Achilles' heel" for the World Government.
But in Li Ke's notebook, the treasure itself was irrelevant. Only one thing mattered:
The fact that people started doubting and searching.
"Exactly," Li Ke replied. "This world is a stagnant pond. To the elites, the endless cycle of pirates burning and looting doesn't really matter. Pirates have to spend their loot somewhere, and that money eventually flows right back into the pockets of the upper class. Before Roger, no matter how rampant piracy got, the elites didn't lose sleep over it. But the moment people start chasing a specific treasure—one linked to ancient secrets, one rumored to grant the power to become 'King'—that becomes a nightmare for the World Government."
"Roger made the World Government look utterly helpless. If he hadn't turned himself in, they never would have caught him. It's only natural for people to idolize a man like that. For every sailor out there, the World Government is the ultimate authority over their heads, yet Roger was a man who didn't give a damn about that authority. The idea that his treasure could make you someone who doesn't have to fear them? That is an irresistible temptation for every sailor on the sea."
Li Ke sighed.
In this world, the true backbone of society was the sailors. It was inevitable; when every country is an island, your economy collapses without shipping. Roger didn't just inspire criminals; he inspired the honest, hardworking people who used to follow the rules.
"So, what the World Government fears isn't the secret of the Void Century or the treasure itself," Robin mused, "but the fact that more and more people are learning to despise their authority?"
She had never heard it framed quite like that, but the more she thought about it, the more it felt undeniably correct. People who refuse to obey authority cannot be controlled by authority.
In other words—they become Free.
"Freedom is poison to the World Government, but to the common folk of this world, it's the ultimate dream," Li Ke continued. "True freedom is the power to refuse what you don't want to do. And what do ordinary people want to refuse? They don't want to pay taxes so high they can't afford to eat; they don't want to be oppressed by nobles until they're bankrupt; they don't want to be slaughtered on a whim by a Celestial Dragon. That is the freedom they crave. If the World Government could guarantee those three things, the sea wouldn't be crawling with pirates. Like I said—the Pirate King isn't the one who decides if there are pirates on the sea. Only the World Government can decide that."
Robin nodded. Li Ke's logic was sound, yet she hesitated. In her experience, the vast majority of pirates were nothing more than bottom-feeding scum.
"But pirates aren't exactly 'good' people, are they?" she countered. "Most of them don't even target the nobles or the Government."
"Doflamingo targeted the Heavenly Tribute, didn't he? Once that seal is broken, others follow. It won't stop. The shame of it is that the current Four Emperors are all just 'occupying the stall without doing the business,'" Li Ke remarked dryly.
"What do you mean by that?"
"There's only so much room at the top. The ones who lack the drive to finish the job will eventually be kicked off their thrones."
Li Ke gazed out at the water. Suddenly, his eyes caught a flag—one he knew all too well from the anime. It wasn't flying from a grand galleon, but from a 'vessel' made of several wine barrels lashed together.
Standing on this makeshift raft was a grinning idiot in a straw hat and sandals, a green-haired swordsman who looked perpetually lost, and a blond guy with curly eyebrows whose combat style likely leaned toward 'kitchen-prep.' The final member was a long-nosed guy wearing an expression of utter despair.
Li Ke couldn't believe it. He had actually run into Luffy.
Robin glanced at the four idiots flying a pirate flag right in the middle of Loguetown's waters, then turned back to Li Ke, still processing his earlier comment.
"That's impossible..."
In her mind, the Emperors of the Sea were invincible titans, terrifying forces of nature. The idea of them being systematically defeated was beyond her imagination.
"Just watch. Within a few years, this world is going to look completely different."
Li Ke turned his head toward Robin, but as he turned back, a head with a scar under the eye and a straw hat suddenly appeared inches from his face—his neck stretched out over ten meters.
Li Ke broke out into a cold sweat. Purely by reflex, his fist flew forward and connected.
WHACK.
Luffy's head went sailing backward, but it didn't snap back to his body. Instead, his neck wobbled and came to a rest right next to Nami, who was still busy with her charts. His eyes went wide with excitement as he let out a shout.
"Sanji! Zoro! Usopp! Look! I found a navigator, a scholar, and a logistics officer! And they've got a brand new ship!"
Navigator, scholar...
Li Ke glanced at himself. Logistics officer?
He rubbed his chin. Unlike Nami and Robin, who were looking at the scene with utter confusion, Li Ke found it genuinely fascinating. He actually was the perfect logistics officer. With access to items from different worlds and an endless supply of miraculous resources, he could out-supply any fleet on the ocean.
Is this that 'protagonist intuition' people talk about?
On the raft, Sanji immediately erupted in a roar of fury.
"You idiot! Don't just barge in on people like that! What if you're bothering the ladies?!"
Li Ke was speechless. He'd always known the Straw Hat powerhouses were a bunch of freaks, but seeing it in person was a whole different level of surreal—especially this "destined" encounter.
I remember reading that some Devil Fruits choose their owners... so, is this fate?
As he was pondering the metaphysics, Luffy's stretched-out head swung back toward him.
"Hey! Join my crew!"
Luffy's expression was dead serious, but Li Ke just shook his head.
"Sorry. I'm already the captain of my own ship, and our paths don't exactly align." Li Ke pointed at Luffy's straw hat. "You're chasing the One Piece. I'm chasing beautiful women. If I joined your crew, your ship would be overflowing with girls and crying babies within a year."
Li Ke gave the answer with a casual shrug.
"Oh, I see. Never mind then. Kids aren't really cut out for the pirate life," Luffy replied, nodding with a look of genuine disappointment before turning his gaze toward Robin.
"Sorry, I'm the Captain's woman," Robin said with a light, amused laugh. She found this rubber boy surprisingly charming in a weird way.
"Eh... then what about the navigator over there?" Luffy asked, pivoting to Nami.
Right at that moment, Nojiko walked out onto the deck carrying a fresh pot of tea. She smiled at Luffy and offered a helpful explanation.
"Nami and I belong to him, too."
"HUH?!"
Luffy's jaw hit the deck. Meanwhile, on the barrel-raft, Sanji had reached the point of envious cellular disintegration. He was screaming and struggling to leap onto Li Ke's ship, only to be held back by the combined, desperate strength of Zoro and Usopp.
Despite the chaos, their little barrel raft was rocking violently as the struggle intensified.
"Let me go! I'm going to kill that lucky bastard!!" Sanji shrieked.
But for Luffy, the logic was simple. "Ah, that's a shame then. Sorry for the trouble. Hey! Sanji, stop messing around!"
Luffy's head snapped back into place. To him, Li Ke's reason for refusing was perfectly valid—the guy had his own treasure and his own freedom, and the women by his side were clearly his own people. As simple-minded as Luffy was, he wasn't about to play the villain and force someone onto his crew.
As their barrel-ship finally drifted toward the shore, Li Ke stood on his deck, grinning as he watched Sanji being physically dragged away. To twist the knife, Li Ke pulled Robin and Nojiko close by their waists right under Sanji's furious gaze. He watched with pure satisfaction as the blond cook was hauled off, listening to the beautiful melody of his pathetic, losing-dog wails.
"I'm gonna kill him! I'm gonna kill that show-off bastard!!"
The sound was music to Li Ke's ears.
"The sweet cry of a loser," he mused.
Li Ke eventually let go of the girls and went back to his studies. However, the peace didn't last long.
As he watched the dockworkers, under Nami's sharp direction, load crates of supplies into their hold, a massive explosion rocked the harbor.
Thick, billowing smoke instantly blanketed the docks. The nearby Marine base erupted with the frantic tolling of alarm bells, and swarms of Marine soldiers flooded the streets, sealing off the waterfront in a suffocating blockade.
Li Ke wordlessly reached for his weapon. He hadn't bothered looking for some "cursed blade" in Loguetown; he was perfectly satisfied with the sword he already carried.
"Don't tell me they finally spotted you?" Li Ke glanced at the half-filled cargo hold. "Should we make a run for it? We've got enough supplies to make it to the next island if we bolt now."
"No, it's not me," Robin said, shaking her head. She had already tensed up, ready to move. "The people sent to catch me aren't these ordinary foot soldiers."
A moment later, Li Ke saw exactly what the commotion was about. Straw Hat Luffy came flying through the air, sent skidding across the pavement by a massive punch.
A Marine officer stood there, half his body transformed into swirling white smoke while the other half remained human. He puffed on two cigars at once, looking down at the fallen Luffy with a grim, serious expression before uttering a classic line:
"What kind of 'King' did you say you were going to be?"
Smoker looked down at Luffy with pure irritation. The kid didn't even have a real ship, yet he was shouting about becoming the Pirate King. Smoker loathed pirates, but he hated the ones who treated piracy like some noble dream even more.
"Let's see if you're still talking about being King once I've locked you in a cell!"
He let out a cold huff, prepared to haul Luffy off to reflect on his life choices in prison. But at that exact moment—
Li Ke realized someone else had boarded his ship.
A man stood there, clad in a hooded cloak, with a distinct red tattoo on his face that looked suspiciously like a footprint. He didn't even glance at Li Ke; his eyes were fixed solely on Robin.
"Demon Child, Nico Robin... I didn't expect to find you here. Are you planning to desert Crocodile? If so, would you be interested in joining the Revolutionary Army?"
Seriously? Li Ke thought. Everyone was trying to recruit his crew today.
"I'll pass," Robin replied, her expression blank. "Our paths don't align."
Despite being somewhat swayed by Li Ke's earlier political theories, the Poneglyphs were still her top priority.
"I see... Well, it seems your information is a bit outdated. Perhaps you should take a look at this."
With that, the man—who was undeniably Luffy's father, Dragon—completely ignored the fact that his son was currently being face-planted into the pavement by Smoker. He reached into his cloak and tossed a newspaper onto the deck in front of Robin.
Robin snatched the newspaper out of the air, scanned it for a split second, and immediately thrust it into Li Ke's hands.
Li Ke opened it up and felt a sudden, profound sense of speechlessness.
The headline was simple and screamed in bold print:
"SHOCKER! ROGER LIVES! BLACKBEARD DEFEATED! WHITEBEARD'S 2ND DIVISION COMMANDER REVEALED AS PIRATE KING'S SON!"
The sub-headline followed: "UNBELIEVABLE! BUGGY THE CLOWN WAS ON THE ORO JACKSON? ROGER PIRATES' CREDIBILITY CALLED INTO QUESTION!"
The featured photo showed Ace looking absolutely livid as he stared down Roger. At their feet lay the decapitated remains of Blackbeard. In the background, the entire Buggy Pirates crew stood frozen, their faces twisted in pure terror.
It was obvious what had happened: Ace had tracked down Blackbeard for his betrayal, but he'd run right into Roger and Buggy along the way. The rest was history.
Blackbeard—the man destined to be the final boss of this era—had run headfirst into a max-level protagonist from the previous generation. All his grand schemes and dark ambitions had been snuffed out in an instant. He was done.
And more importantly...
Marineford is canceled, Li Ke realized.
Before he could process the massive shift in the timeline, Dragon spoke again.
"Roger's death was a confirmed fact, yet he stands before the world again. There is a reason for this resurrection, and we intend to find it. Robin, staying with Crocodile will get you nowhere. Join us. If we can uncover the secret behind Roger's return, we might be able to bring back your mother... and all the scholars of Ohara."
Dragon was dead serious. The more he expanded the Revolutionary Army, the more he realized how rare it was to find people who were both educated and willing to defy the World Government. The moment he'd confirmed Roger was back, his first thought hadn't been about power—it was about resurrecting the lost knowledge of Ohara.
Robin remained silent, her eyes wide as she stared at the man in the cloak.