The raging sea gradually calmed down.
The Roger Pirates stood there, staring blankly in the direction where the Vice Admiral had disappeared, falling into a long silence.
An indescribable sense of frustration and anger slowly spread across the deck.
"Of course we know there are no Poneglyphs here!"
Bang!
Buggy suddenly stabbed the dagger in his hand into the deck, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
The others were also gritting their teeth furiously.
One man had managed to toy with their entire pirate crew, leaving the others completely helpless.
Instead of fighting back, they had been thrown into chaos by just four swords, barely surviving.
"That damn Marine... How dare he do this..."
"Don't let me see him again!"
"Bastard!"
"..."
The Roger Pirates began cursing and swearing.
"We, the Roger Pirates, have sailed the seas chasing freedom and dreams. When have we ever been humiliated like this?"
At that moment, Buggy, still clutching his head, muttered faintly,
"All the time..."
Everyone: ...
They thought back over their journey since setting out again.
Chased across the sea by Garp from the Marines.
Cornered to the brink by Shiki in the Battle of Edd War.
Nearly losing their ship at Fish-Man Island.
And now, this...
Well, thinking about it... it did make some sense.
Their mouths twitched as they tried to speak, but no words came out.
Damn it!
"Wahahaha, you're all okay, that's great!"
Just then, Roger, his face swollen and bruised, slowly walked out from the jungle.
When he saw everyone safe on the ship, he laughed heartily.
He gave Rayleigh and the others a big thumbs-up and roared with laughter,
"As expected of my crew! Looks like you all knew I wanted a fair fight with Daren, so you stayed put on the ship, right?"
"Well done! Wahahaha!"
"..."
Looking at their idiot captain, face swollen like a pig's head, everyone was covered in dark lines.
They took a deep breath, struggling to hold back the flood of anger surging inside them.
Rayleigh's eyelid twitched violently as he clutched his chest.
We didn't stay on the ship on purpose!
We wanted to help too!
But with those four deadly swords glaring at us, we couldn't even get off the ship!
The sound of teeth grinding echoed across the deck.
Seeing their silence, Roger thought they were upset about not getting to join the fight, and quickly added with a carefree smile,
"Don't be so down! There'll be plenty of chances for you all to get in on the action later. If not, we can always go find Garp again!"
Everyone: ...
"Hehehe, right! I didn't find the Poneglyph... but guess what I did find!"
Roger scratched his head, then suddenly looked like he had discovered a priceless treasure.
His eyes shone brightly as he turned around and dragged something out from the jungle.
"Hisssssssss!"
When the Roger Pirates saw what Roger had dragged out, their faces instantly turned pale, and they gasped in unison.
"T-That's..."
"That outfit... If I'm not mistaken..."
"Heavens... Heavens..."
"Damn it..."
Everyone, including Rayleigh, stood there completely dumbfounded, staring at the thing Roger had dragged back.
"—Celestial Dragons!!!!"
Buggy screamed, his face suddenly turning pale as he frantically backed away like a caterpillar.
"Wahahaha, yeah, looks like this guy's a Celestial Dragon."
Roger laughed, flashing his white teeth.
Seeing their captain acting so carefree, everyone felt a jolt of panic shoot through their hearts and started shouting anxiously:
"Captain Roger, put that thing down!!"
"We need to destroy the body and get rid of the evidence!"
"Throw it into the sea! Or bury it!"
"Damn it! We have to get out of here!"
"What the hell is going on!?"
"We absolutely can't let the Marines or the government find out!"
"..."
Some wailed, some cried, some screamed, and others ran around in a panic.
But just then—
"Roger!! What's that in your hands!?"
A booming voice like thunder suddenly echoed from across the sea.
Hearing that familiar voice, everyone on Roger's pirate crew froze as if struck by lightning.
The blood drained from their faces.
Buggy's teeth chattered uncontrollably as he stiffly turned his head.
"G-Garp..."
Far away on the sea, a dog-headed warship was cutting through the waves.
A sturdy, powerful figure stood atop the figurehead with his arms crossed, wide-eyed as he stared in surprise at the corpse in Roger's hands.
"You... You actually killed a Celestial Dragon!?"
"Garp!!"
Seeing Garp, Roger's eyes lit up.
"Deny it!!"
"Quick, clear yourself of any connection!!"
"Tell him you didn't do it!"
"..."
Buggy and the others frantically signaled to Roger, their faces turning as red as beets.
"This?"
Roger looked down at the Celestial Dragon corpse in his hand, then at the bloodstains covering his body.
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed obvious he had done it.
"This, uh, this isn't..."
Before he could finish, Garp suddenly burst out laughing:
"Well done!"
"As expected of you! Bwahahaha!!"
Roger: ???
Crew: ???
The hundreds of Marines behind Garp: ???
The Marines on the warship twitched uncontrollably, their mouths gaping, unable to believe what they had just heard.
They instinctively turned to look at Lieutenant Commander Bogard for help, only to find that he had already turned his head away, covering his ears with both hands, pretending he hadn't heard anything.
Seeing that, the other Marines trembled and hurried to copy him.
"I've always hated those trash! Bwahahaha!! It's just that because of my position, I couldn't kill them myself!"
Garp gave the corpse in Roger's hands a disdainful glance, picking his nose with a snort.
Roger blinked, stunned, then after a brief moment of thought, suddenly raised the corpse high over his head proudly, planted his hands on his hips, and roared with laughter:
"Wahahaha!! That's right!! I killed him!!"
"Well, Garp! Admit it! You're impressed now!!"
He raised his head so high his nostrils pointed to the sky, his two nose hairs proudly trembling.
"I even did something you didn't dare to do! Wahahahaha!!"
Bang!
Everyone in the Roger Pirates fell backward onto the deck in shock.
Their faces were burning red, on the verge of exploding with frustration, wishing they could rush over and tear their idiot captain's smiling face apart.
What's there to be proud of!?
He had killed a Celestial Dragon, a World Noble!!
How much trouble were they about to be in now!?
Rayleigh covered his forehead in agony, sitting on the railing and sighing heavily.
"Forget it. It's not the first time anyway."
Back during the Battle of God Valley, Roger didn't even know how many Celestial Dragons he had "accidentally" killed.
It was just that many of the newer crew members weren't aware of those hidden events.
Gaban gave a helpless, bitter smile as he knocked his twin axes together with a resonating clang.
"Get ready for battle."