Chapter 168: Roger Pirates
“What is it~ It’s just a piece of paper~”
The red-haired little boy boredly turned his head away, completely losing interest.
“Wait, Shanks. Maybe this is some rare treasure map.”
The red-nosed little boy still wasn’t planning to give up.
“How could that be, Buggy. No treasure map looks like this.”
“This is clearly just an ordinary card.”
Hearing his little partner say that, the red-nosed little boy looked to their captain for help.
“Captain Roger…”
“Oh… I didn’t expect it to be this thing.”
The man named Roger picked up the pink card, opened it to look, then scratched his head and handed it to his first mate.
“Rayleigh, what do you think?”
The middle-aged handsome uncle with a neat golden back-combed hairstyle and frameless glasses took the card, saw the content, and also found it uninteresting.
“Well~”
“This thing is useless to us, just throw it away.”
“What what? Let me see…”
Just as the blond man was about to toss the invitation back onto that pile of treasure, a black-haired man with a ponytail stopped him.
“Hm? A founding ceremony invitation from ‘Whole Cake Island’?”
“It really has nothing to do with us, but throwing it away like this is a bit of a waste.”
“After all, it was hard-won.”
Unlike the one Kaido received, this invitation didn’t have the invitee’s name filled in.
Generally speaking, Big Mom issues two kinds of invitations: special ones clearly marked with the invitee’s name, and ordinary ones without names.
These ordinary invitations circulate through auctions and such into the hands of factions strong enough to obtain them.
It’s also a way to expand connections.
“What? Jabba, do you want to go?”
Rayleigh teased.
“Makes sense, that woman Big Mom is indeed quite attractive.”
“But I hear she changes husbands as often as she changes clothes, and she already has a bunch of kids.”
“Haha! Rayleigh, you bastard, do you think I’m some kind of desperate lecher?”
“Oh? Don’t you like women older than you?”
“Nothing like that, I respect all women equally.”
“Then, um…”
“Mister Rayleigh, Mister Jabba, what exactly is this…”
Buggy, who had been looking up at them, timidly raised his hand.
“Ah~ This is an invitation to the founding ceremony of a country called ‘Whole Cake Island’.”
“Whole Cake Island?”*2
Shanks, who had been paying attention from the side, also voiced the question.
“That’s right, you should have heard of Big Mom, right? The country that woman established.”
“Oh~”
“So cool! She actually built her own country!”
Buggy said enviously, while fantasizing about himself wearing a crown, becoming king, and sitting on a pile of treasure.
Meanwhile, Shanks next to him was somewhat dismissive, chewing on some chocolate he pulled out from who-knows-where as he said:
“What~ She’s clearly a pirate but wants to become king, when the sea is where pirates belong.”
“Haha, to each their own ambitions.”
Roger laughed upon hearing that and patted their heads.
“But we’re not close with that woman, though taking you to see it wouldn’t be bad. I hear the banquets she holds always have lots of delicious desserts.”
“De, delicious desserts.”*2
“Really? Captain Roger.”*2
Shanks and Buggy were still kids after all, and they got drawn in just hearing about tasty delicacies.
“That’s right, I hear that woman especially loves desserts, often collecting famous snacks and pastry chefs from all over the world.”
Jabba, who often got info from various newspapers, answered.
“Then, can we go too?”
“Huh? You two want to go? Is that okay, captain?”
Jabba turned back to ask Roger.
“Well~ If these two brats want to go, then let them.”
“But you’ll need to send someone to watch them.”
After all, this was a ceremony hosted by a great pirate; attendees were either famous pirates shaking the seas or ruthless underworld bosses—none of them good folk.
Kids like Buggy and Shanks, only five or six, might easily stir up trouble.
“Then I’ll take them.”
Rayleigh, who was more mature and steady, said.
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
“But looking at the date on this, there’s still half a year left, so no rush.”
Jabba casually tossed the invitation to the two kids, then leaned on the fence and got to the main topic.
“Speaking of which, captain. Where exactly are those so-called ‘red poneglyphs’?”
“We’ve been searching so long and haven’t found even one.”
Seven years ago, they arrived at the last island the recording pointer pointed to, that island called “Lodestar Island”.
They thought their journey had reached its end, that they’d successfully circumnavigated the Grand Line as planned…
But after landing on the island, they learned this wasn’t the end; ahead lay the existence of a “final island”.
And that so-called “final island” seemed deliberately hidden, with no pointers leading there currently.
The only clues were the four rumored ‘red poneglyphs’, or ‘road poneglyphs’.
But in the seven years since, Roger and the crew searched the entire New World without finding even one, as if those poneglyphs were deliberately avoiding them.
“Maybe the time hasn’t come yet. Perhaps one day when the moment arrives, we’ll find them all at once.”
“What is that? Fate? Captain Roger, you still believe in that?”
“Then how about we name that island ‘Fate Island’ when the time comes? After all, we’re the first to discover it, so naming rights make sense, right?”
Jabba said half-jokingly.
“Hahahaha! That’s a pretty good idea.”
Roger laughed heartily, unconcerned.
“Speaking of which, where are we heading next?”
“No idea.”
“Then as usual, spin the wine bottle~ Whichever way it points, we go that way.”
“Hey hey hey! That’s way too random!”
“Well~ This is entrusting it to fate too. Hahaha!”
……
Evening, Fenrir Island.
While the construction crew was resting and waiting for dinner, Obei, wearing a large safety helmet, also returned home.
“Hm? Big Sister, where’s Aoxi?”
It was dinnertime, yet that familiar figure wasn’t there, so Obei asked puzzled.
“She’s resting in the backyard—”
Boom!
Before she finished speaking, there was a huge bang from the backyard.
“Hahahaha! This old man has finally achieved great accomplishment!”
“Today, I, Aoxi, re-enter the invincible realm! Who in the world can stop me now! Damn it! What can stop me!”
After the baptism of the “Aoxi Way” in the mind room, she had fully stepped into the ‘future sight’ realm!
“Kaido! Wait for me, I’m coming to kill you!”
“Hehehehehe!”
Utterly domineering, utterly mad! Aoxi, freed from the millennium puzzle, now had momentum fifty times stronger than ever!
She had no weaknesses left; the truly ultimate life form was born!
Next time: Invincible Egyptian God Cards!
“Don’t mess up my seedling.”
La, who was chopping vegetables, casually reminded without looking up.
“Oh, got it~”
……
