Baterilla Island, South Blue.
This was a very ordinary island. It had no special products, no fame, and no important geographic location. On the vast sea, islands like this were as numerous as the stars. It had no powerful government, just a small town with a few thousand people.
News traveled slowly on an island like this, and foreign ships rarely came. But it was also a place where you could live a peaceful life as long as no pirates or other villains showed up.
And yet, a truly great person was hiding on this very ordinary island: Pirate King Gol D. Roger!
Years ago, while sailing in the South Blue, he met a woman named Portgas D. Rouge. He noticed the "D." in her name, which made him curious, and curiosity was often the start of falling in love.
Rouge was a very beautiful woman. She may not have been powerful, but she was incredibly strong-willed and gentle. It was here that Roger met the woman he loved. They fell in love. But for a man like Roger, love had never been a chain holding him down.
After staying for a while, Roger once again chose to set off for the vast sea, and Rouge promised him that she would wait for his return. That wait lasted for many years. Thankfully, Roger did return. Unfortunately, he was terminally ill and didn't have much time left. Even so, Rouge loved him deeply, and they lived a quiet life on the island.
The town on Baterilla Island was so small and remote that the people living there didn't have much education and a lot of them couldn't even read, so they didn't really care about newspapers. The News Coos didn't even bother to visit.
While some islanders had heard about the Pirate King Roger, they didn't think it had anything to do with them. They were more concerned about where they would get their next meal. On top of that, Roger didn't have the aura of a great man. He blended in so well that he hadn't been discovered in two years.
When he left the New World, Roger had brought some treasure with him, so they had no problem getting by. But in order to blend in better and because Rouge wanted to, they didn't just live off of his wealth. Rouge would embroider handkerchiefs and scarves, which Roger would go out and sell for a little extra cash. Roger was happy to do it and enjoy a simple life.
Right now, Roger was sitting among a group of vendors at the port, bragging and chatting with them. In front of him was a stall with all of Rouge's handmade items.
"Hey, Goru," a fishmonger joked, "you look strong. Why are you selling women's stuff all day? You should come fishing with me tomorrow. It pays a lot more!"
Goru was Roger's alias.
Roger scoffed. "Don't look down on these! My beloved wife made them! There's nothing better in the whole world. I'm only selling them to you for cheap because you're poor. If I took these to Mariejois, you couldn't get a single scarf from my stall for less than a few million Berries! You should be grateful."
"Hahahahaha!" The other vendors all laughed with him. This guy Goru might not have been a good businessman, but he was great at bragging.
Roger laughed along with them, but as he did, he started to cough, his face turning red and then pale. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand. When the coughing subsided, he looked at his palm and saw blood.
"Are you alright, Goru?" another vendor asked.
Roger wiped the blood on a piece of trash paper on the ground and waved his hand with a smile. "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's an old illness."
Yes, an old illness that was getting worse.
Now, he couldn't even use his full power, and even a few minutes of fighting would leave him out of breath.
Before, when he was on the seas, Roger had never been afraid of his illness, even though it was terminal. He had accepted the idea of death. It was the basic quality of a great pirate; if you were afraid of death, why would you go out to sea?
But after coming to Baterilla Island and settling down with Rouge, he was now afraid of death. He wasn't afraid of dying himself, but of what would happen to Rouge after he was gone.
"A warship? That's a Marine warship! It's so big! I've never seen a ship this big!"
"Warships in the South Blue aren't this big. It must be a warship from Marine Headquarters!"
Just as Roger was thinking about these things, the port suddenly became noisy.
A warship? Roger turned to look at the port. Sure enough, a huge warship was slowly sailing into the harbor.
The Marines? Are they here for me? Roger thought in surprise. After all, this island was so desolate. You would never see a Headquarters warship here, and you'd only see a South Blue branch warship once a year. But since there was only one ship, he thought it couldn't be for him. Why would the Marines know I'm here and only send one warship?
He looked at the warship, then at the blood on the paper on the ground. Roger sighed in his heart. Maybe my time has truly come. As much as I hate to, I have to leave…
Thinking of this, Roger said to the vendors around him, "I'm not feeling well. I coughed up blood again. I'm going home to take some medicine. You all can keep chatting."
"Okay. Get well soon, Goru," the vendors said with smiles. It wasn't a big deal. They all knew that Goru had a chronic illness and would often leave early like this. Roger packed up his things, put his bag on his back, and left the small market, heading home.
At the same time, the gangplank of the warship slowly descended, and Diarmuid and Stussy walked off the ship together. Doberman remained on the ship to command.
"This?" Stussy looked at the island from the port. There was nothing special about it. It was as ordinary as could be. Judging by the expressions of the people at the port, they had never seen anything like this.
"Diarmuid, could Roger really be here?" Stussy asked in disbelief. After their bloody battle at Sorbet Kingdom, Stussy had changed the way she addressed Diarmuid, no longer stiffly using his full name, position, or honorifics.
Diarmuid smiled. "What is impossible often happens right in front of you."
"I hope so. What's our plan? Are you really not going to call for reinforcements from Marine Headquarters?" Stussy asked, her face filled with worry.
"There's no need," Diarmuid said, shaking his head.
Stussy wanted to say a few more words, but seeing that Diarmuid wasn't listening, she gave up. This man is great in every way, but maybe he's a bit too arrogant? I remember the first time I met him, he was like this, too…
But she had also heard from other Marines that he wasn't a blindly arrogant person. What was going on?
But she was already on Diarmuid's ship. It was too late to leave now. She also had some confidence in Diarmuid. His actions were often surprising, but in the end, he always seemed to achieve his goal.
"Blockade the port! No one is allowed to leave Baterilla Island without my permission! Have the guys from the South Blue branches arrived yet?" Diarmuid asked the Marine Captain next to him.
The Captain accepted the order and then said, "Ten South Blue standard warships and 3,000 men from South Blue Branch 307 and Branch 329 have arrived nearby and are on their way."
Diarmuid hadn't planned to call for Headquarters' support, but there was no harm in making a big show of force with the South Blue Marines. With his rank, no one in the South Blue branch would dare to disobey his orders. They were all rushing here, but because their warships weren't as good as his, their speed was just average.
"Tell them not to come ashore. Tell them to just blockade the waters around Baterilla Island and assist our Headquarters operation," Diarmuid ordered.
"…Yes, Vice Admiral-sama," the Captain replied.
Diarmuid didn't say anything more. He stood at the port for a while, and then a middle-aged man, surrounded by a few people, was nervously brought to him by a Marine Lieutenant Commander. The man immediately started to speak. "Sir, we're all good citizens…"
Diarmuid's expression remained serious. "Are you the person in charge of this town?"
"I'm the mayor," the man said cautiously.
"Don't be nervous. We are the Marines of Justice. As long as you don't do anything illegal, we won't bother you," Diarmuid said with a smile.
The man breathed a sigh of relief. He was a decent man who had never done anything too wrong in his life. He was honest, and the worst he ever did was pick on the poor people in town.
"Sir, is there something you need us to help with?" the mayor asked quickly.
"Yes. Have there been any suspicious people on the island in the past two years?" Diarmuid asked.
The mayor was stunned for a moment, then shook his head. "There are no suspicious people."
Diarmuid waved to Stussy, who handed him a wanted poster of Roger. Diarmuid gave the wanted poster to the mayor. "Think carefully before you speak. Otherwise, this won't be just your problem."
The mayor was shocked. This Marine changes his face faster than the wind! But he didn't dare to be careless. He quickly picked up the wanted poster and looked at it.
Pirate King Gold Roger? A bounty of 5,564,800,000 Berries? What does this mean? Does this Marine think a big shot like him would be hiding in our small town? Is he kidding?
As the mayor, he was one of the few "higher-class" people on the island. And Roger hated hanging out with "higher-class" people; he was just a simple vendor here, so the mayor didn't recognize him.
"Is he on this island?" Diarmuid asked.
"I… I don't think so. How could a big shot like that be in a place like this?" the mayor said quickly.
Diarmuid sighed and suddenly slapped the mayor, knocking him to the ground.
"You're useless! There are only a few thousand people in this town, and you don't even know who lives here. What kind of mayor are you? You're just a useless parasite," Diarmuid said with disgust. He then pointed to the vendors at the port. "Bring those people to me."
Soon, a few Marines brought the vendors over. The vendors were scared to death. They had just seen the great Marine leader slap the mayor and knock him out cold. What did he want them for? Was he going to kill them?
"Sir! We've never broken the law!" the vendor cried out.
Diarmuid threw the wanted poster at them. "Look. Is this person here?"
"Huh?" The vendor looked at it and then said, "It's Goru! It's him!"
"Goru?" A smile appeared on Diarmuid's lips. It seemed that Roger was indeed on this island.
A look of surprise and excitement flashed across Stussy's face. He's really here!
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