It didn't take long before wanted posters of the Roger Pirates spread across every corner of the world.
The bounties printed on them were staggering.
"Pirate King" Gol D. Roger – 5,564,800,000 berries
"Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh – 3,150,000,000 berries
"Mountain-Eater" Scopper Gaban – 3,092,000,000 berries
"Tyrant" Jabal Shiro – 2,530,000,000 berries
"Demon Heir" Douglas Bullet – 2,115,000,000 berries
With the exception of Shanks and Buggy, every member of the Roger Pirates had a bounty that shook the seas.
Though their lives were disrupted, most of the crew avoided capture thanks to their good nature. They had earned the trust of neighbors and locals during their travels, which made betrayal difficult. But there were exceptions—like Bullet. His volatile temper left no mercy for informants. Anyone who dared sell him out was slaughtered without hesitation. Before long, nobody dared cross his path.
And so, a strange kind of peace settled for a year.
By the year 1498 of the Sea Circle Calendar, everything changed.
That day, Shiro was doing what had become routine—treating patients in a small village. He worked tirelessly, healing the elderly, the children, and the wounded alike.
But when he finished with his final patient, something extraordinary happened.
His sword—the Tetanus Fang—had finally transformed.
It had become a Black Blade.
The excitement that surged in Shiro's chest was indescribable.
Seizing the moment, he dashed to the shore, brandishing the blade against the sea breeze. Each swing revealed a drastic leap in power, his swordsmanship sharper, heavier, alive. With the black blade in hand, he found he didn't even need to coat it in Armament Haki for it to cut with overwhelming might.
"This… this changes everything," he whispered, trembling.
Then, from above, a News Coo soared by.
Without hesitation, Shiro unleashed a slash of compressed air, striking the bird down. He retrieved its newspaper, healed the stunned bird with his Paw-Paw Fruit, and sent it on its way again. For years, this was how he stayed up to date.
Leaning back in his chair, he unfolded the paper with casual ease—only for the headline to jolt his soul.
His body stiffened, cold sweat running down his back.
"No… impossible. Why?!"
The front page screamed:
"Breaking! Pirate King Gol D. Roger Captured by the World Government! Public Execution Scheduled in One Week!"
Shiro's mind spun in chaos.
"Roger… captured? That's not possible. At his current strength, no one could defeat him! Unless… unless, just like in the original story, he turned himself in? But no—that can't be right. In the story, he was already dying of illness. That's why he surrendered—to ignite a new Pirate Era. But now? He should be healthy, healed by me. So why…?"
Confusion and dread gripped him. There was only one way to know the truth—he had to see Roger with his own eyes.
"Then I'm going to Impel Down."
But before he could set off, the Den Den Mushi on his desk rang sharply.
"Buru-buru! Buru-buru!"
It was Rayleigh. The normally calm, unshakable vice-captain now sounded frantic. Of course—he had heard the news as well.
Shiro explained his plan: he would infiltrate the underwater prison and get answers directly from Roger. Rayleigh was silent for a long time before finally letting out a heavy sigh and hanging up.
Then came call after call. One by one, every former crewmate of the Roger Pirates reached out, their voices breaking with sorrow, fury, and desperate hope.
Each of them thought the same thing: Shiro could still save Roger.
After all, his Paw-Paw Fruit had rescued them countless times before—snatching friends from the jaws of death. If anyone could break into Impel Down, it was him.
Shiro listened to them all, voice hoarse by the end, promising nothing but steady reassurance.
At last, he placed his palm against his chest. His figure distorted and vanished.
In the next instant, he appeared—at Marineford.
"...Seems I overshot a little."
He frowned, preparing another teleport, but paused.
The Marine Headquarters was in utter chaos.
"Guess I'll take a look."
In front of the main building, blinding golden light clashed with Navy firepower. A man with flowing blond hair carved through ranks of Marines, his twin blades gleaming. His laughter roared as freely as the sea itself.
Shiro's eyes widened.
"That's… Shiki the Golden Lion?! He came here for Roger too? Tch, that guy really does love the captain."
With his Float-Float Fruit, Shiki soared above, his blades carving arcs of sword energy that bent cannonfire off-course.
Shiro couldn't help smirking when he saw Shiki wielding fresh blades. "Well, thanks to him, I managed to forge my own black blade. Guess I owe him."
Marines fell like wheat before Shiki's storm. Yet Marineford was no ordinary battlefield.
Before long, Garp and Sengoku stepped forward.
Garp's fists crashed like meteors, while Sengoku transformed into his colossal golden Buddha form, radiating overwhelming might.
But Shiki only laughed harder, ripping half of Marineford's island into the sky with sheer force, using it as a floating fortress to bombard his enemies.
The battlefield became chaos incarnate.
And in that chaos, Shiro saw his chance.
He spotted a Marine major about his size. In a blur, Shiro appeared behind him, knocked him unconscious, stripped him of his uniform, and donned it himself.
One more flash—and he was gone, slipping into the storm toward Impel Down.
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