The chaotic retreat of the Golden Lion's fleet provided the Roger Pirates with a victory party like no other.
On the deck, barrels of captured rum were piled high like small mountains. The rich scent of roasted sea king meat mingled with the salty sea breeze, drifting far across the water.
"A toast to Kyle and his 'Heavenly Tide'!"
"And a toast to the Captain's 'God Avoidance'!"
The crew members linked arms, singing loudly at the top of their lungs, celebrating their glorious victory against an enemy that had massively outnumbered them.
Kyle leaned against the main mast, sipping a glass of orange juice. A smile unconsciously touched his lips as he watched his boisterous crewmates. His mind was still replaying the events of the past few days. First, he had met a youthful Whitebeard, and now he had faced a proud Golden Lion. He had crossed paths with two of the era's greatest legends in a matter of weeks.
It was absolutely exhilarating.
The feeling was like playing a video game and accidentally triggering two of the final, hidden boss storylines while still in the beginner village. It was both exciting and completely absurd.
"What's on your mind?" Rayleigh asked, sitting down beside him and handing him a skewer of freshly grilled fish.
"I'm just wondering if our logbook is messed up," Kyle mumbled after taking a bite. "Other pirates go on adventures to hunt for treasure and fight monsters. Our adventure seems to be about picking fights with legendary pirates one by one. Our line of work is a bit intense."
Rayleigh chuckled at his words and shook his head. "They're the ones who came looking for us. Especially Shiki. His ambition is too big for this sea; he was always going to clash with Roger sooner or later."
He glanced over at Roger, who was in the middle of a loud, laughing arm-wrestling match with Jabba. "But that's what makes all this so interesting, isn't it?"
Kyle looked at Roger's carefree, smiling face and found himself agreeing completely.
Yes, that's what made it interesting.
After the party finally wound down, the Oro Jackson set sail once more. This time, their destination was clearer than ever before. The Log Pose was unusually stable, its needle pointing straight ahead without a single waver. It was as if the needle itself was declaring that the end of their long journey was finally in sight.
Day by day, the atmosphere on the ship grew more and more excited.
"Hey! The first thing I'm gonna do when we reach the Final Island is tell the whole world that we were the first pirate crew to ever sail around the globe!" Nozdon declared, standing at the bow with his arms outstretched, as if he were already embracing his future glory.
"I'm going to find the most beautiful girl on the island and tell her I'm a crewman for the Pirate King!" Ellio added, his face full of daydreams.
"Pirate King?" Jabba grinned, shifting his heavy axe on his shoulder. "I like the sound of that. When we get there, the Captain should start using that title!"
"Kuhahaha! Sounds pretty mighty, doesn't it!" Roger accepted the new title without a hint of shame.
Amid all the excited chatter, Kyle leaned quietly against the ship's rail, feeling the cool ocean wind on his face. He knew that the island this Log Pose pointed to wasn't the true end of their journey, but he didn't say anything to spoil the mood. He let himself get swept up in the pure, heartfelt joy of his friends.
After all, wasn't witnessing this historic moment one of the greatest joys of his new life?
Several weeks later, Dolinger's voice, cracking with excitement, echoed from the crow's nest, and the entire ship erupted in cheers.
"I see it! It's an island! The island at the end of the Log Pose!"
Everyone rushed to the bow, their eyes fixed on the silhouette that was slowly appearing where the sea met the sky.
It was a breathtakingly beautiful island. Countless waterways crisscrossed through it like shining blue ribbons, sparkling in the sunlight. In the center of the island, a giant natural geyser shot a pillar of water high into the sky, its mist creating a dazzling rainbow in the air.
"Lodestar Island..." Rayleigh said, looking down at his sea chart. "What a beautiful name."
"Land! Land! Time for another feast!" Roger was already waving his arms, impatient to get ashore.
The Oro Jackson docked slowly, and the crew cheered as they leaped onto solid ground for the first time in weeks. Some of them excitedly kissed the earth, while others were already making plans to move barrels of rum and supplies for a party.
They had done it. They had conquered the Grand Line, a sea that countless sailors saw as an unbeatable nightmare.
Roger laughed heartily, drew his sword, Ace, and plunged it dramatically into the highest point on the shore to announce their arrival.
But amidst all the joy, a quiet, discordant note appeared.
"Uh... Captain? Mr. Rayleigh? You should look at this," Ellio called out from the ship, a hint of confusion in his voice as he pointed at the Log Pose.
Everyone turned to look. The needle, which had been pointing steadily at the island just moments before, was now spinning and jumping around erratically, like a drunken man trying to find his balance.
The cheers on the shore died down instantly.
"What's going on?" Jabba asked with a frown.
Rayleigh quickly boarded the ship and pulled out his spare compass, only to find it was doing the same thing. The air seemed to grow thick and heavy. The fiery, celebratory atmosphere of a moment ago dropped to a freezing silence.
Everyone on the crew understood what this meant.
A malfunctioning Log Pose could only mean one thing: there were more islands ahead.
This... was not the end.
"You've got to be kidding me..." Nozdon's smile froze on his face. "Then... where are we supposed to go now?"
The one tool they relied on for navigation had failed them. The sea ahead was a complete unknown.
"Kuhahaha..."
A sudden burst of laughter shattered the heavy silence.
Everyone looked at Roger in astonishment. Their captain wasn't disheartened at all. In fact, he was staring out at the unknown sea with a brighter gleam in his eyes than they had ever seen before.
"Hey, hey, what's with all the long faces?" Roger pulled Ace from the ground, slung it over his shoulder, and grinned at his crew. "The adventure isn't over yet! Doesn't that make things even more fun?"
The crew members were stunned for a moment. Then, as if washed away by a powerful wave, all their disappointment and confusion were replaced by Roger's infectious excitement.
He was right. They were the Roger Pirates. They followed the freest man in the world out to sea. What did it matter if the adventure had no end?
"You're right!" Jabba was the first to start laughing. "Then let's just keep searching!"
"YEAH!" The crew's enthusiasm was instantly reignited.
Kyle watched the scene unfold, his heart filled with emotion. This was Gol D. Roger. To him, any desperate situation or unknown path was simply the start of a new adventure. That spirit was the real reason he would one day become the Pirate King.
Just as everyone was getting ready to explore the strange new island, Roger's gaze fell on some ancient ruins covered in vines not far from the shore.
"Oh? What's that over there?" He immediately ran towards it like a child who had just discovered a new toy.
The rest of the crew had no choice but to follow. After pushing aside a thick curtain of vines, they found a deep cave entrance. At the back of the cave stood a massive, ominous-looking, reddish-orange stone cube.
"This is... a Poneglyph?" Rayleigh recognized it at once, but his expression quickly shifted to surprise and uncertainty. "No, the color is wrong. I've never seen a red Poneglyph before."
Kyle's heart skipped a beat.
It's here! A Road Poneglyph.
This was the stone that would guide them on a unique path to the end of the world.
The crew gathered curiously around the giant red stone. The ancient writing that covered its surface was completely unreadable to them. However, when Roger stepped forward and placed his hand on the cold, rough stone, his entire body went stiff.
His expression became more serious than they had ever seen it. He closed his eyes slightly, as if he were listening intently to something no one else could hear.
"Roger?" Jabba asked, noticing his captain's strange behavior.
Roger didn't answer. After a long moment, he slowly opened his eyes, which were now filled with a mixture of shock and pure joy.
"I heard it..." he murmured, his voice trembling slightly. "This stone... it's speaking."
"Speaking?"
"It told me that this island is the last stop the Log Pose can guide us to, but it's not the end of the Grand Line," Roger's voice grew louder and more confident. He looked around at his crewmates, his eyes locking with theirs as he spoke each word clearly.
"To reach the true Final Island, we need to find four of these red 'Road Poneglyphs'! Each one records a location. If we connect those four locations on a map, the point where they intersect in the middle... that's where the Final Island, the one no one has ever reached, is located!"
You could have heard a pin drop in the cave.
Everyone was completely stunned by this unbelievable revelation. It turned out that conquering the Grand Line wasn't as simple as following a compass. It was a grander and more difficult treasure hunt, one that required them to decipher these ancient "road signs."
After a brief silence, Roger burst into thunderous laughter that echoed through the cave, filled with uncontrollable pride and joy.
"Kuhahaha! So that's how it is! That's the secret!" He drew Ace and pointed it towards the vast, open sea. "This world was still hiding a secret this big, just waiting for us to find it!"
"My friends!" Roger turned back to his crew, his eyes burning with a fire that seemed to ignite their very souls.
"The real adventure has just begun! Our goal is to find the other three Road Poneglyphs and reach that Final Island! Are you willing to come with me and see the end of this world?!"
"YEAH!!!" A deafening roar was the crew's answer to his declaration.
The eyes of every single person on the crew now burned with a fire hotter than ever before. All their confusion and doubt had been swept away, replaced by a clearer and grander goal.
Kyle stood among the crowd, looking at Roger, who was surrounded by his crew with the brightest smile on his face, and couldn't help but smile himself.
He looked up at the endless blue sky and the boundless sea outside the cave.
To find the Final Island.
To witness the birth of the "ONE PIECE."
The true beginning of the Great Age of Pirates was about to be started by their very own hands.
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