In the New World, the skies above the Edd sea area swirled with layers of dark clouds, and the ocean appeared unusually turbulent!
At the center of this region was Roger's Oro Jackson.
Surrounding it were numerous ships flying pirate flags—all members of Golden Lion's Flying Pirates.
On paper, Roger stood no chance against Golden Lion's dozens of vessels with just the Oro Jackson alone.
"Captain Roger, for the sake of our lives, I think we should temporarily surrender to Golden Lion!"
Buggy cried while clutching his head.
The young Shanks comforted him nearby, "Buggy, you've already eaten that Devil Fruit. Now you can't be killed by swords, so what are you afraid of?"
Buggy immediately grabbed Shanks by the collar and yelled:
"The Devil Fruit ability only ensures I won't be cut to death by blades—it doesn't make me invincible! There are still plenty of weaknesses!"
"Besides, that's Golden Lion and his tens of thousands of pirates! Of course I'm scared!"
Still unwilling to give up, Buggy went to find the ship's doctor, Crocus:
"Mr. Crocus, you can't fight, right? Why don't you tell Captain Roger we should surrender now and fight Golden Lion another day?"
Crocus, full of fighting spirit, firmly secured his harpoon behind his back before replying:
"Unfortunately, Buggy, the captain's body is currently at its strongest—perfect for battle."
Buggy tried to make one last effort and attempted to run directly to Roger.
But his hat was grabbed by Scopper Gaban, who held him firmly in place.
Gaban laughed as he pulled Buggy back, saying:
"Don't waste your energy, Buggy. That's our captain, Gol D. Roger!"
"Since we've been with Roger, have you ever seen anyone who could change his mind? Even when Rayleigh speaks, Roger often doesn't listen. There's nothing you can change about that."
Ignoring the dejected Buggy, golden-haired Silvers Rayleigh emerged from the cabin.
Gripping the famous sword at his waist tightly, he stared at Roger standing at the bow and said:
"Golden Lion isn't the most dangerous person we've encountered during our journey. He absolutely cannot stop us."
"Have faith in our partner beneath our feet—this is the Oro Jackson, personally crafted by Tom. No matter what difficulties we face, this partner will carry us through."
After raising everyone's morale with his confident words, Rayleigh's voice turned low and solemn:
"Our time is extremely urgent because Roger's condition continues to deteriorate. His body can't hold on much longer—this might be the final battle of his life."
"I believe Roger would never want to die pitifully in a sickbed. He'd rather die in battle against Golden Lion."
After hearing Rayleigh's words, everyone fell into silence.
Gol D. Roger was the soul of their pirate crew.
It was Roger who, through his charismatic personality, gathered everyone aboard this ship.
Thus, after hearing Rayleigh's words, everyone felt complex emotions.
They had already sailed to ninety percent of the islands in the Grand Line, and had found many Poneglyphs that guided their navigation.
If not for the Golden Lion situation, the Roger Pirates might have already collected the remaining Road Poneglyphs and set sail for the final island.
Douglas Bullet stretched his muscles and said with a grin:
"That Golden Lion Shiki is just a wretched old man in my eyes."
"When the fighting starts, I want to take on Shiki myself. If he can't even defeat me, how could he possibly face our Captain?"
"In my heart, Captain Roger is the strongest man in the world!"
Rayleigh laughed heartily at Bullet's words, "Bullet is right—Roger is the strongest man in the world, and the Roger Pirates are the strongest pirate crew in the world!"
"Even if Shiki has more crew members than us, I don't believe a flock of sheep can kill a lion."
"Men, draw your swords! Since our Captain isn't one to worry about these things, we'll handle them ourselves."
"All hands, prepare for battle!"
As all members of the Roger Pirates prepared to engage the Flying Pirates in combat, Roger alone walked to the very front of the ship, staring grimly at the opposing Golden Lion.
Seeing Roger at the bow, Golden Lion also leaped to his own ship's prow, an expensive cigar in his mouth, his eyes filled with confidence and desire.
"I've said this many times, Roger—though we certainly had many disputes in our youth, these matters are trivial compared to my plans, insignificant enough to be overlooked."
Finally, Golden Lion proudly pointed at the surrounding pirate ships and declared triumphantly:
"Roger, this is the elite pirate fleet I've painstakingly built over many years!"
"I've been planning this scheme for a long time. If we combine the Ancient Weapons you know about with the military forces I currently possess... along with the perfect plan I've spent years devising on this Floating Island, I believe this world will surely kneel at our feet."
"Come on, Roger! I'm giving you one last chance—become my right-hand man!"
Facing the two sides about to engage in battle, Golden Lion Shiki was making his final effort to persuade Roger to join his pirate crew.
However, Shiki didn't consider how he himself had once escaped from the Rocks Pirates due to differences in ideology.
Hearing the same old rhetoric from Golden Lion's mouth once again, Roger curled his lips before speaking with righteous conviction:
"Shiki, I've told you many times before—I have absolutely no interest in goals like world domination."
"If being a pirate means you can't freely pursue your dreams, then what's the point of being a pirate at all!"
After hearing Roger's words, the members of the Roger Pirates—Rayleigh, Gaban, Bullet, Shanks, and others—gradually stood behind Roger one after another.
They were using their actions to silently echo Roger's words.
Roger could clearly feel his crew's trust in him from behind. Now he was even more fearless.
"No matter how much pressure you put on me, Shiki, I will never agree to your proposal."
All members of the Roger Pirates gripped their swords tighter and clenched their fists—they would use the weapons in their hands to prove the truth of Roger's words.
Only the terrified, weeping Buggy, pulling on Roger's pant leg, said.
"Stop talking, Captain Roger! They're a great pirate fleet with dozens of ships!"
"Step aside, Buggy!"
Everyone except Buggy was prepared to battle the Flying Pirates.
Golden Lion, having been rejected by Roger once again, wore an exceptionally furious expression.
He took a hard drag on his cigar, still completely unable to understand why Roger would make such a choice.
He couldn't help but ask, "So your answer is to have me kill you here, is that it? Roger!"
Rayleigh quietly lit the cannon at the ship's bow, aiming it at one of the Flying Pirates' large vessels.
BOOM!
The Oro Jackson's sudden cannon fire caught everyone present off guard.
One of the Flying Pirates' large ships was directly hit by the blast, the entire deck exploding into a massive crater from the cannonball.
The fiercely burning flames accelerated the ship's sinking.
Roger drew the supreme grade sword Ace from his waist, pointing the blade directly at Golden Lion Shiki standing opposite him, declaring, "It means we're going to crush all of you right here, Shiki!"
The already furious Shiki, seeing the Roger Pirates take the initiative to fire at them, turned crimson-eyed.
Quickly drawing his two famous swords, Oto and Kogarashi, he similarly pointed their blades at Roger and roared.
"After today, the name Roger Pirates will no longer exist on these seas! I'm going to crush every last one of you and slaughter you all in these waters!"
"Men, follow my orders—attack them mercilessly!"
...
Meanwhile, hundreds of nautical miles away on the sea, three massive warships were stationed there.
The most prominent one in the middle was a warship with a dog-head ram.
Garp, Raleigh, and Kuzan all sat in the office listening to the spy Den Den Mushi in their hands.
"Bwahahaha! Well said, Roger! Truly worthy of being my lifelong rival—facing such overwhelming odds without a trace of fear."
Garp made no attempt to conceal his admiration for Roger.
Upon hearing Roger's bold declaration to the Golden Lion, he couldn't help but applaud and speak up.
Kuzan, who had always been intensely curious about Roger, was similarly influenced by Garp after hearing Roger's words to Golden Lion Shiki.
"Arara, he's absolutely right. I never expected a pirate to possess such awareness."
Raleigh, standing nearby, showed no reaction whatsoever.
To be frank, in Raleigh's eyes, Roger was nothing but a rule-breaker.
During his time as a pirate, Roger had once slaughtered an entire kingdom's soldiers simply because its citizens mocked his crew.
As the Pirate King, it was he who shouted "One Piece" before his execution—deliberately misleading the world and tempting people to set sail in pursuit of the Pirate King's legendary treasure.
Thus began the chaotic Great Pirate Era.
From every perspective, Raleigh disliked Roger.
If everyone acted without regard for rules, this world would be beyond redemption.
Currently, it seemed there was still hope for saving this world.
However, this hope lay not with the current Marines, nor with the Revolutionary Army.
It could only be found in the "Justice" Raleigh had secretly established.
"Raleigh, when are we going to intervene in their battle?"
Garp suddenly turned and inquired.
He desperately wanted to charge in immediately, as it would give him the chance to fight alongside Roger for the second time, just like at God Valley.
Their opponents were no weaklings—the Flying Pirates, reputed to command ten thousand pirates, and the legendary great pirate Golden Lion Shiki.
If he could join Roger in defeating such formidable foes again, Garp felt it would bring him immense satisfaction.
After all, his original purpose in chasing Roger was simply to have a fight with him.
Under normal circumstances, if he were here alone, Garp wouldn't have hesitated—he would have charged straight into battle against the Golden Lion's Flying Pirates.
But the current situation was different.
Raleigh was also a Vice Admiral and the deputy commander, so Garp had to respect his opinion on strategy.
Raleigh leisurely brewed a cup of tea, carefully placing the tea leaves inside.
Then he picked up a historical book about the Grand Line and began reading, saying:
"No need to rush, Vice Admiral Garp. Battles between top-tier fighters like them can last for days and nights as a basic minimum."
"We have plenty of time to wait for our opportunity."
Garp felt extremely frustrated.
He wasn't concerned about waiting for opportunities—what he wanted was to participate in the battle.
Being unable to fight either the Golden Lion or Roger made him unusually irritable.
"Raleigh, I believe with our current strength, we could capture both Roger's pirate crew and the Golden Lion's Flying Pirates in one sweep."
"So there's no need to wait until they've determined a winner before we move in."
Raleigh took a gentle sip of tea and glanced at Garp.
Being thoroughly familiar with the original events, he naturally understood what Garp was thinking.
The old man simply wanted to fight.
But for now, the battlefield between the Golden Lion and Roger wasn't suitable for intervention.
That sky-obscuring tsunami could arrive at any moment.
One must remember that the Golden Lion was an Ability User who possessed the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi power. E
ven with his ability to fly, he appeared utterly helpless before that massive freak storm.
In the end, he only narrowly survived with a ship's rudder embedded in his head.
"Vice Admiral Garp, let's wait a little longer."
...
The scene returns to where Golden Lion Shiki and Roger were engaged in battle.
Roger tightly gripped his sword Ace, charging toward Shiki across from him using Geppo while shouting passionately, "All crew members, commence attack! Your mission is to protect the Oro Jackson!"
As Roger flew toward Golden Lion, the surrounding pirate ships had already begun their artillery assault.
Shells fell into the ocean one after another, the shockwaves from their explosions sending towering water columns skyward.
Golden sword beams scattered in all directions across the sky, recklessly slicing through everything in their path.
The simultaneous eruption of Conqueror's Haki from both sides caused the clouds above to split into two distinct halves.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Roger was among the world's top Great Swordsmen and possessed the strongest Conqueror's Haki. Similarly, Golden Lion Shiki was no less formidable, also ranking among the world's elite Great Swordsmen.
Though his Conqueror's Haki wasn't as powerful as Roger's, his dual-blade style and fruit ability were sufficient to contend against him.
Their battle was extremely intense.
To prevent their fight from damaging their respective ships, they had to move several miles away from the fleet.
Listening to the sounds of Golden Lion and Roger's duel through the Den Den Mushi, Garp grew increasingly restless.
While clashing with Golden Lion using both Haki and swordsmanship, Roger simultaneously utilized his unique ability to "Hear the Voice of All Things" through Observation Haki, searching for an opening to turn the tide.
This was his distinctive capability, and his trump card to defeat Golden Lion.