Chapter 263: Roger Questions His Life

Watching from the side, the little Lunaliayazu kid was dumbstruck,

Is this the Pirate King who once stirred up the world? Why does he seem like an idiot?

After a long while,

The two sat on the deck, drinking cheap wheat beer.

"I never thought the first drink after being resurrected would be this terrible."

The unpleasant rust smell from the mouth of the bottle made Roger keep smacking his lips, very annoyed.

Rayleigh didn't indulge him either, saying bluntly: "This slave ship has no good wine. If you can hold out, waiting until we land to drink wouldn't be too late."

Meaning, whose fault is it that you couldn't resist your cravings?

"Are there still slaves?"

Hearing Rayleigh's words, Roger's face darkened slightly.

Rayleigh nodded and said: "There are slaves. Fish-Man Island still hasn't seen sunlight, the Celestial Dragons already style themselves as the God Clan, and remain a very powerful force on this sea."

Roger asked somewhat despondently: "Did the plan fail?"

He was referring to the Great Pirate Era.

Back then, he set out to sea full of dreams, finding companions and defeating enemies along the way, finally reaching Lafute Lu and becoming the Pirate King.

But he discovered that even becoming the Pirate King couldn't change a world under oppression.

So on his deathbed, he wanted to say those words, to start the Great Pirate Era.

He wasn't sure if it would succeed,

But with his body already beyond saving, he could only use his final cry to awaken everyone's longing for freedom and dreams.

Rayleigh first nodded, then shook his head: "It succeeded, but also didn't succeed."

"The Great Pirate Era was a success. In the years after your death, countless people rushed to the sea because of your words, wanting to seek the treasure you left behind."

"But the result was failure."

"Most treasure hunters weren't the freedom and dreams you hoped for, but some despicable Pirates who only knew how to destroy everywhere. Over a decade has passed, and the World Government and Celestial Dragons still sit at the pinnacle of power."

Although the process succeeded, the result was failure.

Because this was inherently an incorrect beginning, the ending was destined from the start.

"Is that so? It seems I've become a sinner of the era."

Roger's face was despondent,

This wasn't his intention, but there was no other way.

If he had still been young then, with a healthy body, perhaps there would have been more choices and a future.

But with his body already beyond saving, the Great Pirate Era was the best choice he could make at the time, yet it too ended in failure.

Looking at the despondent Roger, Rayleigh said slowly, as if catching his breath: "However, the Shanks you placed such high hopes in has given this sea new life."

"Shanks!"

Mentioning the apprentice sailor he had high hopes for, Roger's eyes lit up, and he asked: "How is he doing now?"

"He was once one of the Four Emperors of the New World."

Rayleigh said with a half-smile: "And now, he's the President of the Adventurer Guild. He didn't continue inheriting your will, but issued a new Adventurer's Declaration. Even I was shocked at the time."

"Adventurer's Declaration?"

Speaking of adventurers, the Lunaliayazu kid nearby had his eyes light up, and began chattering away describing it.

Roger listened carefully to his account, quickly piecing together the matters regarding adventurers.

In the end, he sighed in admiration: "What a great declaration, broader than my Great Pirate Era. This kid Shanks truly didn't disappoint me."

"Disappoint you?"

Rayleigh said mercilessly: "Looking at it now, it's whether you, the Captain, would make Shanks feel embarrassed."

"What?"

Roger immediately glared and said: "Old man Rayleigh, are you looking for a fight?"

The Lunaliayazu kid, as well as the slaves Rayleigh had freed in the cabin, all looked at the two with Weirdness in their eyes.

Since learning that Rayleigh was the Vice-Captain of Roger's Pirate crew, they had already been greatly shocked,

Whose Pirate King's right-hand man would disguise himself as an old slave and sneak onto a slave ship?

Then came Roger's resurrection,

This was the second shock they received—the Pirate King, who had been dead for many years, had actually appeared alive before them.

Then came the third shock,

Compared to the legendary Pirate King Roger, the Dama who rules the Tuolante Kingdom, the Beasts Pirates' Rear Admiral Kaido, and the Haki-exuding Whitebeard, why does he seem like his brain isn't quite working?

Although his hair was graying, Rayleigh said confidently: "You now are no match for me, you kid Roger!"

"Are you serious, Rayleigh? I'm not sick now."

Hearing this, a smile also curled up at the corner of Roger's mouth,

His eyes filled with fighting spirit.

Two minutes later,

Roger was bound hand and foot, tied to the deck, thrashing about like a drowning fish.

"Old man Rayleigh, what's going on? Are you a monster? You could even block my Divine Departure?"

Roger had a feeling of questioning his life,

He was in his prime right now, yet he was defeated by Rayleigh without any effort, without even a shred of suspense.

As everyone knows, aside from Devil Fruit users, most Taijutsu masters' strength slightly weakens with age.

Could Rayleigh have been hiding his strength all along?

Why didn't you say so earlier!

If you'd said so earlier, I'd have let you be the Pirate King, and I'd be your right-hand man.

Rayleigh took out a Contract Fruit, held it to Roger's mouth, and said, "Eat this fruit, and you'll understand what's going on."

"A Devil Fruit?"

Roger shook his head repeatedly and said, "Although I don't reject the power of Devil Fruits, I don't want to eat one — I'd become a landlubber who can't swim, and that wouldn't be free! Wait… no, that's not right."

He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes suddenly going wide.

He stared fixedly at the Contract Fruit.

He possessed the ability to hear the Voice of All Things, yet he heard not a single sound from this fruit.

The so-called Voice of All Things,

in the Pirate World, is an extremely overpowered and outrageous ability.

Unlike spiritual force, it's more like a free soul that voluntarily leaves its shell, extending its tendrils toward the world, resonating with any living being's soul to perceive their emotions and the contents of their soul.

Even inanimate objects, under the flow of time, retain sounds that can be heard.

But on this fruit,

Roger couldn't hear a single trace of sound.

It was as if some power transcending the world had created a fruit with no connection to anything, resulting in no sound being retained at all.

Roger didn't understand, but was greatly shaken, and asked, "Old man Rayleigh, where did you get this fruit?"

"The Game Merchant."

Rayleigh briefly recounted everything that had happened since the Game Merchant's appearance.

"A being from another world, who created a game that allows travel to countless other worlds to hunt pollution, freeing everyone from the shackles of fate and granting any wish?"

Roger's face flushed red, and he clenched his fist,

directly breaking free of the hemp ropes binding him, and looked at the Contract Fruit with eager anticipation.

Without hesitation, he swallowed it in one gulp.

"Idiot Captain, just like a Devil Fruit, you only need to take one bite — are you trying to choke yourself to death?"

(End of this chapter)