Hearing Nereus ask that, Roger froze for a moment, then burst into laughter.
What Nereus said wasn’t wrong. Everyone had their own goals, and Roger himself was no exception.
Entrusting his child to Garp was also part of Roger’s own “design.”
He believed Garp wouldn’t ignore it. He trusted his judgment of people.
As for Nereus’s question…
“During this final voyage, I discovered many things. For example, this world was once a single connected landmass. The present-day Four Seas and countless islands are the result of a war from long ago.
That great war shattered the world into pieces.
I also discovered some truths that the World Government has always wanted to hide.
Without a doubt, the current World Government are the victors of that era. They obtained the fruits of victory.
But they’re afraid. They’re afraid of the true D, afraid of everything from the past. If they had won through genuine strength, why would they fear those who lost?
That alone proves their victory wasn’t honorable. If it happened again, even the World Government couldn’t guarantee they would win, which is why they want to erase all traces of those things.
When I first set sail, I wanted to turn this world upside down.
Only by leaving one’s hometown and pursuing freedom can this world undergo a complete and thorough transformation!”
“Vohahahahahaha! Roger, you bastard… I’m starting to admire you a little! Those idiots in the World Government must be running around in panic right now!
Publicly executing you looks like the stupidest decision they’ve ever made.”
As Roger summarized his thoughts, Rocks’s laughter never seemed to stop. Being unable to personally participate in this chaotic era was Rocks’s greatest regret.
As for what consequences the Great Pirate Era would bring, neither Roger nor the others had considered it.
This great upheaval might accelerate the collapse of the World Government, but throughout the process, far more than just the World Government would be affected.
Whether in the Grand Line or the Four Seas, countless rookie pirates would flood the seas. The people setting sail were not revolutionaries with lofty ideals, but pirates driven by temptations of wealth, power, and countless other desires.
Roger used his own life to ignite the entire sea.
By making non-affiliated nations suffer, the World Government had successfully highlighted the superiority of affiliated nations.
But under the World Government’s Celestial Dragon-centered rule, the entire world had long since become a powder keg.
Roger was the spark. At this moment, throughout both the Four Seas and the Grand Line, countless people were setting out on their own journeys with the One Piece as their goal.
The curtain had already risen on what would come to be known as the Great Pirate Era.
Nereus did not remain in the River of Death’s space for long, quickly returning his consciousness to the outside world.
The spectators had already dispersed, scrambling to board ships and set sail, as though leaving first would somehow guarantee obtaining the One Piece.
According to World Government regulations, even fleets belonging to affiliated nations had to submit an application report to Mariejois before sailing into the Grand Line.
Only after approval could they set sail; otherwise, they could all be treated as pirates.
Back then, North Blue’s Noland had once had his fleet delayed by this approval process for several years.
The people setting out now were practically branded as pirates already.
The torrential rain showed no sign of stopping. Laughter echoed everywhere, and to Garp’s ears, that laughter sounded almost grating.
He had thought entrusting his child was already the “big move” Roger had prepared. Who would have thought it wasn’t even the appetizer?
“Roger… you b*stard…”
His surrender, his impending death—it all made sense now.
That single sentence had turned all of the Marines’ efforts over the past period into nothing.
The deterrent effect of executing the Pirate King was nowhere near as powerful as the temptation of that immense treasure.
The boiling atmosphere in Loguetown alone was enough to show everything. How many people would embark upon the path of pirate because of Roger’s provocation?
“The era of pirates…”
Amphitrite murmured to herself. She understood clearly what kind of consequences Roger’s words would bring.
The rain could not extinguish the flames burning on a Lunarian’s body. None of them carried umbrellas, simply standing amidst the curtain of rain.
For Nereus and Chloe, this downpour even felt pleasantly refreshing.
“This journey is over. It’s time for us to go home. Judging by how crazy things are getting, it won’t be long before pirates start appearing outside our borders.”
As the midpoint of the Grand Line, the island that divided Paradise from the New World, Fish-Man Island would face the greatest impact.
The seven routes of the Grand Line would disperse the pirates, but in the end, they would all converge on Fish-Man Island. If this were the Fish-Man Island of the original timeline, this era would have been a disaster.
They would have lacked the strength to deal with such a crisis and could only have relied on Whitebeard’s protection to maintain order.
But things were different now. The current Fish-Man Island possessed the ability to face the coming crisis.
Even so, this influx of new pirates would deal a tremendous blow to the existing order. It was easy to foresee that many people, tempted by profit, would attempt to violate the prohibitions.
It would take enough blood and iron to make them understand what rules meant.
The news of the One Piece could not be concealed. Even without newspapers or reporters, the story was spreading wildly through word of mouth.
The death of the Pirate King Roger, together with the legend of the ultimate treasure, ONE PIECE, swept across the world like an unstoppable plague.
In just a few days, the news had even reached the supposedly impregnable fortress, Impel Down.
“OH! OH! OH——!”
The lowest level of Impel Down, the pitch-dark Eternal Hell.
This was the mysterious Level 6, a place whose very existence was unknown to most of the outside world.
Those imprisoned here were monsters regarded as taboos by the World Government, beings they sought to erase entirely from history. Their only fates were execution or imprisonment until death.
Yet at this moment, unprecedented roars of excitement erupted throughout the level.
“The Great Pirate Era has begun! Let me out! The outside battlefield is where I belong!”
In a cell deep within the prison, however, Golden Lion lay sprawled on the floor with a dispirited expression, completely out of place amidst the surrounding frenzy.
“Roger’s dead, and a bunch of trash starts barking. The seas have become boring indeed.
Harald joined the World Government, Nereus is definitely plotting something, Newgate only cares about playing house… Heh, I really can’t understand what you people are thinking.
But the era after Roger… should belong to you all now, shouldn’t it? I wonder who’ll become the ruler of this new era… that’s actually something worth looking forward to…”
Golden Lion continued muttering to himself, filled with disdain for the other pirates in Impel Down. They might be shouting loudly now, but once Vice Warden Magellan came down here, they’d all fall silent in an instant.
“Forget it. I’ll rest for now… Damn Garp and Sengoku. Once I’ve recovered from my injuries, I’ll come out and have another chat with you two.”
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