Sabaody Archipelago, Rayleigh looked at the newspaper in his hand. The poison gas incident at Fish-Man Island, among the many major events in the world, was not particularly special, but Rayleigh was paying close attention to it.
He sat in Shakky's bar drinking free alcohol and reading this news.
Memories of the past surfaced in his mind. He recalled that one night, Roger had said to him: "This is the treasure we left for the world. What do you think? Interesting, right? If you don't know what to do in the future, just guard our treasure and wait for the day the world changes."
"Do you think I'd do something stupid? You idiot captain." Rayleigh pushed up his glasses with his fingers, the corners of his eyes slightly moist. On the ship back then, Roger and he had the closest bond. Really, just adding work to a retired old man's plate.
After all these years, no major news had come out of Fish-Man Island, at least Hatchan never mentioned it.
But now everything has begun to change. It would only be a matter of time before that exalted ruler noticed something amiss.
"Are you going out?" Shakky tapped the ash off her cigarette and looked calmly at Rayleigh. In his eyes, she saw a spark that retirees didn't have.
"I want to go out and take a look."
"I knew you weren't here to retire, let alone to keep me company. If you wanted to retire, there are plenty of places quieter than Sabaody." Shakky was not surprised at all. She had long expected this day.
With Rayleigh's strength, finding any job would be easy, but the job he does now is coating. And that job is the one that brings him into contact with the most pirates. This shows he still cares about this sea.
She had guessed that Rayleigh might be waiting for someone or had some goal, but she never minded. The fact that Rayleigh could stay here with her was already enough to satisfy her.
"I'm old, yet I still want to shine and generate heat, hahaha. But this world is still so wonderful. Even without Captain Roger, it's still very interesting. I can't let all of this be destroyed. Perhaps the time has come. Sorry about this." Rayleigh swirled the wine glass in his hand.
In his entire life, the only person he felt guilty towards was Shakky.
"What about the Straw Hat boy?"
"They've already mastered the basics. The rest is up to them and you."
"You sure know how to give me work."
"This way it won't be so boring, right?" Rayleigh smiled slightly.
The two were silent for a moment. Then Shakky spoke again: "Stay a few more days."
"Alright."
...
New World, the sea area after Fish-Man Island surfaced.
House-sized raindrops pounded down. Hailstones like small icebergs poured from the sky. The waves undulated violently.
"This is the weather in the New World. It's way more severe than the first half, isn't it? Thunder Dragon!" Enel released a roaring electric dragon, shattering an iceberg falling from the sky, but soon another iceberg fell.
"Hey old man, that lightning bolt just now was brighter than the ones you usually let out."
"What?! Divine Judgment." Enel felt his title as God of Lightning was greatly challenged. A pillar of lightning struck down from the sky, smashing all the icebergs above.
"What is this? The ship is shaking. Are we going to float up?" Law was startled. It was also his first time entering the New World. The climate was too bizarre.
"Is it gravity? Or a magnetic mountain? Look up there. That mountain seems to be attracting our ship." Daz Bones said calmly.
After surfacing, Hathaway and the others had parted ways with them. But they had only been sailing for a short while before entering such a bizarre and unpredictable sea area.
"Leave it to me. 100,000 kilograms of pressure!" Valentine crouched down. The metal deck of the entire ship was dented under her feet. If not for the Pluton having pressure relief, memory metal, and Valentine's restraint, an ordinary ship would probably have been crushed instantly.
Her Devil Fruit development was already astonishing. Although for now she could only affect external objects with her laser-guided armor-piercing arrows, but now with laser plus weighted drop, it was already trending towards a small meteorite. It fully justified her bounty.
With this heavy pressure, the entire Pluton gained weight. Added to the Pluton's own weight, it could no longer be pulled upward.
But moving was also very difficult for them.
Seeing this, Robin smiled slightly, crossed her arms in front of her chest, petals flew up, and then two hands emerged from the magnetic mountain in the sky.
"Devil Shockwave!" From her palms, two terrifying shockwaves burst forth rapidly. Two loud booms echoed in the sky. The sky was enveloped in circular explosive blasts. The entire magnetic mountain was instantly shattered, falling down as rocks.
With that, it lost its magnetism. Rosen ordered them to continue forward.
"Sandstorm." A tornado of sand and dust was thrown by Rosen. The gigantic beast emerging from the sea ahead was instantly shorn down to its skeleton by the metal-hard sandstorm.
"BOSS's control over his ability is getting stronger and stronger. He only trims the flesh, not the bones." Robin said sincerely.
"So wasteful." Natalie stared longingly at the skeleton.
Relying on their high combat strength, they quickly escaped this sea area. They had to leave quickly too. Who knew what else was in this sea? If something they couldn't understand appeared, it might wipe them all out in an instant.
The seas of the New World bury a huge number of pirate ships every year. Even powerful officers under the Emperors could encounter a bizarre storm and then completely disappear from the world.
"Dawn Pirates? Charge, men!" While sailing, Rosen finally witnessed the strength of New World pirates and their extraordinary, tougher spirit. Many were fearless. Some were born fearless and ignorant, relying on brute force to survive until now.
Some relied on their own high strength.
"Valentine got injured by an enemy pirate ship?" Rosen frowned slightly. Just entering the New World, and there's already such a strong pirate crew? No wonder Marine Headquarters has such a strong grip here.
But there is a reason why the New World is so strong. Every year, pirates set out from around the world to the Grand Line. Those who don't die basically end up accumulating in the New World, all waiting for their chance.
Over these decades, the numbers are terrifying. On the surface, the Four Emperors do seem to outclass all other pirates, but in reality, there are countless pirates here with bounties over 100 million Berry who have mastered Haki.
Outside the New World, a pirate with a bounty over 100 million Berry can live an easy, carefree life as long as he keeps a low profile. But here, having a bounty over 100 million and knowing Haki are just basic survival conditions for most pirates.
If you can't achieve even these two things, surviving in the cracks between the Four Emperors' grand tides is almost impossible.
The sea cow was looking at its own wanted poster with a satisfied expression. What a handsome shot. Give the cameraman an extra chicken leg.
But this bounty seemed very low. So it looked up at Rosen, said something like "hee-hoo," and pointed at its own wanted poster.
"Want to go? Go ahead, then. Go and give it a try." Rosen nodded. Since the sea cow wanted to fight, it should fight.
On the enemy ship not far away, a pirate saw the sea cow racing across the sea like a flying boat and immediately shouted: "Captain, the enemy has sent reinforcements."
"Hmph, I haven't lost yet!" Valentine stood up tiredly from the ground. Her laser-guided armor-piercing arrows danced and fluttered around her. This captain with a 330 million Berry bounty was really tough to handle.
"How many people came? The captain himself has stepped in, right? That woman should be the second strongest on their ship." The five-meter-tall pirate captain grinned. He hadn't expected the Dawn Pirates to hide so deep, that this woman with a bounty under 200 million Berry was actually the second strongest.
He couldn't imagine that if she wasn't the second strongest, it would be simply unreasonable. It seems bounties really don't always mean everything.
"They came... a... pet!?" The pirate was also dumbfounded.
(End of chapter)