A few months later, Kaidou personally returned to Wano Kuni with a newspaper. A major event had occurred; Roger had finally completed his unprecedented voyage.
[Pirate King! Gol D. Roger!]
Big letters occupied an entire page of the newspaper. Led by Morgans' World Economic News Agency, media around the world were frantically reporting this: the Pirate King was born.
"Cowards, they're really a bunch of cowards, too afraid to even announce Roger's name? Gold, they're really scared of the so-called Will of D."
Roger had become the Pirate King, and this was something that couldn't be kept secret. There were too many people in the know, such as those who saw them off and Roger's crew members.
In this situation, the World Government chose to release the news through their own channels first, aiming to cover up Roger's real name.
However, this could only deceive most ignorant citizens; Great Pirates of the New World all knew Roger's true name. Right now, Gol D. Roger was drinking with Whitebeard on some island.
Looking at the photos in the newspaper, Arceus suspected that the reporter who took the picture had rowed a small boat and followed Roger all the way to Laugh Tale.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to take a photo from this angle. These journalists indeed had some hidden talents.
Pirate King Gol D. Roger, bounty of 5,564,800,000 Belly, this was the biggest news today.
Although the name of Gol D. Roger had already spread across the world as the Pirate King, and almost everyone knew that one man had conquered the Grand Line and reached the Final Island, Laugh Tale, an unprecedented feat.
However, Wano Kuni was an exception; its isolation meant that newspapers hadn't circulated there, and only members of the Hundred Beasts Pirates knew what had truly happened.
As for the local people, even if you told them about the Pirate King, they wouldn't understand the term.
In the past, no one would accept such a title, and countless challengers would immediately emerge, but not this time. Whether enemies or friends, pirates recognized Roger's actions.
People still wanted to kill Roger, but they also recognized the kingly title.
On an unknown island, Gol D. Roger appeared drunk, with Whitebeard Edward Newgate in front of him, a pirate known as the world's strongest man.
"D, my name is D, but Newgate, are you really not interested in knowing how to get there? I could tell you the route."
"Gurararara, no interest. I've already got what I wanted, Roger, what's your plan next?"
"Roger Pirates have disbanded; it's time for me to go home. After all, I don't have much time left. Goodbye, Newgate, if there's ever another chance."
...
Tottland Sea Region, Cake Island.
"Mama...Mama, Pirate King, they sure dare to say it. What they stole from me really helped him a lot..."
Saying this, she crushed the plate in her hand, causing powder to scatter on the floor, scaring everyone around her.
Only Streusen pushed a cart over.
"Linlin, this is the new cream made by the Hundred Beasts over there, come try the new banana cake."
The sweets brought a look of bliss to Charlotte Linlin's face, temporarily removing her anger.
...
On a Sky Island, in Golden Lion's base camp.
"Admiral! Admiral! Big news, Gol D. Roger really reached that place, now people are calling him the Pirate King!"
Golden Lion took the newspaper without saying a word, just smoking one cigar after another.
"As expected of you, Roger, the man who conquered me, truly remarkable..."
...
On an unknown New World island, Bullet tossed aside the enemy in his hand, looking complex. He wanted to challenge Roger again, but he knew Roger's physical condition all too well.
Meanwhile, the Oro Jackson was sailing on the sea; the Roger Pirates had declared dissolution, and when all the crew returned home, its mission had also completed.
...
On Ghost Island, Kaidou was gulping down alcohol. No one knew what he was thinking about, this man who had defeated his former captain Rocks and now conquered the Grand Line.
The officers each had their own thoughts, but the regular members didn't think much of it, still going about their usual business.
Kojiro's business had also expanded considerably in recent times.
"Master Kojiro, our juice has been selling like crazy lately, becoming the best-selling drink in Wano Kuni."
An elderly man, appearing to be in his sixties, sat kneeling beside him. He was the old servant of Kojiro's family, who had practically raised Kojiro, and never left even when the family fell on hard times.
Now that Kojiro had achieved higher status, the old servant naturally was entrusted with more responsibility.
Kojiro listened to his report while petting his dog. Little Card had revived with nearly double the energy, making his daily dog walks quite a workout.
Had he not been recently dragged by King to practice the Sword Dao, he might not have had the stamina even to walk his dog.
"According to your instructions, we've sent out the prize bottle cap, but are you sure we should do this? I think we're fine even without sending it."
"Old man, reputation is the most important. It's just a hundred gold, and once it's out there, it will take some time to be found."
Just as Kojiro finished speaking, an employee from the trading company ran in.
"Master Kojiro! A flying arrow message from the Ringo Region, someone has collected the grand prize!"
"Woof!"
He inadvertently pulled out a few strands of Little Card's fur. In his estimation, it would take at least half a month to sell the grand prize bottle cap, and even then, collecting the other caps wouldn't be so easy. After all, he'd already reclaimed a large number of rare caps from the second prize.
How could it be so coincidental to be bought by just one person?
"How is that possible? Did you sell it wrong?"
"The shop owner said he was busy with other things at the time and let the customer fetch it from the warehouse...."
"Bring the person over. Since it's already happened, we must allow redemption, but manage it properly."
Redemption procedures differed; a small prize could be redeemed immediately by the shop owner, but the grand prize required special delivery.
When he saw the person coming for redemption, his facial muscles twitched slightly.
"M-Miss Yamato, what brings you here?"
"Here for the prize, why not?"
"Of course, no problem, I'll redeem it for you right away." Originally, he planned to organize some event, but now, there was no need for any activities upon seeing this. It would just look like rigging with the top prize winner being the financer's only daughter.
Upon learning how Yamato collected the caps, his internal emotions grew even more complex.
She had treated the entire group to three days' worth of juice, with nearly a thousand people opening caps for three days, directly collecting all the caps except for the grand prize.