The wait finally paid off. One day, Reith waited.
— Finally! Finally, someone has arrived!
Reith stood on his makeshift observation tower and, watching the sailboat slowly approaching in the distance, became so excited that he almost fell over.
Eight months of survival on a desert island had made him not just stronger than he'd been at the start—he'd grown taller and stronger. He now wore his long hair in a bun on top of his head. Seeing a human ship now was an indescribable joy.
"I hope it's the Straw Hat crew... I hope it's the Straw Hat crew..." He folded his hands in a prayer gesture, but then suddenly realized something. "Wait, what if it's Blackbeard's crew? No, I need to take a closer look. If I can't make it out, I'll have to run away."
The ship approached, and Reith squinted. A young man in a straw hat stood at the bow, and next to him, a blond man with glasses. It was too far away to make out their faces, but that straw hat…
"Luffy! It's Luffy!" Rate jumped up and down in excitement. "I knew that God wouldn't be such a scoundrel!"
Reith was so happy to see the straw hat that he didn't even think about it: next to the young man in the straw hat there should have been a swordsman in green.
He quickly tidied up his "stylish savage" costume, made from boar skin, and put out on the beach the roast boar and coconut juice he had saved for the special occasion.
When the boat docked, Reith jumped towards it in one fell swoop:
- Luffy! Zoro! I missed you so much!
The young man in the straw hat stared at him in complete bewilderment:
- Who is Luffy?
The blond adjusted his glasses:
- My name is Rayleigh and his is Roger.
Reith froze in place, his thoughts racing. Roger? Raleigh? Why were those names so familiar…
"Wait," his voice began to tremble, Reith already guessed what was going on.
But he didn't want to believe in this reality.
— What are your full names?
"Gol D. Roger," the guy in the straw hat answered cheerfully. "We're a newly formed pirate crew!"
Reith's expression froze. He slowly lowered his head.
"Goal... D... Roger... Roger... Roger..."
The name echoed in his mind.
It seemed like the whole world had gone topsy-turvy.
"River God... Damn you!" Reith collapsed onto the sand, clutching his head in his hands.
In his mind he roared: "This is, damn it, forty years before canon!!!"
Reith raised his head and looked at the indecently youthful Roger. Life seemed hopelessly bleak to him. By the time he knew him, Roger was already sixty years old.
"What do you mean? Sixty is the perfect time for adventure? You've got to be kidding me!"
"Yo, kid!" Roger jumped off the boat with a laugh.
Reith stared at that... ahem... face, remembered some joke and blurted out:
- And how old are you, sir?
The air suddenly froze.
Roger looked at Rayleigh blankly, as if he hadn't understood the question.
Reilly adjusted his glasses.
- Roger, he seems to be asking your age.
"Aha-ha-ha! I'm nineteen!" Roger slapped his chest proudly. "Looking grown up, huh? I'm telling you, I'm going to conquer this sea!"
Reith's face cracked. A nineteen-year-old Pirate King?! Entering One Piece when the Pirate King has just set sail – what to do?! Online, urgently!
"Ah… this guy…" Reith turned to Rayleigh.
"I'm only twenty-two!" the future Dark King instantly lost his temper. "Snotty brat, do I look that old?!"
- No, what are you saying...
"So," Rayleigh asked with keen interest, "this Luffy you were talking about..."
"Oh, my friend. I'm shipwrecked, you know! We're all buddies," Reith blurted out, but with a tremendous effort of will, he forced himself to remain silent.
Perhaps he'd been on the island too long. Reith desperately needed to talk. A man accustomed to the bustle of the big city had suddenly spent eight months on a desert island—his thirst for communication reached its peak.
Roger's eyes lit up.
— And how did you end up here? Were you looking for adventure?
"No, aba-aba, hunger, hum-hum, conqueror of this sea!" Reith shook his head desperately. "Quack-quack-quack! Ee-e-e-e..."
Reith leaned his hands on the ground as if someone had turned on sad background music for him: "What the hell am I saying?!"
Roger was picking his nose, and Rayleigh was already frying the meat. And neither Roger nor Rayleigh seemed to mind.
Reith asked curiously:
— Don't you find it strange to meet a lonely child on the island?
Roger laughed out loud:
— Not at all! The sea is open to anyone who dares to venture out into it, isn't it?
Reith thought:
— Do you want to become the Pirate King in the future?
Roger and Rayleigh looked at each other and suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"The Pirate King?! What a funny name, ha-ha-ha, what a funny name!" Roger wiped away the tears of laughter. "Then it's decided! We will become Pirate Kings! I will become the freest man in this endless sea!"
Reith: "..."
Just as Reith was about to continue, Roger and Rayleigh stopped him simultaneously.
"That's enough, Reith. Do you want to join our ship? The adventure is just beginning. Do you really think sailing the seas alone won't be too boring?"
Reith looked at the two, who seemed to be indifferent to everything: "Too boring, you say? You guys are something else, Roger pirates!"
A fighting spirit flared up in little Reith:
- Hey, Roger, let's fight!
Reith suddenly jumped to his feet, his eyes dancing with excitement. Before him stood the future Pirate King—not fighting him would have been a crime against this target!
Rate was already starting to get excited: to get into One Piece and give the Pirate King a beating! Rate wondered what kind of power Roger could possibly possess, having just set sail. He was a Logia user!
Roger was just stuffing the last piece of fried meat into his mouth:
— Ahem-ahem... What did you say?
"I said..." Reith began to shroud himself in fog. "A card player prepares the battlefield first, that's right."
Reith saw that Roger was still picking his nose.
"Hey! Be serious!" A vein bulged on Reith's forehead. "I'm very serious!"
Rayleigh sipped coconut juice lazily off to the side:
- Captain, he has already challenged you.
- Huh? Oh! - Roger jumped up, as if he had just woken up. - Fight, then? You should have said so right away!
Reith grinned like a shark:
- Hey, I just said that! Asshole!
The next second, Reith suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Roger still stood there, motionless, but some invisible pressure made every hair on his body stand on end.
"Well, then I'll begin~" Roger grinned and assumed a strange stance.
Reith groaned silently, "Come on, you were so strong from the start, bro? If you'd told me earlier, I wouldn't have even put that title!"
Reith immediately turned his entire body into the element, the fog around him had already thickened considerably:
"Hiding in the Fog: Mirage!" Seven copies of it appeared simultaneously from different directions.
"Wow! That's awesome!" Roger's eyes lit up, and then…
Bam!
A simple, straightforward punch landed squarely in Reith's stomach, doubled over like a shrimp. All illusions instantly vanished.
- Cough-cough... How did you... figure it out... - Reith, kneeling, choked on the urge to vomit.
"Hm?" Roger cocked his head. "I didn't figure it out, I heard it. I just felt like you were supposed to be here."
Rayleigh explained from the side:
— Roger has excellent intuition.
"The Voice of All That Is, huh?" Reith, struggling to his feet, suddenly braced himself on the ground with his hands. "Misty Dungeon: A Thousand Needles!" Countless misty needles erupted from the ground.
But Roger, as if dancing, fluttered between the needles, even humming some false melody under his breath.
"My turn!" He suddenly lunged forward, his fist whistling through the air.
Reith quickly turned to the elements, but heard Roger's cry:
- Gotcha!
A hand coated in Armament Haki grabbed Wraith by the scruff of the neck, leaving Wraith flopping around like a dried fish.
Life suddenly lost all meaning.
- Huh? So fast? - Roger was surprised. -
Well, fine. Then let's have a feast!