"It's like this. I heard he's a very famous sniper around this area, so I want to invite him to go out to sea with me!"
As he spoke, Roy stretched out his arms in a free and easy manner and laughed loudly. "After all, the sea is a man's romance! I believe he'll definitely go out to sea with me and conquer the Grand Line! A man like that would never confine himself to one tiny island in the East Blue!"
His loud laughter echoed through the entire surrounding forest. As he spoke, Roy was brimming with confidence.
Looking at Roy's somewhat young appearance, Yasopp withdrew the dismissiveness in his heart and began to take him seriously.
At first, he had thought that this man, who looked less than twenty years old, was just some idiot whose head had gotten hot, dreaming of becoming Pirate King, and had come here to recruit him.
But Yasopp could clearly feel that as the man in front of him spoke, his voice caused the air itself to tremble. On top of that, he had appeared behind Yasopp without a sound, and Yasopp had known nothing about it. This man was definitely very strong!
Yasopp's heart was moved.
He felt that the other party was absolutely right. The sea truly was a man's romance. What he had always longed for was to go out to sea and head for the Grand Line.
But...
Although he was extremely tempted, Yasopp still fell into silence.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, reveal that he was Yasopp, and refuse the invitation, the other party's hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
Then, before he could say anything, Yasopp felt his vision blur. When he could see clearly again, he discovered that he was already standing on a stretch of red earth.
"Where is this?" Yasopp looked around in astonishment.
"This is the Red Line, Yasopp-san," Roy said with a smile.
"The Red Line... Wait, you knew I was Yasopp?" Yasopp's eyes widened.
"Mm. Actually, the moment I saw you, I felt that you were the Yasopp-san I was looking for. After chatting with you for a few sentences, I became certain that you were Yasopp!"
As he spoke, Roy placed his hand on Yasopp's shoulder.
"This is the top of the Red Line. You must have heard of it, right?"
Yasopp nodded. Any man who set his ambitions upon the sea would have heard at least something about the Red Line.
"This is the Red Line at the midpoint of the Grand Line. In front of us is the first half of the Grand Line, while behind us is the New World. The legendary great treasure lies at the end of the New World."
As Roy spoke, he glanced down toward the lower right.
"And over there, the Holy Land Mary Geoise is located there."
Following the direction Roy pointed in, Yasopp could vaguely make out the shadows of some buildings in the distance.
"Although that place is called the Holy Land, and it's where the World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons, live, in my eyes, it's nothing but a gathering place of filth. They clearly could have developed an automated moving walkway with technology, yet in the mouths of those Celestial Dragons, making it run by human labor is supposedly giving those lowly people a little meaning for their existence."
Roy spoke calmly. He had successfully stirred Yasopp's emotions. He could feel that the other man's hand had already clenched into a fist.
"So my dream is to conquer this sea, then come here and drag down every last one of those people who look down on us!"
Yasopp's blood began to boil. Although he already had a family, he was only twenty-five years old right now. In terms of age and mentality, he was still in the period of being a hot-blooded, overdramatic youth.
"So come with me and become my companion!"
Roy reached out his hand toward Yasopp. He could feel the other man's heart pounding violently.
Looking at the hand Roy extended to him, Yasopp struggled fiercely in his heart.
But... he still couldn't let go of his wife and child!
In the original version, Yasopp received Shanks's invitation in the year 1502, but it was not until Usopp was two years old, in 1505, that he finally made up his mind and followed Shanks out to sea.
Seeing the struggle in Yasopp's heart, Roy smiled faintly and brought Yasopp through Instant Transmission once again.
The scene before their eyes changed again. They had already returned to Syrup Village.
"Instant Transmission."
Roy stared into Yasopp's eyes.
"With this, even after we go out to sea in the future, you can come back here at any time to see your wife and child. Besides, I don't plan to set sail right now. The time hasn't come yet. I'll probably wait another one or two years. So, your decision is?"
"...Captain!"
...
The One Piece world passed through the year 1502 in such calm fashion and arrived at the year 1503.
Over the next few years, there were rarely any major incidents in the world. Aside from more and more pirates rushing into the Grand Line under Roger's influence, giving the Marines no end of trouble, the world had fallen into a rare period of peace.
This situation would continue until 1506, when Fisher Tiger climbed barehanded up to the Holy Land Mary Geoise and liberated the slaves, shocking the entire world.
And now, in 1503, at Foosha Village.
Garp, who had crushed the Rocks Pirates and become a Marine hero, was holding a baby in his arms and grinning broadly.
"Garp, be careful! I never thought that brat Dragon would actually have a child. Speaking of which, I haven't heard news of Dragon in a long time. How is he doing now?"
The village chief of Foosha Village leaned on his cane and unceremoniously jabbed at Garp while also asking about Dragon's situation.
Garp, who had originally been cheerfully holding the little baby, immediately changed his expression when he heard Dragon's name and began snorting.
"Who knows where that bastard ran off to! Instead of being a perfectly good Marine, he just had to say he was going to do some great work for the happiness of all humanity. Is that something a normal person says? If this old man sees him again, I'll have to give him a proper beating!"
"Is that so? In any case, I'm just an old man, so I don't care about your affairs. Garp, have you decided on the child's name?"
"Of course! Luffy. From now on, this child's name will be Luffy. In the future, he'll become the finest Marine, just like me, together with Ace! Hahahahahaha!"
(End of Chapter)
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