Chapter 415: Chapter 415: The Final Step to the Top
Chapter 415: The Final Step to the Top
The flickering light of the bonfire danced, illuminating the beach under the night sky. On the soft sand, shadows swayed and intertwined, and the sound of laughter echoed in the night sky.
The Straw Hat crew, the Whitebeard crew, the Giant Warrior Pirates, the Vegapunks and Sentomaru, Aokiji, Hancock, Bonney...
The banquet was extremely lively. A wild celebration after a life-and-death battle, everyone had let go of their inhibitions.
Besides the feasting, there were, of course, the various antics of Luffy and his group. The classic "chopsticks-up-the-nose" dance even spread to the Whitebeard and Giant Warrior pirate crews.
The revelry continued until the latter half of the night, when the clamor gradually quieted down.
The fierce battle had already consumed most of everyone’s energy. This banquet did not last too long.
After a brief indulgence, sleepiness swept over their tired spirits, and Luffy and the others fell asleep on the spot.
The starry sky was serene, scattering a gentle silver moonlight that flickered on the sparkling sea, and gradually faded as the night deepened.
"Looks like everyone is worn out."
Looking at the figures lying scattered on the beach, Marco smiled faintly. He picked up two bottles of rum, stood up, and slowly came to a rock standing on the beach.
Reiner sat on the rock. Below, Nami and Robin were covered by a blanket, their backs against the rock, seemingly already asleep.
"You should have already collected three Road Poneglyphs, right?"
Marco said nonchalantly. He tossed a bottle of wine to Reiner and sat down cross-legged on the sand.
"The one from Totto Land, Wano Country, and the Minks."
"There’s only the last one left..."
Marco sighed lightly, tilted his head back, and took a swig of wine. He glanced back at him slightly.
"Any clues?"
"Basically none."
Thump—
Reiner replied faintly, holding the bottle by its neck and popping the cap with his thumb.
After taking a sip of the wine, he placed the bottle at his side, propped himself up with his hands, leaned back slightly, and looked up at the night sky. Only then did Reiner speak slowly:
"There are rumors that that Poneglyph is in the hands of the World Government. Others say it’s in the hands of a man who is covered in burns."
These rumors had been circulating on the seas. A little inquiry on Hachinosu could confirm them, but they were basically useless. It was even impossible to tell if they were true or false.
"What, you have news of it?"
A corner of Reiner’s mouth lifted slightly. His curiosity was piqued, and he glanced at Marco.
Marco did not speak, but just showed a meaningful smile. He looked at the gentle waves on the sea. After a long while, he finally said:
"No. But I can share a clue with you."
"Is that really okay? After all this, don’t you want to compete for the throne of the Pirate King?"
Before Marco could continue, Reiner couldn’t help but interrupt him.
If he remembered correctly, everyone in the Whitebeard crew wanted to make Ace the Pirate King. To receive free information from a competitor like this always felt a little like being pitied.
"Ace asked me to tell you. Some things from the past... now, only we on the sea know."
With that, Marco turned his head to look into the distance. Ace was chewing on a piece of meat, a bubble coming from his nose as he dozed off. He then turned back to look at Reiner and continued:
"Back then, after Roger had reached Laugh Tale and become the Pirate King, he knew his life was short. He once sought out Pops. I also heard some secrets about Laugh Tale."
"Of course, Pops had no interest at all in the so-called One Piece, so don’t expect me to know how to get there. But..."
His tone changed, and Marco shrugged.
"There are some things I can tell you. For example, the last island that the Log Pose points to, Lodestar Island... that’s not the final place."
"Ah. I heard Rayleigh say that before."
"That’s right. At that time, Roger realized that there was another island, the place that the World Government has forbidden anyone from going to for hundreds of years."
"He also succeeded. He gathered the four Road Poneglyphs, reached the final land of Laugh Tale. When he left, I heard that a crew member had used an eternal pose to record its location."
As his voice fell, hearing this, Robin, who had been motionless all this time, slowly opened her eyes.
Marco continued to recount the scene from that year, and Reiner also remembered some things.
Back then, someone had indeed used an eternal pose to secretly record the location of Laugh Tale, but it was discovered later.
"If you rely on this kind of thing, you won’t be able to find the real One Piece."
With this as his reason, Roger had thrown the eternal pose into the sea.
"That pose... I heard someone got it. The news came not long ago, around the time you defeated Kaido."
Marco’s gaze was deep as he said in a low voice:
"That person is the hero known as the ’Demon Heir’, Douglas Bullet. A former member of Roger’s crew."
"Bullet, huh? I know him. I saw him in Impel Down before. This is him."
Reiner replied, casually summoning Bullet’s undead and saying:
"But this is also like looking for a needle in a haystack. To find someone who has disappeared... the difficulty is not much different from finding the last Poneglyph."
"It seems so. But in fact, it’s not that difficult to find him."
Marco looked at Bullet’s undead and explained:
"That guy had always seen Roger as a challenge target. After learning that Roger had contracted a terminal illness and didn’t have many years left to live, he launched one last challenge."
"In the end, he still failed, and then he left the Roger Pirates. In my opinion, you probably don’t have to look for him. He himself might come looking for you."
"After all, the title of the world’s strongest is now on your head."
Marco looked at Reiner.
Reiner also understood his meaning.
After Roger’s death, Golden Lion had also been imprisoned. Whitebeard was called the world’s strongest, the man closest to the throne of the Pirate King.
But at that time, Bullet had already been defeated by the Buster Call led by Sengoku and Garp and had been thrown into Impel Down.
Bullet had escaped during the Summit War, when Blackbeard had released all the prisoners of Infinite Hell. After he got out, Whitebeard was also dead.
Reiner didn’t know what butterfly effect had caused it, but after that, there was no news of Bullet.
According to Marco, now that news of Bullet had come out again, and just at the time he had defeated Kaido, it was hard for Reiner not to think that the other was coming for him.
"I roughly understand what you mean."
Reiner nodded.
Roger didn’t want anyone to reach Laugh Tale directly through the shortcut of the eternal pose. He could understand this. A journey without adventure was a bit too boring.
Money, power... these things no longer held any attraction for him. With his strength, obtaining these was as easy as flipping his hand.
It was precisely for this reason that the experience of adventuring along the way, seeing all sorts of new things, and feeling all sorts of experiences he had never had before, had become all the more precious.
But the situation was different now. They had almost reached the end of their journey on the Grand Line. Luffy had already decided to go to Elbaf next. At that time, Lodestar Island would not be far away.
Finding the last Road Poneglyph and finding that eternal pose had both become the last step to obtaining the coordinates of Laugh Tale.
In other words, this was the last adventure to end their journey...
"Thinking back on it, there are still a lot of emotions..."
Reiner smiled faintly, looking up at the starry sky.
From setting out from the East Blue, and adventuring all the way here, so many things had happened. Even if he tried to recall them now, it would be hard to piece together a complete story.
These little moments would, one day in the future, on an ordinary-to-the-point-of-being-mundane afternoon, suddenly be remembered because of some insignificant thing.
Perhaps it would be his child asking, ’Daddy, which great pirates did you defeat in the past?’ or ’Mommy, where did you draw this sea chart?’...
Speaking of which, how many children to have... it feels like it would be very annoying. He wasn’t like Nami, who always had a lot of patience with children.
Forget it. I’m thinking too far ahead.
Reiner waved away the scattered thoughts in his mind.
Just then, Marco suddenly said:
"But what I wanted to say is not this. After all, it’s just a rumor. Whether the eternal pose really exists is yet to be determined."
"You have other intel?"
"Ah. It’s the rubbings of the four Poneglyphs."
Marco chuckled and nodded. He took another sip of his wine, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and continued:
"Although he threw away the eternal pose, Roger actually still left behind the rubbings."
"The World Government is trying its best to stop anyone from going to Laugh Tale. If one of the Poneglyphs is destroyed by them, then no one will ever be able to reach there."
"Perhaps it was because he knew that Pops had no interest in the One Piece. To prevent the truth from being buried forever, he asked Pops to keep these rubbings."
"If one day in the future, such a situation really occurs, then Pops would relight the extinguished embers for him."
Remembering that year, a hint of sadness inadvertently appeared in the depths of Marco’s eyes.
Hearing these words, Reiner and Robin, who had been secretly listening, were surprised.
"Hey! Don’t tell me you have them!"
"No. We don’t."
Marco very crisply interrupted his excitement and shrugged.
"Don’t get your hopes up. If we had them, Ace would already be the Pirate King. How could we possibly come and tell you?"
A vein popped on Reiner’s forehead. He held back the urge to beat him up and cursed inwardly.
Damn it. Wasted my expression.
"In fact, Pops refused him and said he didn’t have time to wait for the next era to arrive for him. If he was worried, he should find someone who could inherit his path himself."
Speaking of this, Marco raised an eyebrow at him and said with great interest:
"Why don’t you guess who Roger chose? I’ll give you a hint: there are two people."
Rayleigh and Gaban?
Reiner’s first reaction was the two who were known as Roger’s right and left hands. However, what came out of his mouth was:
"Red-Hair and Buggy?"
This answer made Marco’s expression freeze for a moment.
Seeing his reaction, Reiner couldn’t help but be a little stunned.
I guessed right?
"An intuition? You really are..."
Marco shook his head and laughed in spite of himself. He turned his head back and continued to look at the deep sea, saying nonchalantly:
"Do you know why I’m telling you this?"
"We... and Ace... have all failed..."
Before Reiner could think, Marco answered himself.
"Just on Elbaf. We were completely defeated."
After a moment of silence, Marco patted his body and stood up, smiling as if he didn’t care.
"That guy is ridiculously strong. And he’s always been so low-key."
"Honestly... as expected of the man who is called the king of the next generation."
Marco sighed with a helpless laugh. He looked at Reiner, his expression a little more serious.
"Even you... I can’t say for sure if you can win."
I’m guaranteed to win. I am the strongest.
Reiner couldn’t say such chuunibyou-like words, but in his heart, that’s probably what he thought.
He had this confidence. It would be the same even if Imu came over. If Roger and Joy Boy were still alive, he would still give them a good beating.
Unless they put Seastone handcuffs on him, no one could win against him. What ancient weapons, what Mother Flame... they were all toys in front of him.
He wasn’t like Fujitora, who had to worry about so many things. If he pulled the moon down, no one could stand and talk in front of him.
But then again, he suddenly understood Buggy the Clown’s Conqueror’s luck a little.
To be able to escape from death every time, as if the heavens were chasing after him all over the world... this couldn’t be the [Blessing of Fate], right?
To carry the thing that will change the world... the heavens have to let him live?
"But you said Shanks and Buggy... don’t tell me, the Cross Guild?"
"Mm. They are also on Elbaf."
Marco nodded in response.
Reiner couldn’t help but turn his head to look not far away, at Luffy, who was lying on his back, fast asleep, and at Zoro beside him.
"I see. They’re probably all waiting. The future Pirate King, and the world’s greatest swordsman."
"There’s only one last step left..."
A corner of Reiner’s mouth lifted slightly.
Usopp would also be seeing Yasopp. Robin would also be reunited with Saul.
Speaking of which, if Moria had joined the Cross Guild, Perona should also be there. It’s been so long. She’s probably grown a lot.
Oh right.
Reiner glanced at Kid again. And one to make up the numbers.
The journey to Elbaf had inexplicably become something to look forward to.
The faint light of the bonfire had dimmed. The swaying figures on the beach had gradually blurred. The faint light shone on Luffy’s face. The bubble from his nose rose and fell, accompanied by snores.
Zoro slowly opened his eyes and quietly stared at the deep night sky. He turned his head and looked at the three longswords leaning against the rock.
His gaze swept over Yukibashiri, the black blade Shusui, and finally landed on the white Wado Ichimonji.
In that year, he had entered the Shimotsuki Dojo. Relying on his amazing talent and hard work, he had soon defeated the other disciples. Later, even the adults could not win against him.
And it was in that year that he was defeated by a girl.
From one sword, he had become two. He had become even more diligent and hardworking, but he still lost, a full two thousand and one times.
Later, he had become three swords.
But there was no more chance.
"In the end, I didn’t win a single time. Honestly..."
A corner of Zoro’s mouth lifted slightly. He closed his eyes again, and the image of that sobbing, short-haired figure appeared in his mind.
Also on a quiet night, under the gentle moonlight.
They had made a promise that one of the two would definitely become the world’s greatest swordsman.
So this time.
He would absolutely not lose again.
(End of Chapter)
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