Aether's vision slowly expanded along with the sound of waves.
The coastline beneath the setting sun radiated a golden glow. On the distant shore stood a woman watching the sea quietly, one hand gently stroking her slightly swollen belly.
She was tall and graceful. Long golden hair flowed in soft waves behind her, and her delicate face carried a warmth that seed capable of lting any heart.
Her eyes were filled with deep love as she spoke softly toward the ocean.
"Roger, do not worry. I will take good care of our child. One day we will all be proud of you."
She paused for a mont, her fingers resting lightly on her stomach.
"If the child is a girl, we will call her Ann. If it is a boy, Ace."
The voice gradually faded like a distant tide.
Aether slowly opened his eyes.
He lay on a bed, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. The lingering warmth of that dream still remained in his mind. Hearing that familiar voice again caused a faint ripple in his heart.
He murmured quietly.
"Rouge… why do I keep dreaming about you?"
His gaze beca distant.
"I am not the real Roger."
"Mmm..."
A soft sound beside him pulled him back to reality.
Aether turned his head.
A beautiful red haired woman lay asleep next to him beneath the blanket, her figure graceful even while resting.
Baccarat.
Her expression was peaceful, her breathing steady.
Aether lifted the blanket and quietly got out of bed. Before leaving, he glanced once toward the gift he had given her the previous night.
At that mont a familiar chanical voice echoed inside his mind.
[Moderately changed the fate of B rank character Baccarat. Reward: 30 points.]
[B rank character generated positive emotions toward the Host. Level: Elentary Friendly. Experience 30]
Aether's eyes narrowed slightly.
"So she was awake."
He did not expose it.
Pretending to sleep suited him just fine. Aether had no interest in building deeper ties with a woman whose Devil Fruit could steal luck.
Without another glance, he walked into the bathroom.
The mirror reflected a young man with short black hair and a bright, confident appearance.
Handso. Calm. Charismatic.
This was the face of a young Gol D. Roger.
More precisely, this was Roger's body.
Aether studied his reflection carefully. His dark eyes scanned every detail as mories flooded back into his mind.
Even now it still felt unreal.
Before this, he had been an ordinary man from Earth.
While climbing a mountain he had suddenly been struck by a beam of golden light. At that exact mont his body lost control and he fell from a cliff over one hundred ters high.
The blankness before death and the crushing pain of his body hitting the ground were still vivid in his mory.
That golden light had followed him even after death.
It had beco the system now residing within his soul.
The Myriad Heavens System.
A na so cliché that even Aether had nearly laughed when he first heard it.
As compensation for transmigrating him, the system had created a new body for him.
Not just any body.
It had cloned the body of a legendary figure.
Gol D. Roger.
Even more unbelievable, the system had gathered the lingering fragnts of Roger's soul and fused them with Aether's own.
Because of that fusion, Aether now possessed most of Roger's mories and combat experience.
Swordsmanship.
Hand to hand combat.
The use of Haki.
Even the advanced techniques of Conqueror's Haki.
All of it now existed inside his mind as if he had personally spent decades mastering them.
And above everything else, he had inherited the most terrifying power Roger possessed.
The Conqueror's Haki of the Pirate King.
The supre will that stood at the peak of the sea.
Unfortunately there was one major flaw.
Aether's body did not possess Roger's original strength.
It only carried Roger's talent.
At the mont he was no stronger than an ordinary person.
According to the system, fully copying Roger's power would require an enormous amount of energy.
And the system had no intention of spending such resources on a newly selected host.
Aether sighed slightly and opened the system panel.
[Host: Augustus D. Aether]
[Age: 26]
[Level: 3 (30/150)]
[Strength: Elentary, Sergeant Level]
[Constitution: Elentary, Sergeant Level]
[Agility: Elentary, Sergeant Level]
[Devil Fruit: None]
[Combat Techniques: Peak]
[Armant Haki: None]
[Observation Haki: Elentary]
[Conqueror's Haki: Peak]
[Points: 51]
His physical attributes were disappointing.
At Level 3 his strength was only comparable to a basic Marine sergeant.
Fortunately his Observation Haki had already awakened.
At the very least it gave him a chance to react when facing strong opponents. Without it he might be killed before even realizing what happened.
Of course, if the difference in strength was overwhelming, Observation Haki alone would not save him.
As for combat techniques, Roger had excelled in both swordsmanship and close combat.
Among them, his swordsmanship stood at the highest level.
Decades of battles across the sea had forged Roger into one of the greatest swordsn in the world.
Even without weapons, his combat skills still reached the level of top tier fighters.
The only regret was his physical body.
Although he possessed the knowledge of Roger's Conqueror's Haki, his body could not withstand its full power.
Using advanced Conqueror's Haki was currently impossible.
Even releasing high level Conqueror's Haki would place a severe burden on his body.
If he clashed with soone using advanced Conqueror's Haki, the shockwave alone might tear his body apart.
Still, Aether remained calm.
As his level increased, his body would gradually grow stronger.
One day he could reach Roger's forr peak, perhaps even surpass it.
All he needed was experience.
And experience could be gained through emotions.
If people felt strong positive or negative emotions toward him, the system would convert them into experience points.
Aside from leveling up, the system also possessed another function.
The Myriad Heavens Gacha.
By altering the fate of others, Aether could earn points.
The more important or powerful the person was, the more points he would receive.
Those points could be used to draw items from different worlds.
[White Gacha: 10 points]
[Green Gacha: 100 points]
[Blue Gacha: 3,000 points]
[Purple Gacha: 100,000 points]
[Gold Gacha: 3,000,000 points]
Aether had already tested the cheapest draw several tis.
The results had been terrible.
Bread.
Mineral water.
Rusty weapons.
Mostly useless junk.
As for the higher tiers, he simply did not have enough points yet.
Just as he finished reviewing the system panel, sudden noise ca from outside the hotel.
A group of Marines had surrounded the building.
The leader was a woman with long pink hair.
Hina.
A Marine Captain known as Black Cage Hina, the user of the Cage Cage Fruit.
Her Devil Fruit allowed her to form iron cages around enemies, trapping them instantly. She could even launch iron bars across long distances to sink ships.
She wore a rose colored suit beneath the white Marine Justice coat.
Her tall figure and sharp beauty gave her an imposing presence.
But Aether already knew why she was here.
She was hunting him.
Without hesitation Aether climbed out through the back window and fled.
As he escaped, he could not help shouting toward the woman still lying on the bed.
"Baccarat, did you steal my luck?"
Inside the room, Baccarat blinked in confusion.
She had not even used her ability.
In fact her impression of Aether had been fairly good.
He seed like a very useful man.
anwhile inside the hotel, Hina was already turning the place upside down.
"Hina suspects a criminal is hiding here."
"Hina does not care about your background."
"Hina is very angry right now. The consequences will be severe."
The hotel owner nearly cried.
Which bastard had dragged such trouble into his business?
Was he about to be forced into slavery just to repay the damages?
...
So ti later.
Aether walked calmly through the streets wearing a black trench coat and a bowler hat.
A freshly printed newspaper covered his face.
Only after confirming that no Marines were chasing him did he finally relax.
The reason Hina was so determined to capture him dated back three days.
Shortly after his rebirth, Aether had been preparing to travel toward the Sabaody Archipelago.
During the journey he passed a battlefield.
Captain Hina had been leading an operation to capture a pirate with a bounty exceeding one hundred million Berries.
Hundreds of Marines had surrounded several pirate ships.
Everything appeared under control.
While Hina fought the enemy captain directly, Aether had simply watched from the side.
Unfortunately the Marines had mistaken him for a pirate.
To protect himself, Aether released a burst of Conqueror's Haki.
The result was devastating.
Nearly every Marine collapsed instantly.
Only Hina and the hundred million bounty pirate remained conscious.
The battlefield had instantly turned into a duel between those two.
Although Hina eventually defeated her enemy, she suffered heavy injuries.
Because of that incident she had never stopped searching for the mysterious man responsible.
Aether folded the newspaper slowly.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
The front page displayed several familiar faces.
Monkey D. Luffy
Roronoa Zoro
Black Leg Sanji
Nico Robin
Nami
The headline read clearly.
"The Straw Hat Pirates defeat Warlord Gecko Moria two days ago."
Aether raised an eyebrow.
It seed Big News Morgans had actually reported the truth.
The last ti a Warlord had been defeated, the World Governnt blad it on the Marines instead.
Even Smoker had been promoted to Commodore because of that lie.
At this pace the Straw Hat Pirates would reach the Sabaody Archipelago within a few days.
Aether felt a trace of anticipation.
The inheritor of the Straw Hat.
Soone Roger himself had placed hope in.
With Roger's mories inside him, Aether clearly understood the aning behind Roger giving that hat to Shanks.
Aether looked toward the bustling streets.
"No one can stop the arrival of a new era."
"Just like the choice Roger made."
He walked forward through the crowd.
People of every race filled the streets.
mbers of the Longarm Tribe.
Travelers.
Pirates.
Slave traders.
Bounty hunters.
This island was anything but peaceful.
Towering red mangrove trees stretched high into the sky.
Their massive roots ford floating islands above the sea.
Bubbles rose constantly from the ground, drifting into the air and giving the island an almost dreamlike atmosphere.
This was the final stop of the first half of the Grand Line.
The Sabaody Archipelago.
It was ford by the giant Yarukiman Mangroves.
Seventy nine mangrove trees created seventy nine separate groves.
Groves 1 to 29 were lawless zones filled with pirates and human traffickers.
And today, that was exactly where Aether intended to go.
But first he stopped in front of a restaurant.
Hunting could wait.
He was hungry.
Inside the restaurant sat a group he had noticed the day before.
They wore white suits and distinctive hats.
At their center sat a man wearing a spotted fur hat with dark circles beneath his eyes.
Trafalgar Law.
Captain of the Heart Pirates.
One of the Supernovas who had recently arrived at Sabaody.
Bounty, 200 million Berries.
User of the Ope Ope no Mi.
Just then loud noises erupted down the street.
Marines had begun clashing with pirates again.
And leading them was none other than Hina.
Aether sighed quietly.
That woman truly had courage.
After all, there were currently ten Supernovas gathered on this island.
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