Everyone finally settled down.
Rayleigh casually poured a glass of wine for Aether. The two raised their glasses, clinked them together, and drank.
After listening to his crew talk about Rayleigh, Luffy finally showed a look of complete shock. Only now did he truly realize that the man sitting in front of them was the forr first mate of the Pirate King.
Rayleigh's appearance at the auction house had already caused a huge commotion. Several people had shouted his full na during the chaos.
Shakky looked at the Straw Hats curiously.
"Didn't Hachi tell you before you ca here?"
Hachi was lying weakly on the sofa, clearly still recovering.
"They only ca here because they needed ship coating, so I didn't ntion it."
Rayleigh chuckled softly before explaining how he had t Hachi.
"Many years ago I was shipwrecked. Hachi happened to save , and that's how we beca friends. Even with the age gap between us."
Sanji, the Black Leg, took a slow drag from his cigarette before asking a question that had been bothering him.
"Senior Rayleigh, logically speaking, if the Pirate King was captured, shouldn't the rest of his crew have been captured too? So how are you just walking around the Sabaody Archipelago like nothing happened?"
At the ntion of Roger, both Shakky and Rayleigh instinctively glanced at Aether before answering.
"Roger wasn't captured," Rayleigh said calmly. "He turned himself in. The Governnt only claid they captured him so they could boast about their achievent."
The Straw Hat crew froze.
This revelation completely shattered the story they had believed since childhood.
anwhile, Aether calmly drank his wine without showing the slightest reaction. After all, he already knew everything that had happened before and after Roger's execution.
Rayleigh quietly observed Aether's expression before continuing.
"Four years before his public execution, Roger was already suffering from an incurable disease. Every day he endured incredible pain, yet he still forced himself to smile in front of the crew."
"It wasn't until we invited Crocus aboard as our ship's doctor that Roger's life was extended by three more years. Crocus's dical skill allowed Roger to finish his final journey and conquer the Grand Line."
Rayleigh then spoke about Crocus at the Twin Capes and how the old doctor had joined the crew mainly to search for the Rumbar Pirates.
Hearing that, Brook was deeply moved. He never imagined that Crocus had gone to sea partly for their sake.
Rayleigh sighed slightly.
"Crocus only sailed with us for three years, but in that ti he beca a true comrade. I would really like to drink with him again soday."
He took another sip of wine.
"Roger had no regrets when he turned himself in. After that, the crew disbanded and everyone went their separate ways."
"On the night before he surrendered, the two of us drank together. Roger told his will would never disappear. Then, during his execution, he spoke the words that started the Great Pirate Era."
Rayleigh's voice grew heavier.
"I have never been happier than that night, and I have never felt more pain either."
He looked toward Aether.
"Isn't that right, Aether?"
Aether calmly finished another glass of wine.
Normally alcohol ant nothing to him, but hearing Rayleigh talk about the past stirred mories that felt almost personal.
"You're right," Aether said slowly. "Roger had no regrets. With a limited life, he achieved sothing limitless."
His tone remained calm, yet his words carried quiet weight.
"But he miscalculated one thing. In the end, he wasn't a good husband or father. Even if he entrusted them to soone he trusted, that still wasn't enough to repay what Rouge sacrificed for him."
The room fell silent.
Rayleigh's expression beca serious. Roger's descendant had always been sothing that weighed heavily on his mind.
At the sa ti, Shakky seed to recall sothing. Her hand paused as she poured wine, suspicion flickering in her eyes.
Aether glanced at her curiously. It seed she had realized sothing.
The na Rouge ant nothing to most of the Straw Hat crew, except Robin.
Nami asked curiously.
"Who is Rouge?"
Aether's eyes softened slightly.
"Portgas D. Rouge was Roger's lover and the mother of his child. She was a gentle woman."
He looked at Nami.
"A woman who would give everything for the people she loved."
Nami instantly covered her face in embarrassnt.
"Why are you saying that about all of a sudden?!"
Her fist swung reflexively, smashing Zoro into the floor. Zoro gritted his teeth in frustration but wisely chose not to argue.
After hearing the stories about Roger, the Straw Hats had begun forming an image of the Pirate King in their minds.
Usopp scratched his head.
"So the current pirate era was completely started by Roger, right?"
Rayleigh gave an ambiguous smile.
"I can't answer that."
"Roger is already dead. Only the living can shape the era."
"You'll have to discover that answer during your own journey."
After speaking about Roger, Rayleigh turned to Luffy.
"Luffy, the man who saved and guided you, Red Hair Shanks, was once an apprentice on Roger's ship alongside Buggy."
"Today, Shanks stands at the top of the sea as one of the Four Emperors."
The Straw Hats were stunned again.
Buggy, that ridiculous clown, had once sailed with the Pirate King. And Luffy's ntor was now one of the most powerful pirates in the world.
Just then, Aether casually added another piece of information.
"Straw Hat Luffy's father is Monkey D. Dragon."
Luffy nodded without hesitation.
"Yeah. My dad is Dragon."
Rayleigh blinked in surprise before letting out a small laugh.
"The leader of the Revolutionary Army, the world's most dangerous criminal."
"Garp really has quite the son."
Aether suddenly spoke again.
"Then why didn't you ever have a child yourself, Rayleigh?"
Rayleigh instinctively glanced toward Shakky.
He coughed awkwardly and gave a helpless smile.
Robin had been silent the entire ti, but now her expression beca tense.
A legendary figure who had reached the final island was sitting right in front of her.
The question that had haunted her for years might finally be answered.
She spoke carefully.
"You should know the truth about the Void Century recorded at the final island."
"Senior Rayleigh, could you tell what it says?"
Before Rayleigh could respond, Aether spoke first.
"Robin, the Roger Pirates didn't have a true historian."
"In the beginning Roger could only interpret the Poneglyphs using the Voice of All Things. Later they gained Kozuki Oden, who could properly read them."
He looked at her calmly.
"Everyone interprets history differently. Wouldn't it be more aningful if you discovered the truth yourself?"
Then he turned to Luffy.
"Luffy, why do you want to beco the Pirate King?"
Luffy struggled to swallow the at in his mouth before answering seriously.
"Because the Pirate King is the freest person in the world."
For a mont, the room fell quiet.
Then Aether and Rayleigh burst out laughing at the sa ti.
That answer was almost identical to Roger's.
Seeing their captain's conviction, Robin and Usopp decided not to ask any more questions about the One Piece.
They believed in Luffy.
Soon their eting ca to an end.
Rayleigh gathered his coating tools and prepared to leave.
The Straw Hat crew planned to hide sowhere on Sabaody for three days while the ship was coated. Rayleigh had given them his Vivre Card so they could find each other later.
Just before leaving, Rayleigh suddenly looked at Aether.
"What about you?"
"What is your goal for going out to sea? You should already know where the One Piece is."
Aether raised his head and looked at the clear blue sky.
He lifted one hand toward the heavens as if trying to grasp sothing beyond reach.
"Yes. I know."
"But the One Piece should be found by those who are searching for it."
His eyes slowly sharpened.
"My goal is different."
"I'm going to drag that man down from his throne."
"He has sat on that Heavenly Throne for eight hundred years."
"It's ti he stepped down and walked the earth."
Rayleigh imdiately understood who Aether was referring to.
His gaze beca serious.
For a brief mont, the Conqueror's Haki of both n quietly clashed in the air.
The pressure vanished just as quickly.
Rayleigh picked up his tools and began walking away.
"I'm not helping you deal with him."
"These old bones can't handle that kind of trouble."
Aether smiled faintly.
"Don't worry, old friend."
"I never planned to drag you into it."
He had his own ambitions.
And the things he wanted in this world, he would obtain with his own hands.
Adjusting his hat, Aether walked in the opposite direction from the Straw Hat crew.
If everything followed the flow of fate, the Straw Hats were about to experience the greatest defeat of their lives.
===
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