One Piece: Starting with God Valley, intercepting the Dark-Dark Fruit

But what's with Roger's actions now? Isn't he contradicting himself?

Roger also saw through the crew's thoughts. That day, at a banquet, Roger announced that he was seriously ill.

Prior to this, only the ship's doctor Crocus and the first mate Raleigh knew about Roger's condition.

Upon hearing this news, Shanks and the others' first reaction was disbelief, or rather, they were unwilling to believe it.

After all, how could a powerful figure like Roger, who stands at the pinnacle of the world and is in his prime, suddenly fall ill? And with an incurable disease at that, it would seem unbelievable to anyone.

In the end, it was Crocus and Rayleigh who stood up to prove Roger's innocence that finally convinced them.

Shanks and Bucky, the two youngest crew members, burst into tears, while Barrett clenched his fists and roared.

"Are you kidding me?! I will not allow you to die like this!"

Upon hearing this, Roger suddenly laughed, tilted his head back, and took a large gulp of wine, saying,

"Barrett, of course I won't die from this damn disease. Even if I have to die, I'll die a glorious death!"

After he finished speaking, a powerful, almost tangible Conqueror's Haki erupted from Roger's body, and even the sturdy Jackson began to show cracks on its deck.

At that moment, everyone on the ship, regardless of whether they possessed Conqueror's Haki or not, trembled. Barrett's expression changed drastically as he stared at Roger in shock.

What an astonishing level of Conqueror's Haki! It was completely different from what he had felt from Roger before!

"Hahahaha!!"

At this moment, Roger seemed to have become a different person, covering his face and laughing wildly, as if he had seen something funny.

The others suddenly felt the hard deck beneath their feet becoming soft and elastic. Bucky couldn't help but jump, but instead bounced up.

Seeing this, Roger laughed even louder, and Rayleigh, who had been silent all along, could no longer hold back and shouted,

"Enough, Roger! You've gone too far!"

"Hahaha, yes, sorry, I just couldn't help laughing, haha... you bastard... hahaha... stop it!!!"

hum!

Roger's Conqueror's Haki condensed into a thick, deep red beam of light that shot into the sky. When the beam dissipated, Roger's laughter finally stopped completely. He clutched his chest with one hand and pressed the other hand to the ground, panting heavily.

Rayleigh immediately stepped forward and helped Roger up.

Looking at Roger's pale profile, Rayleigh frowned and said in a deep voice,

"Roger, let me help you back to rest first. We can talk about the rest later."

Shanks and the others also gathered around, all looking at Roger with worried expressions.

Roger coughed heavily a few times, forcing a smile, and said,

"It's alright. I'll be fine until my mission is complete. After all, I'm a member of the Party..."

Apart from Rayleigh and Shanks, everyone else was completely confused.

What was Roger's mission? And what did "D" mean?

Roger offered no explanation whatsoever. He shook off Rayleigh, scanned the faces of the crew, and said,

"As captain, I hereby declare war on the navy in three months!"

"Nani!?"

These words immediately caused an uproar among those around him, but Roger remained calm and said indifferently,

"I have to go out for a while now. Rayleigh will temporarily take over the pirate crew. I will be back before the battle begins."

After saying that, Roger turned and went into the cabin amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd.

The next morning, Roger left the Jackson alone in a small boat, and no one knew where he went.

Even after Roger left, the Roger Pirates continued to expand, and soon their numbers swelled to ten thousand. These pirates turned the sea area that Roger had occupied into a chaotic mess, fully displaying their "pirate nature".

Rayleigh, as the acting captain, tacitly approved of this situation. Under these circumstances, the pirates became increasingly unscrupulous, feeling comfortable with the Pirate King as their backer, and believing that the world belonged to them, the pirates.

Some were no longer content with operating only in this area of ​​the sea and even asked Rayleigh if they could expand their territory further, or just let the Navy and the World Government wipe them out. They wanted to support Roger to become the King of the World!

To this, Rayleigh simply chuckled, offered a few intriguing replies, and then dismissed the group.

What these people didn't know was that in Rayleigh's mind, he had already considered them as dead.

Did they really think the Roger Pirates were so easy to join? If these people weren't still somewhat useful, Rayleigh himself would have cleaned out their ranks.

Chapter 235 Everyone is a Hawk

Three months later, Roger returned.

When he returned, he looked much calmer, without his former sharpness.

However, his first words upon boarding the Jackson were,

"Prepare all ships and attack Marineford!"

When these words were spread, the world was shaken.

Upon receiving the news, the Navy Headquarters immediately went on high alert.

The conference room was filled with high-ranking naval officers, many of whom were now new faces.

After Fleet Admiral Roger finished recounting his plan to wage war against the Navy, Akainu slammed his fist on the table and roared,

"Ridiculous! These mere pirates dare to challenge our Navy!"

Kizaru shrugged and said,

"One Piece...tsk tsk, wow!"

Kizaru's lips curled slightly upward, and he spoke softly with a half-smile, but a chilling glint flashed across his brown-tinted glasses, like a sharp blade hidden deep within, radiating a terrifying killing intent.

Aokiji exhaled a puff of white breath and said coldly,

"What Pirate King? When he meets Senior Gigg, he's nothing but a stray dog!"

Aramaki nodded, unusually agreeing with Aokiji's words.

Sengoku and Tsuru exchanged a glance. The five people who had just spoken could be considered leading figures among the new generation of the Navy, possessing both strength and military achievements.

People like this are usually very individualistic, and based on their own understanding of justice, they will form their own factions, generally divided into hawks, doves, and neutrals.

But right now, the five of them give the impression that they are all hawks!

Thinking of this, Sengoku and Tsuru subconsciously turned their gazes to the empty seat on the left, which was Gig's seat, while Akainu and the others sat below it in order.

In this conference room, the seating arrangement is not random. For example, below Sengoku sits Tsuru, and below that are the older generation of naval commanders.

In a sense, the person sitting at the head of this row, from the Warring States period, was the "leader" of these people.

And the "leader" of Akainu and the others is undoubtedly Gigg.

As the top leader of the Navy, Sora naturally sees these things more clearly than Sengoku and Tsuru, and knows better that in the current situation, what the Navy needs most is for the hawks represented by Giger to step forward.

But since Gigg hadn't shown up yet, Sora could only look at Lucia, who was sitting next to Kuma, and ask,

"Lucia, do you know where Giger is right now?"

Unfortunately, Giggs hasn't been seen much at headquarters for the past three months, and he often can't get through to Den Den Mushi. Otherwise, the Roger Pirates wouldn't have been able to expand so smoothly.

Lucia gently shook her head and said,

"Marshal Kong, I don't know where General Black Dragon is now, but I can try to contact him."

As soon as he finished speaking, a dark vortex appeared out of thin air above Gig's seat, and Gig, dressed in a black robe, appeared.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Kong's face lit up with joy, and he said,

"You're finally back!"

Giger nodded and said,

"I'm sorry, Marshal Kong, I'm late."

Giger's voice sounded tired. After speaking, he yawned, then sat down with his arms crossed, and greeted Akainu next to him.

Seeing this, Kong couldn't help but ask,

"Jig, you look very tired. Are you feeling unwell?"

Jiger smiled and said,

"It's nothing, I'm just a little sleepy, probably because I've been too busy these past few years."

That makes sense. In recent years, Giger has been involved in almost every major maritime event, making him a true model worker in the navy.

Kong did want Giger to get some rest, but Giger's professional skills were just too good.

In fact, Jig was just saying it casually. He had been feeling sleepy for a long time, and during this period he simply stayed in the family's territory and slept day and night.

In the end, it was Garin who used Conqueror's Haki to wake him up and told him about Roger's plan to attack Marineford.

Gigg, who had just woken up, was completely stunned. The reason he chose to catch up on sleep at this time was because he thought that the Roger Pirates were about to disband and that Roger would go to Baterilla Island and stay there for a year.

So he decided to sleep for a few months to recharge before leading his troops to Baterila Island to wipe out Roger's family.

However, the situation told by Garin was completely different from what he had expected.

Roger not only didn't disband his pirate crew, but he expanded it. Most outrageously, he even planned to attack the Marine Headquarters!