The pinnacle of pirates begins with deceiving fate!

"Leave this place and venture to every corner of the sea, leaving behind the words 'Gol D. Roger was here,' which may become a legendary tale decades later."

"As for the rest, don't worry about it."

"What do you mean?" Roger frowned, feeling that John was mocking him.

Nothing can stop a man from heading to the sea, not even a powerful enemy!

Roger was determined to get involved in the Wano Country incident!

What do I mean?

John spread his arms and gazed at the dawn that painted the sky a pale gold.

"I, Captain John, am the man who will become the Pirate King!"

"what?!"

Such absurd remarks did not elicit ridicule from Roger; instead, they fueled Roger's competitive spirit.

"Bullshit! I'm the man who's going to become the Pirate King!"

As Roger uttered this rebuttal, a sudden realization dawned on him, and he understood what he had to do.

All along, he and his companions had just been wandering around the sea, which was called exploring in a nice way, but in a bad way, they were just doing nothing and being idle.

But now, he understands what he truly wants!

Seeing Roger in such a state, John was momentarily dazed.

In the end, after the God Valley incident, the Roger Pirates continued to sail the seas for many years before suddenly deciding to set off again from the East Blue to circle the world and head to the "final island" Laugh Tale.

It's likely that what spurred the Roger Pirates was their discovery of a special "Poneglyph" during their adventure, which inspired them to make changes.

Before this, they were just a group of repressed middle-aged hooligans.

But now, John has become Roger's "guide".

John shook his head as he thought about it:

"You don't even know what pirates are, yet you want to become the King of Pirates? Are you kidding me?"

"Of course I know! The Pirate King is the freest person on the sea!" Roger firmly stated the view he agreed with.

'Actually, you're Luffy's dad!' John thought to himself.

In the future, whenever the members of Roger's Pirates see Luffy, they always feel as if they are seeing Roger's shadow.

Luffy and Roger are basically the same!

"Does being a pirate represent freedom...?" John sighed, recalling the origins of pirates in his hometown.

The concept of "pirates" has always been highly controversial.

In its simplest definition, any act of acquiring goods (including ships, currency, cargo, and hostages) at sea through coercive means can be defined as "piracy," and the entity that engages in this activity is a "pirate."

However, when this definition is applied to the complex and varied events of human history, its flaws become apparent. If any act of acquiring goods at sea through coercion can be defined as "piracy," then every human civilization capable of shipbuilding could be considered a pirate civilization from the moment it created its first ship.

The concept of a "navy" arises from the fact that any public authority will attempt to use force at sea to gain benefits. A "navy" is authorized by a public authority (i.e., the state) to use force at sea in order to protect national interests, but this "protection" often manifests as plunder.

For example, during wartime, if there were no supplies, the "navy" was obligated to forcibly requisition supplies from fishing villages free of charge. If the "navy" was short of personnel, it could also forcibly conscript civilians into the army (as is well known, this was what the British Navy did during the age of sail).

What makes this act more like piracy is that during wartime, both countries are depleting their economies. If one side's economy is severely strained, it will be forced to surrender. Therefore, attacking the enemy's economy at sea to achieve victory becomes a viable tactic. This tactic is essentially no different from the previously defined "piracy." Because in the age of sail, once you capture an enemy ship, you certainly wouldn't let it escape unscathed; you would likely take its cargo, and if necessary, you might even torture the captive to obtain the gold and silver hidden on the captured vessel.

Therefore, the "navy" became pirates authorized by the state. Later, a portion of the "navy" became a standing army, which is the navy in the modern sense. Another portion of the "navy" did not become a standing army. The state would only requisition them during wartime. When there was no war, they were merchant ships. This part of the "navy" was the privateer.

However, navy and pirates are ultimately two different terms, and there must be a distinction between them. What is the difference? It lies in the fact that both the navy and privateers have the official support of a ruler behind them. Pirates, on the other hand, have no ruler's support. The emergence of piracy is driven by only two reasons: severe socio-economic depression and insatiable personal greed.

Here we can divide pirates into two parts: one part is pure sea robbers, which we can call "outlaws". The reason they broke away from mainstream society and became sea thugs was pure greed. In order to satisfy their dream of getting rich, they would do anything.

Another group, known as the "rebel army," became pirates because of class oppression. Among all seafarers, there were ordinary sailors and leaders. When the leaders exploited the ordinary sailors too cruelly, the usually diligent sailors would revolt and overthrow the captain and other leaders.

According to the laws of Western European countries during the Age of Exploration, if the sailors of a ship mutinied, overthrowing the captain and leadership and seizing power for themselves, the ship would be deemed a "pirate ship" regardless of what it did afterward.

This is similar to how the ancient feudal dynasties in John's hometown called peasant uprisings "bandits."

Following the end of the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1713), the economies of Western European countries were severely damaged, leading to widespread unemployment among sailors, significant wage cuts for merchants, and large-scale layoffs in the navy.

Faced with such a sluggish economy, sailors from several major European maritime powers, primarily Britain, fled their merchant ships and headed to the uncontrolled Bahamas, becoming "lawless."

These people established an organization in the Bahamas called the "Republic of Pirates," and they are the true originators of our modern Western pirate culture.

and so……

Roger's statement that "the Pirate King is the freest person on the sea" is perfectly valid.

(Including Treasure Island, One Piece, Pirates of the Caribbean, Assassin's Creed Black Flag, all of which are adapted from these historical backgrounds.)

Chapter 191 Do you want to change all of this?

"Then let's wait and see who will become the Pirate King!"

John grinned at Roger.

In the definition of a pirate, his choice will always be the latter: the rebel army!

Reaching Laugh Tale was only the first step, to announce his existence to the world. The second step was to find his own meaning and completely dismantle the World Government led by Im!

"Ah! Then let's have a competition, you bastard!"

Roger exhaled white breath from his nostrils, his blood boiling and his emotions surging.

He absolutely cannot lose to this arrogant guy!

"Then good luck." John smiled meaningfully.

Of the four Poneglyphs, he already has the one from Fishman Island in his hands, and the one from Wano Country will soon be his as well.

The remaining two "landmarks" are located in the Whale Forest of the Giant Elephant Zou and in Lingling's World of Tottoland.

Lingling probably hasn't found that "signpost" yet; she can only wait for fate to guide her to find it.

I wonder if this Wano Country incident will affect Linlin's future plans, causing her to neglect finding "landmarks".

"I don't need your encouragement, mind your own business!"

Roger felt inexplicably angry at John's gaze, as if the guy was looking down on him.

Roger's appearance made John feel increasingly familiar, as if a replica of Luffy was standing right in front of him.

Is this the inheritance of will, or the reincarnation of a soul?

Unable to figure it out, John gave up and, too lazy to waste any more time with Roger, transformed into dense arcs of electricity that flowed into the gaps between the block mountain.

"Why do I feel like that guy's hostility comes and goes?"

After John left, Ridley scratched the back of his head, puzzled.

Roger puffed out white breath from his nostrils again, his eyes filled with intense fighting spirit.

"I don't care about any of that, all I know is that I have to teach that guy a lesson!"

"..."

Inside the mountain

A figure moved swiftly through the not-so-large space, creating a deafening sonic boom and leaving behind a dense trail of afterimages.

Karp stood in the center of the space, turning his head left and right to search for Wald's figure, his right fist clenched, waiting for the right moment.

With the help of the Momo-Momo Fruit, Wald's speed was so fast that Garp couldn't keep up at all and could only stop him by remaining still.

"Garp, why are you standing still? Are you scared out of your wits?!"

Wald strode through the air using Moonwalk, and the feeling of shattering the atmosphere gave him immense pleasure, allowing him to regain his previous powerful aura.

As long as that lightning bastard isn't around, no one can catch him!

"what!"

Suddenly, a scream rang out.

The familiar voice made Wald stop in his tracks, using Moonwalk to halt in mid-air, and look in the direction from which the voice came.

At the same time, Garp's attention was also drawn, and he turned to look at the group of pirates under Wald's command.

Standing among a group of pirates, Guyram suddenly saw a purple-haired figure appear behind him who had already left—John!

At this moment, Guyram was grabbed by the back of his neck with John's left hand, while John held a tubular metal object in his right hand and inserted it into the right side of Guyram's neck.

Guyram was like a little rabbit pinned down by a beast, completely unable to resist. Even the pirates surrounding him were too scared to move.

"Lightning bastard, is all you can do is sneak attacks?!"

Enraged, Wald immediately abandoned Garp, leaped into the air, and covered himself in Armament Haki, propelling himself towards the pirates.

"Wald, no!"

Seeing Wald hurtling towards them like a cannonball, the pirates were not overjoyed; instead, they were terrified.

This isn't the first time Wald has tried to "save" someone on his own, but the consequences...

boom

As Wald crashed heavily behind Guyram, the ground shattered like a mirror, cracking into a dense spiderweb pattern. A violent shockwave sent the surrounding pirates flying, kicking up clouds of dust.

As the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, John, the attacker, was nowhere to be seen; only the pirates who had been caught in the crossfire and suffered heavy casualties remained.

Even the rescued target, Guyram, was half-dead, lying on the ground in a terrible position, barely breathing.

Seeing the mess, Wald grew even angrier, but his eyes and Observation Haki couldn't find John anywhere, so he could only roar in silence:

"Lightning bastard, if you have the guts, come out and fight me head-on!"

"..."

Seeing Wald raging alone in a helpless frenzy, Karp frowned, feeling as if he had overlooked some important factor.

After thinking for a while, Garp's expression suddenly changed drastically.

"The Warring States Period!"

He then realized that the presence and figure of the Warring States period were long gone; that guy had run away!

Meanwhile, behind the mountain of blocky building blocks.