Roger Pirates – POV
"Oi, Roger! Stop drinking for once. We need to plot a course to the next island."
"C'mon, Rayleigh," Roger grinned, raising his bottle. "You know my health's just fine. Strong as ever! Nothing's gonna stop this journey short—HAHAHA HAHAH HA!"
"Gaban, another bottle! Mine's run dry!"
Whoooosh. Rustle.
Rayleigh's expression shifted.
"…You feel that, Captain?"
Roger stopped laughing mid-swig.
"I do."
The air had changed. Something heavy. Ancient.
"Someone's coming," Rayleigh said. "A strong spirit. Deep. Almost bottomless. It's… like yours."
Roger's grin widened.
"HAHAHA HAHA! The voices are calling. There's a battle ahead."
Third Person
Then, silence.
From across the sea, standing tall on the deck of a Marine warship, was a man—easily a full meter taller than Roger himself.
Rear Admiral Shawn Newman.
The Iron Wall. The one who quelled the Four Seas. The one who dragged Sea Kings behind his ship.
The sky split as their eyes locked. Clouds trembled. Pressure warped the air around them.
Birds scattered. Camera snails focused in.
A moment in history was being recorded.
Shawn – POV
There he was. Gol D. Roger.
The man who would help defeat Rocks and spark the Pirate Era.
His Haki was honest. Uncorrupted. A straightforward pursuit of truth. I could respect that.
But I couldn't let him shape the future alone. Not if it undid everything I built. Everything I fought for.
No hesitation. No speeches.
I activated Moonwalk, tapping the air with practiced precision, gliding just above the sea's surface—my gaze fixed on the Pirate King.
Third Person
Their fighting spirits exploded.
A shockwave burst outward as Conqueror's Haki poured from both men. Dozens from each crew dropped unconscious. Even veterans staggered, clutching their chests.
The air around them warped. Red and silver tendrils twisted invisibly through the sky—seen only by those with refined Observation Haki.
The first clash shook the sea itself.
Shawn swung for Roger's jaw—missed.
Roger countered with a spinning kick, aiming for Shawn's ribs.
Shawn sensed it. Observation guided him. He reinforced his side with dense Armament Haki, absorbing the blow, then stepped forward with a Haki-infused punch straight to Roger's torso.
Roger's own Haki flared—absorbing the hit just in time. He retaliated with a precise headbutt, landing cleanly on Shawn's forehead.
THUD.
The Marine staggered.
Roger leapt back, laughing, blood on his lip.
Around them, the ocean boiled.
Their crews? Irrelevant. This was not a battle of numbers.
It was a war of Will.
Shawn – POV
His strikes were heavy, but clean. Focused.
His Haki didn't try to overwhelm—it guided, flowed, carved.
I infused my hands again, this time letting my Conqueror's Haki bleed into the flow of my strikes. The air crackled silver as lightning laced my arms.
I was going all out.
Roger – POV
A Marine? With Conqueror's Haki?
Unexpected—but not unwelcome.
"HAHAHAHA! You've got strength. Spirit. Even that iron touch your name's built around—yeah, I can feel it in your fists."
He grinned as they clashed again, blow for blow.
"But Haki? It's just a tool. Same as your body. What matters—what really matters—is your Will."
Shawn – POV
"Exactly."
I met his next punch head-on, our Haki detonating in a blinding wave.
"What drives you, Roger?" I asked, calmly, amid the chaos. "Truth? Freedom? Power?"
"I want to find it all," Roger answered, unfazed. "And I won't stop until I do."
Third Person
The fight didn't stop for a day.
Or two.
On the third day, they were still fighting.
Their fists carved trenches through the air. The sky split. The sea rose in towering waves. Their Conqueror's Haki never once relented—each clash strengthening it further.
Two monsters, growing in real time—adapting, evolving, craving more.
The surrounding crews gave up trying to intervene. Most couldn't stay conscious long enough to witness the full extent of the battle.
Rayleigh – POV
I watched in awe, bottle in hand.
Roger had fought plenty of strong men—but this was different.
Shawn Newman wasn't just surviving. He was pushing the Captain to grow.
His Haki matched Roger's at times—even overpowered it. That kind of pressure? It was rare. It was… unnatural.
Both of their spirits were endless, like wells that never ran dry.
I activated my Observation Haki—already honed to the edge through years with Roger and Gaban—and what I saw in Shawn startled me.
It was Will, as solid as the iron in his name. Unyielding.Complete.
Like watching a blacksmith strike his soul into form with every blow.
We'd be stuck here a while.
I passed the bottle down the line, and we all sat back—watching titans carve their names into the sea.