Loguetown's harbor was packed to the brim, the roar of the crowd rising and falling like waves.
Yes.
The moment of Gol D. Roger's execution had arrived.
Reed, or more precisely, the "Roger" standing here at this very moment, stood atop the execution platform. Seastone cuffs locked firmly around his wrists, yet his back remained perfectly straight.
He lowered his head slightly. The familiar smile lingered at the corner of his lips.
(Hah. An immersive roleplay experience? This is actually pretty interesting…) Reed thought.
(The one standing here right now is technically me.)
Suddenly, a streak of crimson light flashed across the distant horizon.
"W What is that?!" someone in the crowd cried out.
Reed lifted his head, his gaze cutting through the swaying sea of people toward the harbor.
A massive pitch black warship cleaved through the waves. The dragon head figurehead at its bow glowed a deep red, while blood colored lightning wrapped around the hull. It looked like a ferocious beast charging straight out of hell.
(Blumarine Jackson…)
Reed's lips curved upward.
(Even after all these years, I still think I look ridiculously cool right now. How did I ever come up with such an over the top entrance back then? Which genius designed this? This is way too cool!)
"The Scarlet Dawn Pirates have arrived!!!"
A younger Reed stood at the bow, a blood red cloak snapping violently in the wind. He raised one hand, blood mist condensing in his palm into a blazing sphere.
"Wrath of the Dragon God. Flames!"
Boom!!!
A crimson beam tore through the air, racing straight toward the execution platform. From the harbor to the heart of Loguetown, buildings collapsed in an instant under the terrifying shockwave. Dust filled the sky, debris flying everywhere. Yet just before the beam struck the platform, it mysteriously dissipated, leaving behind a straight, blood red path, like a road leading to a throne.
From atop the platform, Reed saw his younger self clearly through the dust.
(Tsk. So this is the angle everyone saw back then. No wonder. My charm really is natural. How do other people even survive in this world? In a sea full of oddly shaped Pirate Kings, my existence is basically a dimensional compression strike.)
Watching his younger self show off so shamelessly, Reed felt a strange sense of relief.
He really had been full of promise back then. Just look at the stunned faces around him.
At that moment, the younger Reed looked up at "Roger."
Reed smiled back at him, visibly relaxed.
"Good job. You didn't embarrass me."
"Enemy attack! We're under attack!" Marines shouted in panic.
Sengoku's expression darkened. "What a joke… that ship…"
Fleet Admiral Kong immediately issued the order. "Execute him! Immediately!"
On a distant rooftop, Buggy nearly leapt forward. "No! We can't just let this…"
Shanks slammed a hand onto his shoulder, his voice low. "Buggy. Don't move."
"But"
"This is the captain's wish."
Buggy froze, then smashed his fist into the rooftop.
(Yes. This feeling right here. Cry. Cry your hearts out.)
Reed thought calmly.
(Who goes to an execution and cries like this? Exactly. That's the point.)
On the execution platform, Reed waited quietly.
(Now then… it's time for that question, right? Hurry. Shout it out loud!)
As expected, when the tension reached its peak, someone in the crowd yelled at the top of their lungs.
"Hey! Pirate King! Where did you hide your treasure?!"
At the same time, the two Marine executioners raised their long swords.
(Don't move. Let me finish showing off.)
Reed manipulated the mist seeds, making it appear as though the two Marines were frozen by the Pirate King's overwhelming presence. Controlling three Admirals might have been difficult, but controlling two ordinary soldiers was effortless.
Reed, now "Roger," slowly raised his head. A wild grin spread across his face.
"You want my treasure?"
The entire square fell silent.
"If you want it, then go find it. I left everything the world has to offer right there!"
Boom!!!
Thunder roared across the sky. Torrential rain poured down.
Reed knelt on the platform as rain streamed down his face. He looked at his younger self in the distance, at the Scarlet Dawn flag fluttering violently in the storm, at Perona and Moria standing on the deck, at Laboon's tiny top hat…
(This really is nostalgic… Wait. What am I being nostalgic about?)
(Once this job is done, I'm going back to eat hot pot with them. Am I really getting old already?)
(And I'm not even married yet. Who said men over twenty five are basically sixty? Nonsense.)
The Marine executioners trembled as they raised their blades.
Reed closed his eyes.
(Captain, this time… let me finish this performance for you. Enjoy it, everyone.)
The blades fell.
Blood splashed.
For that instant, the world seemed to stop.
Under the pouring rain, Shanks pulled his straw hat lower. Buggy's tears mixed with the rain.
On the ship's bow, the younger Reed stood frozen, blood mist surging around him. His fists clenched white as he stared at the execution platform.
On the platform, "Roger's" body slowly collapsed.
No one noticed that the edge of the severed head curled up ever so slightly. "Roger" instantly condensed mist and began spraying it. Thankfully, it was blood mist. If it had been green, that would have been a disaster. A green bleeding Pirate King would have been far too strange.
The rain washed over the platform, carrying the blood down through the gaps in the wooden planks.
"Roger's" head rolled to the edge of the platform, bouncing a few times.
Blood mist quietly surged from the wound, perfectly simulating postmortem changes. Meanwhile, Reed lay calmly beneath the platform like a professional corpse.
(Tsk. Being a corpse is way more exhausting than fighting.)
(My face itches, and the view is terrible…)
On the deck of the Dawn Rebirth, the younger Reed suddenly drew his massive Black Tide greatsword. Blood red lightning wrapped around the blade.
"The Scarlet Dawn Pirates," his voice boomed, amplified by the resonance of the blood mist, echoing across the entire island, "send off the Pirate King!"
Perona's ghosts circled in the sky. Moria's zombie army saluted in unison. The entire Loguetown was swallowed by blood mist, like an absurd funeral.
(Yes. Yes. This is presence!)
The older Reed applauded internally.
(My younger self really knew how to make an entrance.)
The younger Reed leapt down from the bow, driving the Black Tide greatsword into the ground. He stared straight at Sengoku, his voice icy.
"Give my captain back."
Before Sengoku could respond, a Den Den Mushi rang. The voice of a blond member of the Five Elders echoed across the area.
"Ghost Reed… are you threatening the World Government?"
"That's not a threat."
The younger Reed grinned, showing a shallow line of teeth.
"It's a deal."
He slowly raised his hand.
"Every time one of them steps out of Mary Geoise," his finger curled slightly, the mist in the scene tightening instantly, "I take a head."