The morning after the festivities.
The grand banquet had finally come to an end, leaving the island littered with crew members wandering around like zombies, their breath thick with the stench of cheap ale. It seemed the vast majority of both crews had succumbed to varying degrees of hangovers.
Kanata surveyed the carnage with a look of pure exasperation. "Setting sail today is out of the question," she muttered, officially pushing back their departure.
They weren't in a desperate hurry. A delay of a day or two wouldn't change their fate.
"What about your men?" Kanata asked, looking toward a relatively stable Rayleigh.
"Most of them are down for the count," Rayleigh laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Captain included. I'm afraid we won't be moving until tomorrow at the earliest."
True to his word, Roger was currently out cold, snoring loud enough to rattle the floorboards. The younger members of the crew, like Shanks and Buggy, had avoided the alcohol but were still dead to the world after staying up far past their bedtimes.
"Did Roger say anything to you... about your father?" Rayleigh asked tentatively.
"I told him the same thing I'll tell you: I've never met the man. It's a bit late for anyone to start talking to me about 'ancient grudges' or 'enemies of my parents.'"
"I see... if that's how you feel, then I'll leave it at that."
Rayleigh looked visibly relieved. While he stepped aside to organize a cleanup crew among the few sober survivors, Kanata set her own people to work. Even if the island was currently uninhabited, she planned to use it as a base in the future; she wasn't about to leave it looking like a trash heap.
"Do you and your crew have a specific goal?" Kanata asked Rayleigh as they walked.
"Hm? Oh, well... the goal is a complete, unprecedented circumnavigation of the globe."
Roger's crew had already reached Lodestar Island, the supposed end of the Grand Line, only to realize it wasn't the final destination. They were now searching for the legendary island that lay beyond it. Naturally, that meant they were hunting for the Poneglyphs.
"Do you have someone who can read them?" Kanata asked.
"No... we haven't found a way to decipher them yet. We're searching, of course, but it's a tall order. What about you?"
"I know someone who can read the ancient script."
Rayleigh stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide with shock. The very thing his crew had spent years searching for, and this slip of a girl was handing it to him.
"The Shogun of Wano, Kozuki Sukiyaki," Kanata explained. "Or his son, Kozuki Oden. Both of them are capable of reading the Poneglyphs."
"I'm stunned... you've actually made it that far?"
"We have our sources," Kanata said coolly. "And I happened to have a connection to the country."
She knew the archeologists of Ohara in the West Blue could read it as well, but she had no intention of painting a target on their backs by involving them with pirates. Wano, a nation of legendary samurai that even the Navy feared to touch, was a much safer recommendation.
"Could we... negotiate with them?" Rayleigh asked, his mind already racing.
"Zen is an old friend of the Shogun, so we had it easy. For you? I'm not sure. But if Zen writes a letter of introduction, I doubt they'd turn you away at the gate."
"To go that far for us..."
"You've saved my life twice," Kanata noted. "This is the least I can do."
She paused, looking at the blonde man. "Or would you rather I just give you the translations directly?"
Before Rayleigh could answer, a thunderous roar came from the pile of blankets nearby.
"I DON'T WANT 'EM!!"
Kanata blinked. "So you were awake, Roger. You realize that having those translations would put the final island within your reach, right?"
Roger sat up, his hair a mess, but his eyes burning with intensity. "I said I don't want 'em! We're on this journey to find things that no one has ever seen before! If someone gives us the map and the answers, the whole trip is a waste of time! I'm not interested in a boring adventure!!"
Kanata let out a small, genuine smile. "I see. That's a shame."
It was a point of pride for Roger. He wasn't just looking for treasure; he was looking for the experience of the hunt. To him, a shortcut was an insult to the sea. He had to earn the right to see the end with his own two eyes.
Having made his point, Roger promptly flopped back down and resumed snoring. Kanata and Rayleigh shared a synchronized shrug.
"Regardless of his pride, I still want the information on Wano," Rayleigh admitted. "Roger can huff all he wants, but if we can't read the stones once we find them, he'll be the one complaining the loudest."
"That's fine. But I need you to promise me one thing."
"A promise?" Rayleigh asked, sensing the shift in her tone.
"Do not recruit Kozuki Oden."
Rayleigh tilted his head in confusion. "Why? If he can read the stones, he'd be the perfect addition."
"It's an educated guess," Kanata said. "But if you ask him to come with you, he'll join your crew without a second thought. And as much as I'd like to see him gone, he is the heir to the Kozuki clan. I owe Shogun Sukiyaki a debt; if I'm the one who leads a pirate to his son, and that son vanishes across the sea, I'll never be able to show my face in Wano again."
"Hahaha... I see. That's a fair point."
Kanata knew that while Oden hadn't fit her crew, he and Roger would likely be two peas in a pod. They were both reckless, freedom-obsessed fools. If she brought them together, the fallout would be legendary—and Oden's retainers would likely hunt her to the ends of the earth for it.
"I don't know if a promise from me will stop Roger if he takes a liking to the man," Rayleigh warned.
"I know. But at least I can say I tried."
"We're heading for Lodestar Island next," Kanata said, changing the subject.
"A full world tour, then? Sounds like a plan."
"We don't have much else to do. After that, we'll probably visit Elbaf, Feiyun's home."
Kanata handed Rayleigh a small slip of paper. "My Transponder Snail number hasn't changed. If you run into trouble, call me. If I can help, I will."
"Thank you, Kanata. I appreciate it."
Rayleigh promised that once they reached Wano, he would reach out. Kanata nodded, but she had one final card to play.
"One last thing," she said, looking toward the still-snoring Roger. "When the Captain finally wakes up, there's something I need to show him."
***
"Is this...?" Rayleigh whispered, his voice echoing in the damp basement of Fullalead.
"A red Poneglyph!" Roger shouted, his hangover seemingly forgotten.
"It's a Road Poneglyph," Kanata said, holding up a lantern. "This one was originally on Fish-Man Island."
"You stole it?" Roger asked, impressed.
"I didn't want it falling into the wrong hands. It's too dangerous to leave in the open."
The three stood before the massive monolith. Kanata had already taken rubbings of it, but seeing the stone in person was a different experience entirely.
"Do you know where the others are?" Roger asked.
"I do. One is in Wano. Another is on Zou."
"That's three..." Roger breathed. "You've already found three of them? That's incredible!"
"But I have no idea where the fourth one is," Kanata admitted. "I'll keep looking, but don't get your hopes up."
"Nah! If I knew where they all were now, the fun would be over! This is plenty!"
Kanata had already decoded the locations, but she kept that to herself. She had shown Roger the stone because she trusted him, but the secret of the coordinates was hers to keep—at least until she had seen the Last Island for herself.
The three walked back up to the surface, emerging into the ruins of the pirate town.
"You're quite a bit ahead of us, kid," Roger laughed.
"I've had a lot of luck," Kanata replied. "And a lot of 'connections' through my mother."
"Speaking of your mother," Rayleigh said, glancing at Roger. "Shiki mentioned something about your father as well..."
Roger looked at Kanata, his expression uncharacteristically hesitant. "Is it alright if I tell him?"
"I don't care," Kanata said with a shrug.
Roger turned to Rayleigh, checked to make sure no one else was in earshot, and whispered the names.
"Her mother is Octavia. Of the Rocks Pirates."
"What...?!"
Rayleigh's mouth hung open. He looked at Kanata, his legendary composure completely shattered.
"And the father?" Rayleigh stammered.
"Rocks himself."
"You... you're joking, right?!"
"It's the truth," Kanata said. "I had it from Octavia's own mouth."
She didn't know how much she resembled her father, as she had never seen his face, but based on the reactions of the old Rocks crew, the resemblance to her mother was the real problem.
"This is a bombshell..." Rayleigh whispered. "The man who tried to rule the world had a daughter..."
"I'd appreciate it if you kept that to yourselves," Kanata warned. "If the Navy finds out, they'll never stop hunting me."
"We won't say a word," Roger promised. "But... do you have any siblings?"
"None that I know of. Though with a man like that, I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few half-siblings wandering around the world."
Roger and Rayleigh shared a knowing look. "Yeah... that sounds about right."
Rayleigh finally understood why Big Mom and Shiki were so fixated on her. Kanata was more than just a powerful rookie; she was the living legacy of the era they had lost. To Shiki, she was the ultimate prize—the child of the only two people he had ever truly respected.
"You've got a rough road ahead of you, kid," Roger noted.
"I've already abandoned the idea of a quiet life," Kanata sighed. "It was never an option."
The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the empty streets of Fullalead. The banquet was starting up again, the roar of laughter and music filling the evening air. For a moment, as the orange light hit her face, Kanata's silhouette overlapped with the memory of the "Devil" who had once stood on this very island, dreaming of the world.
Kanata would follow her own path. Roger would follow his. And when they met again, it would surely be in the middle of another storm.
***
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