The clamor at the harbor ebbed away. The last of the Black Shark Pirates and a portion of the Marines scattered in disarray, while the air hung heavy with blood and powder.
Roger toed aside a pirate fool enough to try a sneak attack, flicked the blood from his blade, and grinned wide enough to show two rows of pearly teeth. "Kuahahaha! Still not enough, Rayleigh!"
Rayleigh slid his sword into its sheath. Behind his round spectacles, his gaze skimmed the wrecked docks and finally settled on the boy slumped unconscious against a wall. His tone was even. "You going to pick him up?"
"Hahaha! This kid is something." Roger strode to Kael Grylls, grabbed him one-handed, and hoisted him as if he weighed nothing. "That Devil Fruit power, and that grit to stake his life. Right up my alley."
Rayleigh watched his captain's bright, irrepressible expression, kneaded his brow, and sighed without further comment.
He knew Roger too well. Once the man decided, not even ten Sea Kings could drag him back. Just like the day a few words had spirited Rayleigh himself, man and ship and all, onto this mad course.
"Rayleigh. Marine reinforcements will be here soon. We cannot linger." Roger called out, shifted Kael in his arms, and the two of them vaulted onto a small sailboat tied at the edge of the pier. It was hardly better than the Black Shark Pirates' heap, but it would float.
Kael woke to a gentle sway.
Sunlight stabbed through a porthole, bright enough to make him wince.
He moved and a tearing pain lanced along his ribs, stealing his breath.
"Hss… I'm alive?" He glanced around. A rough canvas hammock cradled him. The little cabin was cramped but tidy.
"Yo, kid, you are awake." The voice above him was warm and booming.
Kael jerked his head up and met a larger-than-life grin. A young Gol D. Roger sat cross-legged on a barrel, gnawing a chunk of meat on the bone and smiling down at him.
"You saved me?" Kael pushed himself upright, teeth clenched.
"Kuahahaha! Think nothing of it. I am Gol D. Roger." Roger waved it off and nodded at Kael's side. "Rayleigh patched you up a bit. Yabai na, you went head-on against a whole crew and nearly wiped them out. Interesting power. Can you shatter things with it?"
Under those hawkbright eyes that seemed to see through fog and bone, Kael's chest tightened. There was little point in hiding anything from a legend.
"Kael Grylls. Logia Wave-Wave Fruit." He kept his voice as steady as he could.
"Paramecia?" Surprise flashed in Roger's eyes, then turned to keen interest. "Sugoi. So young, yet with power and courage. Very good."
He tossed the bone aside, clapped the meat grease from his hands, and fixed Kael with a gaze so alive it felt contagious. "Little Kael, I like you. Come with us. Let us sail and see what this wide, wild sea really looks like."
Roger extended his hand. Broad and calloused from years of swordwork, powerful and steady.
The invitation came sudden but felt utterly natural.
Kael's heart thudded hard.
A fake succubus whispers about heels and stockings. The real one says, comrade, will you change the world with me?
Damn. The legendary "succubus" Roger had made his move. Who could refuse the latter?
He saw open admiration in Roger's eyes, and a boundless will that seemed to hold the whole world. Heat rose in Kael's chest like a tide.
He forced himself upright in the hammock. Pain clawed along his ribs, but his gaze was unwavering.
"I…" He drew a deep breath. Excitement trembled in his voice, yet it rang clear. "I want freedom. I want to see a bigger world. I want the strength to make dreams real. If… if I can be with you…"
He did not finish, but the yearning for adventure, the pull of the unknown, and that subtle resonance with the freedom radiating from Roger were already unmistakable.
Roger's smile blazed brighter. Something extraordinary lit his eyes.
At the doorway, Silvers Rayleigh had been quietly polishing his sword. He lifted his head, let his gaze rest on Kael for a heartbeat, then looked to Roger and gave the slightest nod.
"Hahahahahahahaha!" Roger's laughter shook the cabin, ringing with triumph and joy. He caught Kael's hand and squeezed hard.
"Good. Well said." His voice boomed. "From today, Kael is the third companion of the Roger Pirates."
"Third?" Kael blinked.
"That is right." Roger thumped his chest, then pointed at Rayleigh. "I am Captain Gol D. Roger. The man with the glasses is first mate Silvers Rayleigh. Add you and we make three."
Kael looked at the future Pirate King, who was grinning like a child with a new favorite toy, and a flood of emotions washed through him.
So this is Gol D. Roger.
No deliberate mystique. No forced kingly aura. Just openhanded boldness, effortless grace, and a charm that defied words.
He was a sun. Stand near him and your blood caught fire. You wanted to follow, to chase horizons at his side, to witness miracles.
Even in this brief span, Kael had felt the unique gravity of Roger's leadership.
"Welcome aboard, Kael." Rayleigh stepped in and offered a small smile. The cool appraisal from earlier had softened.
"Captain Roger. Mr. Rayleigh. Please take care of me from here on." Kael bowed his head, the excitement in his chest almost too big to hold.
From this small pirate ship, a legend was about to set sail.