I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

"That's great..." After hearing the story, Luffy was still eager for more: "If you're going to be a pirate, you should be like Gol D. Roger."

"And I never imagined that Uncle Sieg had so many stories I'd never heard of..."

"Uncle... Uncle Sig?" The old man was a little surprised by this title.

Luffy grinned so wide his mouth almost reached his ears, revealing a huge smile. He pressed his straw hat on his head and said:

“I saw him when I was a child, and I also stayed in his bandit den.”

"Later, Uncle Wang from next door would occasionally talk about his story after drinking... but not as much as you did."

"Of course," the old man patted his chest, quite pleased with himself.

"Your claim of being next door is probably just hearsay. Back in the day, both the Pirate King and the Mountain Bandit King frequented this shop."

"Yeah..."

Luffy smiled, adjusted his straw hat, and looked on with longing, saying with a smile:

"Next, I will also be entering the Grand Line. I wonder what kind of adventures await us ahead."

"You're going to the Grand Line too?" The boss was a little surprised and looked at Luffy carefully for a few moments.

“Young man, that ocean is too early for you,” he advised.

"Although I have never been to the Grand Line, I have heard a lot about it."

"Thanks to those two men who ushered in an era, the Grand Line has been plunged into an unprecedented period of turmoil over the past decade, far more dangerous than ever before. The Four Emperors of the New World from the old era, the new generation of admirals in the Navy, the rising Fifty-Six Emperors... these are no joke—"

"That sounds interesting," Luffy interrupted, impatient to hear the old man's advice.

"To be a pirate, you have to be like Gol D. Roger and Uncle Sigurd."

"One day, I will find ONE PIECE and become the Pirate King!"

The old man showed no anger at being interrupted; he simply watched the boy in the straw hat silently.

In a daze, he seemed to see the figures of people from the past.

"In that case, let's have a drink."

The old man raised his glass of milk, smiled slightly, and clinked glasses with Luffy.

"May true pirates live on forever."

...........................

A moment later.

The bar owner looked at the empty bar and the empty glass of milk on the bar counter, and gave a wry smile.

"If there are still kids like that around, then I can stay open a little later."

He smiled, poured himself another glass of wine, and drank it alone.

"It feels like it's been a long time since I've felt this carefree. I really miss those days."

The old man squinted, his eyes glazed with drunkenness.

In a daze, he seemed to see the old people from years ago push open the door and step in, just like they did many years ago.

Time had not left many marks on this man's face; he was still young, only with a short beard.

"How can such an old bar still be in operation?"

The man took off his sunglasses, placed them on the bar, and glanced at the few drops of milk remaining on the empty glass on the bar.

"Milk? Looks like we have a very tasteful guest," the man exclaimed.

The old man's eyes, which had been slightly squinted, suddenly widened, and the slight drunkenness he had felt earlier vanished.

He watched as the man in front of him walked to the bar and expertly took several bottles of wine from the cabinet, as if he were the owner.

"Would you like something to drink?" Sieg asked.

The wrinkles on the old man's face gradually smoothed out. He looked at the empty, old bar and smiled slightly.

"The kind you all loved to drink back then, right?"

"Angel's Kiss".

He stared intently as Sieg began mixing drinks behind the bar with practiced ease, just as he had done years before.

A moment later, three freshly made Angel's Kiss drinks were placed in front of the bar.

"Why three cups?" the old man asked, somewhat surprised.

Sieg chuckled softly, but did not answer.

At this time.

The creaking sound of a door opening came from behind me again.

Chapter 1022 A toast to the past, a toast to tomorrow

A soft creaking sound.

The door to the old bar was pushed open once again.

A man with slightly graying hair, also wearing sunglasses, stepped in, followed by a woman with freckles on her face.

He glanced at the third Angel's Kiss on the bar, smiled slightly, and placed his sunglasses on the bar as well.

"Looks like I'm not too late."

"You..." The old man opened his cloudy old eyes, looked at Roger, then at Sieg, and was speechless for a moment.

At this point, 55 years had passed since Sieg first came to this bar and met Roger for the first time.

The last time he saw these two men was during their execution in Loguetown, a full 22 years later.

Memories linger like smoke, and scenes from the past float into my mind.

"Have you forgotten?" Roger smiled slightly.

"I will not die."

.........

Roger sat down at the bar, next to the old man.

Rouge wisely refrained from disturbing them and simply sat quietly to the side.

"So, why did you go to sea? Don't you plan to continue living in seclusion in the Kingdom of Goa?" Sig asked.

"Don't forget, Loguetown is my hometown. What's wrong with coming here to take a look?"

Roger took a sip of his drink, a look of intoxication on his face:

"I have my own purpose, which can be summarized as... everything for the children."

"A child?" Sig paused, then seemed to remember something.

He had recently seen the news that the supernova Fire Fist Ace from three years ago had joined the Whitebeard Pirates, and the newspaper even gave a close-up of Ace's back.

So, did Roger set sail for Ace?

Sieg took a small sip of his drink and suddenly felt that things were getting interesting.

"Roger and Whitebeard fighting over a son? Things are getting interesting." Sig also became interested in watching the show.

He didn't notice that Rouge, who was standing next to him, blushed slightly after hearing Roger's words and glared at him irritably.

"Since you also plan to go to the Grand Line, would you like to travel together?" Sigurd pondered for a moment and then extended an invitation.

Roger? He's a max-level player who's conquered the entire world map and completed the game over many years.

If Roger were there, the difficulty would immediately become easy.

Roger looked tempted, but after hesitating, he firmly refused.

"This isn't very convenient."

Roger glanced at Rouge beside him out of the corner of his eye.

Rouge continued to blush.

As the saying goes, "An old steed in its stall may still aspire to gallop a thousand miles; a hero in his twilight years may still cherish lofty ambitions."

Roger is still in high spirits today.

"Excuse me for interrupting." At that moment, an old voice came from the side.

"Are you all planning to make a comeback and go to the Grand Line again?" the old man asked in surprise.

The bar owner was also an old acquaintance of theirs, but over the years he had rarely intervened in Sigrove's conversations, mostly just listening quietly from the sidelines.

At this moment, the elderly man seemed to be even more agitated than the two people involved.

Sieg nodded.

"No matter how long the summer vacation is, it will eventually come to an end," he murmured.

During his trip to the East China Sea, he was like a true traveler, leisurely strolling around, meeting old friends and observing the new generation that had grown up.

Compared to the Grand Line, a trip to the East China Sea is just a leisurely vacation.

Roger nodded as well.

“I’ve been waiting for someone… no, the entire pirate crew that arrived at Laugh Tale with me was waiting for someone to appear.”

He said with emotion:

"Back then, we arrived too early, the time was not right, so we could only leave the treasure to those who came later."

"One day, the successor will obtain the treasure, bear the weight of all the history of the past hundreds of years, and bring about a massive war that will sweep the world."

The old man paused slightly in his breathing.

"Is the time right?" he asked.

"I don't know." Roger shook his head with a smile, his eyes sparkling with interest.

"However, I guess the time is approaching, and it seems I may live to see that day come."

"A latecomer?" The old man smiled.