One Piece: Starting with the execution of Pirate King Roger

He turned to look at the moon outside the window, the red wine in his glass reflecting the cool moonlight.

“Commodore Gion,” he began softly, “my hometown…is a very small island in the East China Sea.”

Gion was taken aback; this was the first time Rein had brought up his past on his own initiative.

“When I was very young,” Renn said calmly, as if recounting someone else’s story, “a group of pirates landed. They stole everything and burned down all the houses…”

He paused, his voice lowering: "I was hidden in a cellar and listened to screams and cries for a whole day and night. When I came out, I was the only survivor."

Raine turned around, meeting Gion's gaze. His dark eyes reflected Gion's figure, revealing just the right amount of hatred:

"My purpose in joining the Navy has always been simple, not for any lofty justice."

"I just want... to make the pirates pay the price."

He raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp.

"Vice Admiral Sakazuki's route will definitely be the route where he encounters the most pirates."

Gion was completely stunned.

Her playful and languid expression froze instantly, replaced by an indescribable shock and...heartache.

She looked at the handsome young man in front of her and was surprised to find that, without her noticing, his height was almost the same as hers.

I was used to his carefree and somewhat joking demeanor, and I was also used to him cracking jokes and teasing me with food and little anecdotes.

It was only at this moment that Gion suddenly realized that this boy, who was not yet 17 years old, was carrying such a heavy past.

She instinctively reached into her pocket for a women's cigarette and lit it to calm her complicated emotions.

The slender cigarette was already between her fingers, but just as she was about to light it, she suddenly stopped.

She thought of the boy across from her. He seemed... not to like the way she looked when she smoked.

Gion's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, and then she gently broke the unlit cigarette in two fingers.

The broken cigarette was casually tossed aside, as if nothing had happened.

“Raine…” her tone softened involuntarily, “The justice that Sakazuki believes in is magma that will burn everything. I’m worried about you…”

“I fear that your hatred will burn you to ashes first.”

“Thank you for the reminder, Brigadier General.” Ryan’s expression returned to calm. “I will be careful.”

"Phew, if acting skills could be recorded by the system, I'd probably have top-tier acting skills too." Seeing that Gion wasn't pressing the issue, Rein secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“…” Gion gave him a deep look.

"Never mind." She stood up, picked up an exquisite wooden box from the weapon rack behind her, and tossed it over.

"What is this?" Renn caught it.

“You’ve neglected your knife too much.” Gion crossed her arms. “That was a set of whetstones and polishing oils I used to use. Consider it… payment for the hard work you’ve put into cooking for me these past six months.”

When Renn opened it, a slight thought crossed his mind.

This set of tools is quite valuable.

"It's late, you should go back and rest early too." Gion waved her hand. "If you come back alive three months from now... remember to make up for all the meals you missed during this time."

"it is good."

……

Ryan returned to dormitory 307. Smoker was already asleep, snoring loudly like a war drum.

Rein frowned, casually picked up a small ball of paper, covered it with a thin layer of Armament Haki, and flicked it with his finger.

"Snapped".

The crumpled paper landed precisely on Smoker's forehead. The snoring stopped abruptly, turning into a soft grinding of teeth.

Today is the monthly refresh day for [Dimensional Treasures].

Although it's been a long time since Renn has found anything he likes, he still maintains the habit of checking it every month.

This time, his eyes were immediately drawn to the page as soon as he clicked on it.

Clark Kent's Glasses

[Description]: A seemingly ordinary pair of glasses, yet it possesses the power of cognitive dissonance. Once you wear it, no one will recognize you. Friendly reminder: Do not use near phone booths, and do not expect it to stop bullets.

Price: 10,000 Sin Points

Renn's eyes lit up instantly. "Good stuff!"

This thing is practically tailor-made for him! Ten thousand points, not expensive at all!

"Buy."

As points were deducted, a pair of ordinary black-rimmed glasses appeared in Ryan's hand. He smiled with satisfaction and put them away.

Chapter 43 Encountering Pirates

The next day, early in the morning.

In the port of Marineford, several vice admiral-class warships stood ready.

With a simple bag on his back, Ryan boarded Vice Admiral Sakazuki's naval warship, which was filled with a somber atmosphere.

Today he was wearing a pair of ordinary black-rimmed glasses, which added a touch of scholarly air to his handsome and aloof face.

As soon as he stepped onto the deck, he saw a familiar figure frantically trying to pick up a fallen suitcase, but instead tripped over the rope and fell flat on his face.

Ryan walked over and calmly extended his hand.

"Thank you... thank you! You're so kind!" "Golden Retriever" Rosinante grabbed his hand and got up, brushing off the dust and bowing his head in gratitude.

Raine didn't say anything.

Seeing that the other party did not react, Rosinandi raised his head in confusion, took a closer look at the person in front of him, and realized that he did not recognize him.

Seeing this, Ryan slowly took off his glasses.

"Ray-Huh?!" Rosinandi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "You...when did you start wearing glasses? I didn't even recognize you!"

"Just got it set up, still getting used to it." Renn casually replied, though he knew what was going on. "As expected of a system product, the effect is outstanding."

"By the way, how did you end up on Vice Admiral Sakazuki's warship?"

“It was Mr. Sengoku…” Rosinandi got up dejectedly, “He said my training wasn’t tough enough, so… so he forced me here to let Lieutenant General Sakazuki hone me properly…”

Looking at his naive and clueless expression, only one thought crossed his mind: "Sengoku... are you sending your adopted son to his death?"

Just then, a cold, hoarse voice, seemingly carrying the smell of sulfur, came from behind the two of them.

"It seems that you two are Teacher Zephyr's new recruits."

The two of them turned around abruptly.

A very tall man stood before them. He wore a lieutenant general's cloak emblazoned with the word "Justice," and a cigar dangled from his lips. Beneath the cloak, however, was a jarringly dark red floral shirt.

His sharply defined face carried an innate sternness and brutality.

It was Lieutenant General Sakazuki.

Rosinandi froze in shock, awkwardly giving a salute: "Hello, Lieutenant General!"

Ryan calmly stood at attention and saluted: "Corvo Ryan! Reporting for duty!"

Sakassky's gaze swept over Rosinante, his sinister eyes revealing undisguised disdain.

Then he turned to Ryan, his scrutinizing gaze seeming to see right through Ryan's bones.

“I don’t care what kind of womanly kindness you learned from Teacher Zefa.”

He spoke coldly, his voice not loud, yet it drowned out the sound of the waves:

"On my ship, justice has only one definition, and that is—complete justice."

"The slightest hesitation in the face of evil is a desecration of justice."

"What you need to do is eradicate evil completely, leaving no chance for it to reignite. Do you understand?!"

"Yes!!!" Rosinante shouted in fright.

Rein remained calm: "Yes, Lieutenant General."

Sakazuki gave Renn a deep look.

The calmness of this new recruit surprised him even more than Rosinandi's excessive panic.

He then said no more, turned around, looked at the boundless sea, and exhaled a thick plume of smoke from his cigar-smoked mouth.

"set sail!"

With a command from Sakazuki, the steel behemoth roared and slowly sailed away from Marineford.

......

It was the third day after the warship left Marineford.

The weather in the first half of the Grand Line is as unpredictable as a child's mood.

One second the sky is clear and blue, the next second it might be a raging storm.

On Sakazuki's warship, the atmosphere was as oppressive, somber, and chilling as the worst weather on the sea.

This is completely different from the atmosphere of the recruit camp.

The marines on board were all expressionless, and their movements were as efficient as machines.

They rarely spoke to each other, and apart from the sound of the waves and commands, there was not a sound on the deck.

For "Golden Retriever" Rosinante on this ship, it was a complete disaster.

His clumsy nature was magnified infinitely here.

He would slip and fall flat on the deck, kicking over the buckets.

He would spill coffee on his own hands while pouring coffee for officers, his hands trembling, causing him to scream and drawing cold stares from everyone.

During training, he was unable to adapt to the intensity of training on the Sakazuki warship.

In just three days, he became a laughing stock on the warship.

Sakazuki was too tired to even get angry at Rosinante's incompetence; he simply ignored Rosinante.

That kind of disregard and contempt that comes from the core is far more hurtful than direct insults.

Ryan, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.

He was a man of few words, but meticulous in his personal affairs. He gave his all in every daily training session, perfectly embodying the image of a promising recruit in an elite training camp.

Rennes neither mocked nor deliberately distanced himself from Rosinandi's clumsiness.

On this ship where everyone was like a machine, Ryan was practically the only person Rosinandi could talk to.

During training breaks, Rosinandi would awkwardly come over, hand Ryan a bottle of water, and quietly complain about how terrible the food on the ship was, or how horrible Vice Admiral Sakazuki was.

Raine mostly listened calmly, occasionally humming in agreement, without offering much comment.

He knew in his heart that what Rosinandi needed to complain about was not a solution, but just some emotional comfort—on this cold ship, it would be enough if someone was willing to listen to him.

Ryan didn't mind being a listener.

Right now, as Ryan does push-ups, he listens to Rosinandi's rambling and thinks to himself, "I wonder when we'll be able to open for business."

As if in response to his expectations, at that moment—

"Beep—beep—!" The piercing alarm shattered the silence on the deck from the watchtower.

"Pirate ship spotted at 3 o'clock ahead!!"

"Confirmed! It's the 'Finger-Severing' Pirates! Bounty: 3500 million Berries!"

"Crack-!"

The deck, which was lifeless just a second ago, suddenly came to life.

All the marines instantly entered combat mode, and that chilling, murderous aura transformed into tangible killing intent, permeating the air.

Rosinante's palms were sweating with nervousness; this was his first real encounter with the pirates' battlefield.

Ryan sprang to his feet, his face displaying just the right amount of tension and excitement: