"Hey! Buggy, you're such a coward, you can't even hold a newspaper properly. Tch."
Shanks wagged his finger in front of Buggy's face, his expression full of disdain.
"You damn redhead! I'll teach you a lesson today! How dare you disrespect the future Pirate King!"
Buggy lunged at Shanks, and the two began wrestling. Reid watched the scene with amusement.
"Just like in the anime and manga, these fights look intense but still have a playful feel to them."
Roger grinned, but his mind was far from calm.
"The Navy has really lost face this time, resorting to a Buster Call. Hmm... Garp will be coming too. Hopefully, that guy can prevent innocent people from getting caught up in this."
Roger's thoughts drifted to the scene in Impel Down where he entrusted Ace to Garp. In his eyes, the only true embodiment of justice in the Navy was the Hero Garp. Everyone else's words—even their punctuation—couldn't be trusted.
"Stupid Buggy, you can't even hold a newspaper, yet you call yourself the future Pirate King!"
"Shanks! Who the hell do you think you are?! Hah! If you saw this news, you'd probably piss your pants!"
At Buggy's words, and recalling Roger's earlier reaction, Shanks sobered up.
"What's the news?"
"Hmph! It'll scare you to death. The Navy Headquarters has dispatched two Admirals and three Vice Admirals, along with a fleet of warships. That's already on the scale of a Buster Call."
"A Buster Call?! You mean... the indiscriminate annihilation kind?!"
Shanks' face paled with fear—not for himself, but for his family, the crew of the Roger Pirates.
Seeing Shanks so shaken, Buggy puffed up with pride. "Hahahaha! What did I tell you? Huh? Shanks, a scaredy-cat like you wants to be a captain? Hehehe."
Ignoring Buggy's taunts, Shanks hurried to Roger's side.
"Captain, is it true?"
"Hahahaha!"
Roger laughed heartily before ruffling Shanks' hair with a grin.
"Shanks, are you scared?"
"Of course not! But... what about our family? And Rouge's hometown could be in danger, and Wano, and..."
Tears welled up in Shanks' eyes, his lips trembling with worry. He remembered how Roger had found him in a treasure chest—family meant everything to him.
"We're men who stand tall. Now's the time to protect our family."
Roger patted Shanks' head, his eyes filled with pride.
"Shanks has the spirit to inherit the will of freedom. My instincts aren't wrong—this kid will do great things one day."
"Yeah!" Shanks nodded firmly. "Captain Roger, I won't let anyone hurt my family!"
"Hahahaha! Then get stronger."
"I will! I'll become a real man!"
"Tch. Shanks is just boasting again. Only I, the future Pirate King Buggy, am a real man."
Buggy muttered under his breath, but seeing Roger's affectionate gesture toward Shanks stirred something in him. "Family..."
"Is this the charisma of the Pirate King?... Even as a kid, Shanks had this determination to put family first. The strong really are alike—Roger, Shanks, Oden, Whitebeard..."
Reid was moved by the scene. "Maybe traveling to this world wasn't a bad thing. I'll make the most of it. With a god-tier system, I'll carve out my own path."
A smile tugged at his lips as he gazed at the vast sea ahead, his heart brimming with anticipation.
Meanwhile, newspapers delivered by News Coos had reached every corner of the world.
"No way! Roger escaped?! How is that possible..."
"Big news! This'll be the talk of the town for ages!"
"As expected of the legendary pirate. The Navy's nothing but kids in front of him."
"Don't underestimate the Navy. A Buster Call is no joke."
The Life Card rotated slightly, pointing in a certain direction.
Shakky also glanced at it, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"That's the direction of the South Blue. What's Roger doing there?"
Shakky muttered to herself, exhaling a puff of smoke.
"Oh? The South Blue?"
"Exactly. I think Roger must have something very important to do there. The Marines are preparing to deploy a Buster Call, which means several Admirals and specially constructed top-tier warships will be mobilized. And I suspect those ships might even be coated in Seastone. None of that can harm Roger, but the others... well, that's another story."
Shakky gazed out the door, taking a deep drag from her cigarette before exhaling slowly. "Haaah…"
"Shakky, are you saying Roger is going there to evacuate some people?"
"Mmm, most likely. Rayleigh, does Roger have anyone important in the South Blue?"
"Well… I'm not entirely sure. Maybe over the past year, he met someone on one of the islands there."
"Perhaps."
Shakky nodded and took another slow drag. "Haaah…"
"Hey Shakky, you should really cut back on the smoking," Rayleigh suddenly remarked, his eyes filled with concern.