"Enough with the roundabout talk, Rayleigh. Just tell me what do you want?"
Ethan Sugawa immediately caught the hidden meaning in Rayleigh's words and responded flatly.
Rayleigh exchanged a subtle glance with Roger. Roger instantly understood, cleared his throat, and said to Ethan, "Join the Roger Pirates. Help us decipher the Poneglyphs."
At this point in time, Oden hadn't joined the crew yet, so Roger was desperate for someone who could read the ancient texts.
"That might disappoint you," Ethan replied, shaking his head. "Even though I'm from the Three-Eyed Tribe, my tribe's ability hasn't awakened yet. I can't read the Poneglyphs."
He was telling the truth. All these years, and still no sign of his ability awakening. Honestly, Ethan had started to wonder if he was even a true Three-Eyed Tribesman.
"Wait… isn't the third eye of the Three-Eyed Tribe supposed to be horizontal? Why is mine vertical?!"
This question had crossed his mind many times, but he never really pursued it. Now that he thought about it carefully, there were indeed many strange things about him.
Ever since he ate the Shura Fruit, his eye had mutated. He could see the illusionary threads connected to Saturn, one of the Five Elders.
After that, when he obtained the Giant Tribe's bloodline, his eye mutated again, granting him a new vision that allowed him to see the true nature of things similar to the Byakugan's abilities.
From this, Ethan developed the skill "Weakness Detection."
Later, he also gained the Vampire bloodline.
Although that bloodline hadn't manifested specific abilities yet, he could feel a strange power gradually forming in his eyes.
Once that power fully matured, he would unlock yet another ability.
Out of all the unique powers he had awakened, the one thing that had yet to appear was the ability to read the Poneglyphs.
Ethan thought that once Roger realized he couldn't decipher the ancient texts, he would give up on forcing him to join the crew.
But he underestimated Roger's obsession with the Poneglyphs.
Roger shook his head firmly. "We haven't found all the Poneglyphs yet. You can stay on the ship and study them slowly."
Ethan quickly realized that Roger was determined to keep him, no matter what.
After thinking it over, he pointed at Gloriosa. "I promised her I'd get her safely back to Amazon Lily. Can we drop her off first?"
"Ethan…" Gloriosa started to protest, but Ethan quietly signaled for her to trust him.
Roger thought for a moment, then agreed. "We're not far from Amazon Lily anyway. We can take her there first."
With that, both sides reached an agreement, and the pirate ship set sail toward Amazon Lily.
…
A few days later.
Calm Belt, near Amazon Lily.
The Roger Pirates' ship anchored off the coast.
On deck, Ethan and Gloriosa were saying their goodbyes.
"Maybe I should stay with you on the Roger Pirates' ship. That way, I can look after you."
Gloriosa still looked a little uneasy.
"It's fine. Besides, I've already made a deal with Roger. He promised to let me go after a year."
Ethan comforted her, "Also, the Navy is starting to suspect I'm still alive. They're actively searching for the 'Four-Armed Asura.'"
"Staying on the Roger Pirates' ship is the perfect place to lay low for a while."
After the recent battle, the bounty for 'Four-Armed Asura' had skyrocketed to 100 million berries, and his notoriety was still growing daily.
Ethan figured it wouldn't be long before he earned another treasure map.
Seeing his calm expression, Gloriosa thought for a moment, then softly said, "You've helped me so much, and I really don't have anything to give you in return. But Aokusa seems to really like you. How about I leave her with you?"
Ethan wasn't dense. He understood Gloriosa's feelings perfectly.
He didn't refuse.
"Hisss…"
The green serpent, Aokusa, happily slithered up and coiled itself around Ethan's neck.
Suddenly, Ethan pulled out a Devil Fruit covered in snake scales from his pocket and handed it to Gloriosa. He also gave her all the treasure he'd looted from Hardy.
After making sure she had everything, he quietly watched her leave.
…
Back on the pirate ship, Ethan looked down at Aokusa coiled around his neck and spoke to the white bone bracelet on his wrist.
"Little White, shrink her down a bit."
With the Size Manipulation ability, Aokusa's large body rapidly shrank until she became a small green ring, which Ethan wore around his neck like an accessory.
Once Aokusa was settled, Ethan returned to his cabin aboard the Roger Pirates' ship to study the Poneglyphs.
Roger had made rubbings of fifteen Poneglyphs, all spread out on the table now.
Dense, twisted, and ancient characters filled his vision, and Ethan couldn't understand a single one of them.
While he was struggling, a familiar figure suddenly swaggered into his room and plopped down on the table with a smug grin.
"I told you we were destined to cross paths! Who would've thought you'd join us so soon?"
Ethan gave him a sharp look. "I didn't 'join' your pirate crew. I was forced onto this ship by your captain, and I'm working for him under duress for one year."
"Doesn't matter. You're still part of the Roger Pirates now…"
Before Shanks could keep rambling, Ethan cut him off.
"Go, go, go. Go play somewhere else. I've got ancient texts to study."
"Hold on!"
Shanks suddenly put on a serious face. "Let's have a duel. If I win, you'll have to admit you're a Roger Pirate. If you win, I won't bother you anymore."
Ethan had zero interest in the offer.
Shanks was only four years old. Beating him wouldn't bring any sense of accomplishment it would only get Ethan accused of bullying a kid.
Not to mention, he'd probably get roasted for it.
With that in mind, Ethan immediately declined. "You're still too young. Quit thinking about fighting all the time and focus on practicing your swordsmanship."
"If you don't want to spar, let's at least have a swordsmanship contest!"
Shanks' eyes lit up as he quickly added, "I know you're a swordsman too. Let's have a match. I've been obsessed with swordsmanship since I was a kid, and under Captain Roger's guidance, I've already trained for a year. Most ordinary swordsmen can't beat me now."
He pointed at Ethan and challenged, "Your sword skills don't seem that great. If you lose, I'll even teach you a few moves. How about it?"
Ethan smirked, clearly unimpressed. "You think I'll lose?"
"So? Are you in or not?"
"Of course I'm in!" Ethan nodded. "You tell me how we're competing."
Shanks thought for a moment and pointed toward a distant rock formation.
"Let's test the power of our sword strikes. Whoever can split that rock wins. How about it?"
Recently, he'd been practicing swordsmanship with Roger and had already learned the basics of Roger's signature technique, "Divine Departure."
He was confident he could easily split the rock and even more confident he could win.