Chapter 66 Joining Roger's Pirates
"How do you know...?" Rayleigh was a little surprised and couldn't accept the fact that Roger was suffering from a terminal illness.
"What kind of disease can make someone like you look so uncomfortable and cough up blood? There's nothing else except terminal illness and cancer, right?" Arthur responded to Rayleigh.
"Hey, are you helping us? Does that mean you've accepted my invitation?" Rayleigh asked again, looking forward to Arthur's answer.
"I have nowhere to go..." Arthur lowered his head. Apart from joining Roger's pirate group, there was no safe place for him in the world.
"That's great!" Rayleigh stood up excitedly after hearing this. As the vice-captain, the pirate group now has another powerful general, so he is naturally very happy.
Arthur stared at him calmly and warned him, "Don't be happy too soon. The Navy has my life card. My being on board means your whereabouts will be exposed all the time."
"Hahaha, you don't have to worry about that at all. The navy will hardly cause trouble for us."
"Why?" Arthur didn't understand what Rayleigh said.
"Because we are different from other pirates. We don't plunder and rarely cause panic."
Rayleigh told Arthur:
"They just use newspaper opinions to damage the image of our pirate group. They just send people like Garp and Sengoku to cause trouble for us."
"We will only retaliate if an ignorant navy attacks us."
……
That night, the news that Arthur had joined the Roger Pirates spread on the Ol Jaxson.
Everyone knew that he accepted the invitation, and a powerful general who was only 15 years old, had the level of a swordsman and controlled the high-level Ryuo Armament Haki was added to the ship.
Douglas Barrett, who joined Roger's pirate group as a challenger, is also well known to everyone.
A welcome banquet began on the Ol Jackson.
Barrett took off his military uniform, wearing a white vest, and ate meat at the banquet but did not drink any alcohol.
Arthur, dressed in tattered clothes, sat alone on the railing of the ship. He remained alert in the cheerful atmosphere, unable to let go of the shadow of being shot by civilians a year ago.
After some observation, there were about six sword-fighting crew members at the banquet, not counting Roger and Rayleigh, so a total of eight.
“There are no dumplings…” He picked up a piece of meat that was several times bigger than his face and started chewing it.
These unintentional words caught the attention of the cook, who immediately asked a fishman to bring him a plate several meters long and filled with dumplings.
"Here you go, Arthur, right? Come on and integrate into this big family, and stop being so withdrawn."
The person who handed Arthur a plate of dumplings was a fishman with blue skin.
Looking at the plate that was bigger than himself, Arthur reached out and took it without responding.
He couldn't trust anyone and was not healed by the cheerful atmosphere.
"Cooper!" (Keep drinking, come, I'll toast you on behalf of Arthur!) Cooper's bold participation brought the banquet to an unprecedented climax.
It is rare to see an eagle so humanely clinking glasses with humans.
"Captain, you had health problems during the day, don't drink so much!"
"Idiot, how can a pirate not drink?!" Roger toasted with everyone, drank the wine in his glass, and took Barrett to the stern alone.
……
At the stern, Roger, a little tipsy, faced Barrett and said, "Go ahead, Barrett. Don't you want to challenge me again? I'll give you the chance now."
Barrett was shocked by this sudden surprise, and the corners of his mouth quickly raised: "Haha, don't blame me if your ship is destroyed, Roger!"
He didn't hesitate and rushed towards Roger with clenched fists.
However, Roger only needed to use his domineering power to find the flaw and punch Barrett at the corner of his mouth, instantly defeating Barrett and causing him to fall onto the stern guardrail.
"Damn, so strong!" Barrett wiped the corner of his mouth with disdain, and recognized Roger's strength very much.
"Barrett, I won't have any disagreement with you just because you are a criminal who destroyed a country. As long as you join this pirate group, you will be a part of this family!"
Roger spoke to Barrett seriously, wanting to tell him that the world was not full of hostility.
"Huh?" Barrett was stunned for not understanding what he said. Now he only knew how to fight and had no idea what Roger meant.
"If you want to make me your goal, surpass me, and challenge me, you are always welcome, Barrett."
He felt that unlike rational teenagers like Arthur, Barrett was a completely out-of-control monster who would become uncontrollable once no one could suppress him.
Barrett is a monster who only knows how to wreak havoc. He needs to be given hope and a goal to pursue.
"Haha, the moment I surpass you, that's the moment I become the strongest in the world, Roger!" Barrett was conquered by Roger's strength: "Don't make it easy for me!"
"Come on anytime!" Roger turned and gave him an accepting smile, ignoring the various conflicts between him and Barrett in the previous year.
Leaving the stern, Roger returned to the banquet and looked at Arthur again: "Arthur, come with me."
Arthur put down the plate in his hand, jumped onto the deck and followed Roger into the captain's room.
"You are completely different now than you were in the Sphinx Sea, Arthur." Roger sat on the chair in the captain's room and started a conversation with Arthur.
"What do you mean?"
"All of them. You looked like a young boy who had never experienced much of the world before, but now you give me the feeling of a young man who has experienced a lot of vicissitudes of life. What have you been through in the past year to lead to your current appearance?"
Roger plans to give Arthur some guidance and help him integrate happily into this big family.
"I survived being hunted by various CP spies and the navy." Arthur answered Roger simply. Even if Roger himself was in front of him, he didn't feel much expectation now.
All his beautiful fantasies about this world were shattered the moment he was stabbed in the back by a civilian.
"You know, after entering the new world, everyone will fight against various powerful beings. You can't be so withdrawn, Arthur."
"I know what I'm going to do, Roger, I just can't relax after some things I've been through."
"That's good. You are also a swordsman, right?" Roger found that Arthur in front of him seemed more rational and sober than he thought.
No guidance is needed at all.
"I guess so." Arthur responded to Roger.
"If you have anything to discuss about swordsmanship, you can ask Rayleigh, or ask me. This time we are re-entering the Grand Line from the East China Sea with great determination."
"understood."
Since Roger has accepted guys like Arthur and Barrett, he will never abandon them.
If he doesn't want such a talented navy, then let them help him complete the final voyage.
……
