The sudden outburst from the woman before him left Rojen somewhat at a loss.
"I…"
His lips trembled as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, no words came out.
Inside the quiet wooden cabin, silence fell.
The only sound left was Lordling's soft sobbing.
Gradually, the person in his arms cried harder and harder.
Rojen didn't even understand exactly why she was crying, and perhaps even she herself didn't know the answer.
He neither responded nor rejected her.
Just like that, time quietly passed for several minutes before Lordling suddenly raised her head and wiped away her tears.
"Thank you, Rojen, for letting me vent all of this to you."
After saying these words, the fragile-looking woman abruptly stood up and left with forced strength.
Her figure gradually disappeared from his sight. Rojen remained silent for a long while before finally sighing.
"What… should I have said?"
'Did he like her?'
Yes, he did.
But why was it so difficult to say it aloud?
His gaze shifted, landing on Roger's smiling face in the photograph.
"Old man, looks like you got to watch a good joke."
With one hand, he pressed the photo frame face down onto the wooden table. After quietly thinking for a while longer and sorting through the chaotic thoughts in his head, Rojen stood up. He tidied up everything in the small cabin, then walked out carrying a small bundle on his back.
"Who knows when I'll be back again?"
Including the photograph, childhood toys, and other items worth commemorating, Rojen packed everything away and took it with him.
After closing the wooden door, he turned to leave.
"Why didn't you accept her?" Another woman's voice suddenly rang out.
Turning around, Rojen saw who it was and gave a bitter smile.
"So you heard everything from outside just now?"
"That's right. I heard it all." Nalene replied softly, amusement visible in her eyes.
"Maybe… It's just not the right time." With a sigh, Rojen stepped away.
"Not the right time? Does that even count as an answer?" Nalene was momentarily stunned.
But no one answered her again.
Rojen had already walked far away.
By the time evening arrived and everyone returned to the ship, Rojen noticed that Lordling had already returned to normal.
When facing him, she could still smile happily and speak loudly as usual.
She was still the same tsundere Lordling, but deep in her eyes, something seemed to have changed.
Rojen could clearly sense it all, leaving him momentarily at a loss.
Fortunately, she wasn't putting too much pressure on him.
Some things, when the time comes, naturally fall into place. Rojen had also asked Jinx and Ize about their parents.
When he learned that they had already set out to sea, he was briefly stunned.
But soon after, he burst into laughter. Imagining what their future meeting would look like, it would probably be very interesting.
"A red-haired brat, huh? Could it be that guy?" Rojen thought to himself suspiciously as he piloted The Logan onward.
Once again, The Logan set sail.
Its objective was now crystal clear.
Without stopping midway, it headed directly toward Windmill Village.
Rojen did not contact Garp.
After all, the other party was the Hero of the Marines. Contacting him right now would basically be like an escaped convict casually chatting with a high-ranking police official, an extremely awkward situation.
"I'm really curious, Captain." Jason wore a puzzled expression as he pointed at the small island marked on the sea chart.
"How did you know Rouge is on this tiny island?"
"In fact, I have the ability to predict the future."
Rojen gave a mysterious smile.
Crocodile narrowed his eyes and nodded seriously.
"That Fruit really does have that kind of ability."
As soon as those words came out, everyone present was astonished, staring at Rojen in disbelief.
Rojen shook his head, too lazy to explain further.
His Fruit ability was indeed extremely mysterious.
Even now, he still hadn't fully developed it.
The main reason was simple, his mental power still wasn't strong enough.
"If one day I can expand my mental power, my divine sense, to cover an entire island, then once the abilities of the Prediction-Prediction Fruit are unleashed, the results would definitely be earth-shaking."
Unfortunately, mental power was even harder to train and consumed the most time.
Three months later, The Logan had already approached Windmill Village.
Compared to the many islands Rojen had traveled to before, this island could hardly be considered prosperous. At best, it was average, and its location was remote, making it difficult to find.
When The Logan docked by the island's shore, it immediately attracted a great deal of attention.
"That looks like… pirates?"
"It is pirates! Pirates have come here!"
"Go tell the village chief!"
The crowd became somewhat panicked.
To ordinary people, pirates weren't much different from bandits, they were all evil scoundrels.
Very soon, after the villagers spread the word, a large crowd marched toward the shore.
Leading them was the village chief, his expression solemn but not panicked. By the time Rojen and his group disembarked, the villagers had already gathered opposite them.
"Pirates, there's nothing here for you! Leave at once!"
Leading the armed villagers, the village chief shouted loudly.
Seeing how tense the other party was, Rojen smiled helplessly.
"Uncles, aunties, we're just passing through here. We won't do anything."
Hearing this, the village chief stared at Rojen cautiously.
"Just passing through?"
"That's right. Don't worry, we're not some vicious bunch." Rojen smiled.
The village chief carefully sized them up a few more times. After mentally judging that this group, who mostly looked pretty ordinary, aside from a few of them being rather ugly, didn't seem to have much potential to be evil criminals, he finally nodded.
"I'll allow you into town, but no causing trouble! Otherwise, we'll show you the might of Windmill Town!"
"Don't worry!"
Only after Rojen repeatedly guaranteed their good behavior did the group of uncles and aunties finally let them off. Behind him, the crew watched their captain make a fool of himself and secretly laughed.
"Watching Captain like this, why do I suddenly feel like laughing so much?"
"Same here. This is way too funny."
"Hahahahaha!"
As the villagers gradually dispersed, Rojen and the others entered the village. Before long, the crew had already started chatting with the simple and honest villagers.
Having traveled the seas, they naturally had much broader knowledge and experiences than the villagers, so both sides quickly got along.
Inside a small tavern, Rojen's entire group gathered together.
"Our town may be small, but our liquor is excellent. It's homemade right here in town, you can only drink it here."
The tavern owner boasted proudly, while the owner's wife smiled and added her own introduction.
"Heh heh, then bring us some! We want to try this homemade liquor."
Jason shouted boldly.
Rojen didn't mind at all.
East Blue was his hometown, so naturally the alcohol from his hometown would taste good.
"Coming right up!"
With customers arriving, the innkeeper couple were so happy they could barely stop grinning.
Normally, there were only so many people in town, so business was naturally limited.
But whenever outside pirates arrived, it was always their busiest time.
Very quickly, the homemade liquor was served.
After tasting it, everyone immediately started praising it.
"This is really good stuff!"
"Boss, another bottle! One isn't nearly enough!"
The crew shouted excitedly.
(End Of This Chapter)
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