It was true that the Roger Pirates had never displayed the world-conquering ambitions of the Rocks Pirates, such as trying to openly overthrow the Celestial Dragons.
The problem was, even if the Roger Pirates refrained from such actions, their inherent, symbolic threat to the World Government had already reached a critical level.
Unless the Roger Pirates voluntarily disbanded, the vast majority of the world's pirates would willingly flock under their banner.
Sometimes, the Government didn't target a faction because of what they had done—they targeted them solely because of the ideological threat they posed.
Regardless of whether the Roger Pirates actually had ambitions to rule the sea, Kong resolved to mobilize every available resource to strike against them.
Even if they couldn't outright annihilate the Oro Jackson, they had to ensure the crew fragmented, just like the Rocks Pirates did.
...
Meanwhile, out on a lazy patrol in the Grand Line, Vice-Admiral Raleigh was reading the very same newspaper.
"So... this chaotic Great Era is finally about to begin, huh?" Complex emotions flickered in Raleigh's eyes.
Part of him deeply disliked the Great Pirate Era that Roger's impending execution would trigger, for it meant an age of absolute disaster and suffering for innocent civilians worldwide.
Yet, Raleigh was an undeniably ambitious man.
He desperately needed to leverage the coming global chaos to achieve his ultimate goal of overthrowing Imu and the Celestial Dragons.
Faced with an unstoppable tidal wave of historical change, Raleigh coldly chose the path most advantageous to his own grand design.
"Even if the Great Era truly arrives, it does not matter. We are not as helpless against pirates as we used to be." Raleigh smiled, crushing the newspaper.
He believed that the East Blue and North Blue, which were now secretly under his absolute control, were as secure as iron barrels.
No pirate could possibly gain any advantage in those two oceans.
Unless New World veterans decided to flee back to the Four Blues, Raleigh's reformed Marine branches were more than sufficient to suppress the coming storm.
...
Amid a raging, apocalyptic storm, the members of the Roger Pirates busied themselves frantically on the deck of the Oro Jackson.
Roger personally manned the ship's massive helm, laughing wildly as he directed the actions of everyone on board.
BOOM!
Lightning bolts as thick as buildings continuously struck the violent, churning sea right next to the hull.
"Rayleigh!" Roger shouted over the howling wind.
"Got it!"
Rayleigh leaped high into the stormy sky, drawing his blade and slashing out a massive, semicircular sword beam that collided directly with a falling bolt of lightning.
Zzi—Zzzt!
The air crackled violently with the sound of electricity running rampant.
RUMBLE!
The deafening thunder from the black clouds never ceased for even a fraction of a second.
Rayleigh wiped the heavy rain from his face, widening his eyes as he prepared to intercept the next lightning strike.
Beside him, Kozuki Oden also stood ready on the railing, gripping his dual Haki-coated swords and staring intently at the apocalyptic sky.
A deep sense of awe rose in Oden's heart.
This was, after all, the hidden path to the final island.
The extreme, supernatural weather along this route was beyond anything an ordinary person could possibly imagine.
Even the bizarre islands with forty-eight distinct seasons in the New World were not as perilous as this final, hidden stretch of ocean.
If not for the fact that every single member of the Roger Pirates was an absolute master in their own right, even knowing the correct route might not have been enough to break through the storm.
But then again, it made perfect sense—if this place weren't so impossibly treacherous, it would have been discovered by someone else long ago.
Although very few people alive could read the Poneglyphs, with enough effort and resources, someone could eventually be found.
Whether it was the Kozuki clan of Wano Country or the genius scholars of Ohara, there were people who could interpret the stones.
Over the eight hundred years since the Void Century, many powerful fleets must have tried to deduce the location of the final island.
The reason no one had ever succeeded was simply due to insufficient strength.
After all, without enough power, one couldn't even gather all four Road Poneglyphs from the hands of the world's strongest monsters.
And even if a crew miraculously managed to collect them all, they would still face the same world-ending calamity the Roger Pirates were confronting right now.
In the face of such a disaster, massive fleet numbers meant absolutely nothing.
All one could do was pray for good luck and rely entirely on the monstrous strength of their closest comrades.
Fortunately, the Roger Pirates' strength was perfectly balanced. Excluding Shanks and Buggy, every single member on deck was at least at the level of a Marine Vice-Admiral.
Still, the loss of Scopper Gaban and Douglas Bullet—one dead, the other gone—had left its mark, forcing everyone else to work twice as hard to keep the ship afloat.
A stray bolt of lightning finally broke through the crew's defenses, striking the ship's hull and splintering the Adam Wood.
Seeing the damage, Roger felt no fear—instead, he grew even more exhilarated!
He drew Ace from his waist, steering the massive wheel with one hand and pointing his Supreme Grade sword directly at the stormy sky with the other.
"AHAHAHAHAHA! Come on! Show me your limits!" Roger roared into the thunder. "Men of the sea never fear the trials of storms! For they know that beyond the tempest... lies a clear, free land!"
Roger's hearty, fearless laughter infected everyone on board, and they all burst into wild, manic laughter right alongside him.
At this point, turning back was mathematically impossible—the only way forward was to advance with a smile!
Rayleigh, Kozuki Oden, Crocus, Sunbell, and the rest of the legendary crew laughed heartily as they faced the absolute worst trials the heavens could throw at them.
After a full day and night of endless battling, the Roger Pirates finally sailed out of that hellish sea.
Everyone lay completely exhausted on the deck, their clothes soaked and their muscles aching.
The warm, peaceful sunlight bathed them, feeling so comforting that no one wanted to move a single muscle.
"Hey... doesn't the wind here smell like home?" Rayleigh grinned tiredly, asking Roger, who was sprawled unceremoniously on the deck right beside him.
Upon hearing this, Roger used his special ability—the Voice of All Things—to sense their surroundings.
Suddenly, Roger's expression turned peculiarly strange.
His face seemed caught between crying and laughing, shifting rapidly from absolute disbelief to a mocking, manic grin.
"HAHAHAHAHA! I know! I know!"
Roger sat up, clutching his stomach. "So this is the secret of the final island! So that's how it is!"
"I always knew everyone's assumptions about the treasure were wrong! Unless they actually come here, they will never, ever guess what the true secret of the final island is!"
Roger laughed so hard he could barely catch his breath, rolling around uncontrollably on the deck with tears streaming down his face.
Rayleigh and the others watched their hysterically laughing captain with deep confusion and astonishment, completely unaware of what world-shaking secret Roger had just uncovered.
"Roger... what exactly have you figured out?" Rayleigh asked, utterly puzzled.
He could not comprehend why, despite arriving at the final island together, Roger could instantly uncover its secrets while he remained completely in the dark.
But instead of answering directly, Roger simply glanced around at the impossibly calm surrounding seawater.
Then, he leaned in and said mysteriously, "Rayleigh, I have some ideas now. But I need to verify them on the island first. If I am right... this would be the most ridiculous, hilarious thing on these seas!"