The final island wasn't particularly mysterious at first glance, but it held many familiar sensations that felt remarkably strange to the crew.
Since the crew members of the Oro Jackson hailed from vastly different places—the East Blue, South Blue, the New World, and even Fish-Man Island—this shared sense of familiarity was incredibly puzzling.
Even the widely traveled Rayleigh was surprised by the island's completely unnatural, diverse flora.
Unlike the others, Roger began racing across the island the moment their ship anchored.
He touched broad-leaf plants in the eastern forest one moment, and eagerly dug through the soil for strange insects in the west the next.
"Roger, what exactly have you discovered?" Rayleigh asked curiously, watching his captain act like an overexcited child.
Roger, who had been crouching on the ground examining the dirt, suddenly straightened up and let out a triumphant echoing roar toward the sky.
"Rayleigh! This is indeed the final island!" Roger laughed wildly, spinning around with his arms wide open.
"Don't you see?! This is the center of all Four Blues!"
He should have realized it sooner.
According to theoretical nautical charts, the final island of the Grand Line was also, technically, its starting point.
It shouldn't be too geographically far from Reverse Mountain.
But compared to Reverse Mountain, Roger had discovered something far more significant hidden in the dirt.
"Rayleigh, because of the Red Line, this should technically be the highest point in the entire world. But look here."
Roger held out a piece of broken rock.
Embedded deeply within the stone were perfect, fossilized seashells.
Rayleigh took the stone, completely baffled. He couldn't understand why Roger was gazing at this ordinary rock with such absolute fascination.
Kozuki Oden and the others gathered around, equally perplexed.
Roger cleared his throat and spoke mysteriously. "The continent beneath our feet... might have once been at the absolute bottom of the ocean."
"What?!"
"That is why there are shell fossils embedded in the rocks up here. This is the highest point of the Red Line. Theoretically, there shouldn't be any deep-sea shells up here in the clouds!"
After hearing Roger's words, the fish-man Sunbell picked up the stone with sudden, intense interest.
If it was something from the sea, no one would understand it better than a fish-man.
But even Sunbell showed a shocked expression when he closely examined the shell embedded in the stone.
"Captain Roger... this appears to be a type of deep-sea shellfish absolutely unique to the South Blue!" Sunbell gasped. "It is said that many years ago, this specific species of shellfish was on the verge of extinction. Nowadays, only small populations can be found in the deepest, darkest trenches of the South Blue. Even their fossils are incredibly rare!"
Hearing Sunbell's confirmation, Roger immediately ordered the crew to search the island for other types of shells, rocks, and plants.
Soon, everyone began discovering impossible things.
The ship's doctor, Crocus, held up a miraculous, glowing plant.
"Roger, this is a plant exclusively from the North Blue! It is considered a legendary, impossibly rare medicinal herb."
Another crewmate hoisted up a large, heavy stone. "Captain, I found a complete fish fossil! It looks like a species from the East Blue!"
Others brought different plants, soils, and marine organism fossils to Roger.
After carefully examining all the collected samples, Roger finally understood the ultimate, geographical secret of the final island.
"Everyone... based on these items, I can confirm that this exact place was once where all four seas naturally converged! Countless different marine species and rare plants from entirely different climates grew and thrived together right here."
Roger's grin faded into a look of profound awe. "If nothing unexpected happened, this entire place was once the bottom of a unified ocean."
Although Rayleigh found it incredibly hard to accept, his brilliant mind started turning. "Roger, this must just be the product of violent tectonic rock movement, right? Like an island rising rapidly due to a massive volcanic eruption?"
But Roger firmly shook his head.
"No, Rayleigh. You might not understand what I am about to say. What I mean is... the entire world was once a vast, unified ocean, and this specific island was the very center of the sea."
Roger pointed toward the horizon. "After some unknown, apocalyptic catastrophe occurred during the Void Century, the sea level dropped significantly, or the land was violently forced upward, causing the final island and the Red Line to emerge from the sea surface. The continuous, artificial division of the oceans eventually made the Red Line an impassable, towering continent."
Actually, Roger had always been interested in the unnatural formation of the Red Line.
He had seen many deep-sea shells embedded in the red rocks before, but at the time, he hadn't connected the dots.
After all, no sane person would dare to believe that the Red Line, a continent standing tens of thousands of meters high, was once completely underwater.
Suddenly, Roger seemed to remember something and gasped sharply.
'That's right!' He thought of the people who claimed to be the noblest gods in this world: the World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons!
He had never fully understood why the Celestial Dragons resided in Pangaea Castle so high up on the Red Line, completely isolated from the world below.
But now, looking at the fossils, he finally comprehended the terrifying truth.
"If a great, world-ending flood were to strike the world again..." Roger whispered, his eyes wide.
"Perhaps only Pangaea Castle on top of the Red Line would survive."
"What are you saying, Captain?" Oden asked.
"The Celestial Dragons' peculiar attire! It has always been a perplexing mystery!" Roger laughed in disbelief.
"According to their own arrogant claims, they wear those special bubble-suits to avoid breathing the same 'impure' air as commoners. But from this perspective... it looks exactly like a deep-sea diving suit!"
Furthermore, Roger now had compelling evidence for why the World Nobles generally refused to eat Devil Fruits themselves.
The Celestial Dragons knew this world had once been submerged by seawater, and they firmly believed—or actively planned—for such a catastrophic deluge to recur.
Therefore, they abstained from eating Devil Fruits!
Because ability users who consumed Devil Fruits became eternally detested by the sea, turning into heavy anchors who could not swim.
If you knew a world-ending flood was coming, you would never choose to eat a Devil Fruit, even if it granted you immense, god-like power!
When Roger shared all his wild conjectures with his crew, everyone was stunned into silence.
They couldn't believe their ears.
Had anyone other than Roger spoken these words, they would have immediately attacked the man, convinced it was a madman's deception.
But seeing Roger's resolute expression and the undeniable, physical evidence surrounding them on the island, they opened their mouths yet found absolutely no words to utter.
"Roger... should we reveal this secret to the world?" Rayleigh asked, his voice thick with concern.
Though he struggled to accept this world-shattering reality, since they had uncovered it, they needed to consider the consequences.
The darkest secret the Celestial Dragons had guarded for eight hundred years was now known to the Roger Pirates.
Their future survival would undoubtedly become extremely difficult.
Roger laughed heartily, waving his hand. "Don't worry, Rayleigh! Such a massive secret cannot remain hidden forever... but I will not choose to reveal it to the world right now. The timing just isn't right."
Having reached the final island, Roger had used his unique ability—the Voice of All Things—to hear the echoes of history left behind.
Through this transmitted message, Roger had learned a tragic, bittersweet truth.
He was not the vessel of destiny.
In other words, Roger had arrived at the final island about twenty years too early.
He was not the fated Joy Boy.
Yet this didn't mean Roger was a mistake in this grand, historical scheme.
On the contrary, without Roger reaching this place and setting the stage, no one in the current world would have ever thought to explore the final island.
Before Roger, all pirates aimed purely to conquer territory, hoard wealth, and become rulers dominating the globe—just like the former dominant force, Rocks D. Xebec.
But after Roger, everyone would set sail seeking the legendary great treasure.
All eyes would be fixed on the title of Pirate King and the ultimate prize!
And somewhere among those millions of future dreamers... the next Joy Boy would set sail.
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