The meeting lasted late into the night, with various tactical details being aggressively debated and supplemented by the different officers.
Raleigh did not voice his own opinions.
Currently, the Navy's frantic preparations were all aimed at eliminating the Roger Pirates before they could establish a massive, world-conquering armada.
But only Raleigh knew the hilarious tragic truth: the Roger Pirates were on the verge of disbanding.
There was no grand Roger Fleet.
There would be no world war against the Pirate King's armada—only the scattered, retired crew members fading into myth.
That terrifying Pirate King would soon head to the peaceful South Blue to find a woman, get married, and have a child.
But Raleigh couldn't possibly reveal this.
First, he couldn't explain how he knew about the Roger Pirates' impending dissolution without exposing his foreknowledge.
Second, the Great Age of Pirates that Roger was about to unleash was incredibly advantageous for Raleigh's own long-term plans to seize control of the world.
The more chaotic the seas became, the easier it was for Raleigh to quietly replace the World Government's infrastructure with his own loyalists.
Thus, throughout the entire tense discussion, Raleigh expertly slacked off.
After it ended, he simply accepted his patrol mission and left Marineford.
...
In the uncharted, treacherous waters of the New World, a ship built from deep crimson Adam Wood lay quietly anchored by the shore of a deserted island.
Deep within the island's jungle, gathered around a massive, roaring bonfire, were all the legendary members of the Roger Pirates.
The bonfire flickered incessantly, casting long, shifting shadows on everyone's faces.
In truth, despite their monumental achievement, everyone was deeply unhappy.
After leaving Laugh Tale, they had come to this nearby island to rest and process the truth of the world. But Gol D. Roger had dropped a sudden bombshell that left them all utterly stunned.
He intended to disband the Roger Pirates. Immediately.
No one could understand it.
But out of trust and love for their captain, they refrained from arguing and instead waited in heavy silence to hear what he had to say.
After Roger spoke for some time, explaining his failing health and the reality of the timeline, they understood.
Though emotionally they couldn't accept it, rationally they knew his decision was not wrong.
Roger stood up, raising a large bottle of rum high above his head.
"Guys! We have weathered the fiercest storms of this sea together! We have defeated countless enemies, toppled legends, and laughed in the face of death! But our ultimate goal has always been one thing: to traverse the entire world!"
Roger smiled, though his eyes were lined with exhaustion. "Now that we have completed our journey... it is time to part ways."
"At Laugh Tale, I uncovered the truth. Among the millions of dreamers who will set sail after us... another Joy Boy will emerge. He will be the one to lead his crew to save this decaying world. We did nothing wrong—we simply arrived twenty years too early!"
Rayleigh was deeply moved, staring into the fire.
He never imagined they would be the first crew in eight hundred years to complete a voyage around the Grand Line.
Yet their grand goal and the world's reality had diverged greatly, and they had received a rather unsettling prophecy.
"Roger..." Rayleigh spoke softly. "Who do you think will be the one to reach Laugh Tale after us?"
Roger drew the Supreme Grade sword at his waist and laughed heartily.
"I don't know! But I hope it will be my son!"
The somber mood instantly broke as the crew erupted in loud teasing.
"Captain, where the hell is your wife?! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"You don't even have a girlfriend, Boss!"
Roger wasn't angered; instead, he replied with total, earnest confidence. "My son will undoubtedly make a name for himself in this world."
Then, Roger raised his famous sword, Ace, pointing the blade toward the starry sky.
He murmured softly, "I will name him Ace... like an unbreakable blade."
As everyone laughed and cheered at Roger's seemingly unreliable, drunken words, the banquet truly kicked into high gear.
They had already held a massive celebration feast at Laugh Tale, but now, on this quiet island, they drank their farewell drinks with even greater fervor.
The bonfire blazed fiercely for hours before finally dwindling to mere embers.
The Roger Pirates drank from deep night until the first light of dawn.
Many of the crew had already fallen asleep drunk in the dirt. Roger was the only one still awake, sitting quietly by the embers.
The more Roger drank, the brighter his eyes became, as if he had finally glimpsed the incredible future he was about to create.
...
Half a month later, the Roger Pirates, who had originally caused a worldwide sensation, once again made global headlines.
However, this time the news was completely different from what everyone—especially the World Government—had expected.
The world had assumed that the next time they heard about the Roger Pirates, it would be the terrifying announcement of the establishment of Roger's Grand Fleet.
Yet, to everyone's astonishment, Gol D. Roger announced the immediate, total dissolution of his pirate crew at the peak of their global reputation and strength.
This shocking turn of events not only bewildered the millions of new pirates who had set sail seeking to follow in his footsteps, but it also left the Navy utterly confounded.
Fleet Admiral Kong and Sengoku had devised a massive series of war tactics targeting Roger's expected armada, only to be left holding useless battle plans.
They never could have imagined why a man would resolutely abandon his empire and his career at the absolute pinnacle of his power.
The Navy had treated Roger as a mortal enemy and activated their highest-level war orders, only to find that before they could even fire a single cannon, the Pirate King had simply vanished.
This unprecedented anticlimax left many in the Navy at a complete loss.
Raleigh, of course, had long anticipated this exact situation.
He did not waste his time actively seeking out the remnants of the Roger Pirates.
Instead, while supposedly "patrolling" the Grand Line, he merely took the opportunity to clear out some pirate crews and lay the groundwork for his own secret operations.
Standing comfortably on the deck of his warship, Raleigh thoroughly enjoyed these peaceful days. But his calculating eyes remained fixed firmly on the South Blue.
He remembered the timeline clearly: after the Roger Pirates disbanded, Roger would travel to the peaceful South Blue and fall in love with a woman who was also a hidden member of the Clan of D.
Once Portgas D. Rouge was confirmed to be pregnant, Roger's failing body would no longer be able to hold on.
Before his inevitable death from the incurable disease, the Pirate King would voluntarily turn himself in to the Navy.
In the deepest, darkest cell of Impel Down, he would appeal emotionally to his old bitter rival, Garp, and successfully persuade the Marine Hero to help raise his unborn son.
Roger's final goals were simple.
First, by turning himself in and allowing a public execution, he would use his dying breath to plunge the entire world into an era of frenzied pursuit of his treasure—ensuring the next Joy Boy would eventually set sail.
Second, since his body was no longer capable of protecting Rouge and his unborn child from the World Government's inevitable, bloody purge, he had to find a suitable candidate to hide his son.
Though Silvers Rayleigh and the others were incredibly powerful, they were still wanted criminals, they were no match for the endless resources of the World Government.
If Roger truly wanted to hide his son from the world, only someone respected and untouchable within the Navy could accomplish it.
Monkey D. Garp.
He was the one man the Pirate King could trust to protect the future.