In the blink of an eye, another half year passed. By now, Baichuan had been in this world for over a year, and he had also spent more than a year aboard the Roger Pirates.
During those past six months, they first arrived at Fish-Man Island deep beneath the sea, where they met Neptune, the newly crowned king of the island.
They received an enthusiastic welcome on Fish-Man Island, which made it obvious that Roger and Neptune seemed to have a pretty good relationship.
To be honest, on the way to Fish-Man Island, Baichuan had been rather nervous. After all, they were traveling through the deep sea, and human beings naturally carried an instinctive fear of the deep ocean. Baichuan was no exception. He kept worrying about whether the coating around the ship was really sturdy enough.
For that, Shanks and Buggy laughed at him quite a bit. One could say they had finally managed to find one of Baichuan's weaknesses.
After spending some time catching up on Fish-Man Island, they coated the ship again and left, arriving at the end point of the first half of the Grand Line, the place known as Paradise, the Sabaody Archipelago.
As soon as they reached Sabaody, Rayleigh disappeared.
The people who knew his secret all knew exactly what he had gone off to do. The ones who did not know just assumed Mr. Rayleigh's gambling itch had flared up again.
While on Sabaody, Baichuan naturally encountered Celestial Dragons, but no trouble broke out. Whenever they saw one, they simply avoided them. After all, this time they had returned for reasons of their own, not to stir up trouble.
Although the Marines had locked onto them the moment they surfaced from beneath the sea, the Navy did not make any further moves. The Roger Pirates merely remained cautious.
Other pirate crews, however, were far less calm.
A great hegemon of the New World had suddenly arrived in Paradise, and the number of Marines on Sabaody was steadily increasing. Some unlucky pirate crews were caught in the chaos and sent straight to the great prison beneath the sea.
They did not stay long on Sabaody before leaving again. After all, it was home to some of the most important nobles in the world, and it was also extremely close to Marine Headquarters.
The Marines would never sit by and do nothing while such a dangerous group remained in such a dangerous place.
When they left, Rayleigh still looked a little reluctant, as if he had not quite had enough.
Any grown man understood what he had gone off to do.
It was completely different from how Rayleigh would be twenty years later.
Twenty years later, Rayleigh could practically be called a man who never went home. If he was not in a casino, then he was in a bar. If not there, then in an auction house. And on very rare occasions, he might be found at a coating shop.
Honestly, Baichuan could not imagine how the current Rayleigh, so imposing and full of dominance, would end up coating ships for other people twenty years later. Could there be some hidden secret behind it? Maybe he was stealing money while coating ships for other pirate crews? After all, Rayleigh twenty years later was definitely poor.
At home, Rayleigh was probably like a modern man who did not handle household finances. Otherwise, with Shakky being so rich, why would Rayleigh still need to trick, cheat, and hustle people for money? That bar of Shakky's definitely made a lot of profit, considering how ruthlessly she fleeced people.
After leaving Sabaody, three Marine warships tailed them, or rather, monitored them.
Without question, all three were sunk by the Roger Pirates.
They might not have come looking for trouble, but they certainly had no intention of living under someone else's surveillance.
Strangely enough, even though Baichuan had not made a move at all, his bounty rose again, jumping straight to 150 million Berries.
Anyone who did not know better would have thought Baichuan had committed some earth-shaking crime.
Baichuan himself was baffled by the sudden increase. Could it be that someone had done something outrageous while using his identity?
Still, this naturally drew even more envy from the other crew members. Some were jealous, though the hatred from certain people had already faded, because they could no longer beat Baichuan anyway.
After sailing for a few more months, the Roger Pirates arrived at Jaya Island.
And Baichuan had already decided that this was where he would part ways with the Roger Pirates.
He had already learned everything he needed to learn.
He might not be the strongest in the world yet, but if Baichuan wanted to run, then aside from Kizaru and Golden Lion, he was confident he could escape from just about anyone.
And Baichuan did not believe his luck would be so bad that he would just happen to run into those two.
Besides, even if he did meet them, that did not mean he would definitely have to run.
By now, Baichuan no longer feared them.
No matter who he faced, he could at least exchange a few blows.
"So, you're really leaving?" Roger asked him in a very serious tone.
"Yes. I've already decided that I want to go out and make my own way."
Baichuan's answer was just as firm.
"Alright. But remember this. You came out of the Roger Pirates. Don't go bringing shame to my crew."
"Don't worry, Captain. I definitely won't disgrace you."
"Good. And remember this too. The Roger Pirates will always be your strongest backing."
"I'll remember."
After saying that to Baichuan, Roger left.
There were still others who needed time to say their goodbyes too.
"Aren't you going to say goodbye to him?" Roger asked as he walked over to Rayleigh.
"No need. It's not like we'll never see each other again. There'll be chances in the future."
"That's true. Though whether I'll still be around to see him again is another matter."
Roger laughed loudly, as if trying to blow away the gloom that had settled in his heart.
"Baichuan, I really can't bear to see you go!"
The moment the captain left, Buggy rushed right up, wailing as he threw himself onto Baichuan.
Among the Roger Pirates, aside from Shanks, Baichuan could be considered Buggy's best friend.
"Don't worry. As long as you stop running around making trouble everywhere, we'll definitely meet again someday."
This sea looked vast, but in truth, it was also very small.
You might spend your whole life unable to find the person you want to meet, yet that very person might already be standing right in front of you.
Baichuan still trusted Buggy quite a bit.
Before meeting Luffy, Buggy had been stirring up trouble in the East Blue all that time and could be considered one of its little tyrants.
Even after reaching the Grand Line, he still became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
For Buggy, the greatest hardship of his life was probably that time he spent in the underwater prison.
But in the end, the outcome had been good.
He still escaped alongside Luffy.
"Baichuan, we'll definitely meet again someday, right?" Shanks asked at that moment.
"Of course. As long as you don't go running wild everywhere."
Baichuan gave Shanks the same answer he had given Buggy.
He was actually very worried about Shanks, because Shanks's current personality was almost exactly like Luffy's.
He was curious about everything.
Trying to stop him from wandering all over the place was practically impossible, but Baichuan still gave him the reminder anyway.
"Don't worry."
Shanks gave Baichuan a smile that seemed meant to reassure him.
But there was no way Baichuan could really relax.
In the future, Shanks would roam so recklessly he would even lose an arm.
"Then I'll be going now."
Baichuan waved at the two of them, then turned and left without looking back.
"Goodbye, Baichuan!"
Looking at his back, Shanks and Buggy shouted together.
Baichuan simply raised a hand and waved behind him without turning around.
"Good luck, Roger Pirates."
Silently, Baichuan offered them his blessing in his heart.
"Farewell, Shanks, Buggy, Rayleigh. I'll look forward to the day we meet again."
/-\
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