With that, he split several feet and walked toward the inner chambers of the Golden City.
Shanks was confused, but he just smiled and shook his head. He grabbed his half-empty bottle and followed.
They arrived at a relatively quiet side hall. Buggy stopped at the door and let out that annoying laugh again. Then he pushed the door open.
"Ta-da! Redhead idiot! Look! This is my surprise for you!"
Inside, a figure stood with his back to them, looking out the window at the calming sea. That familiar silhouette. And that very carefree presence.
The drunkenness on Shanks' face instantly disappeared. His pupils contracted. Almost instinctively, his right hand grabbed the hilt of Gryphon. A sharp wave of Conqueror's Haki escaped, making the curtains flutter.
This back? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
He had witnessed it with his own eyes. In that distant Loguetown. This had to be some cruel joke. Had Buggy found some ability user to impersonate? Or...
Just as his Conqueror's Haki was about to explode, just as Gryphon was about to leave its scabbard—
A gentle voice came from the other side of the room.
"Shanks? What's wrong? Such intense presence..."
With the voice, Rouge walked out of the inner room carrying a plate of freshly cut, bright green bitter melon. She looked at Shanks with some confusion.
She looked at Shanks, then at Roger. She seemed to understand. Her smile grew even gentler.
That familiar voice was like cool water, instantly extinguishing Shanks' almost失控霸气 and killing intent.
Shanks was, at least for now, the only one with Observation Killer.
No. At this moment, there was no need for future sight or perception disruption. That plate of bitter melon was so green it was blinding. That was definitely the reason.
Rouge's voice. Rouge's presence. The look in Rouge's eyes when she looked at them, mixing gentleness and helplessness.
The bitter melon was calling out to them.
Shanks' hand froze on Gryphon's hilt. He blinked in disbelief. He looked at Rouge holding the bitter melon. Then he turned to look at the figure who had turned around at the sound of Rouge's voice.
That face, with its bright smile... It was the man he thought he had lost forever, the man who appeared only in his memories and nightmares.
"Captain...?" Shanks' voice shook with disbelief.
Roger turned around. He looked at the almost petrified Shanks. A brilliant smile spread across his face. There was a hint of mischief in it.
"Oh, Shanks! Long time no see! You've grown taller! You look just like you did back on the ship! Hahahaha!"
Buggy watched Shanks' completely dumbfounded expression. He finally couldn't hold it in anymore. He doubled over laughing.
"Hehehehe! See that, Redhead! Stunned, aren't you?! I win! Hahahaha!"
Rouge watched this scene, smiling helplessly. She set the plate of bitter melon on the table and said softly to the petrified Shanks,
"Don't just stand there, Shanks. Come sit down. Try some freshly cut bitter melon. It's very fresh."
Shanks: "..."
He felt like he might need to drink ten more barrels of sake to understand what was happening.
The captain looked... younger? Should he also start taking care of his skin?
Just as Shanks' brain was processing "the dead captain is alive and looks twenty years younger" and "Aunt Rouge is offering me bitter melon, should I eat it or not," the side hall door opened again.
Rhett appeared first, with his usual lazy, slightly annoying smile. But behind him were several others.
Ganryu, Marx, and the others. Rhett hadn't just brought Buggy and Shanks. He had gathered the most core of the "old timers" who could make it. Except for a few who were still resting. He was calling out Rayleigh and Jabba specifically.
The room suddenly had several more people. But all eyes were on the man standing by the window, smiling like a child who had pulled off a successful prank — Gol D. Roger.
Dead silence for about three seconds.
Then Marx's voice broke the silence, choked with tears. "Captain... is it really you?!"
"Oh, everyone's here. Having a meeting without me?" Rhett said with a grin. His gaze swept over the petrified Shanks and the smug Buggy. Finally, it landed on Roger and Rouge in the center.
But before anyone could answer, Rhett's expression turned "horrified." He appeared next to Rouge in an instant.
"Rouge! Danger!" He shouted in a low voice. The blood mist around him surged. It quickly formed a delicate blood-red umbrella over Rouge's head, shielding her completely.
Almost the moment the umbrella was in place, decades of emotions couldn't be controlled. Huge tears, a mix of joy, sorrow, and longing, burst from their eyes.
Like fountains! Tears flew everywhere!
Ganryu and the others, especially, cried the hardest and the furthest. If Rhett's little blood umbrella hadn't been there, Rouge and her plate of bitter melon would have been caught in the sudden downpour.
Rouge looked at the little blood umbrella above her. Then she looked at the crying, weeping men in front of her. She was stunned for a moment. Then she shook her head and laughed. Her eyes were gentle, if a little helpless.
"You..."
Rhett, meanwhile, was seriously maintaining his little umbrella. He pointed at the crying group. "Watch it! Watch it! Public health! Emotional control! Your tears are getting everywhere!"
But his warning was useless.
The next moment, centered on Roger, a group of men in their fifties and sixties, who had ruled the seas, along with the moved Shanks and Buggy, who was crying on Shanks' shoulder, all hugged each other.
"Captain! I knew you couldn't die so easily!" one of them sobbed.
"Roger! You bastard! You fooled us all!" another shouted through tears.
"Bastard! Welcome back! Welcome back!"
"WAAAHHH—"