Chapter 300: Converging Fates at Cake Island

“No need to worry—as long as Roger’s with us, there won’t be any major conflicts.”

“Just gather everyone else on the island. It’ll be good for them to feel the pressure that comes from standing before the strongest.”

“Who knows? Maybe we can let them participate too. A little tempering never hurts anybody.”

Krell found Lord Karl’s logic sound. He trailed behind Karl and used the Den Den Mushi.

He notified everyone on the island capable of fighting, telling them to head to the harbor.

Once they received the call, everyone dropped what they were doing and headed toward the harbor—even Charlotte Linlin came rushing over.

Out on the edge of the Sweets Sea, Garp ordered his ship to stop sailing forward.

Bogart stepped up with concern. “Vice Admiral Garp, if Roger and Karl team up, what do we do then?”

Garp could hear the worry in his voice. He took a deep breath, gaze sharp as he stared at the Sweets Sea.

“Stay ready to retreat at any moment.”

“If things get dicey, pull back. Ships—reverse fifty nautical miles!”

Bogart had every reason to be worried. No one knew if Roger and Karl would end up fighting or not.

If a fight broke out, that’d be fine—the best move would be to step back and watch things heat up.

In that case, their job would just be to report back what happened.

But if things stayed peaceful or, worse, looked like a partnership, this move would become deeply dangerous.

After all, this was the New World—not the Navy Headquarters.

If Karl ever decided to join forces with Roger, forget Garp—even with Sengoku leading the charge, no one could guarantee a safe escape from the New World.

You always need to prepare early. If you wait until trouble’s knocking, it’s easy to get tangled up.

When Garp’s ships started pulling back, the fishmen hidden below the waves immediately relayed the news to Krell.

Krell’s eyes sparkled with admiration as he looked at Karl.

He couldn’t believe Lord Karl nailed it—Garp really only wanted to back Roger into the Sweets Sea.

After that, it was simple—they wanted the two sides to go to war. But now they knew the World Government was behind everything, it was up to them how things would play out.

Aboard the Oro Jackson, Rayleigh blew out a lazy smoke ring, eyes fixed on Cake Island drawing closer.

“Roger, don’t tell me you led Garp here on purpose, just to draw us into the Sweets Sea.”

Rayleigh knew Roger all too well.

Roger never showed up anywhere without a reason. In the original story, when he learned that the Red Poneglyph was a Road Poneglyph, he even risked everything to steal the record from Charlotte Linlin.

It just proved Roger would do anything to achieve his goals.

A pirate crew like Karl’s, focused on building their family power, had no obvious conflicts with the Roger Pirates.

They were more like separate streams, never crossing paths.

Garp’s pursuit wouldn’t be enough to make them dash headfirst into a confrontation here.

So there had to be some secret driving Roger—something he wanted to negotiate or cooperate over with Karl.

“Hahaha!”

“Rayleigh, you really do know me best.”

Roger grinned, shooting a glance at Jabba and the others, who were busy playing mahjong over on the deck.

He lightly tapped his sword, Ace, and said out of the blue, “Even if we sailed around the world normally, I’m not sure we’d ever find Laugh Tale.”

Rayleigh blurted out in shock, “Laugh Tale?”

“We haven’t finished circling the world, so how do you know Laugh Tale isn’t up ahead?”

Leave it to Roger to drop a bombshell like that.

Rayleigh was truly stunned—Laugh Tale was Roger’s ultimate goal.

If it hadn’t been for so many twists and turns in the New World, they’d have reached its heart long ago.

Now they were finally about to complete the journey, so why was Roger suddenly sounding so discouraged?

But Roger just shook his head gravely and said something even more surprising.

“Over the years, plenty have sailed around the whole world, but none of them found the legendary island, Laugh Tale.”

“There must be a special method or direction needed to reach that island.”

“Just sailing around the world won’t lead you to the real Laugh Tale.”

Roger made good sense. After all, countless ships had circled the world already.

But even now, nobody had truly discovered the legendary Laugh Tale.

It almost seemed like the island never existed at all.

“Got it. Looks like you want Karl’s help…”

Rayleigh hesitated, but he’d already guessed why Roger was here.

Karl might not be the oldest in the sea, but as the former vice captain of the Rocks Pirates, he had plenty of experience.

He probably knew certain secrets. If they could just ask about the real way to find Laugh Tale, they wouldn’t have to play hide and seek in the New World anymore.

“Bingo. Nailed it.”

Roger snapped his fingers, got up from the deck, and broke into a wide grin.

“Looks like our old friends are coming to greet us.”

Roger spoke quietly, but there was force behind his words—his Conqueror’s Haki rolled out over the ship. Instantly, every crew member grabbed their weapons and trained their eyes on Cake Island.

Karl, Charlotte Linlin, Perospero, Katakuri, Borsalino, Sakazuki, Davis, and Notty were already waiting at the harbor.

Roger’s ship closed in. Just as Karl was about to step forward and say hello, gunfire erupted from a hundred meters to the left.

A barrage of bullets and cannon shells rained down on the Oro Jackson.

Karl knew that kind of attack couldn’t hurt Roger, but the fact someone dared pull this stunt under his nose was deeply irritating.

Perospero instantly sensed his father’s surge of anger.

Without waiting for instructions, he led a squad of Fishmen straight toward the source of the gunfire.

The other Fishmen fanned out, patrolling the coastline to make sure it didn’t happen again.

The attackers were World Government spies, posted only at the island’s edge.

But even so, it gave both sides the perfect excuse for all-out war.

Bullets did nothing to stop the Oro Jackson—there wasn’t even a scratch on her hull.

As the ship neared within five hundred meters of the harbor, Aokiji plunged his hands into the sea and murmured, “Ice Age.”

Just like that, a natural arena emerged on the water.

Originally, Karl had planned to hold a polite conversation with Roger, but thanks to this sudden interruption, he now had to put on a show for the World Government’s spies.

He leapt up, a ten-meter halberd appearing in his right hand, then hurled himself from midair straight toward Roger.

Roger’s mind was lightning fast.

The moment he saw Perospero lead troops toward the spot where the gunfire came from, he realized—the whole thing was a setup. Someone wanted to use them both as pawns.

Roger just grinned without saying a word.

He couldn’t help but wonder, just how powerful was the person playing puppet master?

Were they really not afraid of biting off more than they could chew?

Drawing Ace, Roger stood on the bow and flashed a wide grin. “Divine Departure!”