Chapter 306: Pirates’ Farewell and Unraveling Secrets

Hearing Roger’s and Karl’s voices ring out, both sides still locked in battle immediately, and wordlessly, lowered their weapons.

After all, when a captain gives the order, nobody’s foolish enough to keep fighting. With weapons put away, everyone started saying their farewells.

That’s just how things run in the One Piece World. One moment you’re locked in a life-or-death fight, the next you’re sharing drinks like nothing ever happened. You just get used to it.

“Young ones, let’s wrap up this fight here,”

“Next time we meet, don’t run my old bones quite so ragged,”

Rayleigh sheathed his weapon, tucked his right hand in his pocket, and headed up to the Oro Jackson.

Borsalino scratched his ear. “Old-timers like you? I never want to run into one again.”

Even though Borsalino had been stepping up his physical training under Karl’s eye, compared to Aokiji and Sakazuki he still relied a bit too much on his Light-Light Fruit.

Aokiji watched Rayleigh walking off into the distance and muttered, “Alalah, I’d only just showed up and the fight’s already over?”

He glanced up at the towering tree before him and scratched his head.

“If I’d known it would end like this, I wouldn’t have worn myself out for nothing and still missed out on a real fight.”

Of the three, only Sakazuki looked serious—arms crossed and standing in rigid silence.

Jabba hooked his axes behind his waist and waved at Perospero and Katakuri. “You youngsters have real talent. Catch you next time!”

Perospero, brandishing his massive lollipop, growled back.

“Do we look that young to you?”

As the eldest son of the Rocks Family, Perospero had always wanted to shed the label of careless youth so he could take on more responsibility for his family and pioneer new horizons.

Katakuri stood beside him, holding his enormous trident, and said softly, “Didn’t think you’d care about something like that, big bro.”

“In the eyes of the strong, age doesn’t matter.”

“He was poking fun at you, didn’t you catch that?”

“But still, the Roger Pirates are no joke—their strength is something else.”

Daifuku and the men standing with him—Dian Wei and Xu Chu—nodded in agreement.

The Roger Pirates had managed to keep up a fight against them all day without showing much fatigue.

They’d even worn out several of their own crew, yet not a single member of the Roger Pirates had fallen. It really made the difference in strength crystal clear.

With the battle clearly over, the rest of the crew members started heading back to the Oro Jackson anchored on the frozen sea.

Once Roger and his people had all returned to the ship, Karl finally turned to walk deeper into the island, waving a hand in farewell.

His quiet words twined in the air like a thin string, winding their way to Roger’s ear.

“Go northwest. Someone will guide you out of the Sweets Sea.”

“Don’t forget what I said.”

“Looking forward to our next meeting.”

Hearing Karl’s message, Roger steered Jabba to sail northwest, but his gaze stayed locked on Cake Island.

Karl had barely set foot on the harbor’s wooden planks when Krell suddenly popped up out of nowhere.

He bowed low and apologized deeply to Karl.

“I’m really sorry, Lord Karl. This was my failure.”

“The explosion at the harbor was my oversight. I checked things every day, but I never imagined agents from the World Government would sneak in.”

“But please rest assured, I’ll get to the bottom of this and search the whole island. I won’t let something like this happen again.”

As he spoke, Krell silently vowed to himself he’d take this seriously from now on.

A security breach by the World Government this deep? Absolutely unacceptable. It won’t happen again.

“It’s alright, Krell, stop blaming yourself.”

“The World Government’s agents are like jackals drawn to the stench of rot.”

“As long as people exist, no wall is thick enough—they’ll always find a crack somewhere.”

“As long as the inside of the island stays safe, let them cause all the chaos they want outside.”

Karl laughed quietly in that moment.

He knew the World Government’s ways all too well.

For matters they deem important, they’ll stop at nothing—no method’s too low, no consequence too high, no price too steep.

Given that all they did was blow up the harbor, without taking out any of the upper ranks, even Karl found it surprising.

He let the Halberd in his right hand fade away, sending it into the System’s storage. Taking the wide pirate cloak, Karl threw it over his shoulders and strode toward the island interior.

“Always playing defense just isn’t the pirate way.”

“Let’s go inside and talk. Looks like we’ll have to give the World Government something to keep them busy.”

…

Half an hour later, in the northwest of the Sweets Sea, a ship sailed steadily out from the treacherous waters.

It was the Oro Jackson itself. Thanks to the Fishmen’s guidance and the ocean currents beneath,

they managed to escape the Sweets Sea in only a short while. Without that help, the ship would’ve sunk for sure—there’s a reason it’s called the Devil’s Sea.

Out on the water, several Fishmen watched the Roger Pirates leave before diving beneath the waves to report back.

Rayleigh boarded the ship and headed straight to the deck, where he quickly jotted down notes on this event.

Afterwards, he found Roger lost in thought atop the deck and sat beside him without a second thought.

Lighting a cigarette, Rayleigh asked, “Roger, what’s this good news you and Karl shared?”

“You don’t usually act like this.”

He pretended to be casual, glancing Roger over, but it was a ploy to break the tension.

They all knew Roger better than anyone. For him to be this deep in thought, even after escaping, whatever he’d discussed with Karl had to be significant.

The question was, just how much would that information affect the crew’s future?

Hearing Rayleigh, Roger looked up at him and at the crew lurking behind, eager to listen in.

Without a shred of hesitation, Roger snatched Rayleigh’s cigarette. “What else could it be? It’s about Laugh Tale.”

Seeing his cigarette stolen, Rayleigh didn’t even blink—he just lit another one without a fuss.

“What?! Captain Roger, you’ve got news on Laugh Tale?”

“Everyone says that island’s impossible to find. Is there really some special trick to it?”

“Yeah, yeah, Captain Roger! Got any clues you can share with us?”

The crew burst out with excitement, crowding around Roger until the deck felt packed tight.

Every crew member was a seasoned sailor—there’s no way they didn’t know about Laugh Tale.

Every year, would-be explorers tried to circle the world, but so far nobody had ever pulled it off.

That had people wondering—did the final island even exist at all?

Roger looked at the eager faces in front of him, blew out a ring of smoke, and said, “The secret’s in the Poneglyphs. Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Rayleigh pushed his glasses up and mused, “So, we have to travel through all Four Seas again?”

“Won’t that take forever?”

“And what if Karl’s intel is wrong?”