Chapter 153 The meeting between Rayleigh and Shanks

Shanks didn't notice Rayleigh's confusion. He looked at the wine glass in his hand, recalling his encounter with Sig, and couldn't help but smile.

"Since that senior knew Captain Roger, he might also know Mr. Crocus at Twin Capes."

"Perhaps he's catching up with Mr. Crocus right now?"

As he spoke, a smile also appeared on Shanks's face.

"Crocus?"

Rayleigh sighed softly, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Crocus and I are both old now. I'd really like to see him again."

These words made Shanks fall silent for a moment.

For someone like Rayleigh, simply living in seclusion on Sabaody Archipelago was one thing.

But if he were to wander the world, secretly meeting with remnants of the Roger Pirates, the consequences would be severe if the World Government found out.

After a moment of reflection, Rayleigh finally voiced his confusion.

"Shanks, who exactly is this person you're talking about?"

"It's Mr. Sig."

Shanks spoke Sig's name, but noticed that Rayleigh's expression seemed a bit off.

"Rayleigh? Don't you know Mr. Sig?"

Hearing this, Rayleigh gave him a deep look.

"Of course I know him."

Rayleigh's expression remained strange.

"So Rayleigh does know Mr. Sig..."

Before Shanks could finish, Rayleigh shook his head in denial:

"No... I only learned about this person from the newspaper yesterday. I don't really know him."

He casually pulled out a newspaper from the magazine rack next to the bar and spread it out on the counter.

The front-page photo was of Sig standing on the execution platform in Loguetown.

"This guy named Sig, shouting 'Another Piece' from the execution platform..."

"Not just me, but all our companions would probably remember this name."

Rayleigh chuckled, his laughter tinged with obvious surprise.

"Is this guy really Roger's friend? I've never seen him before."

Rayleigh, known as the "Right Hand of the Pirate King," was Roger's first companion and the most senior member of the crew.

Yet even Rayleigh had never heard of Roger having such a friend.

"Shanks, why do you think Sig knew Roger?"

Shanks's face also showed surprise. Rayleigh's reaction was different from what he had expected.

He briefly recounted his encounter with Sig in Windmill Village.

"He knows a lot..."

Rayleigh glanced at the photo of Sig in the newspaper and shook his head:

"But I've truly never seen this face before. Roger wasn't the type to casually reveal so many secrets to others."

To think there was someone who had quietly gathered so much hidden information about the Roger Pirates.

And he, the vice-captain of the Pirate King and Roger's first companion, had no memory of this person at all!

Rayleigh frowned, realizing that things weren't as simple as they seemed.

"Do you think he could be... CP0?"

"I've heard that the World Government has a very powerful spy organization. One of our great enemies, World Destroyer Waldo(Byrnndi World), was captured because of a World Government spy."

As soon as he finished this speculation, Rayleigh shook his head and dismissed it himself. If the Roger Pirates had truly been infiltrated by World Government spies, they wouldn't have disbanded peacefully.

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became, unable to come up with a reasonable explanation.

"Aside from this, did Sig say anything else important?" Rayleigh pressed.

"Important information..."

Shanks tilted his head back and downed a large glass of wine, his cheeks gradually turning red. He also recalled his drunken conversation with Sig and, with a hint of intoxication, said:

"He also said that he had already defeated fifty-six Emperors like me."

"If he hadn't intervened, the seas wouldn't be ruled by the current Four Emperors, but by the Sixty Emperors!"

Rayleigh, who had just raised his glass to his lips, paused at these words and looked at Shanks with a strange glint in his eyes.

"He really said that?"

"Absolutely. He even listed the names of these great pirates who had the potential to become Emperors, like 'Lone Red'(Douglas bullet) and 'Giant Battleship Sanjuan Wolf'..."

Rayleigh and Shanks stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

However, the strange glint in Rayleigh's eyes grew even brighter.

"What an interesting guy."

"He deliberately picked a fight with you in the bar, and only after seeing you didn't get angry did he start reminiscing... And then he said such an interesting thing after drinking..."

As he spoke, Rayleigh glanced at the newspaper spread out on the bar.

Picking a fight with an Emperor, claiming to have defeated fifty-six Emperors in front of him, later attacking a Celestial Dragon, and shouting 'Another Piece' from Roger's execution platform...

This man named Sig had indeed done many outrageous things.

Looking at one or two of these actions in isolation, they might seem like the reckless acts of a fool.

But... to have done so many things, to have drawn the attention of the World Government, and to still be alive and well—that was truly intriguing.

Rayleigh said with a smile:

"Just now, I thought he might be a World Government spy."

"But now, I'm starting to believe it."

"Such an interesting guy would naturally get along with Roger."

Rayleigh suddenly felt a strong interest in Sig.

A possible old acquaintance of Roger's whom he had no memory of... How intriguing.

"Sig entered the Grand Line with such fanfare. He definitely won't stop there and will surely head to the New World."

"If I continue waiting here on Sabaody Archipelago, I might just run into him."

With this thought in mind, Rayleigh clinked glasses with Shanks and continued their casual conversation.

......

Back at Twin Capes, the entrance to the Grand Line.

Crocus was helping Sig deal with the bloodstains, but the amount of blood was truly shocking, making it difficult to handle quickly.

This scene was, of course, witnessed by Sig's crew.

At the time, they almost thought that Sig and the still-spry Crocus had done something unspeakable in the cabin, causing severe bleeding... Of course, that wasn't the case.

In any case, after dealing with the bloodstains and the handover of the lighthouse keeper's duties, a pirate ship and an island-sized whale several kilometers long set sail.

"By the way, Sig, which route did you choose? Does it pass through the Florian Triangle?"

Crocus, now standing on the deck of Sig's pirate ship, asked the man beside him.

The first half of the Grand Line had seven routes to choose from, and once chosen, they couldn't be changed. They had to follow the route until they reached Sabaody Archipelago.

But there were exceptions.

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