SPOP Chapter 110 The Block Bird

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Jason, caught up in his excitement, left Rojen feeling helpless. Combined with his earlier remark, it completely killed Rojen's desire to continue the conversation.

"What do you mean I have his bloodline? I am Roger's younger brother, not his son!"

"Oh, right! But there's still that old man's blood running through you!" 

Rojen silently grumbled in his mind, choosing to ignore Jason's enthusiastic rambling. 

"Alright, let's go, Black Phoenix."

Turning his attention to the giant bird beneath them, Rojen shouted toward it, where everyone had already climbed onto its back, tightly gripping its dark wings.

"Caw!"

With a powerful thrust of its claws, two massive craters formed in the ground beneath, the hard surface unable to withstand Black Phoenix's immense strength. Folding its ice-blade-like wings, it flapped them suddenly.

"Buzz!"

The air around them quivered, and a violent wind whipped through the trees, scattering leaves as it rushed out. In the next instant, Black Phoenix soared into the air, lifting them over a hundred meters in a single bound.

"Ahhhhh! This wind is 'too' strong!!" Jason shouted, his voice barely audible against the roar of the wind.

"Jason, protect Rouge!" Rojen shouted as he pulled the struggling Lordling, who was barely holding on to the wings, into his arms.

He then shouted to Black Phoenix, "Slow down, Black Phoenix!"

Hearing Rojen's command, Black Phoenix eased up on its flapping, and its speed dropped dramatically. The turbulent winds calmed, and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Rojen, look down! There's someone down there," Rouge suddenly pointed urgently at the ground beneath them.

Rojen and Jason exchanged a quick look before scanning below.

Sure enough, they saw a man in a black suit and top hat standing on a treetop fifty meters away, staring up at them in apparent disbelief, not expecting them to leave so suddenly.

"He's definitely tracking us." Rojen nodded in acknowledgment. 

A smile crept onto his face. "The Marines are persistent; looks like they've got quite an attachment to me."

Jason chuckled, clearly amused. With Black Phoenix by their side, it would take a lot to catch up to them.

But they didn't notice Lordling's face, which, feline in nature, had tightened with tension and anxiety. It seemed as if he recognized the man below.

As Black Phoenix glided effortlessly through the air, they quickly reached the coast where 'The Logan' had docked.

After jumping off Black Phoenix, the group swiftly gathered their belongings from 'The Logan' and stored them in the ship's warehouse. Then, Jason started the ship, and it soon set sail.

"Set sail. Our target is clear."

Rojen's voice was deep, his gaze solemn as he exhaled slowly. 

"The Grand Line."

The moment those words left his mouth, the crew squinted and then broke into hearty laughter.

"Haha! Captain, I've been sailing for 5 or 6 years and never set foot on the Grand Line!" Jason's excitement was palpable.

"Where Roger sailed, and now, I too will have a chance to see it!" Rouge added with a smile.

"I actually don't agree with heading to the Grand Line right now," Rojen said, his expression serious.

This was the Golden Age of Pirates, when chaos reigned, pirates running wild, swarming like locusts, while the Marines crushed them mercilessly. The dangers they faced were far greater than anything before.

Both the pirates and Marines were in a constant state of turmoil, and the risk of survival had reached its peak.

But with Rouge's child on the way, every delay carried consequences Rojen wasn't willing to risk. He wouldn't let the tragic events from the original timeline repeat themselves.

The fate of others wasn't his concern, but when it came to Rouge, there was no choice but to act quickly.

For the time being, the safest and quickest path was the Grand Line.

Rouge cannot die. Ace cannot die!

"Old man, the mission you left for me is no easy feat." Rojen shook his head, the weight of his thoughts heavy on him. 

In an era before the Yonko had been established, pirates and Marines were in constant conflict, and survival was tougher than ever. 

Without a large crew to rely on, his strength alone wasn't enough to make him truly invincible. His rapid growth had come from necessity, not choice.

'The Logan' sailed steadily, with Black Phoenix soaring gracefully behind them.

Just as they left the island, the man in the black suit coldly approached the shoreline. 

Raising an eyebrow, he glanced at the rudimentary port, then paused, deep in thought.

After a few moments, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out small blocks. He placed them on the ground and began assembling them with meticulous care.

Soon, the blocks took the shape of a small bird.

Though ugly and missing features like a nose or ears, barely resembling a bird, the model looked primitive at best.

But when the man stroked it with his right hand, something surprising happened: the bird's wings spread, and it took to the sky.

"Ka ka!"

The sound of wood rubbing against wood echoed as the block bird emitted a chirp, its small body fluttering in the air.

The man in the black suit remained impassive, his gaze fixed on the block bird as it flew upward without a single word.

Strangely, despite its fragile appearance, likely to shatter on impact, the block bird's speed, once it reached a high altitude, surpassed that of real birds by several times. It shot through the air like an arrow, swift and precise.

In the blink of an eye, the block bird was already approaching Rojen and his group.

The moment it got within sight of them, the man in the black suit flickered and vanished.

"The target has been followed. Be on high alert for an attack at any moment!"

He whispered into the collar of his Den Den Mushi, his figure disappearing from view.

Three minutes later, a small boat left the island's shore, slowly making its way toward the sea.

On 'The Logan', Rojen sat cross-legged on the deck, eyes closed in deep contemplation. He focused on his internal merit, meditating in silence.

The emptiness in his stomach was making him feel a sense of insecurity. Out here on the vast sea, encountering a pirate to stand in judgment of and punish them was no easy feat.

Right now, the only way to strengthen himself was through the internal merit system he had been quietly developing in his mind.

By combining the Northern Nether Divine Merit, the Nine Yin True Classic, and various other forms of internal merit, whether powerful or not, Rojen had discovered countless methods to enhance his abilities deep within his body. In essence, he was working to allow his vigor to flow through his body's hidden apertures, opening these points and illuminating his star holes.

As Rojen carefully pondered the intricacies of this process, time passed slowly, and his thoughts became clearer and more focused.

(End of this Chapter)