Chapter 108: Volume 2 – Chapter 10: Got a Problem with That? Daren

Arrest... Gol D. Roger!?

As soon as Fleet Admiral Kong's words came through the military Den Den Mushi, the Marines present were all visibly shocked, their expressions changing dramatically.

Gol D. Roger.

A man who stood at the very pinnacle of the seas. Alongside Whitebeard and Shiki the Golden Lion, he was hailed as one of the "Three Legendary Pirates."

Unlike Shiki and Whitebeard, Roger didn't command a massive pirate fleet. His crew was small—but every single one of them was a powerhouse known across the seas. The Roger Pirates were the most well-balanced, ironclad crew among the three legendary crews.

"You all heard that, right?"

Dragon ended the call, the easy smile gone from his face. In its place was a deep, heavy seriousness.

"Where's the nearest island?" he asked the navigator.

The navigator saluted.

"Reporting, Rear Admiral Dragon. About half an hour northeast, there's a small resupply island along the route."

Dragon nodded.

"Set course immediately. This is a direct order from Headquarters. You two don't have any objections, right?"

He looked toward Gion and Tokikake.

When Dragon got serious, the air around him changed. There was no trace of the goofy man from earlier—only undeniable authority.

Gion and Tokikake exchanged glances and shook their heads in silence.

Never mind that it was a direct order from Fleet Admiral Kong—putting that aside, Gol D. Roger was not someone they could handle right now.

They both knew that all too well.

Rushing in blindly would be nothing short of suicide.

In fact, within the Marines, there was an unspoken rule regarding pirates of Roger, Shiki, and Whitebeard's level:

Only Admirals or equivalent-level forces were authorized to engage Great Pirates.

For anyone below that level, if they happened to encounter someone like Roger at sea without orders, the accepted response was to avoid engagement and report it immediately—there would be no punishment.

This was to avoid unnecessary casualties.

"What about you, Daren?"

Dragon turned to the Commodore, eyes sharp.

"You might've fought the 'World Destroyer' Byrnndi World and survived, but you should know—his death in the North Blue had a lot to do with luck."

"This time is different. The World Pirates were carried by Byrnndi alone. But the Roger Pirates? They're full of monsters."

Gion and Tokikake nodded in agreement, their eyes falling on Daren.

But when they saw how strangely calm his face was, both of them felt a growing sense of unease.

"It's definitely dangerous,"

Daren unexpectedly agreed, nodding in response.

But just as the two of them started to relax, he suddenly smiled.

The corner of his mouth curled upward—and the more he smiled, the more intense the bloodlust in his eyes became.

"But I still want to go."

"—Are you insane!?"

Gion and Tokikake shouted in unison.

A chill ran up their spines, freezing them to the core.

It wasn't that they didn't understand the danger.

They knew Daren too well.

Once this guy made up his mind, nothing—no person, no reason—could change it.

"Hey, hey, Daren. We're talking about Gol D. Roger! This isn't some North Blue rookie pirate… Byrnndi World might've been strong, but he's nowhere near Roger's level!"

Tokikake stepped closer, lowering his voice with urgency.

"Oh?" Daren raised an eyebrow.

Gion, cold sweat running down her face, also spoke quietly.

"There are things you don't know… but right now, Roger isn't someone we can deal with."

She bit her lip.

"Have you heard of the God Valley Incident?"

Gion and Tokikake weren't like the rest of the crew.

They knew better than anyone what the name Gol D. Roger really meant.

Extreme danger.

And all that terror stemmed from a single place—

God Valley.

Although the World Government and Marine leadership had jointly ordered a complete blackout of all information related to the battle, intending to bury it in history, given Gion and Tokikake's backgrounds and talent, they had learned bits and pieces of what had really happened.

"The God Valley Incident took place eight years ago. Before that battle, there was a name that made both the World Government and the Marines tremble."

"—Rocks D. Xebec."

Gion exchanged a glance with Dragon. When he didn't stop her, she continued.

"The Rocks ruled the seas more than a decade ago. With his overwhelming strength and ambition, he recruited a terrifying crew."

"It's said that Whitebeard, Shiki the Golden Lion, Kaidou, and Big Mom... were all once under the Rocks Pirates."

"As his power grew, so did his ambition. Determined to become the king of the world, he turned against the World Government and, eight years ago, launched a brutal assault on the Celestial Dragons' territory."

"That's when the God Valley War broke out. Facing the full force of the Rocks Pirates, the Marines assembled their own elite forces—and temporarily allied with a rising star of that era: Roger."

"Vice Admiral Garp joined forces with Roger. Together, they ended Rocks' ambitions in a battle that earned Garp the title of 'Hero'..."

"So now do you understand? Roger's strength is on a whole different level. He's the most dangerous enemy recognized by Marine Headquarters."

Gion knew Daren's reckless personality too well, and she had no choice but to speak up. Her expression was filled with concern.

She wasn't afraid of dying in the name of justice—but dying needlessly when you knew you couldn't win? That was pointless.

Even if she was always gritting her teeth over Daren being a "Marine disgrace," she couldn't stand by and watch him walk into a death trap.

"Well, you all make good points,"

Daren grinned.

"But now that you've said all that… I want to go even more."

Gion froze.

Tokikake buried his face in his hands in despair.

(40 Chapters Ahead)

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