Pirates: From Vice Captain to Lord of the Dead

Chapter 418 The Last Step to the Summit

Lights danced, bonfires illuminated the beach under the night sky, silhouettes of people swayed and intertwined on the soft sand, and laughter echoed in the night sky.

The Straw Hat Pirates, the Whitebeard Pirates, the Giant Pirates, the Vegapunks, and Sentaomaru, Aokiji, Hancock, and Bonnie.

The banquet was extremely lively. After a life-and-death battle, everyone let go of their inhibitions and reveled in the party.

In addition to the joyful feasting and drinking, Luffy and his friends also put on various antics. The classic chopstick-in-nostril dance even spread to the Whitebeard and Giant Soldier pirate groups.

The noise continued until late at night, when it gradually died down.

The fierce battle had almost exhausted everyone's energy, and the banquet did not last long.

After a brief indulgence, sleepiness swept over their tired spirits, and Luffy and the others fell asleep directly on the spot.

The starry sky is quiet, casting soft silver moonlight, flickering on the sparkling sea, and gradually disappearing as the night deepens.

"It looks like everyone is exhausted."

Looking at the figures lying all over the beach, Marco smiled lightly, took two bottles of rum, stood up and slowly walked to a rock standing on the beach.

Reiner sat on the rock, and below him, Nami and Robin were wrapped in a blanket, leaning against the rock, seemingly asleep.

"You should have collected the three historical texts of the road signs, right?"

Marco said nonchalantly, threw a bottle of wine to Reiner, and sat down on the beach.

"From Bankoku, Wano Country, and the Fur Tribe."

“It’s just the last piece left.”

Marco sighed softly, raised his head and took a sip of wine, then glanced back at him.

"Any ideas?"

“Basically not.”

thump—

Reiner responded calmly, holding the bottle mouth and flicking the cap open with his thumb.

After taking a sip of wine, he put the bottle aside, leaned back slightly with his hands, and looked at the night sky. Reiner said slowly:

"Some say the historical text is in the hands of the World Government, while others say it's in the hands of a man covered in burns."

These rumors have been circulating on the sea, and you can find out by asking around on Beehive Island, but they are basically useless, and it is even impossible to tell whether they are true or not.

"Why, do you have any news about it?"

Reiner's mouth curled up slightly, and he couldn't help but look at Marco with curiosity.

Marco said nothing, but smiled meaningfully, looking at the gentle waves on the sea for a long time before saying:

"No, but I can share some clues with you."

"Is this really okay? Now that we're here, don't you want to fight for the throne of Pirate King?"

Before Marco could continue, Reiner couldn't help but interrupt him.

If I remember correctly, everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates wanted Ace to become the Pirate King, so receiving free information from a competitor always makes one feel a bit pitiful.

"Ace asked me to tell you. There are some things from the past that only we know about on the sea now."

As he spoke, Marco turned his head and glanced at the distance. Ace was chewing a piece of meat, his nose bubbling as he dozed off. He turned back to look at Reiner and continued:

"Back then, after Roger arrived in Raftel and became the Pirate King, he knew his life was coming to an end and he once looked for my father. I also heard some secrets about Raftel."

"Of course, Dad has no interest in the so-called great secret treasure, so don't expect me to know how to get there, though."

Marco changed the subject and shrugged.

"There are some things I can tell you, like the last island pointed to by the record pointer, Narcissus Star Island. That's not the final destination."

"Ah, I've heard Rayleigh mention this before."

"Yes, at that time, Roger realized the existence of another island, a place that the World Government had forbidden anyone to go to for hundreds of years."

"He also succeeded, collecting all four historical texts and reaching the final destination, Raftel. When he left, I heard that some crew members had used a permanent pointer to record the location."

After the words fell, Robin, who had been silent, slowly opened his eyes.

Marco continued to talk, recalling the scene of that year, and Reiner also remembered something.

Back then, someone did use a permanent pointer to secretly record Raftel's location, but it was later discovered.

"If you rely on this kind of thing, you won't be able to find the real great treasure."

Roger used this as an excuse to throw the permanent pointer into the big one.

"I heard that the pointer was taken by someone. I heard about it not long ago, around the time you defeated Kaido."

Marco looked deep in his eyes and whispered:

"That man is the hero known as 'Ghost's' successor, Douglas Barrett, who was once a member of Roger's ship."

"Barrett, I know him. I saw him before in Impel Down. This is the one."

Reiner replied, casually summoned Barrett's ghost, and said:

"But this is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Finding a missing person is about as difficult as finding the last piece of historical text."

"It seems that way, but it's not that hard to find him."

Marco looked at Barrett's undead and explained:

"That guy had always considered Roger as his challenge target. After learning that Roger had contracted a terminal illness and only had a few years to live, he launched a final challenge."

"He ultimately failed and left the Roger Pirates. In my opinion, you might not even have to look for him; he might come looking for you on his own."

"After all, the title of the strongest in the world now belongs to you."

Marco looked towards Reiner.

Reiner also understood the implication.

After Roger's death, Golden Lion was also imprisoned. Whitebeard was called the strongest man in the world and the man closest to the throne of Pirate King.

But at that time, Barrett had already been defeated by the Demon Slayer Order led by Sengoku and Garp and taken to Impel Down.

Barrett escaped from prison during the war at the top, when Blackbeard released all the prisoners of the Infinite Hell. When he came out, Whitebeard also died.

Reiner didn't know what butterfly effect caused it, but there was no news of Barrett after that.

According to Marco, the news about Barrett came out again, just when he defeated Kaido, and it was hard for Reiner not to think that the other party was coming for him.

"I think I understand what you mean."

Reiner nodded.

Roger didn't want anyone to take the shortcut of the permanent pointer and directly reach Raftel. He could understand that a journey without adventure would be too boring.

Money and power, these things have long lost their appeal to him. With his strength, it is easy for him to obtain them.

It is for this reason that the adventurous experience along the way, seeing all kinds of new things, and feeling all kinds of unprecedented experiences seem to be so precious.

But the situation is different now. They are almost at the end of the Grand Line route, and Luffy has decided to go to Elbaf as the next stop. By then, Narcissus Star Island will not be far away.

Finding the last piece of historical text on the signpost and finding the permanent pointer became the final step in obtaining the coordinates of Raftel's location.

In other words, this is the last adventure of their journey.

“Looking back, I still feel a lot of emotion.”

Reiner smiled slightly and looked up at the starry sky.

Starting from the East China Sea, he ventured all the way here. So much had happened that even if he tried to recall it now, he could hardly piece together the complete story.

These little details will be suddenly remembered one day in the future, on an afternoon that is so ordinary that it cannot be more ordinary, because of something insignificant.

Perhaps his children asked, "What great pirates did Daddy defeat in the past?" or "Where did Mommy draw this sea chart?"

Come to think of it, having several children would be very troublesome, and he is not as patient with children as Nami.

Never mind, that's too far-fetched.

Reiner shook off the scattered thoughts in his mind.

At this time, Marco suddenly said:

"But that's not what I want to talk about. After all, I've only heard about it. Whether the permanent pointer actually exists remains to be confirmed."

"Do you have any other information?"

"Ah, these are rubbings of four historical texts."

Marco chuckled and nodded, took another sip of wine, wiped his mouth casually, and then spoke:

"Although he lost the permanent pointer, Roger actually left behind a rubbing."

"The World Government is trying to prevent anyone from going to Raftel. If one of the historical texts is destroyed by them, no one will be able to reach there anymore."

"Perhaps because he knew that Dad had no interest in the great secret treasure, he asked Dad to keep these rubbings to prevent the truth from being buried forever."

"If this situation really happens one day in the future, it will be up to Dad to rekindle the extinguished fire for him."

Recalling the past, Marco's eyes inadvertently revealed a hint of sadness.

Hearing this, Reiner and Robin, who had been eavesdropping, looked surprised.

"Hey, don't tell me you have it in your hands!"

"No, we don't."

Marco interrupted his excitement decisively and shrugged.

"Don't think too much. If there was, Ace would be the Pirate King now. There's no way he would tell you."

Veins popped up on Reiner's forehead, and he cursed inwardly, suppressing the urge to beat the other person up.

Fuck, waste of expression.

"In fact, Dad rejected him and said that he no longer had time to help him wait until the next era. If he was worried, he should find someone who could inherit his path."

Speaking of this, Marco raised his eyebrows at him and said with interest:

"Do you want to guess who Roger chose? Let me remind you, there are two people."