Chapter 104: It Turns Out It Was Them After All

Standing on the deck, gazing at the scorched remains of Saron Island, Roland couldn’t help but sigh. Having read the original story, he clearly understood Roger’s purpose in ushering in the Great Pirate Era, yet that was no justification for the chaos engulfing these seas.

Before arriving in this world, he had known the phrase: “No destruction, no construction.” Roger’s idea was to shake the Celestial Dragons’ rule through the Great Pirate Era and bring about a complete transformation of the world.

But after personally experiencing this world, Roland realized how easy it was to say and how difficult to do.

The tragedy at Gosa Town, the devastation of Saron Island—there were countless tragedies caused by pirates in this world.

What was even more absurd was that pirates were equated with brave seafarers in the common understanding of this world. Wasn’t that laughable?

“Colonel Roland, a survivor has regained consciousness. Would you like to see him?” Penggles approached Roland, reporting.

“Go gather intelligence. I won’t go. Until these pirates are wiped out, I have no face to meet the survivors,” Roland shook his head, his gaze still fixed on the wasteland below.

“Yes, sir.” Penggles glanced at Saron Island, his heart sinking, then turned toward the cabin.

Indeed, until these elusive pirates were eradicated, how could they face the survivors? Was it because they were navy? Or because their rescue came too late?

Claiming to be the guardians of justice in these seas, the pirates’ absolute nemesis, yet every time such incidents occurred, they were always one step behind the pirates. What kind of justice was that?

“Are you alright?” Nami approached Roland, who had been standing on the deck for a long time, her tone filled with concern.

Like Roland, after witnessing the current state of Saron Island, she harbored a deep hatred for those pirates.

The tragedy at Gosa Town had initially only been seen through newspapers. If she hadn’t known Gosa Town was a small island under Arlong’s rule, she might not have reacted so strongly.

If she were in Roland’s place, Nami felt she wouldn’t be able to stay calm here; she would need to find a way to vent her anger.

But Roland did not. Instead of releasing his fury, he was terrifyingly calm.

It was this very calmness that made Nami worry.

“I’m fine. I just think the headquarters was a bit hasty this time,” Roland explained, shaking his head. “At first, I was happy to receive the mission because it meant glory and promotion.

But after coming here and witnessing all this firsthand, I realized how ridiculous my—and headquarters’—thinking was.

If the goal was to show resolve and intimidate pirates, headquarters could have deployed the entire G-8 naval division to sweep the surrounding seas with overwhelming force, instead of sending us all this way and not even seeing a single pirate.

Without these survivors, I doubt we would even know who these pirates were. We would just stand there dumbfounded as they finished their crimes and swaggered off to wreak havoc elsewhere at sea.”

Regarding his plan, Roland felt the need to accelerate.

Thanks to the Six Powers technique, his baseline experience was now six times greater than before, drastically shortening the time he needed.

If he paired that with a double experience card, Roland believed he could soon reach the pinnacle of the seas and carry out his plan.

Staring out at the vast ocean, his resolve only grew stronger.

“Colonel Roland, the survivor who regained consciousness has already revealed some information...” Penggles hurried up to him, excited.

“Which pirate crew? And who is their captain?” Roland interrupted before Penggles could finish.

“Report: It’s the Kid Pirates, led by Eustass Kid. A notorious pirate from the South Blue who entered the Grand Line. His current bounty is 197 million berries,” Penggles said, handing Roland a wanted poster.

“Kid?” Roland took the poster, looking at the red-haired, arrogantly scowling man. It was indeed the Kid he had in mind.

A contemporary of Luffy’s, one of the worst of the Worst Generation, and a Magnet-Magnet Fruit user. He had clashed fiercely with both Luffy and Law in the Sabaody Archipelago.

What stood out most in Roland’s memory was Kid’s extreme cruelty, even surpassing Bartolomeo—the so-called cannibal—in the original story.

His 315 million berry bounty on Sabaody Archipelago was largely due to his brutal slaughter of civilians.

Roland felt no sympathy for such a man.

Whether in the original story or now, pirates like Kid were not his type. Even Donquixote Doflamingo seemed somewhat more endearing.

After all, a highly intelligent villain was always more popular than a butcher.

“Nami, if they entered the Grand Line from the South Blue, and passed Saron Island, where would they head next?” Roland handed the wanted poster to Nami and suddenly asked.

“Wait, let me check,” Nami immediately pulled out a navigational chart from her bosom and began searching carefully.

After nearly two weeks of study, Nami had gained considerable knowledge about navigation in the Grand Line.

From the basics: ordinary compasses were useless here; only a special recording compass worked.

This compass recorded the magnetic field of the last island visited and would point only to the next island for a long time afterward. Until the magnetic field faded, it would not change direction.

Thus, over time, from Reverse Mountain through the Grand Line to the Sabaody Archipelago, these islands connected by the recording compass formed a unique route.

Without the permanent recording compass, everyone would follow these fixed routes.

“Found it. It’s a deserted island. The map notes that its vegetation is so dense and grows so rapidly that no one has settled there yet,” Nami pointed to a nameless island on the chart.

“Penggles, why aren’t you moving yet?” Roland glanced sharply at Penggles standing nearby.

“Yes, Colonel Roland.” Rarely scolded by Roland, Penggles showed no resentment but instead hurried excitedly toward the bridge.

Among the survivors, the one most severely injured was brought back by him, so he had been holding his breath until now.

Now that he knew their adversaries and their destination, what more did he need Roland to tell him?

Under Penggles’ command, all the pent-up navy soldiers stirred with excitement. They weighed anchor and set sail, quickly steering the warship toward the deserted island marked on the chart.