Chapter Three: The Next Captain

Ever since watching One Piece, Roland had always felt that the pirate world was a distorted one. While pirates were continuously harming ordinary people across the globe, there were those who regarded pirates as the freest warriors upon the sea. And such people were not few in number. This was something Roland could never quite comprehend.

Yet, as there were those who yearned for the pirate life, there were naturally those who despised pirates—especially those who had suffered at their hands. For them, hatred of pirates and even their families was nothing but ordinary. Take, for instance, Doflamingo’s family, who, being Celestial Dragons, moved from the Holy Land of Mariejois to Dressrosa, only to be rejected by everyone, ultimately ending up hanged and burned to death.

Understanding this, Roland felt there was nothing particularly hateful about those villagers. In fact, thinking a bit wickedly, had those villagers not driven the original owner of this body out of the village, perhaps he’d never have had the chance to live a second life.

"None of them were wrong?" The Golden Lion was taken aback, then burst into hearty laughter. This little fellow before him was full of surprises and unexpected insights—a truly fascinating child. Clearly, his possessions had been seized by the villagers, and he’d been expelled, left to die on his own, yet he still believed the villagers had done nothing wrong. How interesting.

The Golden Lion’s wild laughter immediately drew everyone’s attention in the cabin. They were all curious what kind of words the Golden Lion had heard to make him laugh so freely.

"Yes, Lord Shiki, not only do I think the villagers were not wrong, I even find them somewhat pitiable," Roland said. "At first, they were merely victims, but because I am the son of a pirate, and because I was cared for by pirates, they transformed from victims into perpetrators. Isn’t that pitiful? Perhaps without your help, I would have died, but death is simply death—a final end. But for those villagers, if they realize their actions led an eight-year-old child to die in the wild, wouldn’t that be a painful thing? After all, they are just ordinary people. Because of this, they will live the rest of their lives in pain and guilt. For a villager whose days begin at sunrise and end at sunset, isn’t that something worthy of pity?"

As a practitioner of law, these words came naturally to Roland. But to the Golden Lion, they were shockingly profound. Roland’s demeanor was nothing like an eight-year-old child, nor like someone freshly persecuted and ostracized.

In the world of One Piece, vengeance and resentment were commonplace and expected. Understanding others was almost unheard of.

Now, Roland had distanced himself from the event, narrating it from the perspective of an observer, thinking with a pure rationality the Golden Lion had never witnessed. In his own life, the Golden Lion had always lived for instant vengeance and pleasure. He’d never hesitated to kill someone who merely displeased him.

"Boy, I truly find you more and more intriguing," the Golden Lion laughed even louder. He had only ever encountered two people with such incomprehensible ways of thinking. One was Roger, the man who had no desire to rule the world, yet became the Pirate King. The other was Whitebeard, who possessed the power to destroy the world but thought only of his family. Now, Roland was the third.

To be able to stand entirely apart from events and view them as a pure observer—if at first, the Golden Lion’s interest in Roland was simply due to the boy’s uncanny recognition of him, now it was different. The Golden Lion wanted to witness firsthand what this boy would achieve in the future.

Unable to understand Roger or Whitebeard, the Golden Lion suddenly found himself comprehending them a bit.

"Boy, would you be interested in joining my Flying Pirates and becoming the next captain?" The Golden Lion’s laughter ceased, replaced by a solemn expression. This was not a rash decision, but one made after careful consideration.

He, Roger, and Whitebeard were pirates of the same era; one was dead, the other spent days hooked to IV drips due to injury and illness. The Golden Lion had to consider the future. He did not want the name of the Flying Pirates to vanish with his death, as happened with the Rocks Pirates after Roger and Garp defeated them. Now, perhaps only a handful remembered that crew’s name.

Finding a qualified successor was a wise move. This little fellow before him might be just right. He’d still have a dozen years to be active, and after that, Roland would be in his twenties, the prime of life. If he could teach him well, the Flying Pirates would surely endure.

The Golden Lion was a man of ambition. Without the chance to rule the world, passing down the name of his pirate crew seemed worthwhile. After all, no pirate crew in this world had ever been passed down continuously.

"I accept," Roland replied without hesitation the moment the Golden Lion finished speaking. Clinging to the Golden Lion’s leg was precisely his goal. Otherwise, why would he go to such lengths to display his uniqueness?

Though Roland had been a renowned lawyer in his previous life, he knew well how to keep a low profile in daily life.

"Hahaha, men, from today onward, this little fellow you see before you, Roman Roland, is my only apprentice!" The Golden Lion soared into the air, looking down on all the crew in the cabin, laughing wildly as he announced it.

The pirates were stunned by the news—a veritable bombshell. All eyes converged on Roland, filled with envy, jealousy, and schadenfreude. Yes, schadenfreude. Some pirates believed the Golden Lion was simply seeking a plaything, and when he lost interest, it would be the boy’s death sentence.

Roland paid no mind to their gazes. The only thing he cared about was how seriously the Golden Lion regarded this matter. He truly hadn’t expected the Golden Lion to value him so highly—he’d thought learning swordsmanship under him would be luck enough.

But judging by the Golden Lion’s words, he was being treated as a successor.

Suddenly, Roland found the prospect of inheriting the Flying Pirates rather appealing. Looking at the pirates, he smiled.

He had now found his footing in the pirate world.

Behind him, the Golden Lion also smiled. This boy he’d saved on a whim might just lead him to see vistas he’d never imagined.