Setting sail—To some, it's a near-impossible task.To others, it's laughably simple.
The difference?It's not just about morals, integrity, or even willpower.For most people in the world of One Piece, the real obstacle… is the ship.
In a world full of devil fruits and monstrous powers, nothing beats the importance of a sturdy vessel. Whether you're a Marine or a pirate, it's the same truth: you can't conquer the seas without a ship.
Even if you're a powerhouse who can split mountains, you still need food, rest, and supplies. This ocean—this strange, living sea—demands it.
Sure, some freaks like Rayleigh can swim across the Calm Belt like it's a kiddie pool. Ryuji had crossed it too, under Roger's protection. But most people? They'd drown halfway through.
Even Roger's ship had Buggy the Clown aboard, and the Straw Hats in the later arcs weren't all walking warheads. Nami and Robin—talented as they were—couldn't exactly solo a Yonko.
They were useful… but not game-changing.
So the idea of crossing a Calm Belt by swimming? Dream on.
And that's not even mentioning the devil fruits.
Sure, many fruit users act like the sea is just a minor inconvenience—but the truth is, devil fruit abilities are powerful, and they come with severe limitations in the water.
So now…
"We need repairs," Ryuji muttered, gazing at their docked ship in Loguetown, looking thoroughly bored.
"Yeah," Robin agreed, reclining on a sun chair, enjoying the sunlight as Nami worked meticulously on updating their sea charts. "And we need to file the paperwork. Sailing permits. Register you as a bounty hunter. Otherwise, the moment we leave port, we'll be branded pirates."
The World Government had a tight grip on sea travel. If you were a scholar on an official voyage, or using a merchant or Navy vessel, things were smooth. But if your ship had no cargo records and was armed? You were a pirate, no questions asked.
And here's the thing: not every pirate dreams of the Grand Line.
A lot of them were just locals, operating with or without privateering licenses. In some regions, the line between farmer and pirate blurred. There were even places where people quietly tilled the land, and when the Navy left port, suddenly "turned" into pirates.
That's just how the world worked.
For many kingdoms, joining the World Government was a no-brainer. Sure, the heavenly tribute was steep—but once paid, the Navy would arrive and offer protection. Bandits would vanish. Order would be restored.
Of course, that came with its own price.
Once the Government had a foothold, their influence would spread. They'd stoke rebellions, unleash waves of pirate activity, or manipulate ports for political leverage.
So really… what was the difference between a Marine and a pirate?
Ryuji watched a pirate ship calmly dock in Loguetown. Not a single Marine blinked.
Why?
Because those pirates were "official personnel" in their home country. Outside their borders, they might be outlaws. But here? They were allies.
Technically, Marines had authority in town. But when it came to nobles? The Navy was just another hired muscle.
Only in territories directly governed by the World Government did the Marines have full legal control.
Then again, even "full control" was a stretch. If a guy like Arlong could rule over multiple villages unchallenged, what did that say about the law?
If a dozen Marine ships and a handful of captains camped outside your estate, and they decided you were a pirate…
Well. Were you?
"This world really is messed up," Ryuji sighed, closing his notebook. He'd stopped looking at maps. The geopolitical chessboard was exactly as he expected—rigged, and completely in the hands of the people on top.
"You're surprisingly well-read," Robin said, raising an eyebrow. She glanced at the notes he'd scribbled—complex analyses of the world's structure and power hierarchy. She'd seen many such discussions in her years, but Ryuji's deductions, made from just newspapers and maps, made a lot of sense.
He'd broken down not just pirates and Marines, but the relationships between pirates and the World Government, the affiliated kingdoms, and the unaffiliated ones.
And more than that—he'd analyzed why the World Government feared the One Piece and the Poneglyphs so much.
"So in your view… the treasure itself isn't important to the Government?"
Robin looked intrigued.
To most, the One Piece was a vast fortune, or the secret of Roger's power—or maybe the World Government's greatest vulnerability.
But in Ryuji's notebook, it was clear:
Neither the treasure nor the history was the real threat. The real threat… was curiosity.
"Exactly," Ryuji said, expression serious. "The world is stagnant. The pirates raid, the nobles collect taxes, and the rich get richer. It's a closed loop. Pirates spend money, and that money ends up in the hands of the same elites who created the system. It's all part of the plan."
"But Roger… Roger changed that."
He tapped his pen.
"When he spoke of the One Piece—when he made it real—he didn't just plant a seed. He set fire to the world's apathy. For the first time, ordinary sailors—the backbone of this world—had something more than money or survival to chase."
"And that something… spat in the face of the World Government's authority."
He exhaled slowly.
"To be a sailor is to live under their shadow. But Roger? He didn't care. He was a man who sailed freely, outside their reach. And the idea that his treasure could make you just as free?"
"That's dangerous," he concluded. "More dangerous than any weapon."
Robin's eyes widened slightly. She hadn't thought of it that way.
Roger hadn't just left behind gold—he left behind an idea.
"So you're saying," she murmured, "what the World Government truly fears… is people rejecting their authority?"
He nodded.
"It's not about the One Piece or the Forgotten Century. It's about freedom. True freedom. The kind that says you don't have to obey. You don't have to starve so nobles can feast. You don't have to bow to Celestial Dragons. That's the freedom people want."
"And if the World Government ever really wanted to get rid of pirates… they could."
"They wouldn't need to kill Roger. They'd just need to make sure no one needed to be a pirate in the first place."
Robin gave a slow nod. It made perfect sense.
Of course, she wasn't sure how practical it was. Plenty of pirates were just scum, plain and simple.
But Ryuji's point stood.
Roger hadn't inspired greed. He'd inspired hope.
"But pirates aren't good people either, are they? They never actually go after the nobles or the World Government."
"Didn't Doflamingo target a World Nobel once? If there's a first, there'll always be a second. It doesn't stop. Too bad the current Yonko… they're just sitting on their thrones, doing nothing."
"What do you mean?"
"There are only so many seats at the top. And those who don't have what it takes will be knocked off sooner or later."
Ryuji gazed out at the sea when something unexpected caught his eye—a tattered flag fluttering in the wind. A symbol he recognized instantly from the anime.
Only… it wasn't flying atop a majestic ship.
No, it was strapped to a janky "raft" made from lashed-together barrels.
Onboard were a straw-hatted idiot grinning ear to ear, a green-haired swordsman looking perpetually lost, a blonde cook with a twirling eyebrow and maximum kitchen chaos energy—and a long-nosed boy wearing a "life-is-suffering" expression like a second skin.
Ryuji blinked.
He never thought he'd actually run into Luffy in the flesh.
Robin, on the other hand, just gave the trio a brief glance—idiots openly waving a Jolly Roger in broad daylight at Loguetown—and turned to Ryuji.
"That can't be real…"
In her mind, emperors of the sea were untouchable, nearly mythic. For someone to topple one? Unthinkable.
"Watch," Ryuji replied with a smirk. "A few more years and this world will be unrecognizable."
He turned toward her—only to nearly fall over as a rubbery head on a long neck suddenly stretched right into his face.
It was Luffy.
Without thinking, Ryuji punched him.
Luffy's head snapped back like a launched rubber band—flying across the dock and landing right next to Nami.
"Sanji! Zoro! Usopp! I found a navigator, a scholar, and someone for logistics! Oh—and a new ship!"
Ryuji raised an eyebrow.
"Logistics…?" he muttered, touching his chin. "Huh. Not wrong."
With his access to strange cross-world tools and otherworldly storage, he was best suited for a quartermaster or logistician role. It wasn't even insulting.
Ah, protagonist intuition.
Meanwhile, Sanji, spotting Nami and Robin, let out a primal scream.
"You idiot! Don't just randomly bother beautiful ladies!"
Ryuji exhaled through his nose, deeply unimpressed. He'd known the Straw Hats were a colorful bunch—but witnessing it live? A whole new level of absurdity.
A brush with destiny, perhaps?
"The Gomu Gomu no Mi… chooses its wielder, doesn't it?" he murmured. "So, this really is fate."
Just then, Luffy's head turned back toward him.
"Hey! Join us!"
Luffy's voice was full of earnestness—but Ryuji simply shook his head.
"Sorry. I'm already a captain. We're not headed the same way."
He gestured toward Luffy.
"You're chasing the One Piece. I'm chasing women. If I joined your crew, your ship would be packed with girls and kids in no time."
"Ah… I see," Luffy said, nodding with genuine understanding. "Yeah, kids shouldn't be pirates anyway."
Then he turned to Robin.
"What about you?"
"Sorry," she replied with a small smile. "I'm the captain's women."
Robin found him amusing in his innocence.
"Then… what about the navigator?"
Luffy looked at Nami—just as Nojiko walked out with a tea kettle in hand, cheerfully announcing:
"Nami and I are both his women."
"Huh?!"
Luffy's jaw dropped.
Sanji, meanwhile, experienced a complete cellular breakdown, his soul visibly attempting to leave his body. He tried to leap onto Ryuji's ship, but was held back by Zoro and Usopp, causing the entire makeshift barrel-raft to rock violently.
"Let me go! I'm going to kill that smug bastard!"
But Luffy just smiled.
"Ah, that's too bad. Sorry to bother you all. Hey! Sanji! Calm down!"
His head snapped back to his body, and the raft floated on.
Ryuji chuckled, watching as Sanji was dragged off, still raging and weeping in defeat.
Ryuji couldn't help but hug Robin and Nojiko close around the waist, grinning as Sanji was pulled away, leaving behind one last pitiful cry:
"I'll kill that damn show-off!!"
It was music to Ryuji's ears.
"Ah, the sweet whimper of the defeated dog."
With that, he let go of the girls and returned to his studies.
But—
Just as Nami was directing dockworkers to load crates onto the ship, an explosion rocked the harbor.
Smoke billowed out in all directions, engulfing the piers. Sirens howled from the Marine base, and in moments, the streets were flooded with armed troops, locking the area down.
Ryuji quietly gripped his sword—not the cursed katana from Loguetown, but his own trusted blade.
"Was it you?" he asked Robin calmly. "Are we about to run for it?"
The ship wasn't fully loaded, but with what they had, they could still make it to the next island.
"Not me," Robin said, standing with practiced ease. "If someone were here for me, it wouldn't be ordinary Marines."
And then—
Ryuji spotted Luffy getting sent flying across the square by a powerful punch.
A Marine emerged from the smoke, half his body trailing mist, the other half in sharp uniform. Cigar in mouth, face grim.
"What was that you said?" he growled. "You want to be what king?"
It was Smoker.
He glared down at the dazed rubber boy.
"Let's see if you still dream of being Pirate King once you're rotting in a cell."
He snorted and prepared to cuff Luffy.
But then—
Ryuji noticed another person suddenly appear on his ship.
A cloaked man with a hood… and a sandal-print across his face.
He wasn't looking at Ryuji—but at Robin.
"Devil Child… Nico Robin," the man said quietly. "You're here. Planning to break away from Crocodile? Interested in joining the Revolutionary Army?"
Robin blinked in confusion.
"What is it with people trying to recruit me today…"
"Sorry, I'm not interested," she replied smoothly. "Our paths aren't the same."
Even if Ryuji's logic had shaken her a little, for Robin, the Poneglyphs—the truth of history—were everything.
"That's too bad… Seems you're a little behind on the news."
With that, the man—clearly Dragon, Luffy's father—tossed a newspaper to her.
He didn't even spare a glance at Luffy, who was still being pounded by Smoker nearby.
Robin opened the paper. Her eyes widened. She handed it to Ryuji without a word.
He read the headline and sighed.
"Shocking! Roger Revived—Defeats Blackbeard! Whitebeard's Second Division Commander Revealed to Be His Son!"
Subtitle:
"Stunning Revelation: Buggy Confirmed as Former Roger Pirate! Questions Raised About the Prestige of Roger's Crew!"
The image showed Ace glaring furiously at Roger. At their feet, Blackbeard lay decapitated. Behind them, the terrified Buggy Pirates stood frozen as a background chorus of regret.
Apparently, Ace had sought revenge on Blackbeard… only to find Roger and Buggy. And everything had gone sideways from there.
The ultimate villain, Blackbeard, reduced to a mere casualty of a previous-generation max-level protagonist.
Ryuji blinked.
"So… the Marineford War is probably off the table."
As he processed that, Dragon spoke again.
"Roger's death was certain. His resurrection? That has meaning. We're going to uncover why."
He looked straight at Robin now.
"With Crocodile, you'll find nothing. But with us… we might even uncover the secret to bringing your mother—and the scholars of Ohara—back."
Dragon was being completely sincere.
The further he expanded the Revolutionary Army's reach, the more he realized just how rare it was to find people who were both truly educated and willing to rebel against the World Government.
Which was exactly why—when he first confirmed that Roger had returned from the dead—his immediate thought was: Maybe… we can bring back the scholars of Ohara.
Robin: "..."