Chapter 181 – God Valley's Secret, Dragon Arrives!
A week had passed.
The chaos of the Summit War had finally settled.
During this period, the Navy officially decided to relocate its headquarters to the G1 base in the New World.
Naturally, such a move sparked criticism from the World Government.
However, since the Navy had already submitted a prior report, and the Five Elders had approved the decision, the World Government had no grounds to object.
On top of that, with Sengoku stepping down of his own accord, there was little more for them to say.
Meanwhile, the Dragon Hunter Pirates returned to the Sabaody Archipelago.
Thanks to their connection with Rayleigh, they began the process of coating their ship for underwater travel.
As for the rest of the crew, they wandered around the Archipelago. Since this wasn't their first time here, they were already familiar with the area.
Everyone went off to explore their favorite spots.
At that moment, Ryuunosuke was drinking with Rayleigh in the backyard of the Rip-Off Bar.
---
"You're the one behind this, aren't you?" Rayleigh said with a grin after taking a sip of his drink.
"Newgate would've never come up with something like that. Besides, if Blackbeard hadn't been dealt with, there's no way he'd retreat so easily."
At first, Rayleigh had thought Ryuunosuke merely reminded him of Roger. But now, he knew he was wrong.
This kid had already surpassed Roger from back then.
Roger hadn't become Pirate King at that point—and for years, he'd been chased across the seas by Garp.
"I'm just a participant," Ryuunosuke replied, calmly raising his glass.
"By the way, Uncle Rayleigh, did you take part in the Battle of God Valley?"
Rayleigh's hand, midway to lifting his cup again, froze. Then he quietly set it down.
"God Valley, huh…" he murmured.
"What do you want to know, kid?"
"I want to know about 'God,'" Ryuunosuke said with a slight smile. "You must know something, right, Uncle Rayleigh?"
Ever since Alabasta, the mysterious mentions of "God" had been nagging at him.
He had even asked Whitebeard while sailing with his crew—but the old man had been unusually reserved about the topic.
That's why Ryuunosuke turned to Rayleigh. After all, very few people were alive who had witnessed that battle.
---
"God, you say…" Rayleigh exhaled slowly.
"God Valley is a mobile island. Strange place. It could pass through the Red Line using some special method. No one knows where it is now."
"But we did find something strange there—a stone. It had writing on it, similar to the Poneglyphs... but even the scholars of Ohara couldn't decipher it."
"It was only thanks to Roger's ability to hear the Voice of All Things that we understood what it said."
Rayleigh's tone was calm, but every word weighed heavily on Ryuunosuke's mind.
Even the scholars of Ohara couldn't read it?
That alone suggested a deep, hidden truth.
---
"What happened after that?" Ryuunosuke pressed.
"After that," Rayleigh said, "Roger took us to Raftel."
He didn't elaborate much, but Ryuunosuke pieced it together instantly.
That stone—whatever it contained—revealed the location of Raftel.
"Then why were the Celestial Dragons at God Valley?" Ryuunosuke asked again.
Rayleigh hesitated.
"They were… retrieving someone. I don't know who. That's all I know. Roger never told us everything about what happened there."
Ryuunosuke fell into deep thought.
God Valley. Raftel. The mysterious stone. The one taken by the Celestial Dragons. 'God.'
The battle that took place in God Valley had involved Garp, the future Pirate King Roger, and the fearsome Rocks Pirates.
At the time, it had been the largest conflict the seas had ever seen.
And for what?
A stone—and someone whose identity no one seemed to know.
"Ryuunosuke," Rayleigh said, his voice serious now.
"If you want to stand at the top of the sea, this isn't something you should get involved in—at least not yet."
"You've already started from a higher point than most. What you need to do now is focus on growing steadily… moving forward step by step."
He didn't finish the thought—but Ryuunosuke understood.
Rayleigh had already been shocked by how quickly his strength had grown.
Even at the highest levels, progress typically slowed to a crawl. Yet Ryuunosuke kept rising—without bottlenecks, without hesitation.
Rayleigh had watched his recent battle against the Golden Lion. His raw strength, his explosive power—none of it was ordinary.
"I understand," Ryuunosuke nodded.
"By the way, Uncle Rayleigh…"
They continued chatting for a while before parting ways.
Not long after, the ship's coating was completed.
"Captain, someone wants to see you," Tatsumi said, rushing up to Ryuunosuke just as they were about to set sail.
"It's someone you know."
"Someone I know?" Ryuunosuke raised an eyebrow. "What do they look like?"
Tatsumi grabbed a pen and quickly sketched a rough portrait.
It was... very abstract.
But the large facial scar and sandal prints on the man's face gave it away.
"…Monkey D. Dragon?" Ryuunosuke muttered in surprise.
"What's he doing here?"
He couldn't figure out why Dragon would want to meet him now.
Still, since he'd come, Ryuunosuke had no choice but to receive him properly.
"Get a banquet ready!" he shouted.
"Once it's over, we're heading into the New World!"
"A banquet?! Hell yeah, I can finally relax!"
"I'll go buy the meat!"
"I'll stock up on the booze! Definitely need more wine!"
---
The crew burst into action, preparing the celebration with gusto.
Meanwhile, Tatsumi went off to bring Dragon aboard.
When Dragon finally stepped onto the deck, he was visibly stunned.
He had expected the Dragon Hunter Pirates to be chaotic, violent, and arrogant.
But instead, everyone he saw was cheerful and warm, greeting him with smiles.
There wasn't even a hint of that domineering aura usually found in powerful pirate crews.
"…So you're the infamous Monkey D. Dragon," Ryuunosuke said, walking up to him with a grin.
"Given your relationship with Luffy, I guess I should be calling you Uncle Dragon, huh?"
"But tell me—what brings you here? You need my help with something?"
There was no connection between them personally, other than the fact that his younger brother, Sabo, was a high-ranking officer in Dragon's revolutionary army.
And of course, his other younger brother, Luffy, was Dragon's son.
But aside from that? Nothing.
Still, if Dragon had come to recruit him into the Revolutionary Army…
Ryuunosuke would shut that idea down immediately.
Anything else? He was at least willing to hear it out.
If he could help, he would.
If not—well, that's just how it was.
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