Roger's footsteps were steady, unhurried, with a faint smile lingering on his face. He seemed at peace, as if life ah had already ceased to matter to him. Each step he took reverberated through the square, his presence pressing on the hearts of everyog.

  As he passed by Cudius, Roger turned his head slightly and gnced his way, a pyful smirk appearing on his face as if sharing a private joke. Cudius returhe look, rolling his eyes and mirr Roger's smile with one of his own.

  This brief, subtle iio unnoticed by the crowd. Finally, Roger reached the foot of the execution ptform.

  The eyes of Sengoku, Garp, and the other Marines were fixed on him, but Roger didn't pay them any attention. Just before asding the steps, he murmured softly, "Farewell, Garp."

  Sengoku, overhearing this, looked at Garp, but Garp simply closed his eyes, a flicker of mencholy crossing his face.

  Sengoku opened his mouth as if to speak, but Garp cut him off in a low, firm voice. "Shut up, Sengoku. Don't say a word."

  Sengoku, taken aback, decided to remain silent, watg Roger tinue his ast.

  Roger climbed the stairs to the ptform, where two executioners with long bdes waited for him. Standing tall, he cast his gaze across the massive crowd, a faint chuckle esg his lips. "So many people came just to watch me die? I'm honored."

  Without any sign of fear ret, Roger crossed his legs and sat down oform, settling himself fortably. He pced his shackled wrists on his knees, rexed, as if he was merely a spectator at his owion.

  Looking out across the square, Roger took in the sights of Logue Town, his birthpce. The sun was shining brightly, and he squinted slightly, remarking, "Still feels the same… this heat. It hasn't ged since I left all those years ago."

  He thought back to his jourhe adventures, and ultimately, his decision to end it all here. "Starting and ending here… maybe that's how it was meant to be," he whispered to himself.

  For a fleeting moment, Roger's mind drifted south, across the vast o, to a small isnd in South Blue. There, he imagined Rouge, his beloved, watg toward the east, her gaze reag across the sea to meet his in spirit. He closed his eyes and whispered, "Farewell."

  The moment passed, and Roger refocused on the present. One of the executioners stepped forward and asked, "Do you have any st words, Roger?"

  Rrinned, rattling the shackles on his wrists. "Mind taking these off? My wrists are itchy."

  The executioner scowled, clearly irritated. "What nonsense are you talking about? That's impossible!"

  Rhed, smiling. "Rex. Do you really think I'd run now?"

  "If you have nothing to say, then savor these st few minutes in silehe executioner replied curtly.

  Sitting oform, Rnced out into the crowd. His eyes nded on two familiar faces hidden within, a young man wearing a straw hat and a red-nosed by his side.

  "Oh, Shanks and Buggy… they came all this way to see me off?" he thought, a fond smile pying on his lips.

  Both Shanks and Buggy noticed Raze, and a wave of grief washed over them. This simple, heartfelt smile from their captain was almost unbearable.

  "Captain Roger…" Buggy whispered, his voice choked with emotion.

  Shanks clutched his straw hat, tears welling up in his eyes.

  Elsewhere in the crowd, a white-haired boy watched Roger ily. Despite his youth, he was struck by the calm, smiling man oform. He couldn't uand why a man about to die would smile like that, but the sight etched itself deeply into his memory.

  "Smoker! I told you not to run off!" a man's voice called from behind the boy.

  The white-haired boy, Smoker, relutly stepped back, casting o look at Roger.

  The square remained silent, the entire crowd holding its breath as the clock tower's minute hand crept toward noon. Then, in the final seds before the execution, a voice broke the silence.

  "Roger! You're about to die! Tell us—where did you hide all your treasure?! The One Piece!!!" someone shouted.

  The square erupted with murmurs, as others echoed the question. Sengoku's face darkened. "Prepare to execute him! Don't let him say another word!" he anded.

  But Roger, as if he had been waiting for this question all along, threw his head bad ughed. "You want my treasure? If you want it, you have it! Go and find it! I left everything this world has to offer there!"

  "Execute him! Now!" Sengoku roared, his voice filled with urgency.

  But it was too te. Roger's words had already pierced the hearts of everyone present.

  The executioners brought their bdes down, crossing them inter's chest. The sun was at its zenith, and at that precise moment, the bell in the clock tower rang out. The Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, was dead.

  Yet with his death, he had pnted a seed that would ge the world. His final words ignited a fme in tless hearts. Men across the seas set their sights oreasure he left behind, dreaming of adventure, glory, ah. This was the dawn of a new age, an age known as the "Great Pirate Era."

  In the square, pandemonium erupted as the realizatio in. Men who had merely e to witness aion now felt a surge of ambition and hope.

  Laughter broke through the crowd as Cudius watched the chaos unfold. "Ahahahahahaaha! You really knew how to go out with a bang, Roger!"

  Beside him, Dofmingo chuckled darkly, his eyes gleaming. "It seems the Wover's attempt to quash the pirate spirit has backfired spectacurly. This sea is going to be thrown into chaos! Ahahaha! I think I made the right choi being a pirate."

  Cudius smirked, the thrill of the new era lighting a fire within him. "You're right, Dofmingo. With all these ges, how could we not py our part?"

  Dofmingo turo him with a grin. "What's this, cousin? Are you pnning to sail under a pirate fg too? A Celestial Dragon pirate? Now that's a sight."

  Cudius ughed, shaking his head. "No, not quite. I just meant… now is the perfect time to put my pns into motion."

  ******

  Support me on patreon to read 30+ advanced chapters: patreon./Blownleaves.