One Piece: I'm not Roger

Several seagulls circled above the sails as a merchant ship slowly cut through the sea, far away from the Kingdom on the Bridge and heading toward an unknown island.

At that moment, Aether sat atop the mast, holding the latest newspaper in his hand while reading through its contents. Today's headlines left him somewhat concerned.

[The World Military Draft of the Marine is proceeding smoothly. Top civilian powerhouse Aramaki has defeated Admiral Candidate Kake to obtain the position of Admiral, becoming the first externally recruited Admiral in nearly fifty years. The newly appointed Admiral has also publicly sworn loyalty to Fleet Admiral Akainu, declaring that the Fleet Admiral is the idol he has always admired.]

"..."

Who would have thought the first externally recruited Admiral would be Aramaki?

Judging from the newspaper's report, Aramaki was still an absolute loyalist to Akainu. The only uncertain part was whether he knew about Akainu's recent changes. If he didn't, the future would certainly become interesting.

Just imagining Aramaki one day criticizing Akainu's justice as no longer being the justice he admired caused the corners of Augustus D. Aether's mouth to slowly rise.

Although the possibility amused him, the one he cared about more was still Fujitora Issho.

Now that Aokiji had not stepped down from his Admiral position, Fujitora shouldn't become an Admiral, right? Or would the Marines actually create an additional Admiral seat for him?

Aether felt the latter was unlikely.

The system of the Three Admirals had existed for hundreds of years. How could it be changed so casually? However, considering Akainu's personality, it was difficult to say with certainty. What if she truly overruled all objections and established a fourth Admiral position?

Now that the World Military Draft was nearing completion, the Marine's lineup of Admirals had become whole once more.

It was easy to imagine that the Marines had already returned to their peak state of strength.

With the Three Admirals, Fleet Admiral Akainu, and two retired veterans who still retained terrifying combat power, Aether had to seriously consider the consequences if he wanted to continue causing trouble in the future.

Losing a portion of his "freedom" made Aether sigh softly.

"If I had known this would happen, I would've killed Aokiji back then. That would've saved me a lot of trouble."

Aside from the news regarding the World Military Draft, another article also caught Aether's attention.

[Marine Fleet Admiral Akainu and Admiral Aokiji joined forces to repel the Blackbeard Pirates after they invaded a World Government member nation. Shiryu of the Rain and Avalo Pizarro suffered serious injuries. Blackbeard, who recently became one of the Four Emperors, fled in disgrace during his first major battle. Are the Four Emperors truly so vulnerable before the Marines? How will the leader of the Four Emperors, the Aether Pirates, respond to the Marines?]

"..."

Morgans really dares to write anything.

Akainu and Aokiji working together wasn't anything particularly shocking. When he met Morgans in person someday, Aether intended to let him personally witness his strength.

Still, Akainu actually joining forces with Aokiji to repel the Blackbeard Pirates was somewhat beyond his expectations.

As for the authenticity of the report, that was difficult to determine. However, after becoming Fleet Admiral, Akainu had immediately "defeated" an Emperor crew. Her prestige within the Marines would undoubtedly rise once again. Even if the Gorosei had complaints about her, they would be powerless to stop it.

After all, according to the intelligence reports, Aokiji was already openly supporting Akainu. Combined with Aramaki, who practically worshipped her, the Three Admirals united under a single will would become a terrifying force.

Looking at it this way, Akainu's position as Fleet Admiral was even more stable than Sengoku's had ever been.

If the Gorosei truly attempted to suppress Akainu, it could easily trigger an unexpected backlash from the Marines themselves.

Seeing Akainu wearing a professional skirt in the newspaper photograph, Aether couldn't help muttering,

"From the least favored Admiral to the strongest Fleet Admiral, Akainu will probably become the Fleet Admiral who gives the Gorosei the biggest headache."

The world's direction had long since deviated from the memories he once possessed.

If he wanted to continue acting recklessly in the future, he could only rely on his own overwhelming strength.

Aether lowered the newspaper and looked out toward the sea. The enormous bridge that once dominated the horizon was now gone.

Two hours earlier, the laborers of the Kingdom on the Bridge had finally escaped that life-draining prison.

Some left aboard the ships originally used to transport construction materials, while others escaped through contingency plans prepared by the Revolutionary Army.

The workers had taken away every valuable item they could carry. As for the construction equipment left behind, it had all been smashed apart to vent years of resentment and anger.

Aether estimated that the World Government would find it nearly impossible to continue the bridge's construction.

The issue wasn't merely the destruction of tools.

Nearly one-tenth of the bridge's foundation and surrounding geological environment had been completely ruined. If the World Government still wished to continue construction, they would have to reroute the bridge entirely and dismantle the abandoned sections.

That alone had increased the construction difficulty severalfold.

Not to mention, once something happened once, it could happen again.

No one knew whether the Revolutionary Army might launch another rebellion there, or whether Aether himself might casually return one day to destroy it again.

In Aether's view, the matter regarding the Kingdom on the Bridge had effectively come to an end.

As for the settlement of the liberated workers, the Revolutionary Army would handle it. He had no intention of worrying about such matters.

What interested him more were the system notifications.

[SSS-rank character Imu has developed high-level hostility toward the Host. Reward: 800,000 experience points.]

[SS-rank characters, the Gorosei, have developed high-level hostility and shock toward the Host. Reward: 250,000 experience points.]

[SS-rank character Akainu has developed high-level hostility toward the Host. Reward: 50,000 experience points.]

[SS and S-rank characters have developed negative emotions, hostility, and shock toward the Host. Reward: 1.69 million experience points.]

[Rank 99 (3.01 million / 7 million)]

Over the past two hours, the Marines and the World Government had generated nearly three million experience points for him.

Most of it came from the Celestial Dragons.

According to Aether's calculations, nearly a hundred Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise now hated him to the bone.

The death of the Celestial Dragon Markas Luke was undoubtedly the greatest shock those parasites had suffered since God Valley. Even the two Celestial Dragons who died at the Sabaody Archipelago couldn't compare to this incident.

The Celestial Dragons had always viewed themselves as superior beings.

Even Admirals were nothing more than obedient dogs in their eyes.

Yet Aether, someone they considered no stronger than an Admiral, had repeatedly slaughtered Celestial Dragons and even killed the most outstanding Celestial Dragon in the last forty years.

That reality had filled those arrogant nobles with an unprecedented sense of fear.

Even their so-called prodigy had died.

It was only natural that panic would spread among them.

Perhaps many of them would no longer dare to leave Mary Geoise in the future.

If this incident truly caused the Celestial Dragons to fear leaving the Holy Land, then Aether could genuinely be considered someone who had accumulated tremendous merit.

After all, without Celestial Dragons running around causing chaos, the world would undoubtedly become quieter.

As for the future, the Celestial Dragons would certainly pressure the World Government into focusing its efforts on dealing with the Aether Pirates.

Aether didn't care about that at all.

The only thing that genuinely pressured him was Imu's hostility.

He absolutely could not allow the World Government to obtain the Mother Flame. Otherwise, the Mother Flame's next target might become the headquarters of the Aether Pirates.

"It seems my trip to Whole Cake Island can't be delayed much longer."

As Aether remained deep in thought about the Mother Flame, a gust of wind suddenly swept past him.

At the same moment, a man with a strange mark on his face silently appeared behind him atop the mast.

The central figure behind the Kingdom on the Bridge operation had finally arrived.

Being ignored until now likely meant Monkey D. Dragon had already finished handling the aftermath and finally found time to meet his "elder."

Without even turning around, Aether smiled faintly.

"Big nephew, you're finally done?"

"..."

The phrase "big nephew" instantly shattered Monkey D. Dragon's expressionless composure.

Even the probing questions he originally intended to ask vanished from his mind.

The leader of the Revolutionary Army struggled to maintain a solemn tone as he spoke.

"Roger, I came here because I have something important to discuss with you, you..."

Before Dragon could finish speaking, Aether interrupted him.

"Don't call me Roger. That's too distant. Just call me Uncle. Have you forgotten what happened on Jerei Island in the East Blue?"

Monkey D. Dragon's face twitched visibly.

However, after hearing the words "Jerei Island," he fell silent for a moment before finally speaking through clenched teeth.

"...Uncle."

Back when the young Monkey D. Dragon had traveled through the East Blue, he had encountered Gol D. Roger while Roger was returning home.

The meeting between the two had naturally been unforgettable.

After beating Dragon into the ground and learning he was Garp's son, Gol D. Roger had teamed up with Silvers Rayleigh to perform an absurd good cop, bad cop routine, forcing the young Dragon to call both of them "Uncle" before they finally let him leave.

At the time, Roger had even laughed while threatening the inexperienced Dragon that if they ever met again and Dragon failed to call him Uncle, he would suffer greatly.

That humiliating memory remained a psychological scar for Monkey D. Dragon to this very day.

It was also why Dragon didn't appear again until the day of Gol D. Roger's execution, where he personally witnessed the end of an era.