"I never said that."

Daren lit a cigar between his teeth, his face a bit pale as he forced a faint smile.

As Stussy disinfected and stitched up his wounds, waves of searing pain shot through his nerves, drilling into his brain. A sheen of cold sweat formed across his forehead.

Still, he answered calmly,

"I went to Wano. Had a heart-to-heart with Kaidou."

Stussy's pupils narrowed slightly.

"Are you out of your mind?"

It had only been a few days since the battle with the Five Elders and the clash at Marineford. His injuries were barely healing—and this lunatic had gone straight to Wano to fight Kaidou?

In all her years, Stussy had never met someone with such a death wish.

"I don't have much time. I need to know exactly where I stand."

Daren smiled as if it were nothing.

"And don't let the injuries fool you—you should see Kaidou. He's not looking much better."

Kaidou, the so-called "strongest creature on land, sea, and air," had grown considerably stronger than he was in the original timeline. Thanks to their mutual "learning through fighting," his combat power had firmly reached the realm of legends.

As one of the top-tier fighters in the current era, Daren could now roughly categorize the world's highest combat forces into tiers.

At the bottom were the elite pirates represented by the many Shichibukai—each powerful enough to wipe out a country, challengers to Marine Admirals, and considered the "silver medalists" in the struggle for dominance in the New World.

Above them were the "gold medal contenders," with Kaidou and Big Mom at the forefront. These were true emperors of the sea—so powerful that even Marine Admirals struggled to subdue them.

Dracule Mihawk and Douglas Bullet, who would rise to prominence in the future, also belonged to this tier.

Of course, at this point in time, both Kaidou and Big Mom hadn't yet reached their peak. They still lacked a certain sharpness, a depth of experience. Once they entered their Yonkō era, they would fully ascend into what Daren considered the highest realm of strength:

The level of the so-called "Legendary Pirates"—true king-class fighters.

Pirate King Gol D. Roger, "the world's strongest man" Whitebeard, Golden Lion Shiki, Yonkō Kaidou, and Big Mom—all stood atop this tier as the sea's strongest legends.

So while Kaidou might not be on Roger or Whitebeard's level just yet, the gap wasn't that wide.

Even if they fought one-on-one, Kaidou could rely on his monstrous body and Mythical Zoan powers to hold his own. Even Roger wouldn't be able to take him down quickly if Kaidou went all out.

Daren figured he was now on roughly equal footing with Kaidou.

Both were ridiculously durable, and with such close power levels, a head-on fight would just be two tanks grinding each other down—it'd take days of non-stop brawling to get a clear winner.

All in all, even though he came back from Onigashima battered and bruised, Daren considered it worth it.

He had a much clearer sense of his current limits. Plus, he'd picked up the technique of using lightning to stimulate his body's activity from Kaidou, which pushed his "Speed" stat past the 90 mark—patching a gap in his previous lack of burst power.

Daren estimated that if he faced the Five Elders again, he wouldn't be as helpless as before. With the explosive boost from the "Lightning Armor," he might even be able to seize the initiative.

That said, he still had no real clue how to crack their "Immortal Body."

"Tch..."

Stussy rolled her eyes.

As the Queen of the Pleasure District, she understood one thing better than most.

Men never tell the truth... especially after they take their shirts off.

"Sometimes I feel like if you keep going off the rails like this, you won't last much longer."

Stussy set the tweezers down, continuing to treat Daren's wounds. After a moment of silence, she spoke softly.

"Isn't that good news for you?"

Daren chuckled and winked at her.

"If I die, your secret goes with me—sinks right to the bottom of the sea."

"No one else could ever use it to 'threaten' you into doing things you hate."

"If I'm gone, you should be thrilled."

Stussy looked up at him, and suddenly, a playful yet dangerously charming smile curled across her lips.

"No, you're wrong."

"If you die, I'd be ecstatic."

"Because that would mean I'm finally, truly free."

Daren exhaled a stream of smoke and grinned.

"Then you'd better hope I keep being reckless. There are fewer and fewer people left on this sea who can actually kill Rogers Daren."

Stussy paused.

She stared quietly at Daren's sharply defined face, deep and unwavering. After a long silence, she suddenly said,

"Morgans just sent over the latest intel on the Roger Pirates."

"Oh?" Daren raised an eyebrow.

Stussy took a slow breath, her tone low and steady.

"The Roger Pirates have disbanded. Roger himself was the first to leave the ship. No one knows where the rest of the crew went."

She opened a drawer and pulled out a wanted poster.

"And two days ago, the World Government and the Marines both updated every newspaper and bounty notice, changing his name from 'Gol D. Roger' to 'Gold Roger.'"

"It looks like they're trying hard to bury the meaning of the 'D.'"

Daren was silent for a moment, then let out a cold, mocking laugh.

"So it begins—this pathetic rewriting of history..."

Stussy studied his expression, eyes flickering slightly.

"Do you know what the 'D' actually means?"

Daren shook his head.

Stussy hesitated, then said slowly,

"From what I've gathered over the years... those with the 'D' are said to be 'the natural enemies of the gods.'"

"People who carry the so-called Will of D may be the descendants of some forgotten nation that existed during the Void Century."

"Supposedly, many Celestial Dragons believe that if the World Government is ever overthrown... it'll be someone from the 'D Clan' who does it."

"They're wrong."

Daren snorted.

"Why?" Stussy frowned, confused.

She'd gone to great lengths to gather that kind of information. Even if some of it was myth, there was plenty of truth mixed in.

But this bastard dismissed it outright.

Daren gave her a sideways glance, voice calm.

"Because they pissed off the wrong guy."

...

South Blue.

Baterilla Island.

"Where... am I?"

Roger slowly opened his eyes. His body ached all over, and his head spun like a top.

"You're awake?"

A gentle voice drifted into his ears.

Turning his head, Roger saw a young woman in a simple dress walking toward him, holding a bowl of steaming porridge.

She had long, soft pink hair adorned with tiny flower decorations, and wore a plain blue dress. Nothing extravagant, but warm and homely.

"You must've been in a shipwreck, right? It took everything I had to drag you up from the beach yesterday... You had a raging fever all night—I honestly thought you weren't going to make it."

She tilted her head, reached out to check his forehead, then gave him a sweet smile.

"Looks like the fever's broken. That's a relief! Come on, have some porridge."

Roger looked at the girl's freckled, plain face—hardly stunning, but somehow radiant in its warmth. Then he glanced at the bowl in her hands.

After a few seconds of silence, a wide grin broke across his face.

"Sure!"

...

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