“Coo coo coo... Ha!”

After downing half a glass of wine, a guy wearing a black scarf and sporting a red nose looked quite gloomy.

“Captain Roger... *sigh*...”

“So many Navy personnel have come to Rogue Town; that bastard Karp's ship left a few days ago. Maybe we have a chance, Shanks...”

Beside him, Shanks, with a straw hat and red hair, didn’t respond but turned to glance at the drinkers in the tavern.

“Bang.”

Buggy slammed his cup down. “Damn Shanks, didn’t you hear what I said? If... if Rayleigh and the others are here...”

Before Buggy could finish, Shanks spoke up, “The first mate and the others understand the captain’s will and choices, and they agree. We’re here to fulfill the captain’s wishes, not to save anyone.”

Buggy fell silent for a long time.

“But...”

“There’s no ‘but.’ I also respect the captain’s choice. No one in this world can capture the freest Captain Roger; it’s the captain's own decision!”

After a long silence, Buggy finished the remaining half of his drink.

In a corner of the tavern, Kevin, wearing a cloak, quietly sipped his drink. His shadow clone had gone off to bathe, and he needed to wait for someone here.

However, half a day passed, and even into the night, that similarly cloaked figure did not appear.

During this time, one of the future Seven Warlords, Mihawk, came in to ask if there was any wine, and Crocodile, with a large cigar between his lips, was still sitting quietly on the other side.

Indeed, the man said to despise war, as Vegapunk described, didn’t seem to enjoy drinking much.

Lowering the hood of his cloak and putting on a black mask, Kevin left the tavern.

At that moment, the clone had already returned to their temporary residence, drunk.

Just as Kevin stepped out of the tavern, a guy in a dark green cloak passed by the entrance. At that moment, as the breeze brushed by, Kevin caught a glimpse of his side profile.

What a coincidence.

At this point, he was known as the leader of the Self-Defense Army, Monkey D. Dragon.

Unhurriedly, Kevin followed the figure ahead, but the streets they walked down became increasingly deserted, soon leading them out of town.

At this moment, Dragon also came to a halt.

“A masked guy, an intelligence agent for the World Government? Step out.”

Turning around, Dragon looked at Kevin. “But didn’t your superior tell you? If you discover my whereabouts, you need to report immediately, not follow me alone.”

The instant the words left his mouth, a hand appeared in front of Kevin.

He crossed his arms to block.

“Bang.”

The sudden surge of force sent Kevin reeling back, his blocking arms already numb.

“The gap is quite large...”

Kevin shook his arms, stood up, and replied, “But I’m not one of those Celestial Dragons’ dogs from CP; in fact, looking ahead, our positions are aligned.”

“Future? Position?”

Dragon frowned. “Such mystical talk doesn’t interest me. If you’re not from the World Government, then this is where it ends.”

Kevin smiled. “Maybe you should wait a bit; after all, I have something you currently need. A Self-Defense Army formed by those who can’t survive must be in dire need of money and arms, right?”

Just as Dragon was about to turn and leave, he paused.

After a moment, he said, “Follow me.”

...

More than ten minutes later, in the basement of a closed grocery store.

“So this is one of your routes to acquire weapons, huh? Rogue Town is near Reverse Mountain; without using the Navy and World Government’s channels, you can still get supplies to the Grand Line.”

Kevin looked at Dragon. “But... bringing me here like this, aren’t you afraid this grocery store will be discovered?”

Dragon calmly replied, “So now you need to convince me. Also, if your position aligns with mine, shouldn’t you take off the mask now?”

After pondering for a moment, Kevin reached up and removed the mask. “I just arrived in Rogue Town today and waited a long time for you at the tavern, only to later remember that you don’t like drinking but prefer tea.”

Dragon saw Kevin’s face; he looked very young.

“You know me well, or is it some kind of Devil Fruit ability?”

“That can be one way to understand it.”

Kevin didn’t deny it. “Currently, I have a batch of treasures and weapons. Though it’s not much, you should really need it right now.”

As he spoke, weapons appeared before Kevin: a long sword from the Naruto world, a flintlock from the pirate world, and modern firearms from the adventurer world.

Then they materialized into solid forms.

“Such an ability... creating things out of thin air?”

Dragon’s hand tightened.

No one understood the current situation of the so-called Self-Defense Army better than he did: no money, no weapons, and even food needed support.

The East Sea, being his homeland, had more familiar faces, and because of his father, it was relatively calm here, making the acquisition of supplies easier.

But even so, it was still a drop in the bucket.

If the ability of the person before him was to manufacture weapons, then the newly formed Self-Defense Army could be fully armed.

“Don’t think too much.”

Kevin interrupted his thoughts. “These things didn’t just appear out of nowhere. There are other treasures, but they aren’t here.”

Dragon was silent for a while, and after much contemplation, he spoke. “Though I don’t know the reason, these things are indeed what I need most right now.”

Kevin slightly shook his head. “No. Money and weapons are indeed essential for arming an army, but it seems you haven’t made a decision yet, have you?”

“The Self-Defense Army means to give oppressed civilians the courage to resist, right? But the strong in this world cannot simply be fought against by ordinary people mustering up courage to take up arms.”

“The Self-Defense Army is still weak, so weak that even the World Government hasn’t cast its gaze upon you. This is an opportunity, but the premise is that you know what you want to do.”

What to do?

A hint of confusion flashed in Dragon’s eyes.

As the son of the Navy hero Karp, he had been raised by his father in the ways of the Navy since childhood, and he knew how powerful the strong were in this world.

The combat power of ordinary people sometimes amounted to nothing more than numbers that fainted after a single wave of Conqueror’s Haki.

However... the scenes he witnessed in his youth made it impossible for him to remain indifferent.

So... he had to do something, even if he despised war.