One Piece: King Arthur's Template

Chapter 148: Arthur, Roger, and Garp

Step. Step.

As he walked along the road, Garp fell into deep thought.

"To be honest… the war Britannia is about to face is going to be a real mess."

"Vice Admiral Garp!"

Bogard hurried over and asked seriously, "What happened?"

Speaking of Bogard—

In truth, he didn't seem particularly famous, nor did he look like some renowned figure.

But was Bogard weak?

No.

On the contrary, he was very strong.

Moreover, Bogard knew Dragon's identity, Ace's identity, and Luffy's identity—

yet he had always kept silent.

Since joining the Marines, Bogard had originally been someone Kong intended to cultivate as his personal adjutant. But Garp had snatched him away. From the time he was only a child, Bogard had followed Garp.

It could be said that Bogard was like Garp's son.

For all these years, serving as Garp's aide, Bogard had never minded. He was perfectly content with it.

And—

Bogard was far from weak. At the very least, in the future, Bogard would possess strength approaching the level of a Yonko Commander.

Of course, that was the Bogard of his peak—not the current one.

Garp shook his head and asked, "Bogard, what do you think will happen if Ochoku and Silver Axe's pirate alliance goes to war with Britannia?"

Bogard answered without hesitation, "If they fight openly out at sea, the outcome is hard to predict. But if the battle takes place in Britannia itself, then the situation is completely different. If it really happens in Britannia, the most likely outcome is that the pirate alliance gets crushed outright."

"Vice Admiral Garp, you should know this clearly."

"Britannia…"

"The core of the Pendragon family."

"No one knows what kind of power is hidden there. That's exactly why the situation is so chaotic—and so troublesome."

"And besides…"

"In Britannia, the power Morgan le Fay can unleash is at its absolute peak."

To put it bluntly—

Bogard was certain of it.

This was by no means a simple matter.

If the war truly erupted in Britannia, the pirate alliance stood no chance at all.

After all, Britannia already had two Admiral-level fighters in plain sight.

And beyond them?

There was also Kay.

He was clearly another powerhouse, yet there was virtually no information about him in the outside world.

And although Gawain and Gareth each led knight corps stationed elsewhere, one shouldn't forget that over the past six months, the likes of the mad pirates, and even Silver Axe and Edward, had already proven Britannia's strength beyond all doubt.

"Exactly."

Garp nodded seriously.

"That's what I think too. But that's what makes it so strange. Everyone knows this—so do you think Ochoku and Silver Axe don't know it?"

"No. No."

He answered his own question.

"They definitely know. But even knowing that, they still chose to attack. Now that… that's interesting. Bogard, what do you think the reason is?"

Bogard thought for a moment, then said, "Vice Admiral Garp, the most likely possibility is that their alliance includes a lot of people. And on top of that… there's a major figure pulling the strings behind the scenes."

"Mm…"

It seemed Bogard had suddenly realized something.

His pupils contracted sharply.

He had likely guessed who that "major figure" was.

"Enough!"

Garp barked immediately, cutting him off before he could say it aloud.

His tone turned stern.

"Bogard. This conversation ends here. We can't keep talking about the rest."

"Understood."

Bogard also snapped back to attention and said seriously, "Vice Admiral Garp, no matter what, war is about to begin. It isn't suitable for us to keep staying here. And besides… why has the Roger Pirates also come here?"

Garp shook his head.

"I'm not entirely sure. But since the Roger Pirates are staying here, there's a good chance they're going to get drawn into this war too. And if that's really the case, then for the New World… this will become a huge, chaotic war."

Arthur. Roger. Ochoku. Silver Axe…

And—

those four were only the ones on the surface.

Who knew how many more people were already entangled behind the curtain?

If even more players had been drawn in, then things would truly become troublesome.

After all—

even just those four on the surface were already terrifying enough.

"Let's go."

"We'll head back for now."

"Yes, sir."

Garp returned to the warship with Bogard.

No matter what, they still had to attend the banquet that evening.

They needed to find out exactly what was happening.

That was extremely important.

This was not a joke.

The banquet that night mattered a great deal.

---

At the same time—

"Eh?!"

Sunbell and the others stared in stunned disbelief, their faces full of shock.

"Captain Roger?"

"You're not joking, are you?!"

"We're getting involved in this war?"

"Yeah."

To be honest, everyone on the seas already knew about the coming war between the pirate alliance and Britannia.

And precisely because they knew, they also understood just how chaotic it would be if one casually got dragged into it.

Roger scratched his head and said bluntly, "What else am I supposed to do? If we want a new ship, then we've got no choice but to lend a hand. Money's not the issue—but do you really think Arthur's short on cash?"

"…."

The crew twitched awkwardly at that.

Because it was true.

Arthur wasn't lacking money at all.

Just a few months ago, the treasure of Rocks had been split three ways between Arthur, Edward, and Shiki.

No one knew exactly how much treasure there had been.

But any fool could tell it must have been enormous.

Just look at Britannia's pace of development. Arthur clearly had more than enough money.

In that situation, offering payment meant nothing.

"I can't help it," Roger said helplessly. "They don't need money. The best way is to participate in this war. Otherwise, do you really think Master Shipwright Tom would build us a ship?"

The others hesitated.

But the truth was undeniable.

Could they use a ship not built by Tom?

Not that it was impossible.

But with the insane way the Roger Pirates sailed—diving into impossible seas, scaling impossible places, braving everything the ocean could throw at them—if the ship wasn't built by Tom, there was a very real chance it would fall apart one day.

That wasn't a joke.

For them, making proper preparations mattered.

"Sigh…"

The crew all realized they had no better option.

If they wanted the ship, then they had to go along with it.

Gaban, however, sat calmly and said, "You should all settle down a bit. For now, this isn't a huge issue. The problem has a solution, so it's not really a problem."

Everyone nodded.

That was true enough.

The ship was secured.

All they had to do was help fight one war.

As long as they were careful and nothing went wrong, it would be fine.

Sunbell rubbed his chin and asked seriously, "Captain, do you think this war's going to be a real headache?"

Roger shrugged.

"Doesn't that just make it more interesting?"

"Hehehe~~~"

Looking at Roger's carefree grin, the others couldn't help twitching at the corners of their mouths.

But that was just Roger.

That was always Roger.

To him, there was no such thing as a commotion he didn't want to see. In fact, not joining the chaos would probably kill him faster.

That was Roger's personality—he loved excitement, and he loved jumping into trouble.

Even if it weren't for the ship, Roger would still want to come watch this war unfold.

And now that the matter of the ship was involved too—

there was no chance he'd stay away.

Thinking of it like that, the crew all felt a headache coming on.

Still, that was just their captain.

They were used to it.

"But still…"

Rayleigh rubbed his forehead.

"Roger, it's one thing if this war only looks this simple on the surface. What worries me is if it's actually far more complicated than it appears."

"What do you mean?"

Roger blinked and asked.

Rayleigh shook his head.

"Now that we're involved, there are already four major sides in this war: Britannia, the Roger Pirates, Ochoku's crew, and Silver Axe's crew. And that likely isn't the end of it—it's probably only the beginning. No one can say for sure whether more forces are already being dragged into it."

And that was true.

After all—

this war could, with one wrong turn, expand into a massive conflict that spread across the entire world.

As for when it would begin?

No one knew.

But one thing was certain—

that time was coming soon.

Very soon.

"That really is a pain…"

"But…"

Roger's grin widened rather than faded.

"Doesn't that just make it even more interesting? A battlefield like this—that's the good stuff!"

"Hehehe~~~"

The smile on Roger's face grew brighter and brighter.

He was genuinely excited.

And the Roger Pirates were much the same.

Since they had already decided to involve themselves, then they had to do it with confidence.

After all—

did they really think they'd lose to anyone else?

Of course not.

That was impossible.

If they were going to participate, then they would do it properly.

---

Meanwhile—

"Your Majesty."

Agravain and Kay stood in the study.

Arthur sat in his chair, while Lamorak stood quietly at his side.

After bowing slightly, Agravain said, "Your Majesty, the Roger Pirates have chosen to join us. In that case, can they be counted as part of our fighting strength?"

Arthur nodded.

"Yes. Roger is that sort of man. No—more accurately, people like him on this sea are all the same. If they refuse, it means nothing. But once they agree, they won't casually go back on their word."

"Understood."

Agravain nodded seriously, then continued, "Your Majesty, this is a matter of great importance. With the Roger Pirates entering this battle, the entire situation changes drastically."

"Yes."

Kay also considered it carefully.

"And with Roger joining, it also proves something else. There's definitely a World Government shadow behind that pirate alliance. Otherwise, those people alone could never have gathered so much strength."

Over the past six months, the pirate alliance's rate of growth had also been astonishing.

It was as if both sides were racing each other.

Each was rapidly building strength, striving to surpass the other.

Because of that, Agravain and Kay had both reached the same conclusion after some thought:

the only force capable of supporting the pirate alliance on this scale was the World Government.

After all—

other forces simply couldn't spend that kind of money.

Ochoku and Silver Axe had certainly gained considerable wealth from the Rocks Pirates back in the day, but that wealth alone could never sustain expenditures of this magnitude.

Arthur nodded.

"As for Britannia's main island, I'm not too worried. With Big Sister and Second Sister here, there won't be any real problem."

"Now that the Roger Pirates have joined us, the Visma Region will also be much easier to deal with."

Then—

his eyes narrowed slightly.

"The real concern is…"

"Fish-Man Island."

That was the truly critical region.

That place remained extremely dangerous.

If the enemy chose to strike Fish-Man Island—

then the situation would become very troublesome indeed.

---------------------------------///

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