Chapter 967

The crew sailed to multiple other destinations as they sang Binks’ Sake to pass the time, and at one point came across one of the stone Wolf bridges. After passing by the Sabaody Archipelago they traveled underwater to Fish-Man Island, and Roger and Oden both heard noises around them. They were then stopped by Neptune and his guards and taken to the island. Neptune told Roger that he had heard a prophecy that the gates of Fish-Man Island would be destroyed, and suspected Roger would be the one to do it. Right then, Neptune’s men reported to him that a Sea King attacked the gates and that there was a hole in the bubble wall.

Neptune ordered the bubble to be sealed and bemoaned that the prophecy came true regardless of their efforts, and the Roger Pirates yelled at him for accusing them. Then, a 3-year-old Shyarly stated that the Sea Kings are restless because they are waiting for the Mermaid Princess to be born. This surprised everyone, including Neptune because he was not married yet. Neptune then took the Roger Pirates to the Road Poneglyph as well as the Poneglyph containing Joy Boy’s letter of apology, but they were surprised to not find the Ancient Weapon Poseidon there as Skypiea’s Poneglyph had said. However, Neptune revealed that Shyarly recently predicted that a mermaid who could talk to Sea Kings would soon be born.

Thus, he believed that his future daughter would be Poseidon. Roger asked Shyarly when the Mermaid Princess would be born, and she replied that it would be 10 years. Rayleigh assured Neptune that they were not after the weapon, but rather after the weapon creator’s treasure. The Roger Pirates later departed Fish-Man Island and continued adventuring in the New World. However, as they were drawing close to Wano, Toki came down with a fever and collapsed.

Crocus stated that she could not continue sailing in that state, and ordered for her to disembark on Wano like she had originally wanted. Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, and Oden decided to stay behind on Wano with Toki, but Toki told Oden to fulfill his promise and finish his adventure. Kin’emon, Kanjuro, Raizo, Kawamatsu, and Kikunojo greeted Oden’s family in Kuri and begged Oden to come back and rule over Wano, but Toki silenced them as Oden decided to continue going with Roger. As he headed back to the shore, Oden elected not to look back at his country, which was now dotted with factories, as he knew he could not leave it again if he did. After transcribing the Poneglyphs, the Roger Pirates quickly left Wano.

Later, the Roger Pirates made it to Zou, and delivered a letter to Duke Hitsugisukan from Inuarashi and Nekomamushi to let him know they were alive and well. They proceeded to find the final Road Poneglyph in the whale tree, and afterwards, Pedro begged Roger to let him come with him, but Roger said that the young mink’s time had not yet come. With the transcripts of all four Road Poneglyphs, the Roger Pirates charted the final island, but as they drew close to it, Buggy came down with a fever and he and Shanks stayed behind, with the latter saying they would get there on their own ship in the future. The Roger Pirates proceeded to reach the final island and conquered the Grand Line, with Roger becoming the Pirate King. Oden wrote of this experience, recounting that they had discovered the truths about the Void Century, the meaning of D., and the Ancient Weapons, and he learned that Wano had once been connected to the outside world. However, when Roger found Joy Boy’s treasure, he and the crew reacted with hearty laughter. Roger wished that he had lived in the same era as Joy Boy, saying that his story was a funny one. Because of this, he decided to name this island “Laugh Tale”.