Chapter Twenty-Nine: Koby

The full moon hung high in the sky as Roland stood silently on the deck, gazing out over the pitch-black sea before him.

"Change the whole world, huh?" he murmured to himself, then let out a gentle laugh.

To tell the truth, before meeting young Donna, Roland had never entertained such thoughts. In his previous life as a lawyer, a car accident that should never have happened had brought him to this world, and ever since, he had harbored a certain disdain for the word "justice." If a burning passion alone could safeguard justice and punish evil, Roland felt that car accident should never have occurred; the person who truly deserved to die was the defendant in the very case he had been handling at the time.

Yet, when he saw little Donna that afternoon—saw that young girl, forced by the times into a life of vagrancy—Roland's deep-seated sense of justice told him he could no longer muddle through life as he had. A world so fundamentally twisted was in dire need of change.

Thus was born the plan Roland had shared earlier with Akin and Jason.

"You're still awake?" Unbeknownst to him, Nami had appeared behind Roland, her voice tinged with concern. "Ever since we met Donna, you seem to have a lot on your mind," she explained quickly as Roland turned to look at her.

Roland smiled. "Nami, what do you think if I became a Marine—a real Marine?"

"A Marine?" Nami looked at him in surprise. "Why are you suddenly talking about this? And if you want to join the Marines, just do it. Why insist on becoming a 'real' Marine?"

"Because those so-called Marines who oppress the people and do nothing but sit on their authority aren't worthy of the title. They certainly don’t deserve the justice emblazoned on their cloaks." Roland cast his gaze back at the sea, his tone laced with contempt, as if even the association of such people with justice was a disgrace.

Law enforcers who break the law, who abuse their office—those were the ones Roland despised most. In his previous life, whenever such a case crossed his desk, he would always fight for the heaviest sentence, the harshest punishment.

Nami fell silent. A real Marine, she thought. She couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope. If there had been even one true Marine in the East Blue, like the kind Roland described, her home—Cocoyashi Village—would not have suffered so many years of hardship. She herself would never have had to join Arlong’s gang or draw those hateful maps just to protect her village.

"All right, get some rest. Once we’re done in Shells Town, we’ll head to Loguetown," Roland said.

"If I’m to join the Marines, it must be the main branch. The Marines of East Blue… few of them are worth much." He patted Nami’s shoulder, smiled, and made his way to the infirmary. Ever since Nami had come aboard, he’d been living there, never one to fuss about such details.

But before heading to Loguetown, Arlong had to be dealt with.

"A real Marine..." Nami watched Roland's departing back, a gentle smile playing on her lips.

If it was Roland, perhaps she really could look forward to the future.

As the pirate navigator had said, Rosia Island was not far from Shells Town. By noon on the third day, Roland saw through his telescope an island many times larger than Rosia. At their current speed, it would be less than an hour before they reached shore.

Little Donna, standing beside him on the deck, saw it too. Life aboard the ship these past few days had done her good; her once gaunt cheeks were filling out, and she finally looked like the six-year-old girl she was meant to be. Gripping the railing with both hands, Donna gazed at the distant island, her cheeks flushed with excitement, lost in thought.

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded and the ship lurched violently. Roland moved with lightning speed, scooping Donna into his arms the moment the impact rang out.

"What happened?" he called out, sending out his observation Haki to assess the situation.

"A small fishing boat collided with us," a pirate reported after the ship had stabilized.

"A small fishing boat?" Roland’s voice rose in disbelief. Was this a joke? He’d set out to sea himself in a small fishing boat once. Compared to this massive three-decked warship, his old vessel was insignificant. If this ship was a heavy truck, his fishing boat would be a bicycle. Would you believe anyone who claimed a bicycle could shake a truck? Roland certainly wouldn’t.

"You’d better come take a look yourself," the pirate said, momentarily at a loss. He knew how absurd it sounded, but the facts were undeniable.

They made their way to the stern, and Roland fell silent—not at the sight of the fishing boat, but at its pilot.

A large pair of thick glasses, a mop of pink hair, and a stature barely taller than Donna’s.

It was Koby.

At this moment, Koby looked exactly as he did in the original story. As his tiny boat crashed into their enormous ship, Koby’s face turned green with terror. He sat frozen in his boat, sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Hey, you pink-haired brat! How do you even manage to hit a ship this size in the middle of an empty sea? Are you looking for trouble?" The pirates, restrained around Roland, showed no such courtesy to Koby, who had brought the trouble upon himself. They shouted at him without mercy.

"S-s-sorry, I didn’t mean—" Koby stammered, standing up on shaking legs and bowing in apology, as if he’d lost his soul.

"You—"

"Enough, I’ll handle this," Roland cut in, stopping the pirates. He set Donna down and stepped onto Koby’s boat.

Roland had always liked Koby. Timid and cautious in daily life, Koby was always careful not to anger anyone. Yet, when faced with injustice, he never backed down. Here was someone with a true sense of justice.

And Koby’s natural talent was nothing to scoff at. After training under Garp, he improved rapidly, even awakening Observation Haki during the war at Marineford. He never caught up to Luffy, but then, Luffy was a protagonist blessed with outrageous luck—hardly a fair comparison.

"You are...?" Koby’s trembling eased a little as he looked up at the tall man before him.

"Roland. Someone who wants to become a Marine." Roland smiled warmly and extended his right hand in friendship.

If he truly intended to change the world, he would need people like Koby by his side. Though Koby might not rise to the rank of admiral any time soon, he was more than capable of becoming a vice admiral.