Chapter 968

Now the ruler of the seas, Gol D. Roger elects to dissolve his crew and is the first to walk away. The remaining pirates then carry Kouzuki Oden back to his homeland. Once reunited with household and retainers, Oden discovers that Kurozumi Orochi has claimed the shogunate and, propped up by Kaidou, crushed the common people. Hearing that this menace reached his own family, Oden marches on the Flower Capital and stands before Orochi.

Shanks and Buggy rejoin the crew after Laugh Tale, and an answer from Roger about the voyage leaves Shanks in tears. Across the world, the newborn legend of the Pirate King spreads, though the World Government scrubs his true name into "Gold Roger" to bury the initial D. All that he won earns the label One Piece. A remembered exchange between two Sea Kings near Fish-Man Island is revealed: a queen destined to be born in ten years will need fifteen more to come of age, and Roger senses a successor greater than himself is coming. He tells Rayleigh a child of his will one day claim the prize, then boards off the Oro Jackson to see Whitebeard a last time, his sickness far advanced.

Second to leave, Oden asks to be set down in Wano so he may one day open its borders before Joy Boy returns. Both farewells drown in tears, though his journals swear otherwise. Kuri greets him warmly rather than with scorn, since Toki and the children had endeared themselves to the country. The retainers relate the years of decline, among them the passing of his father, the shogun's cruelty toward citizens, and the pact struck with Kaidou. When Kin'emon recounts the Beasts Pirates' raid on Oden Castle that left Toki scarred, Oden storms off, fells Orochi's guards, and readies the killing blow.