However, since Roger was unaware of Rayleigh's relationship with Makima, he merely thought Rayleigh was worried about him and had no choice but to contact Makima. He didn't consider the possibility that Rayleigh might have a deeper connection with Makima.
At this moment, Roger was in a peculiar state. Knowing the time of his death had oddly cleared his mind.
Knowing when death would come, what else was there to worry about?
This thought helped Roger make some progress in his observation of Haki.
"Ascension Altar?"
That brat Nameless hid this from me!
Roger clicked his tongue but remained still outwardly. He understood his crew's intentions. Since they were so concerned, he decided to play along.
With his Observation Haki, he could sense things from afar. If any danger arose, he could rush over in time.
Though, to be honest...
There weren't many things in this world that could threaten them.
Rayleigh and Jabba were both top-tier fighters. With the two of them around, even if they could handle it, Admiral showed up, and tcogcogs got too hairy; Nameless could use teleportation to evacuate everyone.
So, Roger was relatively at ease.
As Roger pondered, the ship came to a stop.
They had arrived at a small, uninhabited island, the very one Nameless had sensed.
"We're going ashore to resupply. You stay on the ship and guard it," Rayleigh said casually as he walked past Roger's quarters, then led Nameless, Jabba, and some crew members off the ship.
"That lie was pretty transparent. This island doesn't look like a place to resupply," Jabba remarked after they died.
Indeed, the island appeared barren and was a little small.
"He never really cares about that," Rayleigh replied nonchalantly. "As long as the ship has enough food for a party, it's fine."
They walked across the island, with Nameless naturally leading the way since he could sense the location of the Ascension Altar.
"By the way, where exactly is this island?" Nameless asked as he walked ahead.
His backstory was that he had always been hiding in a cave in Jalzburg. Now that he was out at sea, he wasn't as familiar with the New World as these seasoned pirates.
"Let's see..." Jabba, the helmsman, thought for a moment. "There's a World Government member nation called the Vodka Kingdom nearby, and not much else."
"Vodka Kingdom..." Rayleigh seemed to recall something. "Isn't that where Kaido is from?"
"Kaido?" Jabba remembered the name. Kaido had been a member of the Rocks Pirates and was now a prominent figure in the New World after the crew disbanded. They had even encountered him in Wano Country recently.
"Yes, I heard Kaido was a super soldier from the Vodka Kingdom but ran away after the government tried to send him to the World Government. When he joined the Rocks Pirates, there were rumors that Rocks was invincible."
Jabba laughed.
They had encountered countless so-called invincible figures on the seas. Such titles had lost their impact.
The sea was full of idle chatter, and rumours often grew in the telling. A minor incident could become a major event after passing a few pirate crews.
At first, it might be a pirate sinking a Navy ship. After a few days, an Admiral was on board. Soon, it would be that the Admiral and Fleet Admiral were having tea when the ship was sunk.
So, they never believed in such titles, especially those claiming to be the strongest or invincible. They just took it to mean those individuals were very strong. After all, every pirate needed some kind of title.
"But Kaido is indeed powerful, especially considering he's still young," Rayleigh shook his head. "He could be a troublesome opponent in the future."
Of course, that's if they even had a future.
According to Toguro, Roger's curse would give him, at most, eight more years to live.
This thought cast a shadow over Rayleigh's heart.
If it reached a point of no return, they may be more optimistic.
They continued forward, eventually entering a forest.
As they suspected, the place was uninhabited, at least now. There were signs that people had lived there once. The forest contained some collapsed wooden houses, but they looked like they had fallen naturally over time, not due to battle.
"..."
They pressed on until they reached the forest's depths and stopped.
"Is this it?"
They looked at the ruins before them. "Even altars with extraordinary powers eventually fall."
Indeed, they had found the Ascension Altar, but it was in ruins. The massive altar and its disc had collapsed, and the mysterious power within it was gone.
Nameless sighed. "Maybe it's for the best that such harmful things are gone."
The others agreed. Just then, a voice interrupted their thoughts.
"But it's not a complete loss."
"?!" They turned, surprised and somewhat speechless, especially Rayleigh, who asked irritably, "Why are you here?"
Yes, it was Roger!
He had left the ship!
"Hey, I found something interesting!" Roger smiled sheepishly and quickly entered the ruins, pulling out a box-like object.
The object, made of an unknown material, emitted a faint glow. It comprised three parts: the top and bottom were octagonal prisms, and the middle was a cylinder connecting the two.
Each prism had a corresponding symbol on the cylinder.
Roger looked at the symbols and seemed to see words within them. He slowly read them aloud.
"Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Oblivion, Redemption, Revelation, Karma."
Eight symbols in total. Roger frowned.
Eight symbols...
Could this number match a certain group?