Chapter 490: Government Reaction
Time passed peacefully, arriving at Sea Calendar 1496.
No major conflict erupted in the New World, and even the Whitebeard Pirates did not rise as expected.
The development of factions has a rhythm; once that rhythm is interrupted, the negative impact is enormous.
If development is smooth, the overall trend will be upward, developing faster and faster like a snowball, maintaining a certain speed.
The most significant example is the Flying Pirates.
Benefiting from the war period, the Flying Pirates' development never stopped.
As for the Whitebeard Pirates, after suffering a crushing defeat, they were somewhat in a slump.
Of course, their strength is restoring, but the fresh blood replenishing their ranks was less.
Fewer affiliated forces were willing to join the Whitebeard Pirates and attach themselves to Whitebeard.
The main reason many factions joined the Whitebeard Pirates was the powerful prestige of "Whitebeard" Edward Newgate, passed down from the Rocks Era.
Also, Newgate's powerful strength.
Under Whitebeard, they could achieve development and their safety could be guaranteed.
However, the loss in the war showed the weakness of the Whitebeard Pirates, so naturally, factions wouldn't join Whitebeard's command without hesitation.
Factions flocking to the Whitebeard Pirates' territory wouldn't happen until the Whitebeard Pirates regrouped and achieved powerful victories.
Currently, Whitebeard not only lost the title of "Legendary Pirate" but also hasn't obtained the title of "World's Strongest".
This is only recognized through continuous battle.
To protect his pirates, the Whitebeard Pirates retreated to their territory, and Newgate's instances of taking action naturally decreased.
Naturally, he couldn't prove Newgate's shocking and terrifying destructive power.
The impact of having the development rhythm interrupted is fatal.
If they cannot re-establish their reputation and the impression of weakness becomes known, they will naturally become the target of many pirate provocations.
Especially those Young Pirates who want to climb up by stepping over the corpses of Elder.
Like John, Silver Axe, and the Five Peaks Pirates, who were defeated by the Flying Pirates.
They immediately regained face from other Great Pirates, proving that it wasn't that they were weak, but that the Flying Pirates were too powerful.
This kind of behavior to some extent compensated for the impact of the defeat, and the strength lost in the war was also rapidly restoring.
After all, they were Top-Tier Pirate Crews located in the second tier of Great Sea.
The Flying Pirates continuously searched for news about the Ancient Weapon.
Only by obtaining the Ancient Weapon would they have absolute confidence in resisting the World Government.
However, there was no news at all.
Without clues, searching further would be a waste of time.
During this time, the Flying Pirates' strength further increased instead.
In an unknown sea area, the Oro Jackson sailed upon The Great Sea.
The crewmates of the Roger Pirates gathered in the Captain's Cabin.
Roger, Rayleigh, Gaban, and Kozuki Oden, the leading main combatants and core members, looked at the Poneglyph rubbings spread on the ground.
They continuously pondered, chins in hands, brows furrowed.
Especially the rubbings of the three Road Poneglyphs, it was as if a piece of the puzzle was missing.
"Where could the last Road Poneglyph be?"
"We've even been to Elbaf."
Trying to find a single stone on the vast Great Sea is simply too difficult.
The first Road Poneglyph was obtained by the Rocks Pirates during the time they shook the Great Sea, and later fell into the hands of the Big Mom Pirates.
The latter two Road Poneglyphs came from Wano Country and Uso Island respectively.
To be precise, all three of these Road Poneglyphs were obtained very easily.
One was through trade, and two had Kozuki Oden as a guide.
But for the last Road Poneglyph, they could say they had no clue at all.
Through the interpretation of the Poneglyphs, they also learned some things about the Void Century, especially concerning the mysterious Great Kingdom.
They searched many of the places recorded within, especially the Giant Kingdom Elbaf, but found no whereabouts of the Road Poneglyph.
There were no clues ahead, and the World Government was pursuing them from behind.
This made them somewhat disappointed, but they did not give up.
"No, something must have gone wrong in one of the steps. The last Road Poneglyph must be in some corner of the Grand Line. We might have accidentally missed it, or didn't discover it."
Roger stood up, his gaze following the view outside the window towards the distant Great Sea.
"Among the three Ancient Weapons, only Poseidon is left that we don't know about, right?"
Rayleigh reminded him from the side with a meaningful tone.
"That would be Fish-Man Island. Should we go there again?"
Kozuki Oden was a bit impatient, after all, they were only one step away now.
Completing the final step would allow them to conquer the Grand Line.
In this process, they also learned more of the truth, and it drew them to learn even more.
"No, Fish-Man Island might be a crucial link, but I feel we must have missed something along the way."
Roger walked to the window, took a deep breath, then turned around, a look of excitement on his face, and clapped his hands.
"Folks, let's start from the beginning, travel the Grand Line again, accompany me on this final journey, circle the World once, and completely conquer the Great Sea."
He truly didn't have much life left, perhaps about two more years of time.
Everyone in the Roger Pirates was willing to accompany him on this last stretch of the journey.
The ship's rudder turned, all the crewmates performed their duties, the Oro Jackson turned, and continuously sailed North.
To circle the World once, they first had to return to the starting point of the Grand Line, which is Reverse Mountain connecting the Four Seas, also known as Twin Capes.
The route they chose was to go through the Calm Belt in the New World North to reach the North Blue, and then return to Reverse Mountain.
On the other side, the World Government had long established a special operation team targeting the Roger Pirates.
Paying attention to every move of the Roger Pirates, all the places they had been were recorded and closely monitored.
Of course, this wasn't accurate; for the vast majority of the time, their grasp of the Roger Pirates' whereabouts was in an unknown state.
They could only determine the approximate trajectory of their operations through some places they had appeared.
And the Giant Kingdom Elbaf was clearly a crucial node.
As Elbaf moved from division towards unification, under the rule of the Giant Kingdom.
Although the connections were not close, the World Government still paid great attention to Elbaf.
The news that the Roger Pirates appeared in Elbaf and made contact with the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Elbaf Giants was learned by the World Government.
"Could Elbaf have a Road Poneglyph?"
Marcus Mars Saint asked in a deep voice.
The surroundings were silent; the other four Five Elders were all contemplating this possibility.
No one refuted it, indicating that the probability of this statement was high.
After all, the Kingdom of Elbaf Giants has also been passed down for over a thousand years.
Even if Elbaf fell into a divided situation, the Giant Kingdom was still the strongest faction in Elbaf.
As Celestial Dragons, they were aware that over eight hundred years ago, Nika himself was a person possessing Giant Tribe bloodline and was a mixed-blood.
During the Great Kingdom period, Elbaf was also a strong supporter of the Great Kingdom.
After the Allied Forces formed by the Twenty Kings caused the downfall of the Great Kingdom and established the World Government, a fierce war erupted with the Elbaf Giant Tribe.
Not just Elbaf, but also the supporters of the Great Kingdom, especially various races.
The World Government and the Elbaf Giant Tribe had hatred between them.
To ease the connections and let time wear everything away, the World Government did not make contact with Elbaf for over three hundred years of time.
It wasn't until a generation of Elbaf died and the next generation had almost forgotten their hatred for the World Government that the World Government began to contact Elbaf.
Interfering in the internal affairs of the Giant Tribe, and even promoting the division of Elbaf.
"Let's not worry about the Giant Tribe for now."
"We cannot let the Roger Pirates continue. That guy Garp can't catch Roger, so we must take other measures to curb the Roger Pirates' operations."
"It's best to settle it once and for all."
Saint Saturn crossed his arms over his chest.
Watching the Roger Pirates continuously operate made them feel an increasing sense of crisis.
They didn't know when the Roger Pirates would reveal everything, or even if they held the whereabouts of the Ancient Weapon.
Although there was no evidence, they guessed that the Roger Pirates should have clues about the Ancient Weapon.
Because the Roger Pirates possessed the ability to interpret Poneglyphs.
Regardless of which Ancient Weapon it was, it possessed terrifying strength that could threaten the World Government's rule.
The World Government had records regarding the Ancient Weapon, and naturally, it was within the scope of the Five Elders' understanding.
"So what should we do?"
"Notify the Marines and those below us. Within three days, a plan must be produced."
"Seconded!"
"Seconded!"
.
.
.
(end of chapter)