When Shanks had first heard that Ron had established the Eternal Divine Kingdom, he had assumed the young man simply wanted to become another Emperor of the Sea.
Perhaps Ron intended to claim his own territory, build a sphere of influence like the other Emperors, and carve out a place for himself in this vast and dangerous ocean.
That sort of ambition was hardly unusual. Countless powerful figures dreamed of climbing to the top and ruling over territory of their own.
But what was happening now had gone far beyond anything Shanks had expected.
Ron's forces had directly attacked Marine Headquarters.
That was no longer within the unwritten boundaries even the Emperors normally respected.
Marineford was one of the World Government's most important military pillars, a symbol of its authority and power. Striking it openly was effectively a declaration that the Eternal Divine Kingdom was willing to confront the World Government itself.
"Overthrow the World Government…?"
Shanks murmured to himself.
"Build a new order? Or is there something else behind all of this?"
His expression grew increasingly grave.
Few people understood better than Shanks just how terrifying the World Government's hidden foundations truly were.
Eight hundred years of history concealed far more than what the world saw on the surface.
Secret organizations.
Ancient knowledge.
Technology.
Resources.
Forces that remained hidden until they were needed.
What the public knew was merely the visible tip of an enormous iceberg.
Anyone who challenged the World Government directly risked being crushed beneath everything hidden below the surface.
Yet Ron had deliberately placed himself—and the still-young Eternal Divine Kingdom—directly against that old order.
It was an extraordinarily dangerous position.
One wrong step could send everything he had built plunging into the abyss.
"The whole sea really is about to boil over…"
Shanks reached for the sword beside him.
His fingers rested against the hilt of Gryphon as his gaze drifted toward the horizon.
"Who could've imagined things turning out like this?"
His voice softened.
"Captain Roger… is this the kind of era you wanted to see?"
The sea stretched endlessly before him.
Yet in Shanks's mind, he could already see the enormous waves that were beginning to gather beyond the horizon.
For years, he had done everything he could to preserve the fragile balance of the world.
It had never been perfect.
But it had prevented the greatest powers from crashing into one another all at once.
Now Ron had shattered that balance in the most forceful way possible.
The future had become impossible to predict.
And Shanks could not help wondering what role he and the Red Hair Pirates would play in the upheaval ahead.
Would they help guide the coming era?
Or would even they be swallowed by the tide of change?
He remained silent for a long time, staring at the restless waves.
The initial shock had faded, replaced by something heavier.
Urgency.
Shanks lowered the newspaper and began tapping his fingers against Gryphon's hilt.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Time…"
His voice was quiet.
"What we lack most is time."
Ron and the Eternal Divine Kingdom had risen far too quickly.
Their strength had expanded at a pace no one had anticipated, and their methods were just as direct.
There was little hesitation.
Little compromise.
It was almost as though Ron already knew exactly where he wanted history to go and was forcing the entire world to move faster in order to keep up.
Whether that acceleration would ultimately save the world or destroy it, Shanks could not yet say.
But his instincts warned him that something was wrong.
Through his experience—and the strange sensitivity to the world around him that the source of Roger's era had taught him to trust—Shanks could feel the danger building.
If events continued accelerating at this pace, then before the world ever reached that long-awaited Dawn, the collision between the Eternal Divine Kingdom and the World Government might engulf everything in a catastrophic war.
A war vast enough to tear apart a world that was already filled with conflict.
And if that happened—
there might not be much left for the Dawn to save.
...
Shanks slowly raised his head and looked toward the East Blue, as though his gaze could cross the vast ocean and reach the boy in the straw hat who was still charging cheerfully down the path of adventure.
"Luffy…"
His voice was quiet, filled with expectation and a trace of concern.
"You're going to have to grow faster."
Shanks had placed enormous hopes on that boy. Luffy possessed extraordinary potential and possibilities that seemed almost limitless, but before he could face what was coming, he first needed enough strength to protect himself and stand firm against the storms of the sea.
In Shanks's eyes, the world had lived beneath the World Government's shadow for eight hundred years. Those centuries of control had bound the seas in invisible chains, leaving countless people struggling beneath oppression and hardship.
What the world needed was not merely another overwhelmingly powerful man capable of destroying the existing order through force.
Simply replacing one ruler with another would change little.
What the sea truly needed was a symbol of liberation and freedom—someone capable of lighting that desire within countless hearts and guiding people toward a future they could choose for themselves.
A figure like the sun.
Shanks stared across the rolling waves as his thoughts drifted toward an ancient legend, one the World Government had done everything in its power to bury.
"Nika…"
He spoke the name so softly that almost no one could hear him.
His gaze sharpened.
To Shanks, Nika was far more than a forgotten name. He represented the Warrior of Liberation, a figure who broke chains and brought hope to those who had been denied freedom.
Only when the Sun God Nika, whose heartbeat carried the Drums of Liberation, returned to the world could the chains of the past eight hundred years truly be broken.
Otherwise, even if the World Government fell, the result might simply be another transfer of power.
One ruler would disappear.
Another would take its place.
And if that replacement became another overwhelming regime like the Eternal Divine Kingdom, then the people at the bottom might still never know genuine freedom.
That was why Shanks had placed his faith in Luffy.
The boy was the one he had wagered an arm on.
Among everyone Shanks had encountered, Luffy possessed the qualities he believed were most likely to awaken the will represented by Nika—an instinctive love of freedom, an absolute refusal to be bound, and the courage to chase his dreams regardless of what stood in his path.
Shanks believed those qualities could eventually lead Luffy to something far greater than becoming a powerful pirate.
Ron's astonishing rise had thrown a massive stone into waters that had remained stagnant for far too long.
His actions looked reckless, even insane, but the ripples they created were spreading across the entire world.
Shanks turned toward Beckman.
"Ron's moving so aggressively that it looks almost crazy."
His expression remained serious.
"But from another perspective… maybe this pressure will force that brat Luffy to grow faster too."
Beckman listened without interrupting.
Shanks looked back toward the sea.
"The problem is time."
His voice grew heavier.
"Before the final storm gets completely out of control, we need to buy enough time for Luffy—and for this world."
Every day mattered now.
The conflict between the Eternal Divine Kingdom and the World Government was accelerating too quickly. If those two powers collided at full force before Luffy was ready, the world might be dragged into a catastrophe before the person Shanks believed could truly change it ever reached his potential.
Shanks slowly clenched his fist.
He knew he could not simply throw the Red Hair Pirates directly into the struggle between Ron and the World Government.
Too many forces and interests were entangled in that conflict, and careless intervention could make the situation even worse.
But that did not mean he had to remain passive.
He could influence events in his own way.
He could slow things down where possible, steer dangerous confrontations away from the point of no return, and prepare for the war that seemed increasingly inevitable.
Above all—
he had to make sure Luffy had time to grow.
By the time the final battle that would decide the fate of the world arrived, Shanks wanted that endlessly energetic boy in the straw hat to possess enough strength to truly change everything.
In Shanks's heart, Luffy was the one most capable of becoming the Warrior of Liberation who could lead the coming era toward genuine freedom.
And if that was the future waiting ahead, then Shanks's role was clear.
Until Luffy was ready—
he would do everything he could to buy him time.
The sea had enjoyed moments of fragile peace, but those days were rapidly disappearing. Tensions between the world's great powers were intensifying, and a storm unlike anything before it was approaching.
To Shanks, however, the greatest hope of salvation still rested with something very small.
A single straw hat.