In the New World, on the Whitebeard Pirates' Moby Dick.
The Moby Dick was a massive pirate ship shaped like a great white whale, and it was the flagship of Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, the man known as the World's Strongest Man.
Newgate was sitting on a throne on the deck, holding a freshly printed newspaper. He looked at the headline with an incredulous expression.
Major Event: The Golden Lion's Flying Pirates' Fleet Suffers a Marine Ambush and Is Completely Annihilated at the Edd War Sea!!!"
The headline on the front page of the World Economic Journal was truly astonishing.
Newgate's attention was immediately captured, and he began to read it carefully.
He finished it quickly.
Overall, the news was a glorification of the Marines' achievements.
According to the report, Marine Admiral Sengoku, leading the hero Garp and Chief of Staff Tsuru, had received intelligence on Shiki and assembled a pursuit squad. They went directly from Marine Headquarters, Marineford, to the Edd War Sea.
They caught Shiki completely by surprise.
The brave and skilled Marines, with support from Vice Admiral Sakazuki and Vice Admiral Borsalino and others, quickly destroyed Shiki's great fleet.
Shiki was heavily injured by the Marines and fled in a sorry state. The entire Flying Pirates' fleet was completely wiped out.
Several famous pirates under Shiki were either killed or captured.
It could be said that aside from Shiki's lucky escape, the Marines had completely eliminated the Flying Pirates, the reigning pirate ruler of the New World, in this battle.
As one of the world's most powerful pirates, Newgate naturally didn't trust everything in the newspaper.
He knew very well that while the World Economy News Papers wasn't directly controlled by the World Government, it still hovered on the fringes of it.
The news in it was a mix of truth and lies, and it couldn't be trusted completely.
But a photo never lies. The front page featured a picture of a Marine warship riding majestically through the wreckage of Shiki's Flying Pirates' fleet.
"This is really… Pops, I guess Shiki is done for, huh? I can't believe a man like him was completely defeated by the Marines. It seems their strength is beyond our imagination, doesn't it?" Jozu said, shocked.
Newgate nodded, then shook his head. "If it's really like the paper says, then the Marines' strength is indeed beyond imagination. But what's reported here isn't necessarily true. Besides… as long as Shiki hasn't been killed by the Marines, the Flying Pirates and the rest will never be completely gone."
"That's true. I have no doubt that guy, Shiki, can make a comeback," Jozu said, nodding again.
Marco, who was standing nearby, asked with a hint of curiosity, "Why is that, yoi?"
At this time, Marco wasn't the captain of the 1st division yet, and the Whitebeard Pirates weren't as large as they would become.
As mentioned earlier, Shiki was the current ruler of the seas.
Marco was just an apprentice now, looking very young and inexperienced, but he already had the power of the Mythical Zoan-type Phoenix Fruit. Newgate valued him highly and kept him close to mentor him.
Hearing Marco's question, Newgate chuckled. "Gurararara, just like us, most pirate crews are built around their captain. So, as long as that guy Shiki isn't killed by the Marines, if you give him some time, he can definitely rebuild another Flying Pirates' fleet that's no less powerful than the last one. He'll go right back to being the pirate ruler."
After he finished speaking, Newgate tossed the newspaper aside, no longer paying attention to the matter.
What happened to Shiki had nothing to do with him. Even though they were once on the same crew, that was all in the past.
As long as that bastard didn't provoke him, Newgate, he was free to be the pirate ruler of the world.
"How far are we from Wano?" Newgate asked softly.
"Pops, within a week," Jozu replied quickly.
That's right. Newgate and his crew were currently on their way to Wano. It was there that they would meet Kozuki Oden. Then, they would go on an adventure together before Oden quickly joined the Roger Pirates, reached Final Island, and returned home to face Kaido.
Meanwhile, on the Roger Pirates' ship, Roger and his friends were drinking together.
"The Marines are so shameless. How did Shiki's fleet get destroyed? We know what happened, so how can they act like Sengoku beat Shiki?!" Gaban said, holding the newspaper and cursing.
"Hahahahaha, isn't this great? With the Marines taking the credit, we don't have to be in the spotlight. I really don't want to be the center of attention right now," Roger said with a loud laugh.
"You should drink less. It's not good for your health!" Crocus glared at Roger.
Roger looked helpless. "If I can't drink, I'd rather not live."
"What about us if you die so early?" Rayleigh also glared at Roger.
"Without your weird ability, we can't read the Poneglyphs. Then no one will be able to find the final island," Gaban said, nodding in agreement.
"Then it looks like we'll have to find someone who can read the Poneglyphs…" Roger said, smacking his lips.
In short, not just Roger and Whitebeard, but the entire world was swept up by the big news of Shiki's defeat at the hands of the Marines.
For a time, the Marines' reputation, which had been slowly declining in the New World, quickly rose.
Of course, this was probably just a temporary effect. If the Marines didn't do much in the New World in the near future, their reputation would likely decline again.
The impact of Shiki's defeat was also not small. The New World wasn't lacking in ambitious pirates, and not all of them recognized Shiki as the so-called "pirate overlord."
For example, Charlotte Linlin, and also… Kaido of the Beasts.
A dragon-versus-tiger brawl was definitely going to unfold in this sea.
....
Grand Line, First Half, Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Inside an empty training ground at Marineford, Zephyr, Kuzan, Garp, Borsalino, and others were standing on the sidelines, watching the situation inside.
The training ground was in ruins. The once-solid ground was now full of craters, with large amounts of soil and rocks churned up. The walls in the distance had also toppled over.
Diarmuid was sitting in the middle of these ruins, trying his best to suppress the wild power within him.
He now believed that if he had eaten the Devil Fruit on the warship, he would have instantly destroyed it.
Just five minutes ago, after he ate the Devil Fruit, the surrounding gravity went out of control. Fortunately, with the help of Kuzan and the others, they managed to hold him down and prevented him from completely losing control.
Now, he was trying to stabilize that unfamiliar power in his body.
"He was able to calm down so quickly. It seems his control over his power is quite good," Zephyr said with satisfaction, seeing that Diarmuid's aura was gradually stabilizing.
Although Zephyr himself didn't eat a Devil Fruit and relied on Haki and martial arts to be one of the top fighters, he wouldn't stop others from doing what they thought was right. Teaching students according to their talents was his nature.
Diarmuid went on a trip to the New World, came back with the Gravity-Gravity Fruit, and decided to eat it. Zephyr didn't try to stop him. On the contrary, he paid even more attention to Diarmuid.
After all, if the Gravity-Gravity Fruit was trained well, he might not be any worse than Shiki in the future.
As soon as Zephyr finished speaking, Diarmuid stood up. After taking two steps, his body felt heavy and light at the same time. It seemed he wasn't even used to walking anymore.
Zephyr's face darkened. "I guess you can't praise people so easily."
"The more powerful the ability, the more of an adjustment period you'll have. This is normal," Garp said calmly.
Even though he wasn't a Devil Fruit user, his apprentice Kuzan was. According to Kuzan, when he first lost control of his ability, he froze an entire sea.
Compared to that, Diarmuid was already doing great. He at least didn't flip Marineford upside down!
"Sensei!" Diarmuid walked over to Zephyr with an uneven gait and greeted him.
Zephyr nodded and sighed. "I wanted you to practice the Rokushiki first, but looking at your state, you can't even control your own power. You should first learn how to control your new power. As for developing the ability, don't be in a hurry…"
"Yes, Sensei!" Diarmuid nodded.
You can't get fat with one mouthful of food. He originally thought that if he became a Gravity-Gravity Fruit user, he would instantly become a formidable fighter.
Now it seemed that wasn't the case at all.
But thankfully, he had already laid the groundwork. Diarmuid wasn't an impatient person.
"Diarmuid, an ability is important, but your personal skill is just as important. Don't get too caught up in your ability…" Zephyr said earnestly.
When he said this, he seemed to glance at Borsalino intentionally or unintentionally.
Borsalino naturally understood that Zephyr was talking about him. After all, from the very beginning, he and Zephyr had never seen eye to eye on this matter.
After returning this time, Zephyr quickly noticed that the relationship between Diarmuid and Borsalino seemed to be quite good.
He was afraid that Borsalino would lead this promising young man astray, so he quickly gave him a warning.
"Yes, Zephyr-sensei. Don't worry. That's what I'm thinking, too. I hope to become a person who has no weaknesses in Haki, Devil Fruit abilities, or martial arts!" Diarmuid said very seriously.
"It's good that you think that way, but that path is much more difficult…" Zephyr paused here. From what he knew, Diarmuid was a very persistent person.
So he didn't say anything more and laughed. "Much better than some bastards."
Borsalino's face twitched slightly, and he gave an awkward cough.
"Yes, I'm talking about you! Hmph. If only you were half as worry-free as Diarmuid… Sigh," Zephyr scolded him.
Borsalino didn't dare to talk back. What could he do? Zephyr was his Sensei.
Was he supposed to be disrespectful to Zephyr?
At that moment, Sengoku's Den Den Mushi rang from Garp's pocket. He wanted them to meet him in his office and specifically asked them to bring Diarmuid.
Therefore, after hanging up the Den Den Mushi, the group quickly headed to Sengoku's office.