Kaido might look like a brute with nothing but muscle in his head, but he was far from stupid.
On the contrary — he was the kind who appeared simple‑minded on the surface yet was actually sharp and cunning.
As for Big Mom, she would never let the Marines reap any benefits either.
At that moment, a Rear Admiral stepped up behind them and saluted.
"Vice Admiral Garp, Admiral Sengoku — Headquarters just sent word: the battle between Whitebeard and Grimm has ended. We also have confirmed reports that remnants of the Golden Lion's fleet — the scientist‑magician Indigo, Matthias the Iron Mask, Strugos the Swordsman, and others — have joined Grimm's crew."
Sengoku's pupils narrowed, and a sharp, fierce glint flashed in his eyes. "These are all Shiki's old, trusted subordinates. Apart from Indigo, who is non‑combatant, every single one of them is a notorious criminal with a bounty of over 300 million Berries!"
The Rear Admiral hesitated briefly before continuing. "There are also several other matters. Fleet Admiral Kong requests you both return to Headquarters immediately for discussion. First: the Donquixote Pirates have sailed from the North Blue into the Grand Line, and appear to be heading straight for the New World. Second: the Red‑Haired Pirates have been making huge waves across the Grand Line."
"The Donquixote Pirates?"
"The Red‑Haired Pirates?"
Hearing these two names, both Sengoku and Garp's expressions darkened visibly. Each reacted strongly for their own reasons.
Donquixote Doflamingo, captain of the Donquixote Pirates, had murdered Sengoku's adopted son, Rosinante.
Meanwhile, two years prior, Shanks — captain of the Red‑Haired Pirates — had met Grimm in his hometown of Foosha Village, and whatever had happened there had set Garp's own grandson on the path to becoming a pirate.
Understandably, neither man was pleased to hear those names.
"Set sail back to Headquarters," Sengoku ordered.
For the next week, news of Grimm clashing with Whitebeard, and Kaido battling Big Mom, dominated the front pages of every newspaper.
Even rising crews like the Donquixote and Red‑Haired Pirates were overshadowed by these events.
Mannoroth, who served both as mount and guardian, twisted his massive skeletal frame as he read the reports, his voice filled with excitement.
"Master — why not seize this chance to finish off Kaido or Big Mom while they are weakened?"
His suggestion was immediately shot down by Strugos and the others standing behind him.
Grimm assigned the northwestern part of Arte, a large agricultural island, as the new base for Indigo and the more than one thousand remaining members of the Golden Lion fleet.
The island was vast, with three major towns — one of which was already empty, making it perfect for their settlement.
This arrangement had actually been proposed by Strugos himself. These seasoned veterans knew well that to secure a place in a new crew, they had to prove their worth; and the island was in dire need of strong defenders.
The Kuja Pirates, meanwhile, had suffered heavy losses in the last fight — one‑third of their warriors had fallen, and countless more were wounded.
Grimm had brought most of the slain back to life, but a few had sunk too deep into the ocean to be recovered.
As Empress, Hancock felt her forces were still not strong enough. While tending to their recovery, she also planned to train her warriors to greater strength before setting sail again.
Elsewhere, Jaina, Planck, and Yasuo were stretched thin, managing affairs across more than a dozen islands. Kel'Thuzad remained deep in his research, still working to perfect Naxxramas.
With all these shifts, the balance of power in the New World became clearer than ever.
The second half of the New World remained firmly under Whitebeard's control. The first half was dominated by Big Mom, while Kaido and Grimm each held sway over the central regions.
Whitebeard still possessed the largest territory, and his standing as one of the four great powers remained unchanged.
The newspapers never clearly declared a winner in these Emperor‑level clashes, but such vague reporting only fueled speculation.
Who among the four was truly the strongest?
What no one in the world yet realized was that Whitebeard's long‑held title of "the strongest man in the world" had now been called into question.
On one of Whitebeard's islands deep in the second half of the New World:
"Cough… cough… cough!"
Whitebeard's face suddenly contorted, as if something was stuck in his throat, before he was seized by a violent fit of coughing.
Several nurses rushed over, carrying large IV bags. Climbing up beside him, they removed the empty bottle and attached a new one.
"Captain, once this one is done, there are four more to go."
"Damned things — having all these tubes stuck in me feels unbearable!" Whitebeard growled, reaching to yank out the needles in his arm and the patches on his chest.
"Wait — don't pull them out!"
"Stay calm, Father!"
His crew hurried forward to stop him.
Standing a short distance away, Jozu spoke to Marco. "Father's condition has grown much worse."
"Indeed," Marco replied, placing one hand on his hip. "He overtaxed his Devil Fruit power during his fight with Grimm."
"Even watching from the sidelines, that technique of his was terrifying," Izou added, his voice trembling slightly.
"But what was even more frightening was that Grimm actually managed to withstand it. He can't even be thirty years old yet, can he?"
"Fufufufufu…"
Off the coast where the North Blue met the Grand Line, aboard the Flamingo, Donquixote Doflamingo let out a cold, mocking laugh as he read the day's paper.
Only recently, he had killed his own younger brother, Rosinante.
He should have been furious — after all, he had lost both the Op‑Op Fruit and a promising future high‑ranking officer in Trafalgar Law.
Yet now, seeing the news, he was grinning with delight, much to the confusion of his men.
He hardly needed to read the details; for more than a week, every newspaper had carried the same story: the great clashes between the Four Emperors that had reshaped the entire New World.
"Doflamingo — is this really something to be happy about?" asked Diamante, one of his top executives.
"More and more monsters are emerging. Those three new Emperors now stand equal to Whitebeard himself."
Doflamingo tossed the paper aside and rested a hand over his forehead, a wicked smile playing on his lips.
"Happy? How could I not be? The era of madness is finally arriving. The true monsters of the sea are all ready to make their move!"
"But… if we enter the New World now, we'll draw the hostility of those four giants," Diamante warned. "And the Marines will be no easier to deal with."
"There is a way around it," Doflamingo said, his grin turning sinister.
"What is it?" Several of his officers leaned in eagerly.
"The Seven Warlords of the Sea," Doflamingo announced.
Meanwhile, in the first half of the Grand Line, not far from where the East Blue flows into the Grand Line:
Shanks, captain of the Red‑Haired Pirates, looked over the same newspaper, which was still filled with reports of the great battles.
It was clear this story would remain the talk of the world for a long time.
For nearly ten years, Shanks — a great pirate with a bounty of over 100 million Berries, and one who had dueled repeatedly with the swordsman Dracule Mihawk — had remained in the "weakest of the four seas."
And now, he had returned from there… having lost one of his arms.
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