Rowan had already lost interest and was just about to leave when, after the shockwaves from the battle subsided, a News Coo flew over.
It even very humanly wiped away nonexistent sweat from its brow with one wing.
After flipping it a coin, Rowan bought a newspaper.
The bold headline immediately caught his attention.
The New World: The Four Emperors of the Sea!
The article, accompanied by large illustrations, went into great detail about the dawn of the Great Pirate Era, describing the New World as a paradise for pirates. Countless pirates from the Four Seas were flooding in, all seeking the so-called great treasure.
Among all these pirates, the newspaper declared there were only four worthy of being called Emperors.
The first to be introduced was Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
The World's Strongest Man, once active on the seas alongside Roger and the Pirate Admiral, Golden Lion Shiki. No one could question the might of the Whitebeard Pirates, and thus he was recognized as one of the Four Emperors.
Next came Charlotte Linlin, Big Mom.
Ruling over Totto Land with overwhelming power, her steel-balloon body was said to be virtually impossible to injure.
Many of her sons and daughters had also become powerful pirates, and together they ruled a vast stretch of the New World as a family. Aside from the Immortal Kaido, no one dared provoke them.
The newspaper likewise hailed Big Mom as one of the pirate world's Four Emperors.
Finally came Kaido of the Beasts Pirates.
Possessing a body that simply could not be killed, even the Big Mom Pirates had once chosen to compromise rather than continue fighting him.
Because of his apparent immortality, he was hailed as the World's Strongest Creature.
The newspaper only named three of the Four Emperors.
Kaido was deliberately placed last.
Reading the article, Rowan frowned.
Have the Four Emperors emerged ahead of schedule?
Moreover, no matter how he looked at it, the contents of this newspaper carried the unmistakable scent of a conspiracy.
There were very few truly clever people in this world.
Most would recklessly stake their lives on a fight the moment their blood heated up.
And often it wasn't even for some lofty ideal.
Sometimes a single sentence or a mere title was enough.
The newspaper had established three of the Four Emperors, while openly stating that no newcomer had yet reached their level.
It was practically encouraging pirates everywhere to fight one another until someone proved worthy of becoming the fourth Emperor.
After thinking for a moment, Rowan bought a set of bounty posters from the News Coo.
Sure enough, he found newly printed posters for Newgate, Big Mom, and Kaido.
Across the top of each poster was a new title:
Four Emperors.
"Hmph. The Marines really planned this one well."
Whitebeard casually tossed the newspaper over to Marco.
After everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates had read it, however, they were all delighted.
Their old man had been listed as the foremost of the Four Emperors.
Although the article never explicitly ranked the Four Emperors by strength, Whitebeard being introduced first clearly spoke for itself, at least in their eyes.
Besides, his bounty was also the highest of the three.
"A banquet! A banquet!"
"The Four Emperors! Pops is one of the Pirate Emperors!"
"Hahaha! The World Government actually did something right for once. This newspaper's great!"
"Pops! Let's celebrate!"
Amid the cheers, Newgate's earlier displeasure faded away.
He waved a hand and immediately declared a banquet.
He didn't care in the slightest about some title like the Four Emperors.
What mattered was that his sons were happy.
And if they were happy, then so was he.
Looking at the lively Moby Dick, Rowan fell into thought.
Just then, Shanks, whose duel had already ended, boarded the Moby Dick together with Dracule Mihawk.
Behind them, Lucky Roux, Benn Beckman, and the rest of the Red Hair Pirates followed, each carrying large barrels of liquor aboard.
"Heh! Heh! Heh! Shanks, what are you up to?"
Marco put on an exaggerated look of dissatisfaction, though it was obvious the two had known each other for a long time.
Shanks laughed.
"We're about to have a banquet ourselves. Then we heard all the noise coming from over here. Isn't a banquet more fun when there are more people?"
Off to the side, Vista glanced at Mihawk.
"And what about him? Has he come to challenge me?"
Mihawk shook his head. With his usual blunt honesty, he looked directly at Rowan.
"I heard from Shanks that you're very strong. So... I'd like to challenge you."
Since he wasn't wearing his mask, Rowan had assumed no one had recognized him.
Then he noticed Marco avoiding his gaze.
It was obvious he'd sold him out.
So Marco had told Red-Haired Shanks that he was the cloaked revolutionary.
No wonder Shanks had insisted on bringing everyone over for a joint banquet. It turned out he wanted Mihawk to set his sights on Rowan.
"I haven't even reached the level of a true swordsman yet. Right now, when I swing my sword, I'm just relying on brute force. Challenging me won't mean anything for you."
Rowan refused him outright.
"And don't even think about following me around relentlessly. Since you already know who I am, you should also know what my teleportation ability means."
Mihawk frowned and looked at the sword hanging at Rowan's waist.
"Brute force... is acceptable."
A short sentence.
But it made one thing perfectly clear.
He had set his sights on Rowan.
After thinking for a moment, Rowan replied,
"Fighting you right now wouldn't help my swordsmanship at all. If I ever feel the time is right, I'll come find you myself."
Mihawk thought about it for a while before nodding.
He then turned to leave, only for Shanks to throw an arm around his shoulders and insist that he stay for the banquet first.
While he was at it, Shanks also wanted to see if he could convince Mihawk to join his crew.
Because of the banquet, Rowan ended up staying behind.
However, throughout the celebration, he remained seated alone in a corner, still deep in thought.
The foundation of a revolution lay in military strength and ideology.
There were now more and more instructors, spreading throughout the world and cultivating people who shared the Revolutionary Army's ideals.
But in terms of expansion and claiming the moral high ground, the Revolutionary Army still lacked one crucial thing.
A propaganda outlet or, to put it another way a pen.
Was that the real reason their development remained so slow?
Rowan looked down at the newspaper in his hand.
Printing newspapers wasn't difficult.
If he handed the task to Vegapunk, the man could probably throw together a printing press in no time.
Printing wasn't the problem.
The real challenge was distributing newspapers across the entire world on a regular basis.
Den Den Mushi could transmit voices.
But they weren't purely technological devices.
They needed to eat.
They needed time to grow.
Moreover, Den Den Mushi didn't work like telephones with dial numbers. One Den Den Mushi couldn't simply connect to any other Den Den Mushi in the world.
There were also security issues.
Communications could still be intercepted, though Vegapunk had conveniently developed a concealment device to prevent eavesdropping.
In short, Den Den Mushi weren't something every household could own.
Nor were they particularly practical.
So if he wanted a method capable of spreading information throughout the entire world, Den Den Mushi simply weren't enough.
As for newspapers the only options were either to seize the World Economic Journal's network of News Coos or invent something entirely new.
The Revolutionary Army's propaganda apparatus still needed to be built.
And it needed to happen as soon as possible.
"Sir."
"Hm?"
Rowan looked up at Shanks before glancing toward Mihawk in the distance.
"Failed?"
Shanks spread his hands helplessly.
"Nothing I could do. His dream isn't to be a pirate. And he doesn't seem to like being tied down. The only things on his mind are challenging stronger opponents... and perfecting his swordsmanship."
Rowan nodded and remained silent for a moment.
"Have you read today's newspaper? The one about the Pirate Emperors."
"The Pirate Emperors..."
Shanks frowned.
He picked up the newspaper Rowan had set aside and quickly read through it.
Before long he understood exactly what this newspaper was trying to accomplish.
"The arrival of the Great Age of Pirates has left the Navy stretched thin. It isn't surprising that they would make a move like this. And with an opportunity like this, Morgans would never let it slip by."
Rowan looked at Shanks.
"But among the Four Emperors of the Sea, they've only officially named three. They even ranked them and carefully explained why each deserved the title."
"You noticed it too, didn't you? Throughout the entire article, there's praise mixed with subtle provocation. Once this newspaper spreads across the seas, newcomers will all start competing for the vacant fourth Emperor's seat. At the same time, others will dream of pulling one of the existing Emperors down and taking their place."
"The seas... are about to become even more chaotic."
Shanks' expression grew serious.
After a moment, however, he simply raised his cup toward Rowan.
"I'm just a rookie who's only recently entered the New World. The title of Emperor is still far beyond someone like me."
Clink.
Their cups met.
Rowan took another drink.
"You're hardly an ordinary rookie. You sailed on the Pirate King Roger's ship. You know many of the world's secrets. Shanks... what do you see when you read this newspaper?"
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
The mention of "secrets" nearly made Shanks choke.
He quickly hid the change in his expression, putting on an innocent look as he shook his head.
"Didn't you already explain everything, sir? Still, a title like the Four Emperors really will push pirates into fighting one another... until someone finally claims that fourth throne."
Rowan said nothing more.
When it came to playing dumb while giving others room to save face no one did it better than Red-Haired Shanks.
Yet this newspaper had genuinely reminded him of something important.
Nearly seven years had passed since Ohara's destruction.
Throughout that time, the Revolutionary Army had developed under one guiding principle:
Remain hidden.
Remain underground.
The Five Nations Revolution, including the Olga Kingdom incident, had later been crushed with ease by the World Government.
That defeat had made Rowan fully recognize just how enormous the gap still was.
Remaining hidden that had been Rowan's own order.
But this newspaper made him realize something.
The Revolutionary Army could continue developing in secret yet its voice could no longer remain silent.
The world had to hear it.
The spread of ideology was simply too slow.
Slow enough that, in many countries, Rowan had to wait until people had already fallen into misery before a revolution could even begin.
The clearest examples were Alabasta and Dressrosa.
For generations, the kings of both countries had been relatively wise rulers.
Because of that, their citizens had managed to live decent lives.
That was unquestionably a good thing.
But it also meant those nations lacked the conditions that naturally gave rise to revolutionary change.
Crocodile and Doflamingo both were already preparing to make their moves.
But it would still take time and even then those were only two of the larger island nations.
The world as a whole remained shrouded in darkness.
Yet even within that darkness, there were always a handful of bright spots.
Which meant the Revolutionary Army needed its own mouthpiece.
Rowan let out a long sigh.
To be honest his own understanding of revolutionary theory had always been incomplete.
Years ago, during his meeting with Dragon in Loguetown, the very first ideological manuscript he produced had been described by Dragon as:
"Chaotic... but deeply inspiring."
The "chaotic" part was simply because, in his previous life, he had never seriously studied or memorized those theories.
Fortunately, scholars later organized that disordered collection of ideas, combining it with the realities of this world to produce a coherent and comprehensive body of revolutionary thought.
The version he had given Borsalino was that completed work not the patchwork draft Rowan had originally cobbled together.
And precisely because of that it wasn't until this newspaper, whose intentions were almost painfully obvious, appeared before him that Rowan finally realized what the Revolutionary Army had always lacked.
A mouthpiece.
A means of speaking to the outside world.
A propaganda platform.
So then what should become the Revolutionary Army's voice?
Morgans of the World Economy News was a Devil Fruit user.
Those News Coo birds that delivered newspapers around the world were very likely connected to his ability.
So should they establish their own news department? and if so should they also use newspapers? or should they create a broadcasting network instead?
Broadcasting wasn't practical either.
In truth, Den Den Mushi weren't widespread. Their numbers were limited, and wherever they did exist, the World Government could easily confiscate them.
The Revolution wasn't trying to influence pirates or Marines.
Its target was the countless ordinary people.
Looks like I'll have to make another trip to Baltigo.
At this hour, Dragon was probably still buried in work.
At that moment, Whitebeard, who had been watching his sons drink and celebrate with a smile, walked over and sat across from Rowan.
Holding a large sake barrel in one hand, he filled a huge bowl and handed it over.
"Now that I can enjoy good liquor without worrying, no matter what, I have to thank you."
Looking at the oversized bowl, Rowan scratched his head helplessly before accepting it.
After the alcohol entered his stomach and was rapidly metabolized away, he set the bowl down.
"Your internal injuries haven't completely healed. You should still drink in moderation."
"Gurararara..."
Newgate burst into laughter.
"If I can't even drink, then what's the point of being alive?"
After saying that, he looked toward Shanks.
"Time really flies. Gurarara... That duel between you and that kid was quite impressive."
Shanks smiled modestly.
"There's still a long way to go. Compared to the clashes between you and Captain back then, ours was just child's play."
As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed Newgate staring intently at his face.
After a long silence, Newgate drained his bowl in one gulp.
"When you were on Roger's ship, you were still too young to notice. But now... looking at you... you remind me of that bastard from many years ago."
The moment those words fell, Rowan exchanged a glance with Newgate.
It was obvious.
That remark had been directed at him.
Now that Shanks had grown up, his appearance had reminded Whitebeard of the events at God Valley.
Although it was still unknown whether the person who had once appeared in Mary Geoise in Rowan's memories was truly Shanks there was no doubt that he belonged to the Figarland family.
"H-Hahaha..."
With an awkward laugh, Shanks hurriedly refilled the bowls of the two big shots in front of him, clearly hoping to change the subject.
Rowan didn't care.
Finishing his drink, he looked at Newgate.
"The title of Four Emperors will throw the pirate world into competition. At the same time, it reminded me of something important."
"Let's leave it here for today, Whitebeard."
"If the opportunity comes again, we'll drink together another time."
As he spoke, Rowan stood up and patted Shanks on the shoulder.
"If you want these seas to remain relatively stable until the time you know is supposed to arrive... then go compete for it."
"I think if it's you... becoming the fourth Emperor of the Sea isn't impossible."
With those words, Rowan vanished from where he stood.
Still stunned, Shanks looked up only to find Newgate staring straight at him.
At present, there was no way he could defeat his former captain's old rival.
And clearly whitebeard had heard every word Rowan had just said.
"So... that Revolutionary seems to think highly of you, brat..."
Shanks spread his hands helplessly.
"And that's exactly why a title alone can drive pirates to slaughter one another."
"Heh."
Newgate snorted dismissively.
"My name has never needed the World Government's recognition."
"But the favor the Revolutionary gave the Whitebeard Pirates... we'll repay it."
"I don't know what promise you made with Roger."
"But you should have your own understanding of this world."
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