The war that could have engulfed the world ultimately failed to ignite.
The Marine and Whitebeard seemed to have reached some sort of agreement, or perhaps the Marine paid a price to appease the three powerful New World pirate crews.
While people felt a sense of regret, they also breathed a collective sigh of relief. After all, if the war had truly broken out, no one would have been able to stay out of it; everyone would have been dragged into the conflict.
Ranzuki was disappointed by this.
The Marines were too cowardly, not daring to fight those, inthier own words, despicable pirates.
The pirates were also too spineless; three of the strongest pirate crews in the New World were actually afraid of the Marine.
However, did the Marines think this was the end of it? If so, then they were too naive.
Just as people thought the sea was about to return to peace and tranquility, several photographs surfaced.
They were photos of a laboratory, and within the photos, there were bodies.
Five familiar bodies.
Vista, Jack the Drought, Charlotte Perospero, Ranzuki, and... Akainu!
Beside the bodies were several scientists in white coats, holding scalpels, seemingly performing some kind of surgery. People recognized one of them; he was a scientist from the World Government, a renowned figure.
This immediately caused an uproar throughout the world.
"So, the force behind this terrifying incident... was actually the World Government?!"
"That's too terrifying, too horrifying!"
"No wonder not a single living thing was left on the entire island. Only the World Government could do such a thing!"
"Unbelievable, truly unbelievable. After all, Akainu also died, and he was a member of the Marine, which is a force of the World Government! These World Government people didn't even spare their own, they're utterly insane!"
"Insane? Isn't this normal for them?"
"Perhaps, but I still think these guys are going too far."
"Let's not discuss the World Government's methods for now. The entire sea is truly going to be in chaos now! Let's not talk about the Marine; perhaps they can endure this. But those three pirate crews, especially Whitebeard, do you think he can tolerate it?" someone said, seemingly already envisioning a massive war about to erupt.
On the massive ship of the Whitebeard Pirates, silence reigned. Everyone looked at the figure standing on the deck. He was tall and imposing.
This was Whitebeard, a renowned pirate in the New World, a man whose strength rivaled that of Pirate King Roger. Many people even believed that if Whitebeard hadn't prioritized his "family" over conquest, the title of Pirate King might have belonged to him.
It could be said that Whitebeard was currently recognized as the second strongest on the sea.
The first was that invincible God, the one who single-handedly suppressed the entire World Government and Marine! With God around, no one could claim the top spot.
But God was mysterious; no one knew where he was, no one knew where he would appear or what he would do.
So far, people only knew one thing: that overwhelmingly powerful God loved to collect Devil Fruits.
For this, he had even single-handedly plundered almost the entire world.
Such a thing was too shocking, too terrifying, so he was the first, and no one refuted it.
Whitebeard's second place, on the other hand, was a reputation built upon countless battles. Countless powerful pirates had fallen at his hands, losing their most precious lives. If it weren't for his sole focus on his crew, his "family," he would undoubtedly have been the second Pirate King.
And now, this powerful pirate who cared so deeply for his family, after learning that the people he cared about had died at the hands of the World Government, their bodies used for experiments, what choice would he make?
The entire sea was curious, while the members of the Whitebeard Pirates were filled with trepidation.
They hoped Whitebeard would make a safe choice, yet they also yearned for him to make a dangerous one. They hoped Whitebeard would declare war on the world for his family. But they also hoped he would choose another path.
It was complicated, but these were their true feelings.
"Target, Mary Geoise. Contact Kaido and Linlin; tell them it's time to make a commotion!" At a certain moment, Whitebeard spoke. He had made his choice, deciding to bring his two old friends along for a grand rampage.
"Roar!"
The members of the Whitebeard Pirates cheered, their hearts surging with excitement.
Whitebeard was still the same Whitebeard, willing to defy the world for his family, for them!
The Whitebeard Pirates' advance towards Mary Geoise naturally couldn't be hidden from the world.
Not that they intended to hide it. Thus, people around the world knew that the sea was about to change.
At the same time, in response, the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates also began to head towards Mary Geoise. The three most powerful pirate crews in the New World were uniting.
People seemed to see dark clouds gathering, a great war on the horizon.
"Damn it! What is the World Government doing?!"
At Marine Headquarters, Sengoku slammed his fist on the table in anger. He had naturally seen those photos, and he couldn't believe it. He immediately questioned the World Government, and the response he received was that the photos were fake, a deliberate scheme by someone.
Sengoku almost believed it.
Until a day later, when a Marine discovered the laboratory and found Akainu's body inside. This time, Sengoku was truly enraged.
A world war was about to erupt.
When the news arrived, Hui was at home playing with his son. Seeing the contents of the report, he was speechless. He couldn't believe that Ranzuki, who seemed like a righteous and upright man, could cause such chaos.
However, his plan was quite good.
If it succeeded, they could definitely occupy half of the pirate world. At the very least, they could force the hidden powers of the pirates out into the open.
Then he'd let Madara take the lead; if he failed, Hui himself would step in.
"Continue sending people," Hui said. Since the young people had ideas, he naturally wanted to let them have a go at it, to gain experience.
"Who should we send? Maybe I should go? I think I can do it," Nawaki said from the side, pretending to be relaxed, but actually quite nervous.
Seeing this, Hui gave a knowing smile.
"Really? But judging by your expression, you don't seem very eager."
He spoke, pondering whether to let Nawaki go as well.
Then... True Several Thousand Hands encased in Susanoo would be quite the sight!
It seemed like an interesting idea.
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