Thunder roared, and wind and rain lashed fiercely.
Amid the torrential rain and silver-white lightning, the already dim and damp island appeared even more sinister and eerie.
"Why did we have to meet in this godforsaken place? I've had enough of it!" roared the giant man with a wolf-head tattoo on his left cheek.
"This is the Lord's will, that we should meet here," sighed the bald man dressed as a priest with devout solemnity.
"This filthy place is truly an affront to beauty!" the aloof queen said, disdainfully surveying everything around her.
"Whatever. Let's get started already!" said the man wearing a captain's coat, who looked the most like a pirate leader among them.
"My apologies for having everyone meet on my territory. Compared with sunlight, I prefer dark corners. After all, pirates... should remain hidden in the darkness!" The speaker was entirely shrouded in a black robe, with what seemed to be ghostly shadows shifting beneath it.
"West, hurry up and begin. I don't want to stay on your Ghost Shadow Island for another second!" said the only woman among the five with obvious disgust.
"Pirate Queen Tiffany, still as proud as ever!" West said in a hoarse voice. "The purpose of inviting everyone here this time is to discuss how we can secure the greatest possible benefits from the New World."
"Although we are known as the King of the Seven Seas alongside Big Mom and Kaido, no one understands better than us how inflated that title is."
"The New World may be able to accommodate three overlords, perhaps four, but never more than five. If we don't find a way to bring down those ahead of us, we'll never have a chance to rise."
"If those people were so easy to bring down, you wouldn't be