Is Shiki Going to War with the Big Mom Pirates?

Don't be fooled by Katakuri's flashy ship. It looked like a doughnut, and no matter how you looked at it, it was absurd.

Yet this absurd ship was truly fast, leaving Ortolan deeply puzzled. How did something shaped like a life preserver manage to achieve such speed? Still, he quickly cast those thoughts aside. That was something shipwrights should worry about; it had little to do with him.

Tyrean Island was not too far from the Big Mom Pirates' headquarters, Cake Island. At the speed of Katakuri's bizarre Donut, it took only two weeks before Cake Island's massive castle could be seen on the horizon.

On deck, Ortolan was still bare-chested, as though deliberately showing off his powerful physique. This time, however, a specially made strap ran diagonally from his left shoulder across his back to his waist, with the heavy warhammer slung behind him.

The sea breeze brushed across his face, sending his unruly brown hair fluttering wildly.

"Is this your first time traveling far from home?" Katakuri had appeared beside Ortolan at some point.

He held a plate of doughnuts in his hands. When Ortolan looked over, a rare look of reluctance appeared in his eyes. In the end, he gritted his teeth and raised the plate, seemingly asking whether Ortolan wanted to try one.

Ortolan could not help rolling his eyes. Their time together on the journey had taught him more about Katakuri. For instance... this guy was utterly obsessed with doughnuts. Milk-flavored doughnuts for breakfast, chocolate doughnuts for lunch, green tea doughnuts for dinner.

Aside from proper meals, whenever he was not busy dealing with work, if you saw him, you would usually see a doughnut in his hand.

It made Ortolan wonder whether this guy had doughnut blood flowing through his veins.

"I don't eat them, thanks," Ortolan said with a look of disgust.

"You should know, sharing my doughnuts with you is the highest courtesy I can offer," Katakuri explained when he saw Ortolan's expression.

"I believe you, Doughnut Alien," Ortolan quipped.

"If such a planet really exists, I'd definitely go!" Katakuri said without hesitation.

As soon as he said it, the two of them could not help laughing.

After they finished laughing, Ortolan said, "Not exactly my first time, I suppose. From what I remember, when I was ten, the old man took me out to sea too. We sailed for a long time, maybe three or four months? That was when we arrived at Tyrean..."

"Why did you choose Tyrean?" Katakuri casually asked.

"The old man never told me why, but thinking about it now, maybe it was because Tyrean is close to Cake Island?" Ortolan pondered before teasingly replying.

After all, his father had been so obsessed with Goddess Linlin.

Katakuri did not ask any further questions. After taking a few bites of his doughnut, he continued, "When I spoke with Mother over the Den Den Mushi earlier, she had originally planned to hold a grand Tea Party especially for you. Unfortunately, we received some intelligence. It seems that Shiki is gathering the Flying Pirates' grand fleet, and he may be coming for us. Since we're currently in a state of war, the Tea Party couldn't be held."

"That really is bad..." Ortolan muttered.

Still, he was somewhat puzzled. This was Marine Era 1495. If there was going to be any major upheaval in the New World this year, he did remember one.

A massive naval battle that would change the entire balance of power in the New World was about to erupt this year... the Ed War Sea Battle!

Looking at the New World's current situation, ever since the Rocks Pirates had collapsed and all the major figures aboard had gone their separate ways, the entire New World had been in an era of competing heroes. Yet among those titans, the one who held an absolute advantage and stood at the very peak was Golden Lion Shiki!

He was known as the Pirate Overlord!

Compared to Shiki's current accomplishments, the Whitebeard Pirates appeared far more laid-back. They wandered all over the world, and rumors would occasionally spread that Whitebeard Edward Newgate had taken another son in some sea or another. It seemed they had little interest in fighting for supremacy. As long as no one provoked them, they could not be bothered to provoke anyone else.

Great Pirates like Silver Axe and Ochoku, who came after Whitebeard, were also doing fairly well. But compared to Shiki, a man brimming with ambition and determined to conquer the world, they truly fell far short.

As for Kaido, Ortolan had not asked about him. Judging by the timing, he should have been heading to wreak havoc in Wano Country around now, right?

The Big Mom Pirates were developing rather well compared to Kaido and the others, but they still lagged far behind Shiki. Fortunately, Shiki was domineering in his actions. Among the great figures at sea, practically every one of them had a grudge against him. With so many enemies, Charlotte Linlin dared to provoke him.

If the New World's power structure was one supreme power surrounded by many strong forces, then Shiki was that one supreme power, while the Big Mom Pirates were merely among the many strong forces.

Given Shiki's current momentum, he should have been the man most likely to stand at the pinnacle of the pirate world after Rocks. Normally, he should have kept expanding his forces like a rolling snowball, then wiped out or brought Kaido, Ochoku, Silver Axe, Charlotte Linlin, and the rest under his command, recreating Rocks' former glory.

But Ortolan knew that Shiki's unstoppable momentum would come to an end this year.

Shiki's gathering of his grand fleet this time might not have been to cause trouble for Charlotte Linlin. It might have been to seek out the man fate had destined for him... Gol D. Roger!

Shiki's grand fleet would block the Roger Pirates in the Ed War Sea. The two sides would fail to reach an agreement, resulting in a fierce battle. Then, a sudden superstorm would nail Shiki to the pillar of defeat and disgrace.

Not only that, his mighty fleet that had dominated the New World, along with many of his powerful combatants, would be swallowed by that superstorm.

His path toward becoming the overlord who united the New World's pirate forces would be cut off at the waist. At the same time, he himself would suffer irreversible injuries, ending up with a ship's wheel lodged in his head and his strength greatly diminished.

Perhaps it was precisely because the Pirate Overlord Shiki fell that the other pirate forces in the New World reaped enormous gains. Whether it was Kaido or Charlotte Linlin, judging from the timeline of their rise, it should have been after this event that they gradually established their unshakable status as major powers in the New World.

Thinking of this, Ortolan could not help asking curiously, "Do you know where the Ed War Sea is?"

"Ed War Sea?" Katakuri found Ortolan's question somewhat strange, but he quickly answered, "If you set out from Cake Island and sail straight toward the eastern seas at normal speed, you can reach it in two months..."

"Is that part of Totto Land?" Ortolan asked in surprise.

After all, a two-month voyage from Cake Island was not particularly far.

"Of course not. Within Totto Land's territory, every sea is renamed 'Totto Land,'" Katakuri said with a smile and a wave of his hand. Then he added, "That place is currently unclaimed land. Beyond the Ed War Sea, you'll enter Shiki's territory again... It isn't too far from his headquarters, Secret Realm Melview."

"I see. Looks like I need a geography book to learn about the distribution of this world's seas," Ortolan said with a smile.

After learning some information from Katakuri, Ortolan became even more convinced that Shiki's gathering of his fleet was probably not aimed at the Big Mom Pirates. He was likely trying to find Roger, wasn't he?

Then where was Roger? The Roger Pirates were very difficult to find. After all, they followed an all-elite route, traveling everywhere on a single ship. The sea was so vast that it was hard to trace their movements.

While Ortolan chatted idly with Katakuri and pondered these random thoughts, the Donut gradually sailed into Cake Island's harbor.