In the New World, within the Red-Haired Pirates' territory, a massive pirate ship slowly and heavily sailed out of the harbor.
"Captain, this isn't a wise move!" Vice Captain Beckman, a cigarette dangling from his mouth and a look of bored laziness on his face, leaned over the railing and said to the grim-faced Shanks the Red-Haired, "It's obvious that brat Uchiha Hiko is exploiting Buggy the Clown's bond with you to lure us into serving as his weapon!"
A few days earlier, Shanks had also paid close attention to the incident of Blackbeard's army pressing into Dressrosa, which had shaken the New World. After all, no one knew why Blackbeard, after rising to become one of the Four Emperors, had launched a full-scale assault on Dressrosa in a fit of rage.
Although Uchiha Hiko had formed the Uchiha Alliance, which claimed it could spread across the entire world, and appeared immensely powerful on the surface, the truly influential forces all knew that such alliances were extremely unstable in their early stages. Many hidden dangers lay buried deep within them, and poor management alone could cause the alliance to collapse without anyone needing to lift a hand.
No matter how much Blackbeard hated Uchiha Hiko, it was not worth bringing his army to the gates and gambling his entire fortune. Even if Uchiha Hiko had captured three of his senior officers, given Blackbeard's nature, there was no reason for him to care so much about his subordinates.
Even so, Shanks had not taken it to heart. He merely wanted to see what methods Uchiha Hiko, who was rumored to already stand shoulder to shoulder with the Four Emperors, would use this time to contend against the overwhelmingly powerful Blackbeard with such a frail force.
However, Shanks, who had still been