Shifting Tides

Meanwhile, on the other side...

Oboro has already returned to the Blood Pluton with the members of the Hell Pirates.

The strange phenomena of Marineford were clearly visible even to Mr. Daz Bones and others, who were far away in the outer sea.

Originally, when they saw Oboro being stabbed by Shanks in the live stream, they thought it was all over.

But unexpectedly... things took a turn for the better.

Long is in a very bad state.

He used part of his 'sea of qi' in his Tanaka to restore his flesh and blood, and part of it was devoted to Marineford.

At the same time, mobilizing the airflow within such a vast space caused the 'Qi Vortex' of all the acupoints in his body to enter a state of frantic operation, resulting in a tremendous consumption of both energy and physical strength.

His face was visibly pale.

"Alright."

He said it in a cold voice.

Because neither Dom nor Yurivich had forgiven Bare and Shiliu.

If they hadn't let Shanks and Ben Benn Beckman go, the captain wouldn't have been attacked, and things wouldn't have turned out this way.

"Man proposes, God disposes; after all, he's one of the Yonko..."

"Oboro said."

Of course, besides Shanks and Ben Benn Beckman's own abilities, there's something fishy going on here...

The world's will of One Piece.

It's a pity that he couldn't get his wish... With his current abilities, it's impossible for the world's will to 'annihilate' him as it did when he first transmigrated.

Unless Shanks cut off his head with that one strike, otherwise... the immense vitality activated by his Qi Refining Technique could replenish and nourish his body countless times.

According to the plan, Oboro originally did not intend to use such a powerful method. The feint attack with the Red Hair Pirates was only to make the battlefield more chaotic, and both the One Piece and the navy were restrained by the situation, thus creating time for him to 'plunder' resource points.

"That Hawkeye's swordsmanship is in no way inferior to that of the Shanks brat."

Bare crossed his arms and grinned.

"It's alright. Since it has already happened, there's no point in discussing it further."

Long found a seat and sat down.

The One Piece on the lower deck were still cheering loudly, as if they were holding a lively ceremony.

Their captain had completely destroyed Marineford, the naval headquarters... No one in the entire ocean has ever accomplished such a feat.

They naturally felt excited and proud.

"However, this might make things a bit more difficult later on."

Long interlaced his fingers, his eyes sparkling.

The Summit War was also the moment when the Hell Pirates officially revealed their strength. To generate anticipation among the Five Elders, they were eager for the Hell Pirates to clash with the Yonko. Now, with their trump cards exposed, the Celestial Dragons will undoubtedly be wary of them. Considering the Shanks Celestial Dragons's special status, if they were to approach the Five Elders for discussions...

"We have become the common enemy of the sea."

Suddenly, Crocodile spoke.

Having served as a Shichibukai, he possesses an unparalleled understanding of the power structure within the World Government. As a veteran One Piece, with his intellect, it wouldn't be difficult for him to analyze the current state of affairs at sea and discern the predicament of the Hell Pirates.

"How was the harvest?"

Shiryu asked.

What he received was a part of the Shiki's legacy.

Therefore, the cadres now understand the truth about the divine power bestowed by Oboro.

Their willingness to fight the Shanks members stemmed partly from their bloodthirsty and war-loving nature, and partly from their desire for Oboro's 'harvest'.

"Less than expected, after all, we didn't anticipate Shanks' sudden attack..." Oboro's cold expression suddenly turned into a smile. "However, we've already obtained the key resources... enough, just not enough in quantity. But this has severely weakened the Navy, and their influence is global. The Navy forces we've gathered this time are all elites of the seas. Once they die, all branches and sub-branches will be affected. It's no longer possible to maintain strong control over the seas as we did in the past in the short term."

"This can be considered a heavy blow to the power of the World Government."

After speaking, Long raised his head and looked at the group of people, "How was it? How did you fare against them?"

"Very strong."

Dom said seriously, "But I feel the difference isn't that big."

"That's normal. Even if you are exceptionally talented and have received the power I bestowed upon you, the battles you've experienced and the years you've spent at sea are still far less than theirs." Long smiled.

His words were somewhat comforting, because people like Dom and Dorans actually have only average talent... no matter how much they are boosted, it will be difficult for them to break through their limits.

Unlike Enel, Yurivich, Shiliu, Bare.

Even including Rob Lucci, in Oboro's eyes they could only be considered 'outstanding', not top-tier.

Waldo is limited by age and it will be difficult for him to transform into a 'true monster'. He has obtained the abilities of Chaton, a candidate for Admiral. Combined with his own strength, he will at most be qualified to fight against an Admiral in the future.

The strength of the admirals is also ranked. Now that Akainu is dead, the top ones are definitely Kizaru and Aokiji. Waldo is comparable to the lower-ranking admirals in terms of combat power.

After all, even with Chaton 'Kake power, it's not 100%.

In a sense, Oboro's blessing is 'fixed' in terms of power.

Only the four mentioned above truly have the potential to transform into 'monsters'.

Bare and Shiryu are already monsters, next up are Yurivich and Enel.

This refers to their potential, which is the remaining untapped potential beyond the divine power bestowed upon them.

The monster that Oboro was referring to was not an admiral-level or Yonko- level monster, but a force capable of absolutely contending with an entire World Government, including the Five Elders, the God's Knights, the Cipher Pol, the Navy, and countless other departments.

Because the vast World Government undoubtedly surpasses the fighting power of the Yonko.

No matter how much Oboro rallies and forms a One Piece alliance, it will never be able to compare with the World Government in terms of numbers.

Therefore, one day in the future, once he enters Mary Geoise, his men will inevitably face a situation where they are fighting against ten, a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand enemies.

"If I had a little more time, I would have killed those juniors."

Waldo laughed heartily; clearly, he held the absolute upper hand in his fight against the Shanks officer.

Without a doubt, even if Enel, Crocodile, Yurivich don't have a high chance of winning, they certainly aren't at a complete disadvantage.

They might even win by a small margin.

The most difficult battles were probably fought by Dom, Rob Lucci, and their group of four.

Among them, Kaka and Dorans are the three combatants who teamed up to fight against the Red Hair Pirates, whose bounties were relatively low.

Even if the Red Hair Pirates' main force is streamlined, it still has more members than the Hell Pirates.

Players like Yurivich Enel were not truly one-on-one opponents.

The two people with the toughest ideas are undoubtedly Shanks and Ben Benn Beckman, who is known as the 'strongest Yonko's first mate'.

They were assigned to Bare and Shiliu.

These were all arranged in advance.

Everyone is looking for their own opponent.

"That guy's three types of Haki are quite amazing, and his gun skills are very strange..." Shiryu also gave his evaluation.

"This was just a friendly spar. I hope I'll have a chance to have a proper fight with Shanks next time... He does have a bit of Roger's personality in him."

Bare grinned widely.

After realizing something was wrong, Shanks clearly stopped fully committing to the battle with Bare and instead looked for an opportunity to assassinate Oboro... and as we saw it.

"In other words, if we only consider top-tier combat strength, we are not weaker than them now."

After listening to everyone's 'reports', Long smiled and gave a summary.

"Certainly."

"If you two captains fight, given enough time, I might be able to kill the rest of you," Bare said with a cruel smile.

It's important to know that a major factor in this encounter with Shanks was... Oboro's absence.

On the other hand, Shanks has two more top-tier fighters assisting him: Garp and Sengoku.

Without those two old guys stirring things up, the situation would be very different.

"However, the situation is different. The Yonko are not only strong individually, but also because of their vast and complex forces. Shanks will definitely be very careful in the future and will not give us the opportunity to face their main force directly without allowing others to interfere."

"He's not stupid."

"Oboro said."

After saying that, he glanced at Crocodile, who remained silent, and asked, "Do you think Kaido and Charlotte Linlin would team up with him?"

After the Summit War, it wasn't just the Five Elders who were wary of him.

And those two from the New World.

His risk factor rating will definitely rise!

"Kaido might, but that woman definitely won't."

Crocodile said calmly.

In his eyes, the stupidest of the Yonko is Charlotte Linlin.

"Just as I thought."

Long laughed.

Kaido may seem reckless and domineering, but he is actually quite shrewd... Big Mom, on the other hand, is different.

"What a pity... I originally wanted to keep something in reserve and surprise them when we got to the New World, but Shanks ruined everything." Oboro sighed.

"Stop pretending... You revealed the secret that Shanks is Celestial Dragons in front of the whole world, just to push the Red Hair Pirates to the opposite side of all One Piece, right?" Crocodile sneered. "With that premise, even if he wants to contact Kaido and Big Mom, it won't be so easy."

"I just wanted to embarrass him and remind him not to interfere in our affairs... I never expected it to turn out like this." Long's eyes were sly as she sighed.

"Snort."

Crocodile looked incredulous.

"However, I never expected that the famous Yonko Shanks would be Celestial Dragons... How interesting."

Kaka quipped, "Did Bare tell you that, Captain?"

"I don't remember such trivial things anymore."

Bare scoffed.

"What's next? What should we do?"

Crocodile pressed on with the question.

"Of course we're going to the New World ... before the Navy recovers its strength," Oboro said softly.

The Blood Pluton slowly rose from the sea and then soared into the sky.

"Don't blame me for not warning you... After this incident, the World Government will likely be extremely vigilant against us, perhaps even more so than the Yonko. If you're planning to build a large fleet, they'll definitely send people to infiltrate the ships using their dirty tactics. In some ways, those dogs under the World Government are more difficult to deal with than the Navy. They'll stop at nothing to achieve their goals, and they have absolutely no connection to justice. At least the Navy pretends to be something they're not..."

"Furthermore, although the Navy and One Piece are at odds, given the World Government's methods and capabilities... it is possible for them to cooperate with the Yonko and achieve some kind of exchange of benefits. There have never been two absolute factions on this sea, only... interests."

As the flagship weaved through the clouds, Crocodile took a puff of his cigar and spoke to Oboro.

"You said before that the Five Elders wanted to watch us and the Yonko fight amongst ourselves so they could reap the benefits. But the situation is different now. If they really see you as the primary threat and make eliminating the Hell Pirates their top priority, they might promise to give up benefits that the Yonko can't ignore in order to form a secret alliance. In that case, if we want to get rid of Big Mom, we might fall into their trap."

"They're not the only ones who can form alliances... we can too."

Long stretched, feeling tired, and prepared to go back to her room to rest.

"We are not the only enemy of the World Government."

He turned back, smiled at the members, and walked away.