The Whitebeard Pirates, aboard the Moby Dick.
After the war, the five remaining squadron captains and eleven Grand Fleet captains gathered together, silently gazing at the surrounding sea and sky.
The atmosphere among the pirates shouldn't be so silent.
Even though they had just gone through a life-or-death battle, even though they had suffered heavy losses in this war, even though they had lost countless old friends.
They should have been drinking their fill of fine wine, and even if they cried, they should have drunk it down with their tears – that's the pirate style!
But now...
They really couldn't laugh.
Because they not only lost countless friends, but also...
Whitebeard!
The Whitebeard Pirates are without Whitebeard?
Isn't this an absolute joke?
I don't know what others think, but the captains of the Grand Fleet are definitely planning to flee.
In the New World, only Shanks remains of the original Four Emperors. As for a new emperor... well, there isn't a qualified new emperor yet!
Even someone like Blackbeard, who was favored and recognized as Whitebeard's successor, wouldn't be easily accepted by everyone now that he hasn't achieved Emperor-level feats.
What?
You're saying Whitebeard died suddenly, without even mentioning Blackbeard as his official successor before he died?
Ha.
Don't forget, Blackbeard's current title wasn't given to him by himself!
In the original manga storyline, Blackbeard used that as his own brand, so nobody cared what a traitor's brand was!
But now.
When Teach's Blackbeard title was acknowledged by Whitebeard!
In the eyes of pirates, this is a kind of inheritance!
Just like a new recruit suddenly appearing in the Red-Haired Pirates, whose title is "Blue Hair"!
The inheritance of code names is, to a large extent, already part of the right of succession!
But even if Blackbeard has the right to inherit the throne, will others really accept him so easily?
How could this be!
Whitebeard ascended to the throne of the Emperor because the Pirate King Roger died, and Whitebeard was the last great pirate who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Roger and continue to be active at sea!
The Shiki, who are ranked alongside them, are not eligible for the title of Emperor because they are no longer active!
As for Big Mom and Kaido, they didn't become emperors easily.
In her quest to become Empress, Big Mom challenged Whitebeard more than once and escaped alive, while also relentlessly causing trouble in the New World.
Kaido, while challenging Whitebeard, also repeatedly pushed the limits of the Navy, creating incidents of being captured but not executed to expand his influence, which is how he finally rose to the top.
That's right, Kaido and Big Mom's path to becoming Emperors of the Sea took many years.
They both became emperors through word of mouth; neither of them had any particularly significant or iconic events to their name.
As for Shanks...
Shanks and Whitebeard are the traditional emperors of the sea, and the story of Shanks becoming emperor was spread when Gawain first arrived on the sea... the incident of the Red-Haired Pirates challenging both Kaido and Big Mom's pirate crews at the same time.
Besides those four veteran emperors...
In the original storyline, Blackbeard became Emperor because he first stole Whitebeard's body, then escaped the pursuit of former Marine Admiral Sakazuki, then conquered Beehive Island, and finally even recruited former Marine Admiral Kuzan as his subordinate!
These four events, each more shocking than the last, are what led Blackbeard to his peak.
As for Luffy...
He fought his way up!
First, they dealt with the Joker from the Underworld.
Then he got the Big Mom's second-in-command under his control.
Then they fought Big Mom and Kaido.
In the end, they managed to wipe out both Big Mom and Kaido in a single battle!
See? This is the best strategy: fight your way through, win every time, and survive to the end!
As for the last new Four Emperors... Buggy the Clown?
That thing is called one of the Four Emperors?
Call!!!
There are always people who think that Buggy the Clown is a piece of trash who got there purely by luck!
But so far, among the new Four Emperors, only Buggy the Clown is truly deserving of the title!
As for the reason?
Once you've put aside the boring luck that's been accumulating around Buggy, you'll have to focus on the last big thing Buggy did: the Cross Guild's naval bounty!
And the Navy's bounty!
This system, where pirates set bounties on the Navy, is what truly carries on the legacy and paves the way for the future of the Pirate World!
So far, apart from Whitebeard's dying cry, everyone else who became emperor has only done so through fighting and killing.
The two most influential eras in the modern Pirate World.
One is the Great Pirate Era, which was bought with the life of Pirate King Roger.
Another example is the Great Bounty Era started by Buggy the Clown through sheer luck!
While everyone else only knew how to fight and kill.
One of them greatly increased the number of pirate groups.
The other one completely ignited the rebellious spirit of pirates!
Furthermore, making pirates no longer just objects of the Navy's bounty is a contribution that is even greater than the Great Pirate Era Pirate King that One Piece started.
The Great Pirate Era only brought about a peak in the number of pirates, and the number of pirates, like everything else, will eventually decline.
But once the spirit of resistance emerges, it spreads like wildfire, never ceasing and even intensifying!
So.
In terms of ability, Buggy the Clown might be a funny and lovable character.
But in terms of achievements...
If the pirates ultimately win, then when future historians summarize history while it is still in the stage of victory...
Buggy the Clown's achievements and contributions should at least rank him in the top three!
Even if Luffy's role in the final battle isn't that significant.
It wouldn't be surprising if the Joker were ranked first in the reforms!
Therefore, comparing the military achievements of the various emperors...
Imagine if Blackbeard inherited the remaining Whitebeard Pirates, his personal achievements would still be far from deserving of the title of Emperor!
What did he do after eating the Yami Yami no Mi?
To seize the territory left behind after Kaido's death?
Does such behavior even qualify one to be called an emperor?
Even in the previous All-Out War, you, Blackbeard, never managed to take down any monster-level enemy fighter!
Do you know how difficult it is for us old folks with Whitebeard to deal with you like this?
For this very reason, at this very moment, everyone aboard the Moby Dick is feeling extremely depressed.
Especially the captains of the Grand Fleet who are still alive.
Seeing that Murakumogiri had picked up Blackbeard and was sitting in the head seat, one of the captains stepped forward, coughed lightly, and said...
"Hey, Teach, what are you trying to do, kid?"
That damn battle a few days ago, I was completely exhausted!
What are you up to now? Pops Whitebeard's remains have barely been laid to rest, and you're already planning to turn on us old folks?
Why don't you go eat shit?!
At this point, the captain got up and left, not taking Blackbeard seriously at all.
Those who survive the war to the end always have some skills; even among the other captains present, his strength would rank among the top three.
So, he wiped away the tears of his sad Whitebeard Pops and then planned to take his underlings home to prepare for war and seize territory.
Blackbeard?
I'll call you Blackbeard, but if I don't, I'll call you Little Brother, Teach!
Looking at the guy who left with disdain, Blackbeard almost ground his teeth to dust.
He suddenly stood up, and dark energy immediately enveloped his palms.
But before he could say anything, one of the remaining captains immediately stepped forward.
"Alright, Teach, that's just his personality."
Don't worry, you're the son that Pops Whitebeard has his eye on, we'll continue to follow you.
We will pay you as usual, regardless of the fees or anything else. Don't worry about us defaulting on our payments.
As you know, Big Mom is dead too, so now Shanks is the only emperor left on the high seas.
If we don't hurry up and seize territory, recruit people, and improve our strength now, won't we be completely trampled underfoot by Shanks?
Even if it's for the sake of our future, we don't have time to dawdle here.
That's all for now. You can continue dealing with Pops Whitebeard left you.
Your brothers used to fight for you, but now they're helping you take over territory and conquer the world.
Don't worry, I'll make you one of the new Four Emperors sooner or later!
After that, more captains left one after another, and Teach's face completely fell.
After looking around, Teach sighed dejectedly.
This... is still Pops's ship!
As the rightful heir of his Pops, no matter how angry he was, he could never do something like killing his Pops's godson while his Pops was wearing his clothes.
Anyway, I'm so angry!!!
Thinking of this, Teach gritted his teeth and shouted to a guy not far away.
"Hey, Weevil, remember those guys who just left?"
Tomorrow we'll have a falling out, and then you go and kill them for me!
"If you take them down, I'll give you half of the pirate crew my Pops left behind, how about it!"
"Haha, no problem, let's take them down, right?"
I don't know what "break up" means, but anyway, I'm leaving now because staying here is just too boring!
Weevil readily accepted Blackbeard's offer; in his view, everyone present except Marco, Teach, Namur was trash.
Killing them would grant me half of my Pops's inheritance; it's far too easy.
However, before Weevil could even get happy, Marco couldn't help but cough.
He glanced up at Teach; his younger brother's heart was truly filthy.
With a simple scheme, he got his foolish brother Weevil to kill the captains of the Grand Fleet.
It would have been better if Weevil hadn't done that; if he had, he would never have been able to legally inherit everything from Whitebeard.
This is also why the captains of those Grand Fleet are so arrogant.
If anyone wants to legally inherit everything from Whitebeard, then those of them who once acted as Whitebeard's sons will undoubtedly be unable to harm them.
Because Whitebeard was the most sentimental and powerful figure on this sea.
To obtain Whitebeard's legacy, one must at least gain the approval of all pirates in the world in terms of affection!
Those captains can die, but they can only die at the hands of someone who isn't Whitebeard's heir!
Thinking this, Marco coughed, then went over to Teach and patted Teach on the shoulder.
"Teach, Weevil is still Pops's son. Even though he's a bit slow now, don't bully him like this."
As for those guys in the Grand Fleet, hehe, didn't we already expect them to be like that?
Those who truly believed their Pops had died almost all perished on the battlefield. Apart from the two captains who survived by sheer luck, the rest of the crew survived because they hid or even ran away!
We don't need to take action against these kinds of people. We just need to wait a little while, and they will turn away from us on their own.
Without their Pops, the money they owed would eventually become the straw that broke the camel's back, forcing them to demand a share of the profits from us."
After saying that, Marco waved his hand dismissively.
"Anyway, let's ignore those fence-sitters, Teach, and get back to our previous plan to change our base."
After Pops passed away, our control wasn't as strong anymore. With just one ship, we might not be able to protect our team well.
Meanwhile, with the entrances and exits to the New World blocked, our territory's position has become awkward.
If we continue to stubbornly defend our old territory, we will not only face pressure from within the New World, but also be prepared to clash with Gawain's forces at any time.
So, we have to find another place!
At this point, Marco shrugged dejectedly.
My old comrades are all gone. Jozu is dead, Thatch is dead, Vista is dead. There are hardly any left.
Although thanks to himself and Teach, the Blackbeard Pirates are still the strongest pirate crew under the Emperor.
But even emperors are but ants; the pirate crew still needs to strengthen its power!
At the head of the table, listening to Marco's words, Teach nodded decisively.
"Heh heh heh, of course, we have to move our base!"
The reason we gathered those junkies this time was to discuss the chassis replacement with them!
Since they don't want to talk to me, let them cling to their old territories and perish in the turbulent future!
Brother Marco, let's move right now!
Now that Ochoku is dead, let's go and take over his Beehive Island!
The geographical location of Beehive Island is truly...
"Oh, you're having a meeting? What a pity, sorry to have interrupted your party, you trash~~."
Before Blackbeard could finish speaking, a smug voice suddenly rang out from the sky.
A lush green, swirling flower appeared above Aramaki's head and flew straight down onto the Moby Dick.
Blackbeard was surprised to see Aramaki suddenly appear, but he still laughed disdainfully.
"Tch ha ha ha, Gawain actually sent people to take my life so quickly?"
I'm truly honored!
But, heh, you're only sending one person?
Gawain really underestimates me!!!
As he spoke, Blackbeard suddenly stood up, carrying the Murakumogiri, and strode towards Aramaki.
He stopped two steps away from Aramaki and forcefully Murakumogiri into the ground.
"I laugh at Gawain's lack of strategy, and I laugh even more at your Aramaki's lack of wisdom!"
If you send two guys like me, you might actually have a chance to kill me.
But now, you, a nobody, are trying to bring honor upon my face!
You... um?
At this point, a small boat suddenly appeared on the distant sea.
I watched as familiar figures approached from the ship.
Teach's mouth fell shut completely. Gawain had actually sent two!!!