At the start of 1516, the navy was anything but quiet. After the events in the East China Sea were exposed, not only was there a great deal of discussion on the high seas, but more importantly... discord arose within the navy itself!
Sengoku also noticed this – the internal "dissent" within the navy was more serious than the heated discussions outside.
After mentally cursing Shiryu and Momousagi half to death, Sengoku had no choice but to accept Akainu's suggestion to vigorously promote "Absolute Justice" among the lower-ranking Marines in order to stabilize morale.
Sengoku was not actually a believer in "Absolute Justice," and he even argued with the World Government's top brass after the Ohara Incident.
Sengoku has always hoped that the Navy could have greater autonomy in the face of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. While seemingly fair, he, as the Fleet Admiral, actually adopted a suppressive attitude towards the "Absolute Justice" that relies on the authority of the World Government.
However, Sengoku no longer has time to suppress "Absolute Justice" and naval autonomy, because if things continue to go unchecked, the lower-level navies will completely lose faith in "Justice." Therefore, Sengoku has no choice but to resort to desperate measures.
When Shiryu saw the newspaper on Level 6 of Impel Down, his smile grew even wider.
Under normal circumstances, this might have been a case of drinking poison to quench thirst, but things are different now...
Thanks to the previous inspections, many junior naval personnel had been Psychological Suggestion by Sig!
"Unfortunately, it only has a greater impact on the lower-ranking naval personnel. The mid-level and above naval backbone have long been used to these things and to dispelling their own sense of 'Justice,' but..." Sig narrowed his eyes.
However, once the navy's core forces are significantly reduced in the future, the time bombs that Sig has planted for the navy will explode completely!
After reading the newspaper, "Shiryu" fell asleep in his cell, snoring as Sig used the massive battleship San Juan Wolf as a springboard to reach level 5.5.
"We are pirates, fierce pirates,"
He snatched the treasure with his left hand and kicked over the throne with his right.
We are pirates, skilled pirates.
Please come into my arms, my beautiful baby.
We are pirates, free-spirited pirates.
Guided by the skull and crossbones flag, they soared and flew.
We are pirates, pirates without a tomorrow.
"A pirate who never ends, adrift on the high seas."
Amidst the singing, the New Kama of 5.5 revels in the party...
Although the drinks were the cheapest, lowest-quality rum, and the food was just stolen meat that had been casually grilled, the revelry continued day and night under the banner of the pirate song.
As a former Singer of the Sun Pirates, Sig is essentially returning to his old profession.
It's not just for the sake of creating a lively atmosphere, but also for the performance of the "Ocean Songster"!
Sig discovered that the efficiency of playing the "Ocean Songster" in the Impel Down was actually not low, just not as high as the other Sequence.
After all, Vegapunk is now manually helping Siegfried preach as the "Priest of Light," while the "Shepherd" and "Dreamwalker" are automatically playing their roles—in Impel Down, the sheepdogs have been helping Sieg "herd" the sheep, and during their sleep, the prisoners automatically enter the linked dream worlds...
As for the "Secret Art Master" who need to develop secret arts, their efficiency is about the same as that of the "Ocean Songster."
Sig gradually realized that the reason why "Ocean Songster" was able to perform so quickly was not because there were enough listeners on the 5.5th floor—it couldn't compare in terms of numbers or the outside world.
However, the performance of "Ocean Songster" is not just about the number of listeners, but more importantly, the harmony between the listeners and their own voice, or the degree to which they are moved by their own voice!
Sig is currently in prison, and singing the pirate song symbolizing freedom to a group of pirates who have lost their freedom and can only hide on the 5.5th floor is bound to be very effective.
If quantity is insufficient, quality will make up for it...
One by one, they became excited by the singing, contributing their utmost to the performance.
Sig also gained a new understanding of "The Ocean Songster" at this point...
Ocean Songster is not an idol, and what she needs is not "fans," but rather to demonstrate her ability to move and unite people!
Therefore, the Ocean Songster's vocal ability is not as strong as that of the Sun Sequence Bard; their strength lies mainly in "touching people's hearts"...
June arrived in the blink of an eye, and on this day, Sig saw the news he had been waiting for in the Shinichi newspaper. And... coincidentally, on the same day, in a newspaper from the East China Sea, Sig saw a piece of news that the bigwigs of the New World might not be paying attention to right now.
"The world...is starting to change." Magellan remarked to himself as he stood outside the iron fence, reading the newspaper with Shiryu.
For most people, today's headlines are far too "explosive".
Even though Magellan read the newspaper every day—especially since he had plenty of time to go to the toilet and thus devoted extra time to the newspaper— Magellan had some expectations about the situation in the New World. However, when the news was actually published in the newspaper and the verdict was final, Magellan was still somewhat taken aback.
The Four Emperors Ceasefire!
That's today's headline...
The WEC has already made its assessment of the New World situation.
The term "Four Emperors" is appearing on the sea for the first time today!
In the past two years, the New World has been in chaos. Pirate overlords Ochoku and Cloud have been defeated and killed one after another. In addition, more than twenty other well-known "Great Pirate" either died on the battlefield, fled the New World, retired into seclusion, or surrendered to the last four emperors...
At this time, over 90% of the nations and pirate crews in the New World were under the protection of these four flags.
Two years ago, when the New World began, countless people believed that the New World would face unprecedented chaos, with countless Great Pirate rising up to challenge the status of the pirate overlords. However, to everyone's surprise, two years later, the hegemony of the New World has become even more concentrated!
Before this, there were at least a few Great Pirate who could survive in the cracks between the overlords, but now... the pirate overlords are a thing of the past. Apart from the final four emperors of the sea, there are almost no pirate crews in the New World that have the ability to remain independent.
Although the names of the Four Emperors were appearing for the first time and seemed quite arrogant, no one in the New World dared to refute them at this point.
One of them is the veteran powerhouse who, as expected, was once considered the strongest in the Roger era, Edward Newgate, also known as "Whitebeard"—and indeed, he is still as sharp as ever. Facing Big Mom's attack, Whitebeard still maintained his status as the "strongest," and after the New World, his territory not only did not decrease but increased.
Secondly, Big Mom, who instigated the war, had a large number of her children come of age and become combatants. The Big Mom Pirates' astonishing potential was then unleashed. After absorbing several Great Pirate, they went straight for Whitebeard, seemingly poised to unify the New World...
Although they didn't gain much advantage in the war against Whitebeard, the Big Mom Pirates' power ultimately grew more significantly than that of the Whitebeard Pirates, and they occupied a large number of islands.
Thirdly, there's Kaido, who was previously underestimated. Because he's been a "homebody" in Wano Country, Kaido's reputation wasn't originally greater than Ochoku's or Cloud's, and he was considered slightly inferior to Whitebeard and Big Mom...
However, in the past two years, Kaido has proven with his actions that he also possesses the strength of an emperor, and he is in no way inferior to Big Mom and Whitebeard!
Now, they not only completely control the seas surrounding Wano Country, but also annex a section of the New World near Mary Geoise, and even clashed with Whitebeard near Fish-Man Island.
The most unexpected result was the fourth place...
Red-Haired Shanks, a "newcomer" who has been at sea for less than ten years and whose core crew consists of only about a hundred people, has also raised his flag in the New World and actually stood firm in this great war!
Although Shanks seems to have little desire for territory compared to the other three emperors, and the islands he sets up are mostly for "protection," and he commands the fewest pirate crews, with most of them being like-minded individuals who join his ranks, he is still revered as the fourth emperor...