February 1, 1519.
On the small raft, Sig was lying down reading a newspaper, with Weevil and Jack rowing on either side of him, their arms pressed against the sides.
With the size and weight of two massive pillars, the boat would sway from side to side every time the two people exerted force!
The two pillars caught a glimpse of the newspaper's front page out of the corner of their eyes, and then fell silent, too terrified to utter a word.
Meanwhile, Sig was looking at the Big News Morgans on page three...
Is it a loss of family ties, or Distortion of morality?
Thatch, the fourth division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, was ambushed and killed by Marshall D. Teach, a combatant of the second division. Teach is currently on the run, and it is said that the second division commander has personally set off to hunt him down.
Thatch, in terms of personal strength alone, is a well-known figure on the high seas, and is also a member of one of the Four Emperors' pirate crews.
Moreover, the Whitebeard Pirates, known for their internal unity, had a traitor among their own ranks who killed Thatch —this is even Big News Morgans!
Even so, this news article was only on page three.
It wasn't that Morgans lacked a keen sense of smell or looked down on Teach's previous obscurity, but rather... the news in the first two pages was indeed bigger.
Second edition news: <Shocking! Father and son turned against each other because of her?>
That's right, Yamato has also made his move in Wano Country!
With the support of the Armament Legion, Yamato completely drove the Beasts Pirates out of Wano Country...
A pirate crew of one of the Four Emperors, and the most "homebody" of the Four Emperors, couldn't even keep their "homebody" lifestyle intact.
The report was vague, but Sig could picture it in his mind— Kaido must have been devastated, realizing that all the wealth he had painstakingly accumulated had been used to benefit others.
In the original work, three years later, Kaido's Armament Legion had reached a size of five hundred people.
With the increased efficiency, there are now 800 people, and more than 30 of them are Dream Gifters —that is, artificial Mythical Beast Fruit users created using IQ Beasts as templates!
Kaido had already become arrogant and wanted to talk to Big Mom about cooperation again... He believed that the current Beasts Pirates could play a leading role in the cooperation.
Before the dream could be completed, it was overthrown by Yamato.
Although he ultimately covered the retreat himself, and Yamato was no match for him, the Beasts Pirates were forced to retreat in disarray due to the overwhelming numbers of the Wano Country Alliance forces.
Morgans didn't know why Yamato did this, but he vaguely found out that Yamato seemed to have married Kozuki Oden's daughter, so... he wrote an article to generate buzz.
The Beasts Pirates' father and son turned against each other and lost their base, and this is only second-page news?
It wasn't because Morgans deliberately suppressed the hype, but rather because the front page was even more sensational.
This meant that Weevil and Jack were hesitant to speak, fearing news of their elder brother's bad mood.
<The prophecy has come true! Just now, Red-Hair delivered devastating news!>
Siegfried, the Sea King, betrayed the Red-Hair Pirates and fought Shanks for three days and three nights, ultimately... severing Shanks' arm!
The reason for his defection is unknown, but Morgans speculates that Sig discovered some secret of Shanks, which is likely related to "One Piece".
Three members of the Four Emperors' pirate crews are accusing each other of being "traitors," and each one is of a higher rank and causes more and more trouble than the last!
In terms of the consequences of betrayal, Siegfried undoubtedly caused the biggest commotion.
The Whitebeard Pirates lost one of their fourth division commanders, the Beasts Pirates lost their base, and the Red-Hair Pirates... their Captain was crippled.
Judging from this report alone, someone who didn't know better might think Shanks' fighting power had been greatly reduced...
At the same time, everyone's assessment of Sea King 'Siegfried strength has been raised to the level of a "Four Emperors".
However, only Sig and Shanks knew what actually happened.
A battle that lasted three days and three nights?
This is entirely artistic embellishment; in reality, their fight only lasted a few minutes...
Did they sever Shanks' arm?
It can't exactly be called fake news; it was indeed Sig who cut it off, but...
Just as the two were at the peak of their fighting spirit, Shanks suddenly stopped, smiling as he looked at Sig. As a result, Sig didn't have time to stop either... It was as if Shanks had "given" Sig a left arm!
Otherwise, Sig would estimate that if he were to fight Shanks one-on-one head-on, the odds would be 60/40, or even 70/30 – Sig would be the one with the lower chance of winning.
The feat of severing an opponent's arm and then escaping unscathed is something Sig could never normally accomplish!
As for the reason...
The two of them teleported to Laugh Tale, an island located inside the belly of Island Whale larger than a colossal Sea King.
There the two saw Roger's actual grave, and the Recording Shell he left behind.
Roger was not actually dead when he was executed. He used a trick to save Gaban from death, so apart from two unsuspecting apprentices, no members of Roger Pirates were present at the execution.
However, Roger's days were numbered. He returned to Laugh Tale, had another drunken night with his old friends, and died there, leaving behind Recording Shell.
On his deathbed, Roger anticipated that Shanks would find this place first, and he even left two Recording Shells, one of which was for Shanks.
It not only contains what Roger wanted to say to Shanks, but also mentions Shanks's identity...
The reason the Navy cooperated with the pirates during the God Valley incident was because the Rocks Pirates attacked a branch of the descendants who were considered "extremely noble" even among the Celestial Dragons.
Before their defeat, Rocks killed the target of the attack, and Roger and his crew ultimately only managed to save two infant children, namely... Shanks and Buggy.
The former was the child of that Celestial Dragons, while the latter was the child of a fellow slave.
If that were all, Sig might not have immediately turned against Shanks, or at most he would have left the Red-Hair Pirates later. But...
Combined with the illustrations Sig saw earlier, this undoubtedly proves that Shanks still has connections with the World Government!
In an instant, Sig understood the connection— Shanks was Hispero's No. 1 dream, and Hawk Eyes, as No. 3, had come to pursue Shanks back then!
At the same time, Sig also understood why Rayleigh had said those things to him a year ago...
Indeed, when Sig was arrested, Shanks secretly went to Mary Geoise to demand his release. Although he was refused, Shanks still managed to find out that Sig was being held by Vegapunk and even planned a rescue.
Sig Oldest One only questioned Shanks; it wasn't to the point of a "life or death" situation. After all... Sig had matured a lot, and his feelings for Shanks weren't fake. How could he possibly want to kill him outright?
Even if he were merely Celestial Dragons by blood and had no connection to the World Government, Sig might have only verbally humiliated or mocked him...
However, Shanks offered no explanation, instead admitting to having connections with Mary Geoise and lecturing Sig, which led to the two of them taking action.
And just as the "battle" reached its climax, Shanks deliberately held back, causing Sig to accidentally sever one of his arms...