The news that the Marines were preparing for a final battle with the Sea King could not be kept from those paying attention. With two Ancient Weapons emerging, the seas had fallen into an unprecedented calm.
Apart from the turmoil caused by Marine forces hunting down the Hundred Beasts Pirates, the Four Blues and the first half of the Grand Line were almost models of peace.
Almost, because something else just as remarkable was happening in the New World.
The Straw Hat Pirates and the Red-Haired Pirates had met face-to-face and agreed to fight in three days!
Were people still challenging the Four Emperors just to make a name for themselves?
Countless pirates and schemers watched, wondering exactly that.
In the waters of the Red-Haired Pirates, aboard the Red Force.
In truth, these waters could hardly be called Red-Haired Pirates territory anymore. Smoker's roguish nature meant he would never let Shanks rest easy. On his orders, Marine warships regularly sailed through their territory.
Sometimes they landed to help civilians through a famine. Sometimes they drove off stray pirates. Whatever the reason, they acted as though the place belonged to them.
Whenever they spotted the Red Force, though, they steered clear. They gave Shanks and his crew no chance to lose their tempers, slipping away long before they could be caught thanks to their warships' speed.
Shanks knew Smoker was deliberately provoking him.
Ron and Akainu had assigned that notorious Marine troublemaker to the G11 Branch, the closest branch to the heart of the New World. Apart from his strength, Smoker was practically another Garp. They wanted an excuse to eliminate both Shanks and Kaido.
In the past, the Marines had feared war with the Four Emperors. They had a vast organization and an entire sea to keep in order, while