Under the bombardment of several earth-shaking pieces of news in succession, towering waves had been stirred across the seas of the New World.
The news that Golden Lion Shiki had had his arm severed by the Marines a month ago had only just been digested by the public when word spread that the Roger Pirates had completed a voyage around the world. Roger was the first person to accomplish such a feat!
Before the storm stirred by that news had even passed, the Marines and the World Government officially bestowed upon Roger the title of "Pirate King." That title alone had turned the seas of the New World into a bloody maelstrom.
On their voyage toward Water Seven, the Roger Pirates encountered countless pirate attacks, great and small. All of them wanted to step on the Roger Pirates to rise to prominence.
Only after Roger and his crew had wiped out dozens of pirate crews did the number of challengers coming after them begin to plummet.
Flies could not harm an elephant, of course, but they were still annoying to the elephant!
Without the nuisance of those flies, the Roger Pirates' sailing speed increased considerably.
Marineford Era 1499, June 1st.
The sun blazed fiercely that day, and temperatures around Water Seven had climbed above thirty degrees Celsius. The island's vegetation had been baked dry by the scorching summer heat, its branches drooping as though they were about to wither.
After a period of evacuation, there were no longer any ordinary residents on Water Seven. The entire island was occupied by the Marines.
At the harbor, a port that had originally accommodated fewer than ten warships had been renovated over the past few days and could now easily berth nearly thirty warships at once.
Farther out from the harbor, small Marine