The letter Tsugikuni Yoriichi had sent to Shanks through Virgo was actually quite simple in content. Or rather, condensed into a single sentence, it was—please give me some face!
Yoriichi hoped Shanks could assist Virgo and the others in their investigation. If necessary, they could make good use of their identity as "pirates" to get certain things done.
Between the lines, there was no sense of Yoriichi treating Shanks as an outsider. Shanks could tell as much from the wording of the letter.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi's values had not been influenced by Marineford's extreme atmosphere. He had his own standards for judging right and wrong.
The pirate population was simply far too vast. If they tried to beat every pirate to death with the same stick, the Marines' workload would be far too great.
Yoriichi simply divided pirates into four categories.
The first were pure pirates driven by desire and power. The second were "passive pirates" slandered by the World Government despite never taking any real action to harm ordinary people. The third were ambitious figures and adventurers who used the pirate name to pursue their ideals. The fourth were ordinary people who had been harmed, coerced, or forced into becoming pirates.
Different reasons for setting sail naturally led to vastly different patterns of behavior among pirates.
In this world, there were utterly black-hearted people who took pleasure purely in killing and destruction. There were also gray figures who retained their reason and walked the line between darkness and light. And there were pure white individuals who bore the name of pirates only to fulfill their ambitions and dreams.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi did not actually know what the Red-Haired Pirates' ultimate goal was.
The Red-Haired Pirates were not naively "pure white" like the Straw Hats, nor were they utterly black like the