Even within New Marines territory, Red-Haired Shanks remained perfectly composed.
His demands and goals differed from those of the New Marines. The New Marines under Zephyr hoped to inherit Tsugikuni Yoriichi's will, and everything they did was meant to overthrow the Celestial Dragons' rule.
But there was an enormous divide between ideals and reality. Without Tsugikuni Yoriichi leading them, the New Marines simply had no way to subdue the powerful forces of the New World.
Although the New Marines seemed to have developed well in recent years, they were actually constrained at every turn, deeply mired in the quagmire of the New World.
Shanks could already see the future of the New Marines. Once Zephyr, Issho, and their generation grew old, if the New Marines found themselves without successors, this massive force would likely collapse completely within a few decades.
Yet such a problem would never occur within the World Government or Marine Headquarters.
Shanks understood the Celestial Dragons even better than people like Zephyr did.
Throughout the long course of history, why had the Celestial Dragons always maintained their status and suppressed countless powerful individuals who tried to resist them? The greatest reason was that the person leading the Celestial Dragons had never changed.
And the person hidden behind the Celestial Dragons was also one of the reasons the World Government had remained powerful.
Shanks had once naively believed that a man like Tsugikuni Yoriichi would surely bring earth-shaking changes to this world.
But the outcome had ultimately disappointed him.
It was precisely Tsugikuni Yoriichi's death that made Shanks finally resolve himself. If that fated person did not appear, then he would continue to operate in this world as a pirate, never revealing any intention of rebellion.
When that fated person appeared, he would step in and offer his