The Situation on All Sides

"Do you mind if I play the film to verify the goods?"

Morgans asked aloud, but his hand had already passed the film to an employee.

The woman still said nothing. She simply stepped forward and opened the black suitcases one by one for inspection.

Each suitcase contained one hundred million Beli. Ten suitcases made exactly one billion.

Just as the woman finished checking them, dense gunfire erupted from the projector with a series of "bang, bang, bang" sounds.

Seeing Morgans staring at it in a daze, she did not disturb him. She threaded wire through the handles of the ten suitcases, dragged them along the ground, and quietly departed.

"Captain John" was actually dead!

The footage lasted less than a minute, yet the shock it brought Morgans was beyond measure.

The mountain of treasure dazzled his eyes, while the careless death of the notorious pirate hero left him regretful.

Then Morgans burst into wildly excited laughter.

"An event the entire world is watching, yet I got the firsthand news. World Economic News is going to make its name across the seas!"

"Who will Captain John's treasure ultimately fall to? How exciting!"

Morgans tossed the bag containing the fingernails to the black-suited supervisor sent by the hidden boss who had funded the one billion Beli, then hurried into the airship to begin drafting the next front-page headline.

Compared to treasure, he preferred the shocked expressions people wore because of his newspapers.

He wanted the entire world to go mad for him!

That very afternoon, World Economic News printed the newspaper and had seagulls distribute it across the seas.

<The End of the Legendary Great Pirate Captain John!>

The latter half of the Grand Line · New World

Inside a certain shipyard

The craftsmen, their bare upper bodies slick with sweat, swung their hammers with grave concentration as they built the massive ship already named the Queen Mama Chanter.

"John!"

Suddenly, an immensely piercing roar rang out from a room deep within the shipyard. The Conqueror's Haki mixed within it made the craftsmen roll their eyes back and collapse unconscious.

"You truly are a disappointing man!"

Inside the room, Charlotte Linlin sat in a straight-backed leather chair, newspaper in hand, surrounded by towers of mousse, cream puffs, and all kinds of sweets.

Her pleasant mood from enjoying dessert had been utterly ruined by the photograph taking up an entire page of the newspaper.

In the photo, that purple-haired man had practically been shot full of holes.

Across from her, Streusen sat cross-legged on the floor. He picked up a piece of roasted meat and stuffed it into his mouth before asking indistinctly,

"Linlin, what should we do?"

"What should we do?"

Linlin raised a brow, cold light flashing in her beautiful eyes.

"Of course, we'll find those traitors and take John's treasure back!"

She was no longer like she had been as a child, openly voicing her concern. Instead, she expressed it through contrary words.

When she had backed Rocks up at God Valley, she had practiced "righteousness" in her own way like this.

She was the same toward John now, repaying the "righteousness" of him sharing his treasure with her in this manner.

Perhaps there was a little tsundere stubbornness in it, but more than that, she was protecting herself and those she cared about.

As a pirate, she could not have any weaknesses!

At the same time, upon the vast sea.

The Boro Pirates underwent a major change today. They merged with several pirate crews and changed their name to the Whitebeard Pirates.

The captain of the Whitebeard Pirates was—Edward Newgate!

On the deck of the Boro, Boro Gram and Newgate's many fans cheered and roughhoused as they waited for the chefs to bring out the food for the banquet.

At the seat of honor near the bow, Newgate held the newspaper, utterly out of place amid the lively atmosphere. A trace of sorrow showed in his pale amber eyes.

"Since you don't know what to do, just take it one step at a time. Things will work themselves out when the time comes."

John's voice echoed in Newgate's mind. He still remembered how carefree that man had looked then.

"Comrade, have you left too?"

Newgate raised his head and looked toward the pirates horsing around.

He wanted to avenge John, but now he had "family." One small move would affect everything, and he had to be responsible for his family's safety.

He could not act recklessly!

"Captain, what are you spacing out for? Come start the banquet!"

Gram held up the wine brought by the chefs, excitedly waving Newgate over again and again.

He was Newgate's number one fan. After the God Valley Incident, he had wanted to invite Newgate to join him and become his subordinate.

Yet somehow, after just one drunken binge, he had instead become Newgate's subordinate.

It did not matter. As long as he could stay with Newgate, he was happy no matter what!

Newgate folded the newspaper and slipped it into his coat pocket. Rising from his chair, he raised his clenched right fist.

"Men, the banquet begins! Let's drink ourselves senseless!"

Unable to avenge John, Newgate could only numb himself this way.

Little did he know that in the future, fate would ruthlessly take Gram from his side as well.

Leaving behind only a kid named Marco, who would inherit his father Gram's will and remain by Newgate's side.

Hachinosu

The Flying Lion led its fleet out of port, gradually leaving behind the island that had been reduced mostly to ruins.

Three days earlier, Shiki had returned to Hachinosu with treasure, intending to recruit men and expand his forces.

Naturally, this created a conflict of interests with Ochoku, who had been ruling like a monkey king in a mountain without tigers. The two broke into battle.

Shiki won without any suspense. For the sake of their former companionship, he spared Ochoku's life.

He also left Hachinosu to Ochoku.

It was not because Shiki was generous. Hachinosu was simply too barren, regarded as the Impel Down of the New World.

Once, the World Government had exiled pirates and slaves captured in the New World to Hachinosu, intending to leave them there to fend for themselves.

Only after Rocks had emerged and seized Hachinosu did the island rise to prominence and become a headache for the World Government.

Without Rocks, Hachinosu was a barren island where one could barely scrape together a few trees.

"Boss Shiki, huge news!"

Shiki was standing proudly at the bow when an excited pirate jogged over and handed him a newspaper.

"Those bastards are turning the world upside down again, aren't they?"

Shiki curled his lip disdainfully. He had nearly grown sick of reading such news these past few days.

Either Newgate had crushed some pirate crew, Linlin had seized some island, or Kaido had attacked some World Government facility.

Those people were even more active than they had been when Rocks was around!

He figured John had probably joined in some major event again.

Shiki reached out to take the paper and casually glanced at it. The information before him suddenly left him frozen.

John was dead?!

"Bastard, I was planning to take you as my subordinate! How did you just die?!"

Threads of blood crept across Shiki's pupils, making the enraged lion look incomparably ferocious and terrifying.

"Traitors, unforgivable!"