"Gallagher Carl won't join us, no matter how his fight with Kaido turns out."
"He's already established himself. He's risen even more forcefully than Goenitz, Xiaer, Gurado, or Pain did back then."
Reinhardt shook his head at the admiral's question.
Though he already had the Ancient Weapon Pluton, Shiki still wanted to strengthen the Flying Pirates as a whole to secure victory in their future war against the World Government.
He wanted more monsters.
Naturally, Carl's meteoric rise had caught Shiki's eye.
Perhaps age had something to do with it, but Shiki had a high opinion of young pirates who distinguished themselves.
Unfortunately, it was impossible.
Gallagher Carl was no pirate, and his territory was already established.
Given the strength he had shown, making him submit would be no easy task.
With his strength and potential, reaching the pinnacle was only a matter of time.
Gallagher Carl was different from Xiaer and the others.
Back then, "Godspeed" Xiaer, "Deva Path" Pain, "Tyrant" Gurado, and Goenitz had only just displayed monstrous strength and potential.
They might still have been some distance from becoming Top Combatants.
None had risen as forcefully as Gallagher Carl.
And the Flying Pirates had been at their zenith then. Under the overwhelming might of "Golden Lion" Shiki, they had not dared refuse the Flying Pirates' offer.
In those days, the Flying Pirates were truly unrivaled.
That was no longer the case. As other Great Pirates grew stronger and their crews developed, the Flying Pirates' dominance had begun to wane.
The deaths of Captain John and Silver Axe, in particular, had cost the Flying Pirates two staunch allies.
The two great bloody wars had been launched by the Flying Pirates together with the John Pirates, the Silver Axe Pirates, and the Five Peaks Pirates—three of the top pirate