"This really is a huge surprise, Shiki!"
For every force seeking to overthrow and replace the World Government, this move by Golden Lion Shiki was undoubtedly a welcome surprise.
Even Hades had thought the coming years would pass peacefully until the outbreak of the Great Pirate Era.
The intelligence in his hands clearly showed that the World Government had deployed its hidden forces, with the various Celestial Dragon families joining the effort.
This caused the World Government's overall combat strength to surge. Its previously outnumbered High-End Combatants would swell in number until they could rival the allied forces of the many Great Pirates.
The Flying Pirates alone had nearly forty Fleet Commanders.
Every one of them was formidable even among Marine Vice Admirals, possessing the strength of an Elite Vice Admiral.
The stronger ones had even reached the level of Admiral Candidates or Top Combatants.
Then there were the many other fighters of comparable strength and the Affiliated Pirate Crews.
The Flying Pirates might not yet have had an overwhelming number of Top Combatants.
But when it came to High-End Combatants, their growth over the years had brought more than sixty percent of the New World's elite pirate fighters into their ranks.
In this respect, the other Great Pirates fell far short.
The Flying Pirates had already achieved a position of dominance in this area.
Everyone believed that Golden Lion Shiki was the next Rocks, destined to usher in unparalleled glory and restore the splendor of the Rocks Pirates.
That was also why so many Great Pirates were willing to show Shiki respect.
The current Flying Pirates were simply too difficult to counter.
Even their shortage of Top Combatants was being addressed.
The growth of young monsters like Tyrant Gurado, Godspeed Xiaer, and Deva Path Pain had drawn widespread attention.