The war subsided, and the Roger Pirates vanished from the seas.
Yet these seas still found no peace. Despite the absence of major battles, they grew even more chaotic.
To sustain the war, the Navy had transferred large numbers of Marines from Marine Bases across the Four Seas and the Grand Line.
At first, the Navy had deployed a total of one hundred thousand elite soldiers.
After the war had continued for two months, another thirty thousand soldiers were sent as reinforcements.
Troop losses alone approached fifty thousand.
In terms of losses, the World Government had suffered far more than the pirates.
Although no one had tallied the figures, the extent of those losses could still be discerned through various channels.
Among the lower and middle ranks, they were completely outmatched by pirates who had survived in the brutal New World.
Over the years, the Navy had withdrawn from the New World. Even the Marine Bases established there had only a handful of personnel, apart from the G-1 Fortress.
Beyond passive defense, they had virtually no ability to launch attacks against pirates.
First came the sweep of the New World Front, then the prolonged war against the World Pirates in the West Blue, and finally the loss of tens of thousands of soldiers in one fell swoop.
On top of that, Blood War Island had been steadily draining the Navy's strength ever since fighting broke out there.
Although the Navy continued recruiting, its elite troops kept being lost, leaving very few.
Without the harsh environment of the New World to temper them, even the so-called Marine Elites amounted to little.
After all, in the Navy, anyone who survived two or three wars already qualified as a veteran.
Though the pirates were fewer in number, their average strength gave them an