"Admiral, we need to reignite the Bloody War. We can't give the Marines too much time to recover."
"Keep their main forces tied down and make them face the upheaval that's about to sweep across the seas."
Reinhardt, Shiki's second-in-command in the Flying Pirates, had already begun planning the second Bloody War.
Inside an ornate Palace, Reinhardt laid out his proposal. It was exactly what Shiki wanted, too.
The last Bloody War, roughly a year ago, had been cut short when the Roger Pirates found Laugh Tale and Roger became King.
That had given the Marines time to catch their breath and freed them to launch a purge across the Four Seas.
This time, they had no intention of giving the Marines another chance.
They would pin the Marines' main forces down in the New World and let the seas descend further into turmoil.
Without the Marines to hold them in check, the seas would only grow more chaotic.
"Will the others agree? Could Roger's final words work against us? They'll hesitate, won't they?"
Even Shiki knew that calling on the other Great Pirates again and again would only breed resentment.
Even if it was for the common good of pirates.
What did that matter to them?
They were the ones losing crew members, and replacing those losses took time.
The Whitebeard Pirates in particular treasured their companions as family. They would not start a war lightly.
Even if their people died fighting the Marines, they would see those deaths as needless.
The losses would gain them nothing. It was the Flying Pirates who had started the war.
Most pirates were selfish, or at least indifferent to anything that did not concern them.
That attitude was precisely what gave the Marines hope of defeating them one by one.
The Marines