"I'm taking my talent to the seas!"
Those were the words of "Black Emperor" Marshall D. Teach.
They had also become something of a catchphrase in the New World lately.
This world had never lacked talented people, least of all in the New World, where countless powers fought for dominance.
No one knew how many monsters had gathered there.
The gaps in strength at sea were plain to see. Few people could claim ignorance.
Even "Moonlight" Moria had gone into hiding to build his strength.
Over the years, many powerful figures had concealed their edge and quietly amassed strength.
They had been doing so not just since the Great Pirate Era, but since the age of Legendary Pirates and the era of Rocks.
Just because they had not made a name for themselves did not mean they did not exist. Some simply had little fame, or only a bit of it.
Hades knew how much terrifying power these seas held.
Some forces that occupied only a single island were not to be underestimated.
The Gallagher Family now, and the Donquixote Family in the future, each held just one island.
For most forces, that was more than enough.
Some forces that could not compete for space in the New World even traveled through Fish-Man Island to the first half of the Grand Line, where they lay low and developed in secret.
The outbreak of the bloody war had greatly reduced the number of pirates in the New World, especially those in the middle and upper ranks.
Combined with the upheaval of the Great Pirate Era, this gave young pirates plenty of room to survive.
Now several more stretches of the Chaotic Waters had been left without a dominant Great Pirate to claim them.
Countless forces emerged to fight over them.
It