Several months later.
Time slipped by unnoticed.
The new year had barely begun, and the date for the handover ceremony at Marine Headquarters had already been set.
The whole world seemed immersed in the joy of welcoming a new year.
In the Four Blues.
After a sweeping purge of the rot within its ranks, the Revolutionary Army suddenly withdrew its forces for unknown reasons, stationing them at the edges of the world and blockading the surrounding waters.
On islands from which no news could escape, the Revolutionary Army erected factory after factory.
They produced not only advanced machinery, but also weapons the Navy had phased out, yet which were still several times more advanced than those commonly found at sea.
On islands where people had farmed by hand for generations, convenient machinery gradually replaced manual labor, freeing up vast amounts of manpower.
And those freed workers were steadily recruited and trained by the Revolutionary Army...
Within the government.
Dragon's sweeping purge and naval blockade had essentially cut off its access to intelligence from within the Revolutionary Army.
Still, agents unafraid of death continued breaking through the Revolutionary Army's defenses, attempting to obtain vital intelligence for the government.
Meanwhile, before the new Fleet Admiral, Sakazuki, took office.
He visited the Holy Land and held a day-long private meeting with the Five Elders, though no one knew what they discussed.
Or what support he secured...
Among the pirates.
The war between the Four Emperors in the New World had raged for months.
But after Sakazuki was suddenly announced as the new Fleet Admiral, with his promotion ceremony fast approaching.
This war over the division of spoils came to a strange halt.
Then, at Red-Hair's initiative, all four forces gathered on an island for talks.
Afterward, the island was wiped off the charts,