At Whitebeard's declaration, the pirates on Greenland Island grew even more spirited and cheered.
But out of everyone else's sight, Whitebeard's heart was heavy.
They had now gathered a force of nearly twenty thousand.
More than twenty of them had combat strength at the level of a Headquarters Vice Admiral.
They even had four Admiral Candidate-level fighters, along with a peak Emperor-level powerhouse like himself.
In the Four Emperors era, a force like this would have been enough to plunge the New World into turmoil.
But in this already turbulent Five Emperors Era, Vice Admirals were everywhere, and Admiral Candidates were a dime a dozen.
Even an Emperor-level fighter could be encountered on any random island.
There were also terrifying King-level powerhouses.
Their former glory was truly gone.
That was why he did not have much confidence in this coming battle.
"Even if the alliance between Roy and Bullet has dissolved..."
"I still hope our opponents this time will be Bullet's side."
"If so, we'll still have a sliver of hope."
"Otherwise... we'll be in danger!"
After a long silence, Whitebeard looked toward the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Besides, Ace has been training with Rayleigh for a while now."
"If he can truly master Conqueror's Haki, then perhaps we'll still have a chance."
After murmuring those few words, he placed his hopes on Ace and on not having to face Roy.
Because only then would they have a sliver of a chance.
Otherwise, once Roy made his move, the Whitebeard Pirates might, because of Squard and the others' earlier rashness,
bring about the destruction of the once-renowned Whitebeard Pirates.
While Whitebeard worried about his own future fate, somewhere in Area 13 of the Sabaody Archipelago, a young man was training under an old man.
"Ace, I know you've always resented your identity