"Strictly speaking, no!"
Whitebeard met Shane with his fist and Kaido with his blade.
Whatever came at him, he had an answer.
The pirates under his command were far weaker than the Dragon Emperor Pirates.
But his own strength made up for it! He could take on a hundred alone!
Red the Aloof was renowned for rivaling the Whitebeard Pirates through his individual strength.
What people failed to realize was this.
Whitebeard's strength had always been his own.
The Whitebeard Pirates, hailed in later years as the World's Strongest pirate crew, had in fact never enjoyed a golden age of their own.
When Whitebeard was at his peak, his crew had yet to reach theirs.
By the time his crew and the pirate crews under his command had grown strong, their captain Whitebeard had already grown old.
Opportunity never favored the man named Edward Newgate.
The sea held too many legends, and countless treasures left behind.
To the places under his protection, he was a symbol of safety.
But to those far across the sea.
Whitebeard was a threat, a monster!
Just like Roger.
In the eyes of his companions and close friends, he was the freest man on the sea, the embodiment of dreams.
But those who died because of the Great Pirate Era never thought so.
Perhaps.
The coming of Nika and the will of Joy Boy inevitably needed the Great Pirate Era to guide them.
But what could be said for the innocents who died in that era?
Whether powers rose or fell, ordinary people suffered.
They were merely survivors struggling between the Celestial Dragons, royalty and nobility, and pirates.
At this moment.
It was the pirates' perspective.
In their eyes, there was only battle, adventure, fine drink, and feasting!
Right now, Shane only wanted to fight