"How arrogant!"
"My twin axes were due for some blood!"
Gaban held an axe in each hand.
Haki glittered like sparks of lightning, seeping into every inch before cascading like water, until the axe blades surpassed the finest divine weapons in the world.
"Let me go first, Roger!"
"Not everyone in this world is worthy of being your enemy!"
How could Gaban allow an enemy to come straight at their captain?
That would be underestimating the Roger Pirates, who had roamed the seas for more than a decade.
Since Rocks fell apart, Roger and his companions had gradually become the overlords of the New World over the past year and a half.
They had almost no power base, much less any pirate crews under their command, though some people called themselves the Roger Grand Fleet.
In truth, Roger had never publicly acknowledged any pirate crew as his own.
The Whitebeard Pirates had instead adopted a system of gradual development, and some crews made up of young people were steadily growing stronger as well.
As Golden Lion's and Shane's forces had expanded half a year earlier, they had sensed a familiar pressure from the past.
Ambitious men like Rocks were rising.
Before that.
Roger and the others had regarded Golden Lion as the most likely future overlord, relying primarily on superior numbers.
Until Shane stirred up one major battle after another.
His influence, troops, and elite crew members all grew, finally convincing Rayleigh and Roger that Shane had even greater ambition and vision than Shiki.
"We should have gotten rid of that brat back at God Valley. Rocks treated them so well, yet the two had only just met. Before that, we'd never even heard of any Shane."
"That bunch scattered, but Shane alone built himself up from nothing. His forces