Chapter 548: The Impact of the Warlords (Part 2)
Whitebeard had lost his former air of invincibility and had become more cautious. "The World Government didn't create this thing just to keep us in check," he mused. "It's also meant to balance the Navy." As a veteran pirate, he could see the underlying political machinations at a glance, especially when considered with everything that had happened before.
"Pops, what do you mean by that?" Marco asked, confused by his father's cryptic statement.
Whitebeard lowered his head and looked at Marco, the son he favored most, the one most likely to become the next captain of the Whitebeard Pirates. They locked eyes for a long moment.
Whitebeard shook his head slightly, a thought kept to himself. Marco was still a step behind Katakuri of the Big Mom Pirates and Esdeath of the Rockefeller Pirates. The gap wasn't just in strength, but in wisdom. Can Marco truly take over the Whitebeard Pirates after I'm gone? Whitebeard wondered. A chill crept into his heart. This war had exposed the greatest weakness of his crew: their over-reliance on him, their Pops. If he were gone, could the Whitebeard Pirates continue to survive? He put a question mark on it in his mind.
Shaking his head again, he dismissed the thought. He could consider the matter of his successor later.
"The Warlord system shows that they can't really affect the New World," Whitebeard said aloud, his gaze turning to the sky. "The New World will always be the pirates' New World. Pirates and Warlords will coexist," he told Marco.
After speaking, Whitebeard fell silent, watching as Marco bowed his head in deep thought.
"Let's go," Whitebeard said, getting to his feet. "Let's send off the brothers who were lost in the war."
The Whitebeard Pirates had gathered for a reason. They were here to mourn those who had died. With each crack of a rifle volley, flowers fell. The entire crew was immersed in grief.
For the Big Mom Pirates, the news of Buggy becoming a Warlord had no immediate impact.
"The Buggy Pirates? Buggy the Star Clown?" Charlotte Linlin said instinctively upon hearing the name. "Pick a daughter to marry him off to. Make him one of us."
Hearing this, Katakuri's forehead was covered in black lines. "Mother, the Buggy Pirates are not that simple. Their captain is a former subordinate of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. After Roger's death, he formed his own crew and roamed the Four Seas and the Grand Line for five years. Now he's joined the Seven Warlords. Could this have some kind of impact on us?"
"What? He was one of that thief Roger's crewmen?" Linlin didn't hear anything else. The moment she registered he was a Roger Pirate, she flew into a rage. "Waaaaah! Destroy the Buggy Pirates!"
In her mind, if Roger hadn't secretly made a rubbing of her Poneglyph, he never would have become the Pirate King. She, Charlotte Linlin, would have claimed the title. This grudge had festered in her heart for years, and with the passage of time, her hatred for Roger had only deepened.
Feeling the intense emotional fluctuations from his mother, Katakuri immediately shut his mouth. If he said another word, she would probably go on a rampage. Gradually, Linlin's emotions stabilized, and she went back to eating her cake, ignoring him. With a helpless expression, Katakuri silently withdrew to deal with the matter himself.
The Buggy Pirates becoming Warlords, and the system itself, was causing a great stir across the world, especially among those who understood its deeper implications. They began to eye the remaining Warlord positions hungrily.
In the North Blue, Doflamingo looked at the newspaper in his hand. "Fufufufufu! The Seven Warlords of the Sea... how interesting!" A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. The commanders of the Donquixote Family all turned to look at him. In the grand hall, a figure sat in an inconspicuous corner. He had short blond hair, a red hood, a black feather coat, and clown-like makeup on his face. A cigarette dangled from his lips as he sat there quietly, his eyes scanning everyone in the room.
In the South Blue, on a war-torn battlefield, Dragon looked at the newspaper in his hand.
"The Seven Warlords of the Sea... recruiting pirates with catastrophic destructive power, military strength comparable to a nation, and high renown," he murmured to himself. "The World Government is really regressing. However, this Warlord system... it seems it can be manipulated."
"Dragon, what are you looking at?" Ivankov said, striding over with a Rockefeller 98k rifle, looking overjoyed. "We've captured the city! These Rockefeller-brand weapons are amazing!"
Dragon glanced at Ivankov and handed him the paper.
"The Buggy Pirates? Aren't they nearby?" Ivankov blurted out. After all, with the Buggy Pirates now in the South Blue, the same sea as the Revolutionary Army, he was naturally concerned.
Hearing this, Dragon's heart sank. The Revolutionary Army is right here. Will the Buggy Pirates just turn a blind eye? He immediately turned his head and looked out at the sea. It was empty, not a single ship in sight. A flock of seagulls flew towards them from the sky.
"Not good! We have to retreat, now! Notify all revolutionary units to withdraw!" Dragon yelled anxiously.
And sure enough, several ships appeared on the previously empty sea. As time passed, more and more ships came into view.
"Damn that Buggy! Is he that willing to be a dog for the World Government?" Ivankov stomped his foot in frustration and began arranging the evacuation. A fight was out of the question. If they got tied down, the subsequent arrival of World Government reinforcements would lead to even heavier losses for the Revolutionary Army. When a limb needed to be sacrificed, one could not hesitate.
"Gyahahahaha! So that's the Revolutionary Army?" Buggy stood arrogantly on the bow of his ship, looking at the smoke-filled battlefield in the distance. "The World Government really is impatient. They give me orders as soon as I become a Warlord! Men, open fire!"
Several CP0 agents stood to the side, watching as the Buggy Pirates launched their attack on the Revolutionaries. They nodded to each other silently.
Mihawk and Crocodile, however, were staring intently at a green figure in the distance.
"He's strong," Mihawk said, drawing his Black Blade, Yoru. Crocodile raised the golden hook on his left hand.
Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind blew, and the expressions on both their faces changed dramatically.
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