Chapter 536: Becoming King?
The Roger Pirates quietly departed, taking a disappointed Buggy with them.
The Sea Chart left behind was taken by True Zero.
The only price paid was a rubbing of the Road Poneglyph.
Kozuki Oden could tell the authenticity of the rubbing at a glance, so there was no further entanglement.
True Zero then left Roland Island and returned to the Kronos Kingdom.
Fake Zero was still being cultivated, and Roland Island had not yet been officially designated as a Stronghold.
This would have to wait until Fake Zero was fully cultivated.
After all, Roland Island serving as Sound Nest's overt Stronghold was only temporary; perhaps a more suitable location would be found later.
Fake Zero also needed time to grow.
At least in the short term, Sound Nest's most visible stronghold would not be established; Sound Nest still needed time to develop.
The Roger Pirates had gathered the final piece of the puzzle.
From now on, the only thing that could stop them was time.
"It's finally time. Let the countdown begin."
Hades received the news from Ignis.
The Roger Pirates, not wanting to get overly involved, had no intention of causing trouble.
After all, the unknown Sound Nest had some connection with "Pluto" Hades.
Now, all that was left was to wait.
However, Hades also wanted to know.
With the Flying Pirates not being destroyed by the Super Giant Storm, and ""Golden Lion" Shiki" not having the Ship's Rudder impaled in the back of his head,
and with the Flying Pirates now the strongest Pirate Crew, and "Golden Lion" Shiki implicitly regarded as the top pirate,
could Roger still reach the peak and become the universally acknowledged Pirate King?
Most likely, yes.
On The Great Sea, for the earliest pirates, adventure was the main theme.
The Legendary Island, Laugh Tale.
Only by reaching there could one be considered to have circumnavigated the World and conquered the Grand Line.
Completing an unprecedented great achievement.
Even if it didn't happen naturally, Hades would promote the birth of the Pirate King.
This was unstoppable.
Only when Roger became the Pirate King would his influence reach its peak.
The Great Pirate Era he would usher in would be even more impactful.
In recent years, the establishment of Trade Routes, the birth of numerous Guilds, and the strengthening of Kingdom military strength
had not made the Great Sea more peaceful.
The Trade Routes tied up a large amount of the Marines' military strength, severely weakening their role in maintaining the Four Seas' stable state.
Furthermore, in recent years, the Trade Routes, where a large number of merchant ships gathered, had become a treasure land coveted by many pirates.
Every year, a large number of Pirate Crews would impact the Trade Routes and plunder merchant ships.
Sometimes, even the Marines couldn't arrive in time.
If the goods couldn't be recovered immediately, they would flow into the Black Market at the first opportunity, leaving no way to retrieve them.
Regarding the Trade Routes, there was even a dedicated intelligence network in the Underworld.
For a small fee, one could obtain information about where merchant ships were passing.
There was even intelligence about the Marines' patrol track.
To protect the Trade Routes, the Marines' annual losses were not small.
There was also Blood War Island, a place where a large number of Marines were buried every year.
The Trade Routes stabilized the Member Nations but also became shackles for the Marines, preventing them from expanding outwards, and even less able to maintain world stability.
Their sphere of influence covered only a small part of the entire world.
The emergence of Guilds had both pros and cons.
The essence of Guilds was that of mercenaries.
Competition for missions among them was not uncommon.
Sometimes, with increased competition, some Guilds naturally became hostile.
Conflicts arose between them, even leading to war.
Kingdoms often hired Guilds to participate in their wars.
Taking nations as units, the hostile relationships between countries would often directly affect the hostile relationships between Guilds within those Kingdoms.
Even Guilds on different islands would have conflicts.
After all, for a Guild to survive, missions were the core.
Without missions, they couldn't earn money, and members would leave.
The larger the Guild, the greater its reputation, the more members it had, and the stronger its faction.
Some high-difficulty, high-bounty missions would be sent their way.
The initial meaning of Guilds' birth was good.
Very pure.
However, the Great Sea was changing.
With the development of the era, they would inevitably deviate from the intended track.
Especially for entities like Guilds that had rapidly developed and grown stronger in just over ten years.
Apart from West Blue, where Guild strength was the strongest,
the other three Sea Areas and the First Half of the Grand Line also had quite a few Guilds.
They were already a force that could not be underestimated.
Some Guilds that committed many evils had even entered the Marines' sight.
And had bounties issued against them.
The strengthening of Kingdom military strength led to the expansion of ambition, and the entire Great Sea was constantly in war.
Expanding outwards, wars between Kingdoms.
The most obvious sign was the total amount of the arms trade, which was increasing every year.
The Great Sea seemed to continue in chaos without stopping.
People died every day.
The Four Seas, having been rampaged by the Rocks Pirates multiple times, could not possibly recover in just over ten years.
The pain brought would require at least two generations, or half a century, to recover.
Not to mention West Blue.
The destruction brought by the Byrnndi Pirates was even greater than that brought by the Rocks Pirates.
The economic losses would take decades to recover,
while the population losses would take at least a hundred years.
Moreover, the Great Sea had never seemed stable.
The number of pirates was increasing.
Many islands in Sea Areas the Marines couldn't reach had become pirate dwelling places.
Gradually turning into pirate islands.
Children growing up in such an environment would eventually become pirates.
The Marines, who had expended a lot of strength to establish Trade Routes to stabilize the Member Nations, had already faced backlash.
The shrinking of their sphere of influence led to a decrease in Marine recruitment sources.
After all, the covered area was smaller, and the population base number was also smaller.
Without enough military budget, wanting to recruit more soldiers was also a difficult matter.
Although there wasn't much feeling yet, such an impact was already present.
Such a Great Sea was a powder keg that could explode at any time.
Roger was that fuse.
Hades was certain that this Great Pirate Era would be even more terrifying than in his memory.
The World Government's rule foundation was continuously weakening.
The Marines were even quite a bit weaker than in Hades' memory.
The familiar people were still the same, but the unknown ones who had made sacrifices were simply too many.
Such Marines could only barely be said to be able to fight back to the New World.
Facing the cruel reality, the Marines' influence was continuously weakening.
In certain Sea Areas, where the Marines had been gone for too long, the local people had become indifferent to the Marines, or had even forgotten them.
Newborn children might have only heard of the Marines organization.
(end of chapter)