Chapter 550: Roger Becomes King
The Roger Pirates heading to the Final Island was a big deal, but it wasn't as important as the Bloody Battle in the New World, which gathered most of the strength of the Pirates and the World Government.
Another month passed, and the Roger Pirates were discovered from the other side of the World.
This represented the Roger Pirates truly circling the World and conquering the entire Great Sea.
At first, this wasn't a big deal.
Even with news being released, most of the headlines were focused on the Bloody Battle.
However, a few days later, the entire world's news situation underwent a stunning reversal.
All news about the Bloody Battle was suppressed.
The news of the Roger Pirates conquering the Great Sea completely dominated the headlines of all newspapers.
"Roger Pirates Successful!"
"Pirate Roger Completed an Unprecedented Circumnavigation of the World!"
"The true King of this Great Sea is born, the King of the Sea who conquered the Great Sea!"
Media outlets, led by the World Economic Journal, frantically publicized all of this.
And they told the World that Roger had obtained everything on the Final Island, acquiring the legendary treasure.
They collectively referred to the treasure obtained by the Roger Pirates as the "Great Treasure".
They claimed that whoever obtained the Great Treasure could possess the entire World.
And Roger was the man who possessed wealth, prestige, strength, and everything.
The entire World was shaken.
No one knew what the Roger Pirates had obtained, but when all the media said so, it became a fact.
Under the extensive publicity, everyone believed that Roger had obtained the legendary treasure and possessed everything in the World.
In the past, whether it was the Flying Pirates or the World Government's encirclement, they all wanted to plunder the secret of the treasure from the Roger Pirates.
Pirate King, originally meaning the King of the Great Sea, was quickly distorted into the "King of Pirates".
This title completely replaced the Demon's Name and became the new title for the Great Pirate Roger.
Everything happened too quickly.
The news of Roger becoming King instantly swept across the entire Great Sea and caused a sensation throughout the World.
Even Blood War Island suffered a fierce impact.
Suddenly, all the Pirates seemed to lose interest in the War, and more and more Pirates left.
They wanted to search for the Roger Pirates and see what the legendary Great Treasure actually was.
If possible, they could even plunder it.
The War became increasingly brutal.
In the past month, nearly 100,000 people died on Blood War Island, reaching half the total death count of the previous three months.
Although most were Army, the Marines and the World Government also suffered heavy losses.
In just four months, a large number of high-end combatants and mid-tier combatants died.
Looking solely at the graduates of the Marine Elite Training Camp, only half of the original number were still alive.
Nearly half of the Marine Vice Admirals died in battle.
The combatants sent by the World Government, and various Factions all suffered significant losses, especially some Factions that had only sent one or two combatants in the first place.
Even just an Admiral-level combatant was considered a core strength in the hands of some Factions.
After all, while Vice Admiral-level combatants might seem less valuable in this context, looking across the entire Great Sea, they were already considered well-known Strongmen.
This War was brutal, with heavy losses, but it also provided training for the surviving Marines.
Anyone who survived gained a lot.
Of course, the Pirates also suffered significant losses, but when spread out, it was still within tolerable limits.
The Flying Pirates lost a total of eight Fleet Captains.
Nearly a third of the Strongmen close to that level were also lost.
The Pirate Fleet of over 100,000 sent over four months suffered losses of nearly 30,000.
This amounted to losing a third of their military strength.
As the leader of this operation, the Flying Pirates, who had essentially gone all out, naturally suffered the greatest losses.
However, it was also within Shiki's acceptable range.
When some died in battle, others naturally grew stronger and rose up.
They could fill those vacant positions, but ultimately it required competition.
More importantly, the scale of the Flying Pirates had been significantly streamlined.
If it weren't for what the Roger Pirates had done, Shiki had planned to let this War continue.
As long as the main combatants he valued didn't die, the other core forces, and some high-end combatants, could be fully replenished with just a little time.
The growth of pirates within his crew, and inviting others from the Great Sea based on his own prestige.
Such losses were nothing to Shiki.
The entire New World was his source of troops.
Unlike the Marines, who constantly had to conduct recruitment and spend time to cultivate them.
"It seems this War can't continue."
"Golden Lion" Shiki said to Reinhardt beside him.
"It's unavoidable. After all, people's morale has started to scatter; everyone wants to know what the Roger Pirates actually obtained."
Reinhardt nodded.
Overall, the outcome of this War was quite good for them.
They successfully depleted the strength of the Marines and the World Government.
Of course, it was a bit regrettable that they didn't catch any big fish among the Marines.
Although their own losses were significant, the losses of other Pirate Crews were also considerable.
Everyone was weakening, which meant Shiki could still suppress the other Great Pirates.
"Then retreat. This is just a temporary ceasefire. When the opportunity arises, it will erupt again."
Shiki thought for a moment and confirmed the matter.
The news that the War was about to end quickly spread throughout the entire Battlefield.
One by one, the Pirates packed their belongings and prepared to leave.
Within just one week, the massive Pirate Fleet completed its evacuation from Blood War Island.
Only a portion of the Pirates remained to continue participating in the Bloody Battle, constantly wearing down the strength of the Marines and the World Government.
The evacuation of the Pirates allowed the many Marines defending Blood War Island to breathe a sigh of relief.
After four consecutive months of War, the members of the World Government Legion who were still alive also breathed a sigh of relief.
In these four months, the losses were immense, not to mention the countless sums of money spent.
There were still many large and small matters to deal with afterwards.
Fortunately, they had endured this War.
Under the command of the Generals, the massive World Government Legion conducted an orderly evacuation.
The combatants from Mary Geoise left directly by warship.
However, it wasn't over yet.
Many of the Marine High Command gathered on a warship to hold a temporary meeting.
"The Five Elders have ordered the Marines to immediately pursue the Roger Pirates!"
Sengoku looked at all the members and relayed the message from Marine Headquarters.
"Absolutely don't let anyone get ahead, especially that guy Shiki!"
(end of chapter)
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