It would be accurate to say that the entire world fell silent.
Although the newspapers were white, at this moment, the fluttering papers were like moving black clouds, scattering over every corner of the world.
There was no cheering, no celebration. As people tremblingly picked up the paper, the world was consumed by a deathly silence, followed by an extreme, suffocating horror and despair.
"World, Offer Your Allegiance to the Birth of the King!"
This was the headline on the front page of the newspaper.
Below it was a picture, taken from a low-angle perspective.
At the very top of the frame, Roa sat enthroned on a high seat.
Below him, the monsters of the Pirate Alliance lined both sides, and at the bottom, kneeling submissively—were the highest echelons of the Marines!
In the East Blue, Goa Kingdom, Foosha Village.
The village had been destroyed in the previous Sea King attack.
The surviving villagers had evacuated urgently, hiding in the mountains behind the village.
In the hastily established gathering place.
"How could such a thing happen!"
Leaning on his walking stick, the white-haired old village chief cursed repeatedly in anger. "What in the world is Garp doing! How could he possibly surrender to a scumbag like Roa!"
"That bastard just destroyed Foosha Village!"
Beside him, Makino held the newspaper, her hand trembling slightly. She tried hard to force a smile, but it looked worse than crying. "Garp-san must have his reasons..."
Although she said this, the woman found it hard to imagine what kind of situation the always-righteous Garp-san must be facing to bow down to that monster, Roa.
"Does this mean... from now on, the entire world belongs to that guy?"
The fat bandit woman with orange hair collapsed onto the ground, her face pale. "Even the Marines... surrendered!"
That was the Marines!
The Marines, who represented justice and protected the people!
Garp, what the hell are you doing?!
The last symbol that maintained order and hope had collapsed!
If that's the case, hasn't the whole world just ended?
As everyone was consumed by fear and despair, Makino clutched the newspaper tightly, her eyes filled with anxiety.
Luffy, are you still safe?
Although the boy hadn't lived here for very long, she was very fond of that sweet child.
Also in the East Blue, in Cocoyasi Village, amidst a devastated tangerine grove.
"How could this be! How could such a thing happen?"
The cigarette the pink-haired woman was puffing on fell unnoticed to the ground, and the burning tip instantly singed a hole in the newspaper in her hand.
But the woman seemed oblivious, only muttering, "That's the Marines! That bastard Morgans must be fabricating things!"
She had been a Marine and knew better than anyone what the World Government represented—they were the true rulers of this world!
Even though they had been sorely pressed by the Pirate Alliance for the past two years, they shouldn't have been so easily defeated, should they?
Beside the woman, her elder daughter, Nojiko, a great beauty with beautiful sea-blue hair, looked pale. "It probably isn't false. A lie that can be easily exposed like this would be meaningless..."
"..."
The matriarch, Belle-mère, moved her lips twice but couldn't say anything.
She had only one thought now.
Is this world coming to an end?
Just then, the front door was abruptly thrown open.
A figure rushed into the tangerine grove, backlit by the sun. "Belle-mère, Nojiko! Is what the newspaper says true?"
The vibrant orange hair looked especially lively under the sun, but the owner's voice was now full of panic.
Belle-mère was abruptly startled awake.
She looked back and saw the unconcealed panic in her elder daughter's eyes, and shifting her gaze, she saw the panicked face of her younger daughter as well.
She herself was terrified, but the two children, who had never experienced turmoil, were even more so.
Therefore, she had to calm down.
"Don't be afraid! Nami, Nojiko!"
Belle-mère waved her daughters closer.
When the girls approached, she opened her arms and pulled both of them into a tight embrace. "Don't be afraid! Great figures like that won't pay attention to a poor, remote place like ours."
"It'll be fine. It will definitely be fine."
The two daughters also immediately hugged their sister and their beloved mother tightly. The family of three clung together, using this intimate embrace to offer courage and strength to one another.
However.
The orange-haired woman, Nami, looked grave.
Everyone already knew what that monster Roa had done in the half of the world on the other side of the Red Line!
What would the rest of this world face next?
In the South Blue, on a certain sea.
On the deck of a pirate ship.
"You've got to be kidding me! That bastard has already crushed the World Government and now wants to take over the whole world? How could it be so fast! How could the World Government be so useless!"
The red-haired man yelled in disbelief.
"Isn't this a good thing, Kid!"
Beside him, the man wearing a mask and having long golden hair said in astonishment. "If Roa rules the world, the true age of pirates has arrived!"
"I don't accept having some damn King of the World standing above me!"
The red-haired man, Eustass Kid, Captain of the Kid Pirates, roared furiously. "Damn it! King of the World? I won't recognize it!!"
You won't recognize it?
His companion, the man named Killer, paused.
With the World Government already defeated by that monster Roa, whether we local pirates recognize it or not seems completely meaningless.
"Excellent!"
Kid suddenly grinned. "Then there's only one goal left! Head for the Grand Line, find the Calamity Company, and take down that guy, Roa!"
"King of the World? If he can be one, why can't I be one?"
Killer was speechless.
In the North Blue, West Blue, and the New World.
The people in these three seas were equally shocked by this news, but overall, their level of acceptance was the highest.
After all, Roa had already ruled the half-world on one side of the Red Line, so taking the other half didn't seem strange.
In fact, the people living in these three seas even felt a strange sense of schadenfreude.
They had been tormented by Roa for so long, and now, it was finally the turn of those who had been living good lives to descend into hell!
In the first half of the Grand Line, the sea known as Paradise.
Alabasta.
The Royal Palace.
The current king, Cobra, put down the newspaper, his eyes filled with inexpressible worry. "The situation has escalated to this point? It's unimaginable that the World Government would be defeated, and the Marine high command would even kneel before Roa."
"Father,"
Behind him, the little princess with blue hair was also deeply troubled. "If the entire world falls into Roa's clutches, Alabasta will not be spared!"
"Will this country also become a living hell, like those nations on the other side of the Red Line?"
For the past two years, to incite public hatred for the Pirate Alliance, the World Government had spared no effort in publicizing how miserable life was in the territories ruled by Roa.
"..."
Cobra took a deep breath. "At this point, all we can do is try our best to protect this country!"
The silver lining in this misfortune was that the Pirate Alliance would not actively attack nations within their territory.
As long as they could pay the tax, this country's only enemies would be the pirates who had completely run wild because of Roa!
"..."
The little princess bit her lip, saying nothing.
At this point, what more could she say?
"However, Vivi,"
Cobra picked up the newspaper again, holding the photo up to his daughter's face, examining it back and forth. He said with some surprise, "There's a woman in this picture who looks a lot like you."
"I noticed that too!"
Princess Vivi said, equally astonished. "Father, does our family have relatives who joined the Pirate Alliance?"
"I've certainly never heard of that!"
The world was indeed terrified by the news delivered by the newspaper.
Who could have imagined it?
The World Government was so easily defeated by the Pirate Alliance.
Although those who had a slight understanding of the world's situation had already foreseen that the war between the World Government and the Pirate Alliance wouldn't last long.
But this was too fast!
So fast that the world hadn't even noticed the war starting before everything was settled.
This world had a new master—the most brutal, most vicious, most wicked master!
The aftermath of the Sea King attacks hadn't even dissipated yet.
"What in the world is going to happen to this world!"
People cried out in horror and despair.
In addition to ordinary citizens, the greatest impact of this event was felt by the Marines.
Marines all over the world were instantly bewildered when they saw the newspaper.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Garp, and the Admirals—did everyone surrender to the pirates?"
"How is that possible? How could those great people kneel to a pirate!"
Some found it hard to believe.
"Are you kidding me! Those bastards betrayed justice!!"
At a certain Marine base, a man chewing on a cigar roared in fury.
He was beside himself with anger.
"Hina doesn't believe it!"
At the Marine base near Alabasta, the pink-haired woman gritted her teeth. "What did Roa do to them!"
Some people thought there must be something suspicious going on.
But then, there were other Marines who—
"Great! Now we won't have to fight the Pirate Alliance, right!"
"Hahaha! If we can join the Calamity Company, we can truly do whatever we want!"
Marines like this also existed.
In addition to the Marines, the World Government still had some remaining forces.
In a great prison in Paradise.
"Warden! What should we do now! The World Government is finished, the Marines surrendered to Roa. What are we supposed to do!"
The entire prison was in chaos at the moment.
The tall man sitting on the toilet was sweating profusely.
Yes, what should they do now?
With the World Government completely collapsed, their prison was like a rootless water plant. A slight breeze, and it would completely disappear!
Where should they go?
As he was relieving himself, he failed to notice that when the unprecedented storm swept into the prison, in a certain cell in the bottom level.
"Heh heh heh, so something like this happened, did it?"
A low laugh came from the dark cell. "Then what are you hesitating for? Hurry up and let me out!"
Outside the cell, a pale-faced jailer was still hesitant. "But, Chief Guard Shiryu—"
"Stop wasting time. You came to me because you know that idiot Magellan won't surrender to the Pirate Alliance, didn't you?"
The man locked in the cell said coldly. "Following him is a dead end, but I, on the other hand, am different!"
The jailer then fiercely gritted his teeth.
It wasn't over yet. The World Government had other remaining forces.
On a certain isolated island in Paradise.
"Did it really just end like that?"
Crocodile flipped through the newspaper. "Two years ago at Mariejois, wasn't that guy Roa getting beaten badly by the person named Imu?"
"That's why he's Calamity Roa—always unimaginable."
Mihawk was skillfully chopping vegetables on the cutting board with his kitchen knife, casually replying. "His strength has probably reached a level that no one can imagine."
After the great battle at Mariejois back then, the two of them had slipped away together.
To avoid being called upon to fight the Calamity Company again, they simply went into seclusion and lived their own private life, largely ignoring communications from the World Government. After witnessing the peak battle at Mariejois, Crocodile even gave up his ambition to find Pluton.
Given the power shown by those monsters, even if he obtained the ancient weapon, he wouldn't be able to hold onto it.
Fortunately, the World Government had not tried to conscript them since then, so the two had been able to live comfortably until now under the title of Warlords.
"Gwahahaha! The King of the World—he actually did it."
Crocodile put down the newspaper, lit a cigar, and took a satisfying puff. "Hey, Mihawk, what do we do next? Should we try to be his enemy?"
"If possible,"
Mihawk spoke slowly, "I would like to fight Roa."
"Gwahahaha! Even if that guy hadn't gotten stronger since Mariejois, you wouldn't be able to withstand one of his swings!"
Crocodile roared with laughter.
"Precisely because of that, I want to witness his sword!"
Mihawk said, "Even if it means dying by his hand, I don't care."
"Tch."
In the skies of a certain area in Paradise, a black dragon streaked across.
"Grandpa! Uncle Zephyr! Uncle Sakazuki! Uncle Kuzan! Uncle Borsalino! What happened to everyone!"
The black-haired boy in a Marine sailor uniform cried out repeatedly, clutching the newspaper.
Beside him, Shanks took a deep breath. "It must be Roa's power! All the Marines have been controlled by him!"
Just like what happened to Mr. Gaban!
"Controlled?"
The black-haired boy suddenly turned around and then loudly said with an expression of sudden realization, "That means, as long as we take out that guy Roa, everyone can go back to normal, right!"
"Take out Roa?"
Even at a moment like this, Shanks couldn't help but find the boy's words amusing. "If Roa could be defeated, the whole world would return to normal."
"Got it!"
The boy fiercely clenched his fist. "Then I'll be the one to punch out that guy Roa!"
Dragon watched the boy, slowly exhaled, and said gravely, "If anyone can defeat that monster Roa, it can only be you, Luffy!"
Perhaps, fate truly favored them.