East Blue, on a small island.
A group of small-time pirates were holding a boisterous feast on the beach. Barbecues were set up, some of them even putting on crude acrobatic performances. Their pirate flag fluttered high, a skull with a large red nose emblazoned on it.
This crew was none other than the Buggy Pirates.
While Buggy's subordinates were having the time of their lives, Buggy himself sat on a rock beside the small grove near the shore. He clutched that day's newspaper in his hands, his expression vacant, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Red-Haired Pirates Annihilated! Red-Haired Shanks Slain by Shichibukai 'Crush-Strike' Slekemind!"
"New World Frenzy Operation Concludes, Red-Haired Fails to Escape!"
"Following Ochoku and Silver Axe, Another Great Pirate Falls! New Admiral Benn Ortoren's New World Campaign Achieves Major Success!"
"Can Admiral Benn End the Current Great Pirate Era!?"
Staring at the headlines one after another, Buggy finally snapped back to his senses. A tear slid down the corner of his eye as he suddenly crumpled the newspaper into a ball and hurled it to the ground.
"You idiot!" he shouted angrily. "I told you a long time ago not to go to the New World! You just wouldn't listen to me!"
Buggy's feelings toward Shanks were complicated. On one hand, he was annoyed by Shanks' reckless nature, always dragging him into dangerous adventures and even getting him forced into eating a Devil Fruit.
On the other hand, the two of them had grown up together aboard Roger's ship, the only ones of the same age. In battle, they fought side by side. They were brothers in all but name.
After parting ways at Loguetown, they never saw each other again. There was no contact at all, not even through a Den Den Mushi.
From then on, Buggy stayed in the East Blue as a minor pirate. He was sly and cautious, never provoking the Marines, only bullying civilians instead.
When a pirate frenzy once broke out in the East Blue, with various crews banding together to attack a certain kingdom, some people came to Buggy hoping to form an alliance. Buggy flatly refused.
As it turned out, his caution was absolutely correct. All the pirates who took part were later wiped out by the Marines in a retaliatory sweep.
Because Buggy never joined them and kept himself well hidden, nothing ever happened to him.
One could say he lacked ambition as a pirate, but Buggy's life was still fairly comfortable. From time to time, he would see news of the Red-Haired Pirates in the papers, learning of whatever impressive feat Shanks had pulled off. He felt both envious and quietly relieved.
Even so, he was always worried about Shanks, afraid that he might suffer a disastrous loss in that monster-infested New World.
Not long ago, the incident at Hachinosu had made the news. Seeing Shanks flee in a sorry state, badly wounded and missing an arm, Buggy had been deeply unsettled.
But how much time had even passed since then? And now Shanks was dead in the New World?
"I said it back then! The New World is way too dangerous!" Buggy cursed bitterly as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Even Captain Roger nearly got killed there more than once! You were still so young, with hardly any real experience. You never should've gone there! But you wouldn't listen, and now look at this. You got yourself killed!"
Despite the pain in his heart, Buggy had no intention of avenging Shanks. From the moment they split up at Loguetown, they had already chosen different paths, becoming independent captains in their own right.
Shanks died on the road he chose. That was his decision, and his fate.
If anything, this only strengthened Buggy's resolve. That ghostly New World could have whoever wanted it. He was staying right here in the East Blue, no matter what.
...
The end of the first half of the Grand Line, the Sabaody Archipelago.
Inside Shakky's Rip-off Bar, Rayleigh sat on a sofa, a bottle of liquor in one hand and a newspaper in the other, staring blankly at the news printed on the page.
Seeing him like this, Shakky let out a soft sigh. She walked to the door, hung up a sign reading "Closed," and locked the bar from the inside.
"Are you alright?" Shakky asked softly.
It was only after hearing her voice that Rayleigh seemed to come back to himself. He forced a faint smile onto his face.
"What could possibly be wrong with me? I just… suddenly saw a kid from our old ship return to the sea's embrace like that. It made me feel a little sentimental, that's all."
He shook his head and continued.
"I actually thought quite highly of Shanks back then. Roger did too. He even gave him his straw hat. But the tides of the New World are always that violent. Whether it's him or anyone else, a single mistake, one wrong decision, can cost you everything…"
Shakky nodded, sighing with emotion.
"Yeah. A place like the New World is far too dangerous. One careless moment, and you could lose your life. Shanks really had guts. Of all people to provoke, he just had to provoke that guy…"
Rayleigh fully agreed with Shakky's words. Precisely because he had worked with Ortoren before and was on decent terms with him, he understood better than most just how brutal and powerful that man truly was.
Back when Ortoren was still a Vice Admiral, he had dared to join forces with the Revolutionary Army, Rayleigh himself as a retired pirate, and the underworld of Fish-Man Island to plan something as treasonous as setting Mary Geoise ablaze. And they had actually carried it out.
Now that Ortoren had become an Admiral, Rayleigh didn't even dare imagine how ruthless he had grown. Under those circumstances, Shanks provoking him and ending up like this was hardly surprising.
Although Rayleigh felt sorrow over Shanks' death, he had no intention of avenging him or stepping forward on his behalf.
He had long since left the pirate life behind. Shanks had become the captain of the Red-Haired Pirates, and as a captain, every decision he made was his own responsibility.
If Shanks had gone on to dominate the New World and become the Pirate King, there would have been no need for him to look out for Rayleigh.
And likewise, if he died in the New World, no matter at whose hands, Rayleigh had no reason to seek revenge.
These were unspoken rules of the pirate world.
In the past, Ace had been Roger's biological son. But once he acknowledged Whitebeard as his father and joined the Whitebeard Pirates, he had severed ties with the so-called remnants of the Roger Pirates.
That was why, when Ace was captured and taken to Marineford for execution, Rayleigh had done nothing more than watch the broadcast from the Sabaody Archipelago.
It was the same now. Shanks had become his own captain, and Rayleigh had no place to interfere.
Setting the newspaper aside, Rayleigh shook his head.
"This is only the beginning. Ortoren is ambitious, and he has both the strength and the brains to match. Now that he's an Admiral governing the New World, he's going to live up to that word 'govern' completely. Just wait. In a few years, when Ortoren makes his next move, the New World will be thrown into chaos. Whitebeard, Kaidou, even his own mother, Charlotte Linlin. None of them will be able to avoid the massive vortex he'll create, one that will swallow the entire New World whole."
"So who do you think will win in the end," Shakky asked as she looked at him, "when Ortoren decides to move against Newgate and the others?"
Rayleigh answered without the slightest hesitation.
"In the past, I would've said Newgate could hold the line. Kaidou isn't easy to deal with, and Charlotte Linlin is exceptional. But now? If Ortoren chooses to act, then the New World will become his New World."
It was precisely because he had worked with Ortoren that Rayleigh understood just how terrifying that man truly was.
Shakky nodded.
"That's what I think too."
...
The New World, territory of the Whitebeard Pirates, aboard the Moby Dick.
Newgate looked at Kozuki Oden, who sat alone at the edge of the deck, staring blankly out at the sea. He let out a soft sigh, shook his head, and said nothing.
He knew exactly who Oden was mourning today. That red-haired kid.
Newgate hadn't expected that red-haired brat to be taken out so quickly. Vaguely, he could already feel the pressure and looming threat Ortoren was bringing to the New World.
With a single command, the entire New World seemed to grow restless. It was as if everyone except the Whitebeard Pirates was eager to chase after Ortoren's so-called "favor."
Thinking of this, Newgate couldn't help but sigh again.
Marco, standing beside him, noticed the shift in his mood and asked with concern,
"What's wrong, Dad?"
"Nothing…" Newgate waved a hand dismissively. After a brief silence, he added softly, "I'm just a little worried."
"Worried? About what?" Marco asked, puzzled.
"Worried that the New World is too small," Newgate said with a sigh, "and that Ortoren's ambitions are far too big."
On this vast sea, countless heroes may rise, but in the end, only one can be king.
...