The latter half of the New World.
A certain barren small island.
A small Thriller Bark was docked on the island, while in a small town by the coast, flames soared into the sky. Shadows under the firelight rose and fell like waves, constantly surging and spreading across the town, plunging it into a tide of red and black destruction.
Inside the town, O'hara soldiers with guns kept going in and out, and amidst the crackling of the flames, occasional gunshots could be heard.
Suddenly, the shadows under the firelight converged to form Moriah's figure.
He held two single-bladed scissors in his hand, which he now merged into one and tucked them into his large clothes at his back waist.
Soon, a few soldiers ran over from a distance, saluted Moriah, and said, "Master Moriah, the area is cleared."
"Heh hee hee hee, indeed, not a breath left."
Moriah chuckled evilly, "Then let's move to the next place, lads, continue sailing!"
Amidst the flames, Blackbeard's tattered flag gradually turned to ash, completely destroyed along with the town.
This was a typical town protected by Blackbeard or rather within Blackbeard's territory.
Back then, Hive Island was just that large, not every pirate qualified to reach Hive Island and settle there; many pirates captured islands themselves, raised flags, and were included in Blackbeard's territory.
Not to mention, Hive Island has been gone for a while now, with pirates lacking a gathering target, they've naturally become more scattered.
Like what they encountered now, these pirates, centered around the island, started looting the surroundings, gradually developing into a pirate town.
Such fellows cannot be made to withdraw flags, and this suits Moriah's intention.
Just destroy them directly.
Red Hair is dead, next is Teach.
The more they discover Teach's territory, the easier it becomes to force Teach out.
Watching the soldiers begin their withdrawal, Moriah took out a larger sea map, marked a red dot in a vacant spot, and walked towards the ship.
The sea map had dense red and black dots.
These were the islands Moriah encountered during his sailing conquest, apart from conquest, they were responsible for determining how many islands were in the seas and recording their locations.
It was a rough sea map; black dots represented islands encountered unrelated to their current plans, while red represented islands that had been destroyed.
Most of these red dots were mainly Red Hair Pirates' shelter points; now the news hasn't reached here, people just don't believe Moriah regardless of what he says, and they defiantly claim Red Hair will surely avenge them.
For such stubborn fellows, there must be heavy strikes.
Even if Moriah wanted to spare them from his heart, Sage's prestige must not be underestimated.
At this point, to maintain vast territory, the best approach is Sage's own prestige.
If forgiveness were given easily, once spread, others would lose fear, even a single case would have very poor influence.
He experienced this himself, after defeating Kaido and being able to maintain his prestige, yet ever since he drew with the Straw Hat, during that time he also felt that barely there contempt.
Crocodile went to Impel Down, and after coming out, not only did he not suffer contempt, but inexplicably gained a lot of reputation after fighting Akainu during the Summit War.
Back then, he was rather unlucky, feeling looked down upon by everyone, which was one of the reasons he considered joining Sage.
Prestige is not easy to maintain, but it drops very quickly.
Intelligence he received included concerning Straw Hat.
That's typically a case of strength without prestige, even being captured by Hajrudin's subordinate, that navigator Road, for absurd reasons like collecting figures.
He was someone able to battle Sage who defeated Kaido in Wano Country, growing to a degree Moriah felt he couldn't handle.
Exactly due to lack of prestige, resulting in such situations.
Therefore, they must ensure prestige, even if it means the brute extermination of an island.
The reason the World Government instills fear in most of the world isn't just the indiscriminately triggered Buster Call?
That can't simply be avoided by evacuation, some Navy doesn't care, even bombard escaping ships.
Similarly, all those still stubbornly resistant, hanging enemy flags, must be thoroughly exterminated.
Eradicate until the people on the sea tremble at hearing Sage's name, and retreat upon hearing Disaster's name, more fearsome than during Whitebeard's peak, only then is it enough.
"Still lacking some…"
Moriah walked toward the ship docked on the coast, staring at the Disaster Pirate Flag hanging, murmuring, "High-end is enough, but deterrence is still lacking, development has been too fast lately, just the right opportunity to elevate Sage's renown on the seas to an even higher level."
Sage has faced many strong foes, while those battles appeared in news papers, ordinary folks ultimately find it hard to actualize because they're too distant, instead resembling listening to a play, feeling just lively and strong.