Chapter 426: Roger's Terminal Illness and Southern Chaos
With the defeat of the three powerful Great Pirates, Shiki "The Golden Lion" has ascended to the throne at the peak of the Great Sea.
The Nine-Star Card is the recognition of Shiki's strength, status, and achievements.
Even if it can't compare to the Rocks Pirates at their peak, he is now the Great Pirate closest to Rocks.
Looking solely at the New World's territory map, nearly a quarter of the territory has been occupied by the Flying Pirates.
And this is just the beginning; the war has just ended.
The Flying Pirates' strength needs restoration.
Following this, the Flying Pirates' strength will expand at an even faster speed, reaching an unimaginable peak.
Some media newspaper agencies, for the sake of sales, even exaggeratedly described and proclaimed this as the era belonging to Shiki "The Golden Lion"!
Soon after, they were found by the Marines and the World Government and taken out for a talk.
However, more people were discussing who the next Legendary Pirate would be.
The title of Legendary Pirate is very prominent, undoubtedly created to distinguish them from the current Top-Tier Pirate Crews.
With one, there will naturally be a next.
Speaking of which, one Pirate Crew is always unavoidable: the Roger Pirates, led by Roger "The Demon".
As a Pirate Crew with extremely powerful overall strength, they are a great mountain that countless pirates find difficult to cross.
Currently, the only ones who can rival the Flying Pirates are the Roger Pirates.
Purely in terms of strength, they believe Roger "The Demon" is a Great Pirate no less than Shiki "The Golden Lion".
However, just having strength isn't enough; they also need powerful achievements that match it.
The Flying Pirates' terrifying achievement of fighting one against three alone has blocked the path for who knows how many Great Pirates to become legends.
"Hahahaha! As expected of that guy Shiki, he actually succeeded."
On an Unnamed Island in the New World, Roger laughed heartily as he read the newspaper.
As an old opponent, he felt great respect.
The Roger Pirates had faced the John Pirates, Silver Axe Pirates, and Five Peaks Pirates before and understood their strength.
Individually, he didn't pay them much mind, but three Pirate Crews together were a force that even the Roger Pirates couldn't handle.
"They really are strong, the Flying Pirates."
Rayleigh, standing nearby, sighed with emotion.
The Flying Pirates' strength was something they couldn't deal with.
If it were just a contest of high-end combat power, it might be manageable, but the Flying Pirates had too much military strength.
"My crewmates, while there's still time, let's continue our adventure. What we're looking for should be on the next island."
Tossing aside the newspaper, Roger called out to his companions.
One by one, the crewmates boarded the Oro Jackson.
Soon, the Oro Jackson sailed rapidly across the Great Sea.
Currently, the Roger Pirates' ship had a new crewmate, a ship doctor named Crocus.
He was a top-tier doctor the Roger Pirates had met many years ago.
He had been invited by the Roger Pirates but refused in order to wait for the Rumbar Pirates.
Just two months ago, Roger, who was like a monster, suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The specific symptoms couldn't be determined.
Because of this, the Roger Pirates rushed back to Twin Capes to find Crocus.
After an examination, it was discovered that Roger had a terminal illness.
It hadn't been detected in the past, but now that it had erupted, it was very fatal.
Roger didn't have much lifespan left.
This was something everyone felt sad about.
Rayleigh still remembered clearly that even with Crocus's care, Roger only had five years of lifespan remaining.
This was their final voyage.
Thinking of this, all the crewmates made up their resolve; they absolutely had to find the legendary Final Island.
Many years ago, the Roger Pirates had embarked on the path of searching for the Poneglyphs.
Based on various intelligence, the Roger Pirates discovered that the information about the Final Island was hidden within the Poneglyphs.
And now, they didn't have much time left; they had to speed up their progress.
Now that Shiki was gradually ascending to the peak, they didn't want their Captain to die with regrets.
If their previous voyages were primarily about adventure, now, the vast majority of the Roger Pirates' energy would be focused on the Poneglyphs.
The Byrnndi Pirates' territory was completely divided up in a short period of time.
The Whitebeard Pirates and Tyrant Dragon Pirates' territories rapidly expanded.
Half of the territories of the three Great Pirates, who had not yet recovered from their war defeat, were occupied by the Flying Pirates.
Whether it was the John Pirates, the Silver Axe Pirates, or the Five Peaks Pirates, they were all undergoing a brief restoration.
News subtly spread that the impact of the defeat was still significant for them.
To eliminate this impact, they had to continue the war, using victory to establish their prestige and attract pirates to join them.
With less territory, they needed to take from other places, because the size of their territory was related to their interests.
For them, who were not good at management, the larger the territory and the more Affiliated Forces, the greater the interests.
War had to break out, and it couldn't be delayed.
If time dragged on, their influence would decline, and the Great Pirates in the south would have more time for development.
They might have seen Shiki's target, but they had no choice but to follow the path Shiki had planned for them.
Ultimately, they were the losers, defeated by Shiki.
Since that was the case, they could only regain face elsewhere.
In mid-July, only a month and a half had passed since the Flying Pirates' victory.
The John Pirates.
The Silver Axe Pirates.
The Five Peaks Pirates.
The three Top-Tier Pirate Crews regrouped, sharpening their swords and heading towards the Southern Sea Area to plunder territory.
As fellow losers, they seemed to have secretly formed a non-aggression agreement among themselves.
They set their target on the Whitebeard Pirates, whose faction was still weak, and the slightly stronger Tyrant Dragon Pirates and Demon King Pirates.
The Beast Pirates, who had just risen, were thus ignored.
The war in the New World North had not been over for long before a great battle was about to begin in the south, and no one knew how long it would last.
(end of chapter)