Inside a standalone villa within Gold City, Charlotte Linlin and Kaido were currently sequestered.
They had already swept the premises; there were no wiretaps or surveillance devices. This wasn't surprising. Gold City had only just opened. Installing bugs would be tantamount to destroying their own brand. It was unlikely they would ever resort to such tactics here.
Linlin and Kaido understood this logic, but they had checked nonetheless out of professional caution.
These standalone villas were available for purchase as private property. In fact, as soon as the listings opened, many were snatched up. Practically every big shot across the seas had invested in some fixed assets within Gold City. After all, this was a unique neutral zone; the need for such a venue would likely arise frequently in the future. You couldn't exactly book a standard hotel room every time you needed to negotiate with someone, could you? It would be beneath their dignity!
Thus, securing a permanent residence, or even a local office, on the ship was a necessity. Even if the prices were astronomical, to these titans, it was pocket change. This particular villa had been bought by Charlotte Linlin. For that matter, Kaido and Whitebeard had bought properties of their own as well.
The villa's front doors stood open, with no guards in the immediate vicinity. Linlin and Kaido were inside drinking, neither saying a word. After a while, they set down their drinks simultaneously and looked toward the entrance.
The towering silhouette of Edward Newgate stepped through the doorway. Like the others, he came alone; even Marco had not followed him inside.
Newgate glanced at Linlin, then spared a look for Kaido. Without wasting words, he sat naturally on a prepared sofa. The three of them were now positioned in a triangular formation.
"What are you drinking?" Kaido asked in a low voice.
"Whatever you're having is fine," Newgate replied casually, showing no trace of pretension.
Drinks in hand, the three began to imbibe. There was no social clinking of glasses; they simply drank in silence, nobody offering any superfluous chatter. After a few rounds, perhaps due to his age, or perhaps because he was the most sentimental among them, Newgate's eyes took on a hint of wistful reminiscence.
"I didn't think that in this lifetime, I'd share a drink with you two bastards again..."
Neither Kaido nor Linlin took offense at his blunt language. On the contrary, Newgate's opening words stirred a spark of memory in their own eyes.
"The last time we drank like this was back on Captain Rocks' ship..." Linlin remarked.
"And then Shiki started a fight with you, you old fossil, didn't he?" Kaido added with a smirk.
Newgate let out a chuckle. "Gurararara! If that bastard John hadn't stopped me, I would have sent that idiot Shiki to the bottom of the ocean right then and there..."
The Rocks Pirates, while a group, was largely a collection of individuals brought together for a "big score." There wasn't much in the way of camaraderie. On the contrary, daily brawls and internal strife were the norm. However, since most members were legendary pirates in their own right, the infighting, while real, rarely reached the point of life-and-death struggle.
Kaido didn't chime in this time.
Linlin had been a figure of some standing back then. But Kaido? On Rocks' ship, he had clearly been a rung below Newgate and Linlin. Even his ability was a parting gift from Linlin, one of the "major shareholders", after the Rocks Pirates collapsed.
The three reminisced for a moment. Though they didn't find any long-lost friendship... well, there wasn't any friendship to find... it did serve to thaw the oppressive atmosphere.
Setting his glass down, Newgate finally asked, "So, tell me. Why did you call me here? It can't be just to stroll down memory lane. Neither of you is the sentimental type."
Linlin gave Newgate an annoyed look. "Old man, stop acting. You wouldn't have come to Gold City personally if you weren't also looking to meet with us."
Kaido remained silent, just sitting there.
Newgate nodded, then countered, "But I had no specific agenda. If you must have a reason, it's simply that I didn't object to seeing you, so I came."
Linlin and Kaido remained noncommittal toward this claim, but they didn't doubt him. Newgate was exactly that kind of man. In truth, it was indeed the two of them who desired this meeting more.
"I told you long ago that the Seven Warlords of the Sea were nothing good, nothing but the World Government's lapdogs. But you insisted on having your way. Now look where it's gotten you," Linlin said, her tone laced with reproach.
Newgate didn't buy it. He replied with pure disdain, "The Shichibukai are no good, and you two are? At least I can still sit here. If I hadn't joined forces with Smoker back then, I would have suffered far worse at the hands of you two bastards!"
This was the truth.
Though the outcome of that great war had been far from ideal, Newgate had achieved his goal upon reflection. He had fought to resist the combined front of Kaido and Linlin and to prevent the slow decay of the Whitebeard Pirates. While all three were technically "defeated" in the end, there was no clear winner among them. Smoker? Smoker might be powerful, but he wasn't capable of swallowing them whole. He wasn't a lethal threat yet.
The ones who truly lost out were Linlin and Kaido. They had expected to join forces and dominate the New World, only to end up in this awkward, stagnant position.
Rather than argue the point further, Linlin snorted and asked, "Things haven't been easy lately, have they?"
Newgate glanced at her and said nothing. It was a tacit admission.
Currently, despite being titled the Yonko, they were far less dominant than they might have been in another timeline. The New World was riddled with internal problems, but the primary issue was that the Marines were becoming increasingly powerful.
As the Marines' comprehensive strength improved, the "Great Pirate Era" was slowing down worldwide. This meant the influx of "new blood" into the New World was becoming insufficient. Furthermore, with Sakazuki serving as the Admiral in charge of New World operations, the Marine posture had become incredibly aggressive.
While Sakazuki hadn't triggered a world war yet, the Marines had effectively dampened the pirates' spirits in the New World. Moreover, the gateway seas were now almost entirely under Marine control.
The pirates of the New World were locked inside, their living space constantly compressed. Unable to overcome the Marines externally, they could only turn on each other internally.
Life was indeed difficult. Even for the Yonko.
Seeing that Newgate remained silent, Kaido spoke up. "If this continues, we're all going to end up finished, Whitebeard..."
In another version of history, Kaido would have fared quite well. Though he spent years idling in Wano, he eventually conquered it, established a massive weapons trade, and systematically grew the Beasts Pirates, even creating an army of Ability Users. Among the Yonko, he would have been a top contender.
But now? He was miserable. His career had barely started when Sakazuki, leading Diarmuid and others, cornered him at the Sky Island. They fought from the clouds to the ground, and he was ultimately captured.
After spending a few years in prison, he emerged to find the gap had widened significantly. He was forced to ally with Linlin to spark a war for hegemony, only to end up with a "defeated" status. The Beasts Pirates, having only just recovered for a few years, were driven back into their hole in Wano.
Furthermore, because Doflamingo was now working with Diarmuid, that bastard Caesar hadn't made any waves. The "Gifters" and the Ability User army didn't even exist in shadow.
Because of these factors, Kaido hadn't been able to stir up trouble abroad, and his roster of subordinates was incomplete. He had barely managed to scrape together the All-Stars, but the Tobi Roppo were non-existent. X Drake was still an exceptional Marine, and Who's-Who was about to take over CP9, looking at a bright future. As for Page One and Ulti, because Kaido's life trajectory had shifted so drastically, he never even met the siblings. Currently, he really only had a few mid-level thugs; he had no one of real caliber to field.
So, while he held the title of a Yonko, it was an incredibly awkward position. Despite his poor standing, Kaido had a restless heart. He knew that if things continued like this, he would only continue to slide backward. There had to be chaos, a massive reshuffling of the deck, for him to find an opportunity to rise again.
He was unwilling to fade into obscurity.
Newgate remained silent, arms crossed over his chest, watching Linlin and Kaido perform. But the two weren't bothered by his lack of reaction.
"The Marines are too strong now," Linlin said. "To be honest, I went to sea at five years old. I've roamed the oceans for decades, and I've never seen the Marines this powerful. I have to admit, the Big Mom Pirates alone cannot shake or oppose them. But is it just me? Aren't you all in the same boat? Tell me, Whitebeard, you old fossil, do you have the strength to go toe-to-toe with the Marines?"
Newgate sighed. This "Marine Threat Theory" was the standard rhetoric used whenever pirates needed to ally. In the past, it might have been an excuse, but now? As Linlin said, none of the three could handle the Marines alone.
He could see where Linlin and Kaido were going with this. These two bastards were already allied; their pact had never been dissolved. It just lacked its original strategic purpose.
Now, it sounded like they wanted to pull the Whitebeard Pirates in. For what?
On a large scale, it was a fight for survival in the New World, a fight for the interests of all pirates. On a smaller scale, they knew that once the Marines had a free hand to clean up the pirates, they would target the "troublemakers" first. They had to find a way to deal with the inevitable sanctions... or perhaps even strike first.
Whether it was because Newgate was old, his ambition had faded, or his health was failing, the truth was that Newgate was tired. He didn't have the energy to cause trouble anymore. He wasn't as vigorous as Kaido or Linlin, who were always looking to start something.
So, Newgate wasn't particularly keen on getting involved.
His internal conflict was even more complex: he knew that if he continued to pretend he didn't see the situation, if he just passively dragged his feet, something catastrophic would eventually happen.
He could neither move forward nor retreat. In the end, he had chosen to come to Gold City. As he said before, he had no agenda, but he wasn't opposed to meeting them.
Or perhaps, Newgate wanted to see what kind of argument these two bastards could use to persuade him...
If they could actually convince him, he might still be willing to get involved.
This was the complicated state of mind Newgate held.