Golden Lion Shiki, the pirate most likely to establish himself as the next supreme power of the New World, had buried his ambitions beneath an unexpected storm.
From the Marines’ perspective, the entire incident had been almost impossible to believe.
Marine Headquarters had detected Shiki’s fleets gathering around Edd War well before the battle began.
Not long afterward, Admiral Sengoku was dispatched to take full command of the operation.
He was not alone.
Garp, Tsuru, and several other senior officers also participated.
The Marine fleet was scheduled to reach Edd War roughly three days after Shiki began moving against Roger.
That delay had been deliberate.
Even with warships far faster than ordinary vessels, traveling from Marineford in the first half of the Grand Line to Edd War in the New World placed enormous pressure on the fleet.
More importantly, arriving too early would have been pointless.
The Marines wanted Shiki and Roger to fight.
Ideally, the two pirate crews would weaken each other before the Marines entered the battlefield and captured whoever remained.
They certainly had no intention of arriving ahead of Roger and becoming Shiki’s first target.
If Shiki had already deployed his entire fleet across Edd War, only for Sengoku to sail directly into the encirclement, the outcome would have been disastrous.
After discussing the timing, Garp, Tsuru, and the others agreed that three days was appropriate.
Any longer, and Roger might not survive.
The Roger Pirates had only one ship and a relatively small crew, while Shiki had mobilized nearly all his principal forces.
The difference in numbers was overwhelming.
But if the Marines arrived too soon, the battle might not yet have become intense enough.
The appearance of Marine warships could then cause both sides to withdraw or alter their plans.
Three days seemed ideal.
By then, both crews should have committed fully to the fight.
The battlefield would be chaotic, tempers would be high, and neither side could simply disengage.
It was a sound plan.
The result, however, left the Marines speechless.
Three days?
The battle had barely lasted long enough for anyone to begin fighting seriously.
Shiki first surrounded the Oro Jackson with his enormous fleet.
He then delivered an imposing speech, inviting Roger to join forces with him.
Roger possessed knowledge of the world’s greatest secrets.
Shiki possessed overwhelming military power.
Together, they could conquer the world.
The proposal was not entirely foolish.
For years, Roger had traveled across the seas searching for Poneglyphs.
Among the most powerful figures in the world, that was hardly a secret.
He had even approached Whitebeard and borrowed Kozuki Oden, whom Whitebeard regarded as a younger brother, to help decipher the ancient script.
Roger’s true objective was to follow the Poneglyphs to the legendary final island, Laugh Tale.
He was also curious about the Void Century.
Whatever other reasons he possessed, resurrecting the Ancient Weapons was not one of them.
Roger might have had enough restraint to leave those weapons alone.
Ambitious men like Shiki would never assume the same.
From Shiki’s perspective, anyone capable of deciphering the Poneglyphs might already know the locations of the three Ancient Weapons.
Those legendary powers were said to be capable of destroying the world.
No aspiring conqueror could ignore that possibility.
Shiki had long admired Roger.
That respect could perhaps be traced back to the battle at God Valley, when Roger and Garp helped bring down the Rocks Pirates.
Roger’s achievements in the years that followed only deepened Shiki’s interest.
By now, Shiki had become almost obsessed with him.
Roger had a strange tendency to alter the lives of everyone who encountered him.
Kozuki Oden followed Roger and eventually lost everything he had left behind.
Shiki challenged Roger and saw his path to supremacy shattered.
Garp pursued Roger for decades, only to later suffer the loss of Roger’s son.
Whitebeard accepted responsibility for that same son and ultimately sacrificed himself and his crew at Marineford.
Whatever else could be said, meeting Roger rarely left anyone’s life unchanged.
Shiki believed that if Roger joined him, they could uncover the Ancient Weapons and combine them with the military might of the Golden Lion Pirates.
World conquest would no longer be an impossible dream.
At the same time, Shiki regarded Roger as a potential threat.
If Roger truly possessed knowledge of the Ancient Weapons, he could eventually become Shiki’s greatest rival.
Therefore, if Roger refused the alliance, Shiki intended to kill him before he could turn that knowledge into power.
It was the ruthless logic of a conqueror.
The plan remained impressive—right up until Shiki finished delivering his threat.
Roger rejected the offer without hesitation.
Shiki declared that the Roger Pirates would die at Edd War.
Less than five minutes later, after the two sides had exchanged only a few cannon shots and before any serious boarding action began, a colossal storm struck the entire region.
Many Devil Fruits possessed particular weaknesses or natural counters.
The Sand-Sand Fruit was vulnerable to moisture, while the Rumble-Rumble Fruit met its natural counter in rubber.
Shiki’s Float-Float Fruit likewise possessed a serious weakness.
Extreme storms disrupted his ability.
Caught in violent winds, he became almost helpless, like debris thrown through the sky.
His body weakened, and even his Haki became difficult to control.
He could barely use a fraction of his normal strength.
As a result, Shiki failed to defeat Roger before the storm destroyed roughly half of his enormous fleet and threw the rest into chaos.
When the report reached Sengoku and the others, they could hardly believe it.
They rushed toward Edd War, only to find wreckage scattered across the sea.
Shiki had disappeared.
The Roger Pirates were already gone.
The Marines captured neither of their intended targets.
Even so, the operation was not a complete loss.
Shiki’s fleet had unquestionably suffered devastating losses, dramatically weakening his power in the New World.
At a broader level, however, the consequences would create an entirely new crisis.
Shiki’s strength had suppressed nearly every ambitious pirate in the New World.
Kaido, Charlotte Linlin, Silver Axe, Captain John, Ochoku, Avalo Pizarro, and many others had all struggled to expand beneath the shadow of the Golden Lion.
As long as Shiki remained dominant, their growth was restricted.
Now his fleet had vanished beneath the waves, and Shiki himself was missing.
For every ambitious pirate in the New World, the greatest obstacle to their expansion had suddenly disappeared.
What followed was easy to predict.
A new war for supremacy would erupt across the New World.
The violence would not remain contained there.
The struggle to determine the next dominant pirate power would shake every sea.
The Marines would be forced to face the consequences.
They were not the only ones who understood this.
The newspaper in Doflamingo’s hands contained numerous predictions from commentators, political analysts, and intelligence experts.
Most agreed that a turbulent new era was beginning to sweep across the world.
“Fuffuffuffu…” Doflamingo folded the newspaper and laughed darkly.
“Boss, are you happy because this benefits us?” Gladius asked.
Doflamingo’s smile widened.
“Of course.” “The more chaotic the world becomes, the further darkness spreads.” “And for people like us who live within that darkness, chaos creates opportunity.” He chuckled again.
“Piracy may prove to be a remarkably promising business.” “Doffy,” Vergo said, looking toward him, “do you intend to become a pirate?” Doflamingo rubbed his chin.
Then he smiled.
“Yes.”