"The new era is approaching its climax. We don't have much time left."
After witnessing Kaido's battle against Garp and Zephyr, Teach's expression had grown noticeably heavier.
Above his palm, a black sphere slowly rotated. The Dark Jade.
His fingers curled slightly, as if trying to grasp something intangible.
He had been too confident.
Whether it was Garp, Zephyr, or Kaido, all of them possessed the power to shatter his Dark Jade outright. With his current strength, Teach could at best force a stalemate. In a true, prolonged battle, defeat was inevitable, regardless of which one he faced.
That meant improvement was mandatory.
The Dark Jade needed to become harder. More compressed. More flexible. Better at dispersing force and adapting to changing situations.
He could also increase the number of Dark Jades, layering them into double or even multiple defenses. But doing so would demand precise multitasking and extreme mental control. That kind of mastery could only come from relentless training.
More importantly, he still lacked a true killing move.
With the Dark-Dark Fruit, Teach had already developed large-scale techniques suited for suppression, destruction, and battlefield control. But what he lacked was a decisive, single-target strike.
Something like Kaido's Thunder Bagua.
A move so overwhelming that it turned an ultimate technique into a standard attack.
Teach already had a target in mind.
Garp.
The path forward was clear. Strengthen his physique. Refine his Haki. Temper his body until his own "Eight Maidens" could rival Garp's Iron Fist.
Based on Kaido's progress, the Beast Pirates would likely become an Emperor-level force within one year, two at most. The Big Mom Pirates were on a similar trajectory.
That meant the Nightfall Pirates had to accelerate as well.
They had to enter the New World before Kaido and Big Mom formally ascended. Once the Four Emperors stood firm, any rising power would inevitably become a target, whether through alliances, suppression, or covert interference.
Even if Teach was not yet strong enough, he still needed to establish his name early.
He was not foolish enough to chase the Emperor title prematurely. He knew his foundation was still shallow.
But the world was changing faster than expected.
Kaido and Big Mom's rise had accelerated. Golden Lion Shiki and Whitebeard Edward Newgate already stood above the seas, gazing down as true Emperors.
Teach stood up and entered the training room.
The pressure returned immediately.
Invisible gravity surged downward, pressing directly onto his body. Fifty times normal gravity.
The force tried to bend his legs, crush his bones, and pin him to the floor.
Teach did not move.
Under that crushing pressure, he began training once more.
Maintaining gravity concentrated only within his body's range required extraordinary control. That alone demanded absolute focus. At the same time, the Dark Jade beside him slowly shifted, compressing and reshaping itself under his will.
He needed strength. Quickly.
Redyat watched with a smile.
In the next instant, his figure blurred, transforming into a shadow before vanishing entirely.
He also needed to grow stronger.
Compared to the true monsters at the peak of the sea, he was still far behind.
In the New World, within the Sargasso Sea, the Whitebird Pirates had completed their relocation.
Mostima knew exactly what needed to be done.
Every competitor in the Sargasso Sea. Every force that could threaten the Nightfall Pirates.
They all had to be eliminated.
The Whitebird Pirates' massive movement could not be hidden. Nor was there any attempt to conceal it.
As part of the transaction between the two crews, Mostima sold one of his carefully developed islands to the Whitebeard Pirates at an astonishing price.
2.2 billion Berries.
And thirty Devil Fruits.
But the money was secondary.
What truly mattered was that the Whitebird Pirates had withdrawn from their original territory near Whitebeard's domain in the central New World.
Instead, they had settled in the southern region.
The competition here was far less intense.
When the Whitebird Pirates arrived in the Sargasso Sea, they already knew the truth. This sea had been chosen by the Nightfall Pirates as their final base of expansion.
That made the remaining pirates here inevitable targets.
Even if those pirates could not be outright expelled, they would be crushed into submission. Forced to become subordinate forces. And if that failed, their rulers would be replaced.
Within the entire Sargasso Sea, only a handful of pirate crews posed real trouble for Mostima.
He wasn't concerned.
If things became difficult, he still had a trump card.
Ares.
In reality, the Sargasso Sea already belonged to the Nightfall Pirates.
Pirates were greedy, vicious, and cruel by nature. Submission never came easily.
Even when facing the Whitebird Pirates, conquest and war were unavoidable.
That responsibility fell to Mobius and the other rising powerhouses. It was both training and tempering, a way to sharpen them through blood and battle.
The Nightfall Pirates would reach the New World in less than half a year. Perhaps only a few months.
Before that, Mostima needed to clear away most obstacles.
Through intelligence gathering, covert operations, and outright conquest, he moved swiftly. Core islands near St. Louis Island were seized first, then expansion radiated outward.
St. Louis Island was extremely wealthy.
Because of that wealth, its coastlines had long been ravaged by pirates. Many of those entrenched forces had already been cleared out by the Whitebird Pirates, driven off, absorbed, or killed.
In a way, they should have thanked Mostima.
They never would have imagined that the Nightfall Pirates had their eyes on the entire island.
Compared to the central New World, competition in the Sargasso Sea was far milder. Pirates were everywhere, but truly powerful crews were rare.
Mostima began his campaign.
Leading the Whitebird Pirates and the Serpent King Pirates, he swept through the region like a blade through bamboo.
The pirates of the Sargasso Sea panicked.
"The wolf is coming!"
And they were right.
This was a period of explosive growth. No great pirates. No overlord-level crews to block the way.
The only nearby territory belonged to the Whitebeard Pirates, and even that was merely adjacent.
In this era, Whitebeard's domain was far smaller than it would be in the future. Under normal circumstances, the Sargasso Sea might have fallen under his banner, or remained a chaotic battleground.
But now, it had been claimed.
Before Teach even arrived, Mostima would build a massive base. Stability was secondary.
Once the Nightfall Pirates themselves descended upon the New World, resistance would be meaningless.
As for St. Louis Island itself, it had little concern for the seas beyond. Internal tensions were already rising, with signs of impending conflict.
By the time the Nightfall Pirates arrived, the outcome would be inevitable.
The entire island was already destined to belong to them.
After the Battle of Urso Island and the Marine Headquarters press conference, the New World entered an even more chaotic phase.
Wars intensified. Competition grew fiercer.
Even before their arrival, the Nightfall Pirates cast a heavy shadow over the seas.
Once they entered the New World, the struggle would only worsen. A vast chunk of territory had already been claimed, leaving less for everyone else.
Some breathed a sigh of relief.
At least it meant fewer pointless conflicts with the Nightfall Pirates.
Meanwhile, the Beast Pirates and Big Mom Pirates were preparing their ascent. Their targets were clear.
The old guard.
Silver Axe.
Wang Zhi.
Both men were in their sixties. Their strength had begun to wane, but they were still top-tier powerhouses of the New World.
After their defeats, their spirits had dimmed. They seemed to realize that the era was leaving them behind.
Yet strength does not vanish so easily.
Even ten years later, they would still be monsters.
Aging barely affected true martial experts. At worst, stamina declined slightly. If they obtained powerful Zoan fruits, even that weakness could be offset.
This was nothing like Whitebeard's future.
In later years, Whitebeard's body would be ravaged by illness, his power reduced to a fraction of its peak. Even Marco's Immortal Flames could only heal injuries, not cure disease.
That fate was still far away.
Silver Axe and Wang Zhi refused to fall quietly.
They accepted territorial losses. Victory belonged to the strong.
But when weaker overlords and ambitious upstarts also tried to prey on them, their fury exploded.
After recovering from their injuries, they retaliated.
Massive battles erupted. They pUrsonally intervened again and again, proving they were still forces to be feared.
They had lost to Emperors.
That did not mean they could be bullied by children.
For now, their positions stabilized.
But the Beast Pirates and Big Mom Pirates had already set their sights on them.
Stepping stones.
Two old men whose era was ending.
Compared to younger overlords like Kaido and Big Mom, who still possessed room to grow, Silver Axe and Wang Zhi had reached their limits.
Even so, they still controlled vast territories. Larger than most other overlords.
That alone made them tempting targets.
The territory once belonging to Captain John was even worse.
Utter chaos.
Fragments of it had already been carved up. The rest was contested by former executives and hidden remnants.
Then shocking news spread.
Captain John's grave had been robbed.
His body had vanished.
Though Captain John's end was ignoble, he had ruled the seas for nearly twenty years. Even in the era of Rocks D. Xebec, he had been infamous.
He left behind more than territory.
He left behind Captain John's treasure.
A legend countless people dreamed of finding.
Despite his greed, Captain John had followers who respected him. Some could not accept the idea of his body being desecrated.
That was why he had been buried on an unnamed island.
And now, the grave was empty.
The news ignited outrage and speculation across the seas.
But no one knew who had taken the body.
Gecko Island.
The stronghold of the Gecko Pirates.
Inside Gecko Castle, Gecko Moria's residence, violent sounds echoed through the halls.
The pirates stationed outside exchanged curious glances.
They did not enter.
Moria had ordered them not to disturb him. He claimed to be training a new technique.
Their admiration grew. Surely their captain had become even stronger.
In truth, Moria was indeed fighting.
Inside the castle, blades clashed.
And standing before him was a mysterious swordsman.