"Fire!!"
"Bring the ship alongside!!"
The New World was truly a gathering place for the pirate elite.
When York and his crew sailed through the first half, Paradise, they encountered only a few pirate crews in total.
Here, however, since entering the New World, they encountered a pirate crew every single day.
Most of them were unable to adapt to the extreme weather of the New World and were preparing to flee back to the first half.
Only a small portion were just passing by.
And unsurprisingly, upon seeing the Red Flag, these passing pirates all initiated attacks.
"Destroy the Red Flag Pirates!"
"Take down York!!"
"The title of World's Number One! And the world's most beautiful woman, Shakky! They'll all be ours!!"
Boom boom boom!
Fierce naval battles erupted, cannon fire flying everywhere.
With a large number of pirates joining, the massive cannons on the Red Flag were no longer just for show. Each cannon spewed dazzling tongues of fire, bombarding the sea around the enemy pirate ships.
Of course, some shells hit the enemy ships directly.
But since pirates in the New World could survive here, they naturally wouldn't be afraid of conventional artillery strikes.
Even if shells flew over their ships, they had plenty of ways to destroy them mid-air.
Thus, the pirate ships from both sides quickly docked, and fierce boarding battles broke out.
"Kill!!!"
Standing on high ground, York did not personally participate in the battle, simply watching silently as pirates from both sides fought fiercely on the deck.
Pirates in the New World were indeed stronger than those in Paradise.
But apart from the officers, there wasn't a cliff-like gap in strength.
And speaking of officers, among the pirates in the New World, how many were qualified to challenge Kaido and Dragon?
So the final outcome of these battles was always victory for the Red Flag Pirates.
The hostile pirate crews, including their captains, all chose to surrender and join the Red Flag Pirates to survive.
...
The next few days of sailing were almost all like this.
A small skirmish every three days, a big battle every five.
The pirates of the Red Flag crew, originally considered top-tier combatants in Paradise, complained endlessly.
But complaints aside, their combat effectiveness was indeed gradually honed through battle after battle.
Of course, the casualties were tragic, but they were covered up by victory after victory and wave after wave of newly joined crew members.
Through these battles, the name of the Red Flag Pirates gradually resonated throughout the New World.
Originally, after the destruction of the Rocks Pirates, pirates in the New World only knew that Wang Zhi, Shiki, Whitebeard, and Charlotte Linlin had survived the catastrophe and occupied territories to rule as kings.
They assumed that York, Kaido, and other Rocks Pirates members, as well as Shakky, whom everyone longed for, had all died in God Valley.
For this reason, they had been disappointed for a long time.
But now, the Red Flag Pirates had emerged out of nowhere, and someone had personally witnessed Shakky on the ship.
Suddenly, the entire pirate circle in the New World exploded.
"For Shakky!! Charge!!!"
Pirate crew after pirate crew launched attacks on the Red Flag Pirates, one after another.
The Red Flag pirates, who had just adapted to the recent frequency of battles, suddenly began to find the voyage difficult again.
"Is the New World actually this treacherous?"
"No wonder Captain York and the others are on a completely different level from us!"
"Fighting like this every day, those who survive are all monsters!!"
...
Fortunately, although the number of attacking pirate crews increased significantly because of Shakky, the combat power of Kaido, Dragon, Stussy, and the others remained steadfast. In battles at the officer level, the Red Flag Pirates had never suffered a loss.
...Until this day.
A pirate ship with red sails, just like the Red Flag, appeared in front of the Red Flag Pirates.
Painted on the sails was a skull with a curly mustache, and below the skull symbol were the English letters [GOL·D·ROGER].
"Captain York! It's the Roger Pirates!!"
Long-term victories had caused the pirates of the Red Flag crew to lose some respect for New World pirates.
However, the newly joined crew members were very clear about Roger's prestige.
Hearing this, they couldn't help but advise York: "Captain York! The Roger Pirates are not to be trifled with. Should we avoid their edge for now?"
"Avoid their edge?"
York looked at the pirate advising him with surprise on his face.
"You want me to avoid his edge?"
"Are you kidding!!"
"Lads! Bring the ship alongside!!"
"Oooooh!!"
The newly recruited pirates from the New World didn't react much.
But the Red Flag pirates, whose numbers had dwindled to 2,000 after the recent slaughter, let out passionate shouts.
"Fight!!"
"Bring the ship alongside!!"
"Take down the Roger Pirates!!"
...
On the vast ocean, two pirate ships with crimson sails sailed towards each other.
York and Roger tacitly stood on the prows of their respective ships.
"York!!"
Roger was the first to shout.
"Shakky is on your ship, isn't she!!"
"I didn't expect the famous Roger to come specifically looking for me for a woman!!"
York sneered.
"That's right! She's on my ship!!"
Hearing this, Roger immediately got excited.
"Lads! You all heard it!!"
"Save Shakky! Defeat York!!"
The crew of the Roger Pirates shouted in unison.
"Shakky-chan! We're coming to save you!!"
...
Not long after, the two pirate ships collided head-on at sea.
Both hulls were made of Adam Wood, so neither side suffered much damage after the collision.
Roger took the lead, preparing to leap onto the towering deck of the Red Flag.
But someone was faster than him.
A vigorous figure leaped from the mast of the Oro Jackson, landing on the deck behind York in a single jump.
York didn't look back, still looking down at Roger below.
"Yo! Rayleigh, long time no see!"
Rayleigh, the first to jump up, didn't reply. Drawing his sword, he charged towards York.
"Thunder Bagua!!"
A thick kanabo wrapped in lightning swept horizontally from the side.
Rayleigh, with eyes only for York, was startled. He had to temporarily give up on York and use his drawn sword to parry Kaido's sneak attack.
Bang!
A loud bang, and both sides retreated simultaneously.
Rayleigh didn't use Conqueror's Coating, and Kaido didn't activate his Devil Fruit transformation.
Rayleigh retreated further than Kaido, but Kaido had the advantage of a sneak attack. The two were evenly matched.
"Wororororo! Rayleigh! Wanting to challenge our captain just like that? You haven't asked me yet!!"
Rayleigh looked solemn. Just from that collision, he sensed Kaido's growth during this period. He feared he couldn't defeat him in a short time.
So he spoke in a low voice: "Where is Shakky?"
"Shakky?"
A playful smile appeared on Kaido's face.
He didn't expect there to be a story between Rayleigh and Shakky.
Turning to look at York, who hadn't even turned his head, he immediately understood. Rayleigh was just a simple clown.
"Wororororo!"
Kaido began to look forward to Rayleigh's reaction after meeting Shakky. So he extended his thumb and pointed towards the sterncastle.
"She's on the third floor there. But whether you can see her or not isn't up to me."
Rayleigh took a deep breath and nodded gently at Kaido.
"Thanks!!"
After speaking, he turned around to face the large group of pirates from the Red Flag crew.
"Don't stop him! Let him pass!!"
York's voice came from the prow. The pirates on the deck immediately obeyed and opened a path.
Rayleigh gripped his sword tighter.
From York's reaction and Kaido's smile just now, he had more or less guessed the possible outcome.
But without seeing Shakky with his own eyes, he simply couldn't accept it.
He really wanted to ask Shakky personally if that invitation from back then still counted!!
So Rayleigh took another deep breath and, with heavy steps, advanced towards the sterncastle step by step.
On the Oro Jackson.
Roger, Gaban, and the others perceived everything happening on the Red Flag through Observation Haki.
So they waited no longer.
Led by Roger, they began to jump onto the deck of the Red Flag one by one.
"York!!"
Roger leaped high, grinning widely.
"You made me suffer quite a bit back then!!"
York also grinned.
"Weren't you happy?!"
The former gripped his long sword tightly, black-red Conqueror's lightning streaking as he slashed down with the force to split a mountain.
"Divine Departure!!" (Kamusari)
The latter clenched his right fist, similarly streaking with black-red Conqueror's lightning, punching upwards from the ground.
"Fist Bone · Collapsing Fist!!"
Boom!!
Sword and fist collided in mid-air, erupting with a massive amount of black-red lightning.
Nearly half of the Red Flag Pirates couldn't withstand the clash of Haki between the two and fainted on the spot, eyes rolling back.
"Con... Conqueror's Haki..."
Maga, the Supernova York had recruited on Sabaody, stared dumbfoundedly at the collision ahead.
"Is... is this the Captain's strength?!"
"Haha! Kaido! Your opponent is me! Wonder if you can take one of my axes!!"
Gaban jumped up after Roger, and his target was Kaido from the moment he arrived.
Kaido's gaze focused, daring not to be careless. He instantly activated his Azure Dragon Fruit's Human-Beast Form.
At the same time, his kanabo was also wrapped in black-red Conqueror's lightning.
"Thunder Bagua!!"
The azure-purple dragon lightning and the black-red Conqueror's lightning intertwined, wrapping around the kanabo. With a swing from Kaido, it collided in mid-air with the axe Gaban swung down.
Rumble!!
Storm clouds gathered in the sky due to Kaido's transformation, but when their weapons collided, the gathered clouds split to the left and right.
Visually, it looked as if the sky had cracked open because of their collision.
"The sky... split..."
Maga was dumbfounded again.
"Is... is this the strength of the officers?!"
People from the Roger Pirates were still jumping up, and the next Red Flag Pirates officer to step forward was Dragon, who had been keeping pace with Kaido recently.
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