Still within the Room of Authority.
After ending the previous topic, the old men relaxed a little. Each of them drank tea and began chatting about minor matters.
"Did you read the newspaper from a few days ago?" Saint Ju Peter suddenly asked.
"Are you talking about Valthior fighting Garp in the New World?" Saint Mars looked at Saint Saturn and said, "Was that arranged by you?"
"Hmph!" Saint Saturn said with some displeasure. "You think I can arrange Garp? Do you hear what you are saying?"
As soon as he said that, the other four Elders could not help laughing. Clearly, this was a small joke between them.
Garp, that stubborn bastard, was under the World Government in name. But in truth, he did whatever he wanted. Without a strong reason to pressure him, ordering him around was almost impossible.
Even orders from the Five Elders were the same.
That dog of a man simply ignored them.
And clearly, over the years, all five of them had experienced that feeling.
That was why they joked about it like this.
Forget Saint Saturn ordering Garp around. Back at God Valley, Garp had pretended to be stupid, acted like he did not recognize Saint Saturn, and even punched him.
By rights, that was a death sentence.
Yet Garp was still alive and well, and was even called a Marine hero. It showed that none of them really had a good way to deal with him.
"So that battle was real?" Saint Ju Peter could not help asking.
"According to the Marine report, it was real," Saint Saturn nodded, then said with a sigh, "They fought fiercely for three days and two nights without a clear winner. But in truth, Garp had a slight edge. If not for the concern that Shiki and others might interfere, Garp would have won in one more day at most."
"I truly envy you for having such a monster in your family…" Saint Ju Peter said, his tone carrying a bit of bitterness. "If that useless child from my family had even one-tenth of Valthior's ability, I would already be satisfied."
The "useless child" from his family was clearly Sommers.
"I thought it was because of those recent rumors about the Valthior Pirates on the sea, so you secretly pushed Garp and Valthior into a fight to help him gain a firm foothold in the New World," Saint Warcury said with a smile.
Once again, Valthior fighting Garp to a "draw" this time did not only shock Shiki. In truth, the Five Elders were also extremely surprised.
Combined with the rumors that had looked down on the Valthior Pirates before, when they first read the newspapers, they had all thought Saint Saturn had secretly acted to let Valthior build his name by stepping on the Marines.
In other words, they would rather believe Garp had obeyed an order than accept that Valthior, at twenty-five years old, had fought peak Garp to a draw.
Even now, after Saint Saturn explained that Garp had actually held the upper hand, it was still shocking enough.
"After this battle, Valthior has truly secured his position in the New World," Saint Nusjuro said softly while holding the First Generation Kitetsu.
And that was indeed true.
A few days ago, after the news that Valthior and Marine hero Garp had fought for three days and two nights on Savila Island in the New World without a clear winner spread across the sea, it swept away all the rumors that had been bad for the Valthior Pirates.
Before this battle broke out, many people on the sea had only placed Valthior and his crew at a level similar to Totto Land.
They were not yet seen as truly equal to great figures like Shiki and Whitebeard.
Even though Valthior's bounty was higher.
Some even believed that the combination of Charlotte Linlin and Kaido was stronger than the Valthior Pirates, that group of "babies."
Now, no one thought that way anymore.
Valthior had used his strength to prove that he could stand against Garp. There were even some rumors spreading from the Flying Pirates, saying Garp had actually lost to Valthior, though almost no one believed them.
In short, the mood across the sea had now completely changed.
Many people already saw the Valthior Pirates as a top pirate force no weaker than the Flying Pirates or the Whitebeard Pirates.
They were no longer seen as silver-medal players on the same level as Totto Land.
When these opinions reached the proud Golden Lion Shiki, something unexpected happened. A man as arrogant as Shiki did not speak up to deny them.
That made the rumors even more convincing.
After all, from the look of it, Shiki had already silently admitted that Valthior was qualified to be his opponent.
As for Whitebeard, there was no movement from his side. No one found that strange either. Newgate was well known for never commenting on these things.
His style was simple.
You could shout whatever you wanted. As long as you did not provoke him, even if you called yourself king of the world, Newgate would not say a word.
But if you truly dared to provoke him, then you had better have the strength to match your words.
Otherwise, he would sink you to the bottom of the sea in minutes.
"He has not failed Imu-sama's expectations. Next, we will see how he fights against fierce figures like Shiki and Newgate…" Saint Warcury said, raising his brow.
Now, Saint Saturn no longer needed to hide the resources he gave Valthior.
After all, Imu-sama had personally said that he hoped Valthior could break open the situation from within the pirate forces. In that case, there was no problem with Saint Saturn giving him some help.
"We cannot simply watch either. We should help build his momentum," Saint Ju Peter said after thinking for a moment.
"What about the Seven Warlords plan from before? Should we carry it out? If so, could we start with Valthior and let him set the example?" Saint Mars suggested after thinking it over.
The current situation was different from the original story.
The Seven Warlords plan had only just appeared as an idea, so the Five Elders still had high hopes for it.
They intended to turn the Seven Warlords into a powerful force no weaker than Marine Headquarters.
At the same time, there were no Four Emperors yet to stand above the Seven Warlords. So in their expectations, the Seven Warlords still carried real weight.
As for later, it could not be said that the Seven Warlords were weak, but they truly could not be compared with Marine Headquarters or the Four Emperors.
They were strong in some ways. After all, top fighters like the future world's greatest swordsman, Mihawk, would later join the group.
But their weak points were also very clear. People like Moria and Doflamingo could hardly be called equal to an Emperor's right hand without sounding awkward. They dragged the level down somewhat.
That was why, even though the Seven Warlords were hyped as one of the Three Great Powers of the seas alongside the Four Emperors and Marine Headquarters, in the end it was… a bit of a joke. Unless you counted all seven of them as a single unified force, the claim didn't really hold up.
"I do not think that is suitable," Saint Nusjuro said, shaking his head. "Let me ask you this. Do you think Shiki or Newgate would join the Seven Warlords?"
Everyone fell silent.
How could that be possible?
"Right now, Valthior has finally caught up with Shiki and Newgate in reputation. If we make him join the Seven Warlords at this time, would that not make him seem lower than those two for no reason? That would not be helping him build momentum. It would be holding him back," Saint Nusjuro said softly.
After hearing this, Saint Mars thought about it and found it reasonable. He nodded and said, "I was not thinking carefully enough."
At the same time, once they understood this point, they also felt that using the Seven Warlords to match those truly top-level great pirates was not very realistic.
If someone could truly stand at the top among pirates, why would they care about the title of Warlord?
Those who could become Warlords were destined, at least for the time being, to be silver-medal players.
They would only cooperate with the World Government because they could not compete with the true top pirates.
That was the fate of this plan from the very start.
"Then what do you suggest?" Saint Saturn asked Saint Nusjuro.
"Build up the momentum. Draw a line around Newgate, Shiki, and Valthior. Let them become the publicly recognized top rank of pirates in the New World," Saint Nusjuro said.
Through public opinion, they would lift those three up as one group. Naturally, all other pirates would no longer be worthy of comparison with them.
In this way, Valthior's reputation would rise greatly, and it would fully establish the fact that he stood on equal footing with Whitebeard and the Golden Lion.
That was true support.
Of course, all of this depended on Valthior actually having the qualifications—and after his fight with Garp, he clearly did.
Looking across the New World at this stage, aside from Shiki and Whitebeard, there did not seem to be anyone who could defeat him.
Kaido and Charlotte Linlin were still one step behind.
"The Pirate Emperors of the New World… What do you think of that title?" Saint Warcury asked the other four Elders.
Clearly, this was only the beginning.
Whether the three of them could truly gain the sea's recognition in the end would still depend on themselves.
Whether it was Valthior, Shiki, or Whitebeard, they would all need a great deal of blood to forge the name of "Emperor."
"Three Emperor forces? Good." Saint Saturn raised his brow and said with satisfaction.
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