The movements of the Nightfall Pirates were far too massive to remain hidden. Parage Island had always been a melting pot of forces, and spies were an unavoidable presence. As soon as the fleets began mobilizing, intelligence spread like wildfire.
Before long, most major powers learned the truth.
The Nightfall Pirates were preparing to expand.
War was coming again.
As one of the strongest pirate crews in the New World, every action they took drew intense scrutiny. The Whitebeard Pirates and the Satan Pirates, whose territories bordered the Nightfall Pirates, immediately began mobilizing their forces. They understood better than anyone that this conflict could not be avoided.
In truth, the expansion itself was not unexpected.
Many had anticipated it and made preparations in advance.
The Whitebeard Pirates, for example, had already stationed two divisions along with five affiliated pirate crews at the border. Their vigilance had never wavered.
What surprised them was the timing.
They had not expected the Nightfall Pirates to wait an entire year before making their move.
Now that the machine had begun turning, the Nightfall Pirates moved with overwhelming force. Cadres were dispatched one after another, each leading a portion of the growing army.
At present, the number of core members alone had reached sixty thousand.
This did not even include the countless pirates who flocked to join them each day. As long as they passed the assessment, they were accepted.
Within the environment of the Sageros Sea, even new recruits possessed a solid baseline of strength.
This expansion was not just necessary, it was fundamental.
Teach had no intention of following the governance model of the Whitebeard Pirates. Leaving islands to self-rule while merely collecting protection fees was, in his eyes, a flawed and shortsighted system.
It could not maximize control or profit.
History had already proven this.
After Whitebeard's death and the collapse of his crew, their vast territory had been swallowed with alarming ease. The forces within those regions shifted allegiance without hesitation.
Such was human nature.
In the New World, submission to strength was the norm.
Whitebeard's rule had only appeared stable because it relied entirely on his personal power. Once that pillar vanished, everything crumbled.
Teach intended something entirely different.
He wanted absolute control.
If the Sageros Sea was an empire, then he would be its emperor, and the Nightfall Pirates would serve as its army.
Without a powerful army, how could such an empire be governed?
The idea of loose self-governance was unacceptable.
To Teach, being a member of the Nightfall Pirates was more than being a pirate. It meant fulfilling multiple roles at once: enforcer, soldier, guard, and authority figure.
Over time, the entire sea would be molded into a single, unified entity.
Those who clung to the old pirate mentality could not adapt to this system.
As a result, internal purges were inevitable.
Unruly individuals who abused the crew's power were punished or expelled without hesitation. Teach had no need for reckless pirates who acted without restraint simply because they stood under a powerful banner.
In his eyes, such people were liabilities.
He thought of figures like Squard, the so-called "Great Whirlpool Spider," whose foolishness during the Marineford War had led him to betray Whitebeard under enemy manipulation. A man of such temperament, prone to cruelty and poor judgment, would never have a place under Teach.
Whitebeard's excessive indulgence toward his "sons" only reinforced Teach's belief.
That kind of leadership was not sustainable.
If one truly wanted to build a family, then blood ties should be strengthened in a meaningful way, not through blind tolerance.
Within the Nightfall Pirates, discipline came first.
These internal purges had another effect as well.
They strengthened the crew's reputation across the Sageros Sea.
At the same time, Teach placed great emphasis on cultivating new members.
Compared to recruits, those raised from the beginning offered far greater loyalty.
Across the sea, large numbers of orphans were gathered and trained under strict, military-like systems.
They were given food, structure, and a path to strength.
In return, they gave their loyalty.
Training was harsh and unforgiving.
Those who lacked the will to endure were eliminated early.
The Nightfall Pirates had no use for the weak.
Yet for many, this system offered salvation.
In a chaotic world filled with war and destruction, countless children were left without homes or families. Alone, survival was uncertain. Even simple tasks like fishing could become life-threatening.
Here, they were given purpose.
They were no longer drifting aimlessly.
Their training grounds were spread across several unique islands within the Sageros Sea.
Gravity Island, where crushing gravitational forces could reach up to twelve times normal levels, pushed the body to its limits.
Extreme Cold Island, a frozen wasteland of relentless winds and biting temperatures, forged unbreakable willpower.
Beast Island, inhabited by ferocious creatures, tested survival instincts and combat ability.
Training followed a progression.
First came the cold.
Then the weight.
Finally, the beasts.
Those who emerged from this process were far from ordinary.
Even established members often chose to train on Gravity Island for its intense effects, while the strongest ventured to Beast Island or Thunder God Island.
Thunder God Island, once explored by Teach himself, had now become part of their domain.
At the same time, the Nightfall fleet began to gather.
Dragon-headed warships filled the seas, forming an overwhelming tide as they advanced toward the borders.
Single-headed, double-headed, and triple-headed ships sailed together, their black flags bearing the three-headed skull fluttering high in the wind.
The sight alone was enough to shake the hearts of onlookers.
Leading the charge were figures such as the "Snake King" Mobius, "Iron" Wallace, "Bone Devil" Kaguya, and "Emperor Crocodile" Sladar.
Under their command, the army marched forward to the rhythm of war.
The entire southern New World grew tense.
There was no longer any doubt.
This was not a show of force.
This was war.
The pressure on powers like the Whitebeard Pirates intensified immediately.
They knew that the forces stationed at the border would not be enough.
At the same time, the war in the Chaotic Sea had reached a critical stage. Whitebeard and Golden Lion Shiki were already deeply entangled in battles for territory.
These were not ordinary islands.
They were resource-rich strongholds, the foundation of future dominance.
Whitebeard could not withdraw.
If he did, everything he had gained would be lost.
Other forces were already watching, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
In fact, some had begun moving, deploying troops near his holdings in preparation for an attack.
The Nightfall Pirates had chosen their timing perfectly.
This was an open strategy.
A direct and unavoidable dilemma.
Whitebeard could either divide his strength or risk losing everything.
Neither choice was favorable.
Meanwhile, the Nightfall Pirates advanced steadily.
Teach himself remained on Parage Island and Saint Louis Island, overseeing the broader strategy.
Redyat accompanied the grand fleet, acting as a safeguard against unforeseen threats, though he rarely intervened unless necessary.
Ares, uninterested in minor conflicts, focused on training. Only a truly worthy opponent could draw him onto the battlefield.
Beyond this escalating war, the New World itself had undergone notable changes over the past year.
Gecko Moria, once dormant, had returned with overwhelming force.
Sweeping across dozens of islands, he defeated numerous powerful pirates and rebuilt his reputation.
More shocking, however, was the reappearance of legendary figures.
Captain John, Silver Axe, and Wang Zhi had returned from the dead.
Though greatly weakened, they retained their consciousness.
The revelation sent shockwaves across the seas.
It did not take long for people to connect the dots.
The grave robber who had once desecrated countless tombs had finally revealed himself.
It was Moria.
His Devil Fruit ability had made the impossible possible.
Even if these resurrected figures possessed less than a tenth of their original strength, they still stood at a level far beyond ordinary pirates.
For the Four Emperors, they were not a threat.
For everyone else, they were terrifying.
Under their guidance, Moria's power grew rapidly, and the Moonlight Pirates rose once more.
At the same time, a new overlord emerged.
"Sulphuric Acid King" Eric, a Logia user with devastating destructive power, carved out a territory of over thirty islands.
And then there were two rising stars.
"Red-Haired" Shanks and "Clown" Buggy, former apprentices of the Roger Pirates, entered the New World only three months after the Swordsmanship Tournament.
Facing relentless challenges, they fought their way through powerful enemies and established firm footholds.
Whitebeard himself praised Shanks, saying he possessed the same bearing as Silvers Rayleigh in his youth.
As for Buggy, no one dared to underestimate him.
The Chop-Chop Fruit, a top-tier Paramecia, displayed terrifying potential in his hands.
With a single strike, he could split sea, land, and even air itself into fragments.
Warships vanished under his power.
His destructive force rivaled the greatest abilities on the sea.
Both crews expanded rapidly, supported by capable subordinates such as Benn Beckman and others who had already earned their own reputations.
Two new powers were rising.
The New World was shifting.
And in the midst of it all, the Nightfall Pirates marched forward, ready to carve their path through war.