High above Merveille, within the massive palace complex.
Shiki was leaning back on his throne, reading the newspaper in his hand with a pleased expression.
"Hahaha, that bastard Roger seems to understand Kaido pretty well. Beast Blood Boiling… Jihahahaha…" Shiki laughed loudly.
"That is not the point I asked you to pay attention to, bastard!" Silver Axe said with a cigar in his mouth. He sat on Shiki's left side with one leg crossed over the other.
"Then what? Ohara? What does that have to do with me? Finding out about those scholars now is already too late. If this information had come out earlier, I would have rushed to the West Blue at once, captured all those scholars, and interrogated them properly!" Shiki cursed.
Although those scholars had been traveling around the world before, CP had done a good job keeping things secret. On top of that, rough pirates like Shiki did not pay much attention to academic circles, so they had never noticed that group.
Now, the connection between those scholars and the Poneglyphs had exploded into public view, but everything was already too late.
Shiki did not believe the World Government would be merciful. Those scholars must already be finished.
So there was no need for him to waste energy on something that could no longer be changed.
Not long ago, after meeting Valthior, Shiki had also become interested in Laugh Tale.
But with Shiki's mindset as a pirate overlord, he naturally would not suddenly change his development plan because of that.
Right now, Shiki still intended to expand his forces, expand again, and keep expanding. At the same time, he would develop his own "great weapon" similar to the Sea Kings, continuously attract strong pirates from all over the world, strengthen his power, and use that path to dominate the world.
To put it plainly, this route was actually exactly the same as Rocks's back then.
Rocks had known some hidden truths of history. Otherwise, he would not have charged straight into the Room of Flowers.
But he had no intention of searching for the past. Instead, he planned to seize the throne of the world in his own way.
Shiki was exactly the same in that regard.
And it was not only Shiki. In fact, Valthior was also walking this same road now.
"I am talking about this Pirate Emperor rumor!" Silver Axe looked at Shiki. "Marine Headquarters seems to have placed you, Whitebeard, and Valthior in the same rank as pirates. Public opinion is already rising. You three are being called the Three Emperors of the New World…"
"Is that not a good thing?" Shiki grinned arrogantly. "This time, the Marines are not talking nonsense. After all, looking across the entire New World, the only ones qualified to sit at the same table as me are Newgate and that brat Valthior."
If this had been half a year ago, Shiki would have felt that only Newgate was qualified to sit at the same table as him.
But thinking back to how Valthior had recently fought Garp to a standstill, and considering that Shiki faintly felt Garp's condition after the battle had been much worse than Valthior's, perhaps Valthior had even held the upper hand in that duel, Shiki recognized Valthior's strength more and more.
Especially since he had also taken part in the battle at Elbaf. He had personally seen Valthior display overwhelming power there, even taking Harald's full-force strike head-on and surviving.
That alone was impressive enough.
Even Shiki himself did not think he could withstand Harald's full-force blow.
So even someone as arrogant as Shiki acknowledged Valthior's strength. From the perspective of strength, there was nothing wrong with Valthior sitting at the same table as him and Newgate, and being called one of the Three Pirate Emperors of the New World.
"Looks like you really do think Valthior is strong," Silver Axe said in surprise, raising his brow.
Naturally, he knew very well just how arrogant Shiki was. Seeing Shiki actually acknowledge Valthior's strength surprised him.
"That brat is a monster. If you keep looking at him with old-era eyes and act like you are his senior, you will suffer badly sooner or later, old friend," Shiki said seriously as he looked at Silver Axe.
Silver Axe fell silent for a moment, then sighed.
"If we had known this, we should have acted first and never given him time to grow…"
"He has only been away from the Roger Pirates for about three years. He did not provoke anyone either. He was just in Wano… no, on Frost Island, quietly growing. If not for his fight with Garp this time, who would have guessed that brat was so abnormal? In his twenties, and he can already rival Garp…" Shiki said, feeling a little uneasy.
It was also his own fault for underestimating Valthior.
Originally, Shiki had thought that brat would not be able to keep up with the pace for at least ten years. After all, it was a crew full of kids, nothing worth mentioning. The main opponent of the Flying Pirates was still the Whitebeard Pirates.
But as it turned out, Valthior had forcibly supported the entire crew by himself.
That left Shiki rather speechless.
They did not discuss this matter for too long. Soon, Silver Axe asked curiously, "Speaking of which, what is going on with the Marines changing your name? Are you really also a D? Is your family name Davy?"
Hearing this, Shiki scratched his head. He did not immediately deny it. Instead, his face was full of confusion and doubt.
"Maybe…?" Shiki said hesitantly.
"Huh?" Silver Axe said in surprise. "What do you mean, maybe? You do not even know your own family name?"
"How the hell would I know?" Shiki shouted unhappily. "I was an orphan since I was a kid. I grew up fighting on the streets. By chance, I ate a Devil Fruit, and that was when things started getting better. Not long after I went to sea as a pirate, I started running with that bastard Rocks. I know nothing about my own background…"
Forget his background.
In truth, Shiki did not even know the meaning of Davy or D. He only knew that Rocks also had the name D.
He did not even know that Rocks was a Davy.
Right now, he simply thought the Marine Intelligence Division had done a good job digging up his past, found his "origin," and changed his name accordingly.
As for the meaning of Davy or D, he knew nothing at all.
Considering Marine Headquarters' powerful intelligence system, the World Government's reach, and its deep foundation, Shiki now somewhat believed that he really might be called Davy D. Shiki.
"Why would the Marines suddenly dig up your background? That makes me very confused. Does this Davy name have some meaning?" Silver Axe said, touching his chin in puzzlement.
"Who knows? After seeing the new wanted poster, I also asked around about the name Davy, but found nothing. Other than the legendary Davy Jones game, there is nothing worth mentioning…" Shiki shrugged.
Just then, Babel slowly walked in from outside and said, "The supplies below the island and the newcomers who want to join us have piled up too much. They are almost filling the nearby waters. Hurry up and deal with it…"
As he spoke, Babel looked at Shiki with great interest.
"And there is something very interesting too…"
"What is it?" Shiki frowned when he saw Babel's strange expression.
"A beautiful woman sent a letter here saying she wants to recognize you as family…" Babel said with a smile, taking a letter from his clothes.
Clearly, this was the letter Eris had written.
Logically speaking, she had no way to contact Shiki. She did not have that qualification. But down below, she claimed to be Shiki's family. The underlings of the Flying Pirates did not dare make the decision themselves, so they reported it up level by level and sent the letter to Babel. Now, it had reached Shiki.
Shiki froze when he heard this and said in surprise, "A woman? Coming to recognize me as family?"
"You abandoned her after having your fun, huh? Scumbag!" Silver Axe laughed loudly.
"Bullshit!" Shiki cursed. "Who does not know that I, Shiki, do not care for women? My heart is full of ambition and conquest! You think I am like those hypocritical bastards Sengoku, Zephyr, and Garp?"
"Go complain to your gorilla," Silver Axe snorted.
"I will say it again. That is my pet!" Shiki cursed.
Other people liked raising cats or dogs.
What was wrong with Shiki raising a gorilla?
That was the first successful test subject of the IQ project. Of course he valued it.
While cursing, Shiki took the letter from Babel and clicked his tongue. "If she dares cling to me with some nonsense claim, I will slice her into pieces…"
But before he could finish speaking, Shiki froze.
Looking at the letter, shock flashed through his eyes.
"What's with that face? You serious?" Silver Axe exclaimed when he saw Shiki freeze.
Did this guy really abandon someone?
"Davy… People of our Davy family have come to find me!" Shiki finally raised his head, looked at Silver Axe and Babel, and said in confusion.
Twenty minutes later, Teach's family of four was brought up to Merveille and arrived before the grand hall.
Shiki sat majestically on his throne. Babel and Silver Axe stood respectfully on either side of him, giving him plenty of face and highlighting his status as the boss.
Seeing the gentle woman enter the hall with two little girls and a half-grown boy, Shiki frowned and felt somewhat disdainful.
If he had not wanted to learn more about the Davy family, Shiki would never have met these burdens.
That's right—in his eyes, they were burdens.
A woman with three kids, all looking ordinary and lacking any presence.
If that was not a burden, then what was?
And Teach really was thick-skinned. The moment he saw Shiki, he directly ran forward and cried out, "Uncle Shiki, we searched so hard for you!"
Seeing this brat start crying as soon as he came up, Shiki became even more annoyed. He was just about to scold him.
But then Teach suddenly cried, "You must avenge my father, Rocks!"
The moment those words came out, Shiki, Babel, and Silver Axe all stood up at once.
The aura of these three top powerhouses instinctively pressed down on Teach, Eris, and the others.
Fortunately, they reacted quickly and withdrew it before it could have any real effect.
"Who did you just say your father was?" Shiki asked, shock in his eyes.
It felt like… he had just touched upon an enormous secret!?
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