Chapter 173 - Buried Here, Roger, Battle of Edd War!
"It's just that this guy feels a bit strange."
Facing Whitebeard's inquiry, Bai Ye shook his head, withdrew his gaze, and no longer looked at Blackbeard.
The current Blackbeard was not enough to attract Bai Ye's attention, even if he later obtained the Tremor-Tremor Fruit and the Dark-Dark Fruit.
There were many rumors about Blackbeard; some said he ate an octopus fruit, as his characteristics were similar to an octopus, while others claimed he had a special constitution with three souls in his body, which meant he didn't need to sleep.
But no matter how you looked at it, Blackbeard's special constitution was irrelevant to Bai Ye, since he also possessed one.
The uneasy feeling in Blackbeard's heart only eased slightly the moment Bai Ye withdrew his gaze.
That instant made him feel as if he had been completely seen through by Bai Ye.
He joined the Whitebeard Pirates with a secret purpose: to find that Devil Fruit. If he could find the Dark-Dark Fruit, he would leave the Blackbeard Pirates and achieve his ambitions. If not, he would stay with the Whitebeard Pirates for the rest of his life.
Without that fruit, he would just be a pirate without ambition.
"Strange? Don't even think about my son!"
Although he didn't know why Bai Ye was paying attention to Teach.
But in Whitebeard's eyes, he would absolutely not allow Bai Ye to take anyone off his ship!
Since they were his sons, there was no such thing as leaving the ship.
"Tch, it's as if they're some kind of treasure."
Bai Ye curled his lips. He had no interest in Whitebeard's sons.
"Too much doting will only prevent them from growing up, Whitebeard."
From his attitude, it was clear he was already treating these children as treasures and constantly protecting them.
In fact, among these individuals, Jozu, Marco, and Vista were all very talented, including Ace, who joined the pirate crew later.
Ultimately, weren't they all ruined by Whitebeard?
He was truly exemplary when it came to his children; one could say that even without comparing him to Big Mom, he was the best father in the world of the Pirate King.
What kind of fathers were the Pirate King's fathers?
After having children, they would claim to be adventuring, or that no one could stop a man from going to sea, and then directly abandon their wives and children to go adventuring on the high seas, completely disregarding what happened to their families.
Whitebeard was very responsible; at least within his pirate crew, he tried his best to protect them.
However, sometimes excessive protection only led to the Whitebeard Pirates, who originally had great potential, being spoiled and wasted.
Whitebeard was both their making and their undoing.
Marco, a Mythical Zoan user; Jozu, who could still exchange a few blows with Aokiji at Marineford; Flower Sword Vista, who could block Hawkeye's slashes; and Ace, who defeated a Shichibukai shortly after his debut.
One could say that these four could have grown much stronger, yet they were rarely seen using Haki, and their physical combat skills were a mess. Perhaps it was because Whitebeard protected them too well.
"Tch, I don't need you to Teach me!"
You, a bachelor, are trying to Teach me?
Whitebeard wouldn't listen to such advice, especially concerning his children; he, Whitebeard, had his own methods.
"Whatever you say!"
Anyway, they weren't his sons, so Bai Ye wouldn't meddle.
Taking the sake jar from Marco, Bai Ye placed Tengetsu Toki beside him, then raised his cup and clinked it against Whitebeard's giant sake cup.
As they drank, the two reminisced about old times, and as they spoke, a hint of shrewdness flashed in Whitebeard's cloudy eyes as he asked, "Are you coming out this time to participate in the struggle for dominance?"
The struggle for dominance in the New World had already reached a white-hot stage.
After Rocks's fall, Golden Lion quickly recruited forces in the New World, while Roger took the elite route. The two sides had been contending in the New World for a long time.
There was also the Big Mom Pirates, though significantly weaker than the other two, but recently Big Mom had been seeking an opportunity to marry into the Giant Race. Once she allied with the Giant Race of Elbaf, Big Mom would not put any of the current pirate crews in her eyes.
Wang Zhi had returned to Hachinosu Island, and Kaido and John, who had disappeared with Bai Ye, were not known to Whitebeard regarding their specific whereabouts. He had rarely heard news of them since that time, though he had heard of Kaido before.
And Bai Ye's appearance this time coincided with the peak of the struggle between Golden Lion and Roger.
"You're not competing?"
Although he already knew Whitebeard had no interest in this.
Now, most people in the New World wanted to join Golden Lion, Whitebeard, or Roger.
However, for their respective reasons, the latter two were not very keen on recruiting, so most pirates followed Golden Lion, which also earned him the title of Golden Lion, the Pirate Admiral.
"My dream isn't just this much. Speaking of which, is your purpose for coming out to contend for this?"
Whitebeard was a bit surprised; he had initially thought Bai Ye didn't care about such things at all.
Back when he was in the Rocks Pirates, Bai Ye's personality showed he didn't care about being the Pirate King at all.
Now, as the talk of the Pirate King grew hotter, the four Road Poneglyphs and the Great Treasure had also become objects pursued by pirates, and becoming the Pirate King was what basically ninety-nine percent of pirates currently desired.
"I'm not that bored. The so-called Pirate King is just an empty title, released by the World Government!"
Bai Ye curled his lips, speaking with disdain.
What was so good about being the Pirate King?
In Bai Ye's view, it was just a title.
Moreover, this matter happened shortly after Bai Ye massacred the Celestial Dragons.
After the World Government cleared out many unfavorable rumors, the Pirate King, the four Road Poneglyphs, and the Great Treasure appeared.
Although they also existed in the anime, it looked as if the World Government deliberately released them.
And from the anime, this was most likely a conspiracy by the World Government.
They released the news of the Pirate King, then let the pirates fight among themselves to weaken their strength.
At the same time, the pirate infighting would inevitably lead to global chaos. So, at that point, wouldn't it be time to join the World Government's allied nations?
Isn't this just collecting money for the Celestial Dragons?
No money?
Then sorry!
We won't protect you; solve it yourself!
It could also be that the impact of God Valley made the World Government realize that pirates were too strong and needed to be weakened.
Therefore, with all these factors combined, the Pirate King appeared under the guidance of the World Government.
To the World Government, it was just an empty title. Once a Pirate King emerged, they would just focus on capturing him. After all, they didn't care about any Pirate King; in the course of history, there had actually been Pirate Kings.
They allowed Pirate Kings, but absolutely would not allow Nika to appear!
As long as it wasn't Nika, the World Government wasn't afraid at all.
And later, they just messed things up themselves.
They initially planned to weaken pirates, but they didn't expect that after Roger surrendered, he would directly use his life to usher in the Great Pirate Era, and the rampant era made it difficult for them to suppress it.
Who would have thought that Roger, who had just become the Pirate King, would choose to end his life in such a way?
One can only say that Roger concealed his terminal illness very well, otherwise, the World Government would never have given Roger this opportunity.
Originally, they wanted to use Roger's death to strike at pirates, but they didn't expect it to make Roger legendary instead.
"It seems you know something!"
Whitebeard took a big gulp of sake, somewhat surprised that Bai Ye even knew this.
Which great pirate who had reached this point didn't know that the World Government was behind this, pulling strings?
Back when the Rocks Pirates still existed, there was no such thing as the Pirate King.
Rocks was the de facto Pirate King at that time!
The people now vying for dominance were either his crewmates or those he had driven out of the New World.
"Old man, is there some secret to this?"
Marco asked curiously. Although he felt it wasn't ideal to interrupt their conversation, he couldn't help but be truly curious.
Did they know something unknown to others?
"It's just that the Pirate King is nothing special."
"..."
So, it seemed he didn't really say anything, Marco felt speechless inside.
"By the way, I'll tell you something: those two guys are about to have their decisive battle. If you want to go watch, you can join the fun!"
Whitebeard said calmly, looking in a certain direction. Who in the New World didn't know that Golden Lion was preparing to invite Roger to join his pirate crew one last time?
And this time would be the last. If Roger refused, he would launch an attack on Roger.
Currently, Roger was the only one contending with him for the Pirate King title. Since Whitebeard wasn't participating, Golden Lion naturally focused his target on Roger. If Roger chose to cooperate with him, that would be excellent.
He wanted to replicate the former Rocks Pirates, so Roger's inclusion was essential.
"If those two win, there should be a Pirate King emerging."
Whitebeard sighed. Currently, only two people in the New World had a chance, and since Bai Ye wasn't interested, it would be between those two.
"Then who would you rather see become the Pirate King?"
Bai Ye threw out a loaded question. One was an old comrade, the other a good friend. Whitebeard was momentarily stunned by Bai Ye's question.
He then reacted, laughing and scolding, "You bastard, you really love stirring up trouble! But if I had to choose, it would still be that bastard Roger. If it were Shiki, he'd likely turn the whole world upside down."
Compared to Golden Lion, he actually preferred Roger.
That guy Golden Lion had already thrown the world into chaos even before becoming the Pirate King.
He couldn't even imagine how much worse it would be if Golden Lion became the Pirate King.
"But the old lion seems to have a better chance of winning!"
In naval battles, Golden Lion actually had a very high winning rate against Roger.
If it weren't for that unusual weather, Roger would have died in the Battle of Edd War.
"Yes, Roger is basically doomed when he meets that bastard Golden Lion!"
Whitebeard agreed with this point, even though he wished Roger could win.
Speaking of which, this guy really had a blind friendship for Roger.
Bai Ye inwardly mused, but thinking about the pirate world, it was indeed like this. Speaking of which, Roger only really stirred up the whole world after becoming the Pirate King, right?
"Aren't you going?"
Bai Ye asked curiously. It seemed Whitebeard wasn't planning to go. Looking at Marco and the others, Bai Ye suddenly understood; it seemed he wanted to protect these guys!
"Hey, what kind of look is that?"
"What an interesting choice. It would truly be a pity to miss the legendary pirate war!"
Bai Ye shook his head and withdrew his gaze. After hearing Bai Ye's words, Whitebeard was indeed somewhat tempted.
He wasn't old yet; he wasn't the old Whitebeard who preferred to stay in his territory and barely moved. His children were what he cared about most, but that didn't mean he didn't want to go.
It was precisely because he understood the danger of this event that he was unwilling to go. He could withstand it, but his sons could not.
"Are you going?"
"I'll go. After all, it's been a long time since I've seen that old lion."
Bai Ye naturally had to go. This place would change Golden Lion's entire life.
Isn't this a great opportunity to get rewards?
"Then how could I be absent? Marco, get these guys ready, then set sail!"
A hint of a smile flashed in Bai Ye's eyes as he listened to Whitebeard. In truth, he had no idea where Golden Lion and the others were fighting specifically.
Without a Log Pose, he wouldn't know the direction. So if Whitebeard didn't go, he would have to spend time searching for them. But if Whitebeard went, it naturally wouldn't be so troublesome!
"Yes, Old Man!!!"
Marco was also a bit excited. This was a major event; it would truly be a pity not to participate.
Even Blackbeard struggled to maintain his composure. He was still just a child now. Even with his ambitions, for this war, a war that could change the pirate landscape, even if he didn't participate, it would be a regret not to witness it firsthand.
"Roger, now give me your answer. Will you join me, or... die here!!!"
Edd War Sea.
Golden Lion's fleet surrounded the Roger Pirates, and the gloomy weather on site also weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.
"This is really troublesome!"
A trace of discomfort flashed across Roger's face. That guy Golden Lion was truly like a persistent plaster; he couldn't shake him off!
Hadn't he already refused him before?
"Captain, this time, it's truly unavoidable!"
A slight smile appeared on Rayleigh's lips. It seemed Golden Lion could no longer wait.
Speaking of which, they were also one of the strongest forces in the New World now, and to become the Pirate King, they had to be dealt with, whether through annexation or elimination.
"No choice, huh? The Pirate King!"
Gaban shrugged. Who among pirates didn't desire the so-called Pirate King title now?
"Roger, join me and become my subordinate. Together, we will rule the world!!!"
Golden Lion's thoughts were very simple now: to rule the world. Roger's joining would undoubtedly ensure he had no rivals in the New World, and he wouldn't fear that bastard Whitebeard anymore!
Golden Lion, flying in the air with a cigar in his mouth, his eyes filled with disdain. At this moment, he exuded an air of boundless confidence.
The Pirate Admiral, one of the three legendary pirates of the New World, also possessed the largest pirate crew, the Flying Pirates. With so many titles, the newspapers had already pre-ordained him as the Pirate King.
Golden Lion believed that this invitation for Roger to join his pirate crew was bound to succeed.
He had already prepared everything.
Unless Roger wanted to die, did he think he could escape?
No way!
With his Devil Fruit ability, it was impossible for Roger to escape if they met at sea!
"I refuse!"
Roger grinned, refusing Golden Lion's invitation once again.
This caused Golden Lion to lose his last bit of patience. Staring at Roger, Golden Lion snorted coldly, then waved his large hand and commanded, "Go! Eliminate the Roger Pirates!"
Since he chose not to join him, he wouldn't be soft-hearted!
He, Shiki, was not a soft-hearted pirate!
Be buried in this sea, Roger!
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