The moment Pure Gold was mentioned, the Five Elders all fell silent. None of the five present possessed the kind of selflessness to give it up.
After all, it had taken them countless years to attain their current positions of power—being described as "second only to one, above all others" was no exaggeration.
With Lord Im still in slumber, all things in the world were theirs for the taking. And what the Five Elders desired most was to ensure that this continued forever.
After all, they knew of the perfect precedent—Lord Im himself, the supreme ruler who had controlled the world from the shadows for eight hundred years. The Elders wished to follow in his footsteps, prolonging their current authority indefinitely.
"The Divine Army will be prepared to deploy, but Kizaru must be urged to act quickly, to bring down that madman!"
It was Saint Nusjuro who finally broke the silence. Outwardly, he rebuked Kizaru's "willfulness" with severity, but inside, he could not help feeling a bit of schadenfreude.
The truth was, while the Divine Army could never be replaced by the Navy, the overwhelming influence of the Navy had long forced the World Government's army into near-obscurity.
Year after year, the Navy's budget increases had been carved directly out of the Army's funds. The Navy had its Fleet Admiral and three Admirals, whereas the Army had no exclusive commander at all—only being overseen directly by the Supreme Commander of all three branches.
The Army even had just one General. Such a force was clearly insufficient to balance the ever-expanding might of the Navy.
In the past, the Five Elders had tried to change this. One attempt included assigning Kong—who hailed from a traditional Army lineage—to serve as Fleet Admiral of the Navy at Marineford.
But Kong ultimately became the first in history to lose to pirates while holding the title of Fleet Admiral. In the end, he was "promoted" to Supreme Commander in a manner far from honorable.
Of course, part of this was bad luck—he happened to run into the Red Count at his peak. But to say there hadn't been subtle sabotage behind the scenes would have been an insult to the Elders' intelligence.
From then on, the Five Elders had grown increasingly wary of the Navy's rise, while the Navy, feeling targeted, grew ever more defiant. Finally, the result was Kizaru—an Admiral who, upon becoming Fleet Admiral, seemed determined to oppose the Elders at every turn.
At this point, the Five Elders had resigned themselves. Since Kizaru was causing such trouble, they might as well use the opportunity to strengthen the Army as much as possible.
"With the Divine Army as insurance, it doesn't matter whether that madman has ties to Rocks or not. Anyone bold enough to defy the World Government must be eliminated quickly!"
Saint Mars nodded. If not for the possibility of a connection to the D clan and Rocks, even the alliance of two Emperors of the Sea wouldn't have been worth their time.
"I'll make sure Kizaru moves against him without delay."
Saint Warcury also gave his assurance. In truth, what the Five Elders wanted most was to completely subdue Kizaru.
Without the Navy, the World Government's authority would inevitably weaken, but the Navy itself had grown so massive it was now beyond easy control.
The problem was that the Elders and the Government currently needed Kizaru. Forget turning on him—right now, they even had to coax him into action.
Meanwhile, while the Five Elders debated whether Boros might be of the D clan, Kizaru, having received a hint from Kong, mulled it over for quite some time yet still couldn't follow their train of thought.
After all, Rocks was from decades ago. Kizaru had been there himself back then, but having never developed PTSD over the D clan, he didn't think the Rocks Pirates were as terrifying as the Elders did.
And since Kizaru knew Boros's true origins, he naturally didn't spin theories of Boros being Rocks's descendant like the Elders had.
In the end, unable to grasp their reasoning, he could only conclude that Boros's declaration of war against the World Government had caused the Elders to treat him as a threat on par with Rocks.
Fortunately, Kizaru had a rather convenient trait—he never dwelled too deeply on questions he couldn't figure out. After all, he had a way to solve problems directly.
"Moshi moshi, this is Kizaru…"
Kizaru once again pulled out the private transponder snail and called Boros, who was still in Totto Land.
The snail tried to mimic Boros's features, but since it had two eyes, it could only manage a look of keeping one eye open and the other closed.
"What is it?"
Boros answered the call directly, without any nonsense.
If it had been Kizaru, he would've taken the opportunity to boast about his contributions and demand a raise. But Boros acted as though everything was perfectly natural, completely unaware of how much work he had already done.
"You can start moving early. Remember who on the list you can't touch, and who you absolutely have to beat within an inch of their life." Kizaru didn't bother with small talk. Wasting time chatting with Boros was pointless—it was better to save it for later, when he could smack him around a bit to satisfy Boros's endless craving for a fight.
The moment Boros heard Kizaru's words, his eyes lit up.
He had grown a little bored of always "bullying" the two top combatants. Now, at last, he could go searching for new opponents.
Though Boros didn't believe this planet had any real challengers aside from Kizaru, it was still a world that had produced someone like him. Maybe, just maybe, there'd be someone even stronger than Kaido or Charlotte Linlin.
"I understand!" Boros replied without hesitation.
As soon as Kizaru hung up, Boros's orders quickly spread to the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates.
The orders were simple—but enough to make countless jaws drop.
Boros, who never once considered the World Government worth his attention, ordered the grand fleet to set sail, heading straight for Mary Geoise.
The entirety of Totto Land shook at Boros's command. Even spies from various factions embedded there began to doubt whether the intel they had received was real.
And just as Boros was preparing to march on Mary Geoise, Morgans—already back at the World Economic News headquarters—hurriedly published the major scoop he had worked on overnight, splashing it across the front page.
To prevent the World Government from interfering, Morgans had shut down the building, forcing his staff to print nonstop. Only after the newspapers were fully printed and distributed worldwide by news coos did the trouble-loving bird finally burst into shrill laughter.
"Look at this! I've published all the big news! This era needs more—more and more big news! Let the big news come crashing down!"
Morgans shouted from the balcony of his headquarters, while above him, countless news coos soared through the skies, carrying newspapers across the globe.
Headlines blazed across the front pages:
"Shocking! Two Emperors of the Sea Join Forces to Declare War on the World Government!"
"A New Pirate King Above the Emperors Emerges!"
"The Most Vicious Pirate in History!"
…
As a giant of the underworld, Morgans owned far more than just the World Economic News.
To guarantee maximum exposure, he had all his subsidiary papers scrap their original front pages and replace them with Boros and his Dark Matter Pirates.
And so, within half a day of the Five Elders' furious meeting, the entire world—everywhere the news coos could reach—was reading the same explosive headlines.
"Could it be that a new Pirate King is about to be born?!"
"He actually defeated two Emperors! Even that monster Kaido was beaten?"
"First Whitebeard dies, and now this Boros shows up! These damn pirates never end!"
…
For those in the New World and beyond the Grand Line, "Emperors" were little more than titles—symbols of terrifyingly powerful pirates.
So even hearing that Boros had beaten two of them, they only felt the seas had grown more chaotic.
But for those living under the suffocating rule of the Emperors in the New World, Boros—who had just defeated both—had become a nameless terror capable of silencing even crying children.
No one doubted that Boros, having claimed both pirate crews, would reach the throne of Pirate King. The only question was how long it would take.
As for declaring war on the World Government—most believed that was something to be done after becoming Pirate King.
Somewhere in an unknown part of the New World.
"Ah… I was worried that after Whitebeard's death, the New World would spiral out of control. I never expected a 'Cosmic Dark Matter Pirate Crew' to suddenly appear…"
Still wrapped in bandages, Red-Haired Shanks sat on the railing of the Red Force, casually handing the newspaper he had just finished reading to his first mate, Benn Beckman.
It's worth mentioning that after the Marineford War, Benn Beckman, just like Shanks, had also lost an arm—becoming another "one-armed hero."
Fortunately, compared to Shanks, who fought primarily with a sword, Benn Beckman mainly relied on firearms. Losing his right arm didn't render him useless.
It only placed him at a disadvantage in close combat. Where once he could hold his own against top-tier fighters, now his strength was reduced to maybe sixty or seventy percent of his peak.
"Having defeated Kaido and Big Mom one after another… will his next target be us?"
Benn Beckman frowned as he spoke. No matter how much confidence he had in Shanks and the crew, he didn't believe the Red-Haired Pirates—now little more than a group of battered survivors—could stand against Boros, who had already brought two Yonko crews under his command.
"Hahahaha, don't say such scary things. But if Boros really comes knocking, I guess we'll just have to fight him. I've no desire to partner up with Kaido and Big Mom."
Shanks laughed heartily, patting Benn Beckman's shoulder. Even when faced with a colossal force like the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates, he showed not a shred of fear—nor the slightest thought of yielding.
"Easy to talk big… maybe he doesn't even think you're worth his time. Cough, cough, cough!"
Yasopp, standing nearby, chuckled as he teased Shanks. But before he could finish, a violent cough wracked him—wounds from Marineford still lingering.
As one of the greatest snipers on the seas, Yasopp could fight on par with almost anyone short of the very strongest.
Unfortunately, his opponent back then had been a serious Kizaru. Even Benn Beckman had lost an arm to Kizaru, while Lucky Roo and Gab had been killed outright.
In that light, Yasopp—who had merely been crippled by one of Kizaru's kicks—had gotten off lightly.
°°°
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