The Marines were speeding towards the Edd War Sea.
Meanwhile, in the Edd War Sea, a vast fleet of pirate warships in the air and on the sea had surrounded one ship.
That ship was the Roger Pirates' ship!
Just as the Marines had guessed, the Roger Pirates had no idea that Shiki was waiting to ambush them and had completely trapped them.
They were indeed in the area looking for Poneglyphs, but their purpose wasn't to awaken the Ancient Weapons to destroy the world. They wanted to find information about the "Final Island" from the Poneglyphs.
The Oro Jackson.
That was the name of the Roger Pirates' ship. On the deck, Roger stood in his reddish-brown captain's coat, wearing a pirate hat. His gaze was deep as he looked at the massive fleet in the distance.
From the flagship of the fleet, he saw the figure of his "old friend," Shiki.
"Shiki, what are you doing?" Roger asked, his voice grave.
On the other side, Shiki slowly walked to the front of the deck. He was biting on a smoking cigar, and his golden hair fluttered in the wind, making him look wild and domineering.
"Roger, I've invited you to join me many times," Shiki said, looking at Roger.
That was true. Shiki and Roger were old acquaintances. Roger, in some ways, really had a special charm.
Because of this, Shiki, the pirate overlord, greatly admired Roger. Every time they met, he would invite Roger to join forces with him.
Unfortunately, Roger always refused him without hesitation.
"Well, I'm sorry about that," Roger said with a smile.
If it were anyone else who refused Shiki like that, Shiki would have killed them and scattered their ashes long ago.
But for Roger, Shiki seemed to have a lot of patience.
He wasn't trying to deceive Roger. In fact, he genuinely wanted to join forces with Roger. He was even willing to share the world with him afterward.
For a hero like Shiki, this was an extremely generous offer.
But he was still willing to make it, even though Roger had rejected him so many times.
Slowly exhaling a puff of smoke, Shiki waved his hand. "Forget it, I won't hold it against you. Roger, I'll ask you one more time. Do you want to join me?"
"You already know my answer, don't you?" Roger said without hesitation.
"Don't be so quick to refuse, Roger. I've said this many times. Although we had our conflicts when we were young, let's just let those old grudges go. As long as you and I join forces, this sea will immediately become our oyster. You have information about the 'Ancient Weapons' that can destroy the world, right? And I have a great plan myself, Roger! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" Shiki said, his eyes glittering with excitement as he invited Roger.
Roger was a bit surprised by Shiki's words. "How did you know?"
"The Ancient Weapons? It's not that surprising that someone as ambitious as me would know about them, is it? Your reaction just confirms it even more for me," Shiki said with a sinister smile.
But Roger still shook his head. "You're right, but I'm different from you. I have no intention of finding those so-called Ancient Weapons…"
When Shiki heard this, his face sank, and he said with some displeasure, "You're going to give up this chance to rule the world, Roger?"
Roger smiled and said without hesitation, "Shiki, I have no interest in 'ruling the world' at all!"
Without waiting for Shiki to speak, Roger continued, "If being a pirate means I can't do what I want, then going out to sea is meaningless! So, Shiki, no matter how many times you propose this, I only have one answer… I refuse!"
Shiki's face became extremely gloomy because of this. His unruly, lion-like body even trembled a little.
It wasn't from fear, but from rage!
Seeing Shiki like this, the members of Roger's crew all got ready for battle.
Only Buggy was about to pee his pants.
"Captain, how about you just agree for now? We can deal with it after we get out of here. That's dozens of ships!" Buggy cried.
"What are you scared of, Buggy? Haven't you become an immortal who won't die no matter how many times you get cut?" Shanks said, laughing and teasing him.
When Buggy heard this, he glared at Shanks angrily. "You idiot, I have a lot of weaknesses! I'm not immortal!"
Without paying any attention to Shanks, he hugged Roger's ship doctor, Crocus, and cried out, "Crocus-san, the captain's in bad shape, isn't he? He can't fight, can he?"
Crocus shook his harpoon gun and laughed. "I'm sorry, Buggy, but the captain is in his best condition right now!"
"Hahahaha, give it up, Buggy. We've known Roger for so long, and we've never been able to stop him from doing what he's decided," Gaban said, patting Buggy's head with his hand-axe.
Seeing that no one was supporting him, Buggy quickly turned to the ship's first mate.
"Rayleigh-san…" Buggy cried.
Rayleigh smiled, and then his expression gradually became serious.
"Roger doesn't have much time left… So, we can't back down," Rayleigh said in a low voice.
At the same time, Shiki took a deep breath and then exhaled all the smoke from his mouth.
He looked at Roger with a sinister gaze. "So, are you telling me to kill you here, Roger?"
Roger smiled confidently. "No, I'm telling you I'm going to kill all you bastards right here!"
As soon as Roger's words fell, Shiki said in a deep voice, "Fire the cannons! Take them out!"
Only this time, it's different!
Shiki thought to himself.
Before, when Roger refused him, he wouldn't necessarily try to kill Roger. Instead, he would patiently invite him again.
Sometimes, the two sides would even drink together.
But this time, no.
Because Shiki now knew that Roger had a way to control the Ancient Weapons!
It wasn't just the World Government that was afraid of this; Shiki was, too.
In his opinion, if Roger could join forces with him, then everything would be fine, and the Ancient Weapons would become an important part of their power.
But if Roger refused, then he had to destroy him this time.
Otherwise… what if the Ancient Weapons became a threat to him in the future?
His way of thinking was, in a sense, no different from Sengoku's.
Better to kill the innocent than to let the guilty go free!
Eradicate any threat before it can sprout!
Only then can you achieve true dominance!
To be honest, Shiki was a bit regretful about making this decision. He truly admired Roger, but for the sake of dominance, he had to kill Roger right here!
That's right, he was that confident. Shiki felt that after all his planning, he had finally found a good opportunity to surround the Roger Pirates. Taking them out shouldn't be a problem!
An overwhelming volley of cannons instantly erupted from Shiki's large fleet.
At the same time, the Roger Pirates' ship, the Oro Jackson, also roared with the sound of cannons.
Then, Rayleigh, Gaban, and the other elite members of the Roger Pirates brandished their weapons and went out to face the cannon fire.
The Battle of Edd War, which would later be known as "changing the course of history," had officially begun!
On the other side, the Marine ships were also rushing towards the Edd War Sea.
On Chief of Staff Tsuru's ship, Garp, Tsuru, Kuzan, and Gion were sitting together, drinking tea and chatting.
"Who was that kid on Sengoku's ship? I've never seen him before. He seems pretty smart," Garp asked curiously while chewing on a senbei.
He was a carefree guy. Even though Diarmuid had been at Marineford for a while and had become friends with Kuzan, he hadn't noticed Diarmuid at all.
But it was normal to think about it. After all, Diarmuid was just a small Lieutenant Commander at Marine Headquarters.
"His name is Diarmuid. He's from the sixth Marine Officer Training Camp," Gion said calmly as she took a sip of tea.
"Oh? One of the rookies that Zephyr saw potential in?" Garp asked, a little interested.
Kuzan laughed and said, "That's right. Zephyr-sensei thinks very highly of him. We talked about Diarmuid and what happened in the North Blue…"
Then, Kuzan told everyone the story that Zephyr had told him about what happened in the North Blue.
"He was able to hurt Shiki in that situation? The kid is pretty good. Kuzan, aren't you looking for an aide? Why didn't you get him to work for you?" Garp asked with a laugh.
"Kuzan did invite him, but he refused," Gion explained with a smile.
"He said he didn't think he had a future with me. Of course, I feel the same way," Kuzan said casually, shrugging his shoulders.
"It seems he isn't just brave and decisive, but also very smart," Tsuru said suddenly.
If she had a little more time, she could have also figured out what Diarmuid had thought.
But she had to admit that Diarmuid was faster than her.
In Tsuru's opinion, this was wisdom. Diarmuid must be a very wise person.
After all, she couldn't have known that Diarmuid was cheating…
After a slight pause, Tsuru smiled and said, "Maybe we've found another promising rookie."
"Gion, you said he's in your class. How's his strength? Have you two fought?" Garp asked curiously.
Gion shook her head and said with a hint of regret, "We were planning to spar in swordsmanship, but then the mission got in the way."
"He's still very green," Kuzan suddenly said.
The others were a bit stunned, but they didn't doubt Kuzan's answer.
"Is that so? Then let's try to look out for the kid this time. Don't let him die here," Garp muttered.