The original plan had been to complete the preparation phase for the war against the Whitebeard Pirates within three months.
But for reasons no one could quite explain, the long-dormant Aquino Volcano Island began showing signs of reawakening, severely disrupting the construction work.
As a result, the three-month schedule fell through. The project was delayed by a full five months, and it wasn't until August of Sea Circle Calendar 1506 that everything was finally completed.
Tesoro and Moria were both deeply embarrassed and furious with themselves, and they came to Ortoren to offer their apologies.
However, this was a genuine accident. Ortoren naturally had no intention of blaming his subordinates over something like this. He offered them a few words of encouragement and did not reprimand them harshly.
Five months was neither particularly long nor especially short.
Since submitting his plan, Ortoren had not received a single inquiry from the Five Elders, which clearly indicated that Fleet Admiral Sengoku had not forwarded the proclamation to them.
At the same time, Sengoku never came to "advise" him to rewrite it either. From this, Ortoren understood the Fleet Admiral's stance perfectly.
During this period, the major powers of the New World were all making their own arrangements.
The Big Mom Pirates and the Beast Pirates needed no explanation. As for the Whitebeard Pirates, they had remained in a constant state of war preparation. By around the third month, their independent captains had already gathered from all corners of the seas around the Whitebeard Pirates' flagship, and they never dispersed afterward.
Over the following two months, the Whitebeard Pirates continued to expand their forces, purchasing massive quantities of weapons and military supplies from the underworld. The original estimate made by Ortoren and the others of fifty thousand pirate troops was forcibly pushed higher during this time, approaching sixty thousand.
However, the quality of these newly recruited pirates varied greatly. They were not taken seriously at all.
They were clearly being treated as cannon fodder, and the New World Marines did not adjust their planned troop numbers or battle strategy because of them.
During this same period, Kozuki Oden repeatedly attempted to go out in search of his son and his retainers. However, Whitebeard always believed that this matter might be connected to the New World Marines and feared there was some hidden scheme involved, so he consistently forbade Kozuki Oden from leaving the Whitebeard Pirates.
Although Kozuki Oden was deeply worried, given the stormy situation the Whitebeard Pirates were facing, he ultimately did not insist on acting on his own.
In truth, Ortoren did indeed have plans related to this matter. If Kozuki Oden had gone out to search for Momonosuke, he would have become a substitute execution target in Momonosuke's place.
Beginning in July of Sea Circle Calendar 1506, public opinion across the seas began to shift quietly.
At first, inexplicable rumors started circulating within the underworld, praising the Whitebeard Pirates for their unwavering sense of loyalty and righteousness. There was talk of an unspoken rule of the seas: never lay a hand on Whitebeard's family, or the strongest man in the world would come after you with his life.
Stories spread of certain captains who had once fallen into desperate situations, framed and gravely injured. Whitebeard, without a second thought, had mobilized the entire Whitebeard Pirates and wiped out the forces that harmed his "family," erasing them completely.
Beyond that, tales of the unbreakable brotherhood between Kozuki Oden and Newgate began to circulate. According to the rumors, Newgate was grooming Kozuki Oden as the second-generation leader of the Whitebeard Pirates, and it was said that Oden might one day inherit everything the Whitebeard Pirates possessed.
In short, all kinds of praise flooded in. The Whitebeard Pirates were portrayed as the embodiment of loyalty and righteousness among pirates, the very symbol of unity and bonds.
The message was simple: touch one of their people, and you provoke the entire Whitebeard Pirates.
These messy and exaggerated rumors spread outward from the underworld, and soon the newspapers began to amplify them as well. The World News would occasionally publish warm, intimate stories about the Whitebeard Pirates, all meant to highlight how unbreakable their "family" truly was.
At first, when those rumors began circulating, the pirates of the Whitebeard Pirates felt a sense of pride.
"That's right. We really are that loyal. That united."
But as time went on, Whitebeard himself was the first to sense that something was wrong.
From those stories and bits of gossip, he caught the faint scent of a conspiracy.
The problem was that he had no way to stop it. He lacked the channels to suppress public opinion, and to some extent, the rumors themselves were positive.
Precisely because of these widely spread tales, the Whitebeard Pirates attracted a large number of new recruits during this period. Most of them seemed to come purely for the crew's reputation for loyalty and brotherhood.
Across the seas, discussions about the Whitebeard Pirates' "unyielding sense of loyalty" grew louder by the day.
Until August 23, Sea Circle Calendar 1506.
On that day, all major newspapers, led by the World News, ran a shocking headline that dominated every front page.
"Proclamation to the World: The New World Navy's Declaration Against the Whitebeard Pirates, Scourge of the Seas."
That was right. On August 23, Sea Circle Calendar 1506, the Admiral governing the New World, Benn Ortoren, formally declared war on the Whitebeard Pirates.
To be honest, when this news broke, the seas were thrown into an uproar. But when the major powers looked back at the strange movements of the New World Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates over the past few months, it suddenly felt… understandable.
In fact, many sharp minds had already reached the same conclusion even before the declaration was made public.
The moment this Marine proclamation appeared, it actually put many factions at ease.
Ah. They're going after Whitebeard. That has nothing to do with us.
Over the next two days, everyone was discussing how the New World Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates would truly begin the war, and whether the New World was about to descend into chaos once again.
Soon after, prices began to skyrocket. Food, weapons, and various supplies sold out at a frantic pace.
On the third day after the publication of "Proclamation to the World: The New World Navy's Declaration Against the Whitebeard Pirates, Scourge of the Seas," another bombshell was dropped in the New World.
The son of Whitebeard Pirates Second Division Captain Kozuki Oden, Kozuki Momonosuke, along with his retainers, had been secretly arrested by the New World Marines.
After unanimous deliberation by Admirals Benn Ortoren and Sakazuki, together with the commanders of the New World Marines, it was decided that on September 20, Sea Circle Calendar 1506, Kozuki Momonosuke and his retainers would be publicly executed on Aquino Island in the New World.
The newspapers also published detailed lists of their alleged crimes.
For example, Kozuki Momonosuke was accused of being a direct bloodline descendant of the Wano Country stonemason clan, with grave charges including having family members who were organized pirate leaders, as well as researching forbidden and dangerous history such as the Poneglyphs, with the intent to revive ancient weapons and destroy the world.
As for Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, and the others, they were confirmed to have once been members of both the Roger Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates, accused of participating in numerous pirate crimes and committing countless offenses.
In an instant, the Whitebeard Pirates were placed directly over an open flame.
At this point, anyone who wasn't a fool could tell that this wasn't a sudden incident. The New World Marines had been preparing for this for a very long time.
From the very beginning, they had been targeting the Whitebeard Pirates. The earlier wave of public opinion, the declaration of war, and now the execution were all aimed at one thing: forcing the Whitebeard Pirates to go straight to Aquino Island and face the New World Marines in a decisive battle.
The strategic intent of Benn Ortoren, the Admiral governing the New World, was clear and unmistakable.
End it all in one battle.
No drawn-out war. No long, complicated struggle.
One clash to decide victory and defeat.
One decisive battle to end the war.
The winner lives. The loser dies.
As for the execution, the Whitebeard Pirates did not issue an immediate response. Within the crew, intense disagreements seemed to erupt.
Kozuki Oden, who had long wanted to search for his son, strongly opposed rushing to the execution site to rescue them. He hoped to confront the Marines through a more indirect approach, rather than engaging in a head-on decisive battle.
However, many within the Whitebeard Pirates believed that such a choice would severely damage Whitebeard's reputation.
They had just been praised to the skies in public opinion as the embodiment of loyalty and righteousness. If something happened and they immediately backed down, wouldn't that make them look like cowards?
What would become of Oyaji's reputation then?
Within the Whitebeard Pirates, there were plenty who valued Newgate's name and prestige even more than their own lives. They firmly insisted on going to rescue Momonosuke and the others.
This fierce internal conflict prevented the Whitebeard Pirates from settling on a response right away.
...
On the third day after the execution notice was published, Admiral Benn Ortoren of Marine Headquarters released yet another heavyweight announcement in the newspapers.
In the name of the World Government's highest combat power, a Marine Admiral, he publicly challenged Whitebeard Edward Newgate for the title of the strongest.
In other words, Ortoren issued a formal challenge to Whitebeard on Aquino Island.
This battle would not only decide the outcome between the Marines and the pirates, it would also determine who would claim the title of the strongest.
This challenge was the final word.
Whitebeard finally responded, publicly stating that he would accept the invitation and visit Aquino Island, hoping that Ortoren and the Marines would not disappoint him.
That response carried the overwhelming confidence and dominance of the strongest pirate crew and the strongest man in the world.