While Genichi was preparing his next move, the outside world was in turmoil.
The once-dominant Rocks Pirates suddenly disbanded. Their captain, Rocks, died in God Valley.
According to the World Government's official story, the unstoppable dark army was stopped at God Valley by Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Garp.
But only the top figures in the world knew that what happened in God Valley was far more than what the Government claimed.
Aside from Marine Headquarters' Sengoku and Garp, the Roger Pirates were also involved in the battle. And besides these famous names, there was an unknown powerhouse, whose strength rivaled the Admirals and Roger himself.
It could be said that the God Valley battle gathered most of the world's top forces in one place. As for what caused this war to break out, no one could say for sure anymore.
Rocks had claimed he wanted to kill the Celestial Dragons and throw the world into chaos. But after the Rocks Pirates disbanded, many agreed that Rocks' real goal from the start was the Shikon Jewel.
The Shikon Jewel—a name unfamiliar to most—spread like wildfire through every major faction in a very short time.
This legendary treasure that made the Marines, the Rocks Pirates, the Roger Pirates, and an unknown powerhouse fight to the death in God Valley was said to have the power to grant any wish!
Granting wishes? How ridiculous was that? Even sci-fi magazines wouldn't dare to use such an exaggerated idea. But no one doubted the truth of this information.
Because the war between the Rocks Pirates, the Marines, the Roger Pirates, and the unknown powerhouse at God Valley was the proof. People thought, only a treasure like that could spark such a war!
It was because of this wish-granting item that the sudden war at God Valley now made sense to everyone. And the most shocking news came after that.
The Shikon Jewel was shattered during the war due to the clashing forces from all sides. The complete jewel broke into countless shards that scattered across the world. Even a single shard contained incredible power.
The four forces in the God Valley battle each took a shard, but many more spread across the world. Anyone who got even one shard could gain power, and maybe someday, someone could gather the complete jewel!
Even if they couldn't, they could still use their shards to stop others from doing so, or use them as bargaining chips. In short, the news about the Shikon Jewel had spread all over the world, and not even the World Government could control the flow of information anymore.
They had planned to seal the news using their authority and then secretly gather all the shards to recreate the Shikon Jewel and test whether it could really grant wishes.
But the news was unstoppable. Not only Genichi, but also Roger, Whitebeard, Shiki, and others were deliberately fanning the flames about the shards, making sure the World Government didn't monopolize them.
And if other pirates got shards, they could just rob them.
But if the World Government got the complete Shikon Jewel, how would they steal it from Marine Headquarters or the Holy Land of Mary Geoise?
Wouldn't that be walking into a trap?!
Especially since Roger and Whitebeard had already tested the power of the shards. They found that the shards could fuse into their bodies and give them a boost in strength. It wasn't much, but at their level, improving was nearly impossible.
Roger and Whitebeard were already in their thirties or forties by then—basically at their peak. They could still improve, but it would take a very long time for very little gain.
Yet just by fusing one shard, they felt their bodies improving. That was unbelievable. And this was only a single shard. If it were the complete Shikon Jewel…
"Just roughly guessing, there must be at least seventy or eighty pieces, right?"
On the seas of the New World, Roger, who had long left God Valley and continued his journey, spoke to his first mate, Rayleigh.
"Maybe this thing really can grant people's wishes!"
"If something like that falls into the hands of someone with bad intentions, it would be way too dangerous." Rayleigh sighed. "And the World Government… we absolutely can't let them get the complete Shikon Jewel."
"The piece Garp got was probably handed in. Such a shame," Roger said with some regret. Then he remembered the crimson power Garp had during the battle at God Valley and couldn't help but ask curiously,
"But even without the Shikon Jewel, Garp didn't come out empty-handed, right? That power he had must've been from the Nine-Tailed Fox, right?"
The Nine-Tailed Fox, the monster that once appeared on the Sabaody Archipelago—maybe that's the same "demon" Toguro was talking about. Toguro wanted to become a complete demon, which is why he was searching for the Shikon Jewel. That means right now, he's an incomplete demon?
"In any case, the world is changing." Roger and Rayleigh stood on the deck, feeling the sea breeze as they looked out at the endless ocean. After the Rocks Pirates were wiped out, they were probably the strongest pirate crew in the world now. But they didn't feel proud about that at all.
They still had their own dreams, their own destination.
"Say…"
Roger suddenly said, "If we find the last island, what if I leave all the Shikon Jewel shards there as a reward for the next crew that makes it that far?"
"Not a bad idea." Rayleigh gave a small smile, then crushed his excitement by adding, "Of course, that's only if we manage to find the last island."
"We'll definitely find it." Roger said with absolute certainty. "I have a feeling this world is going through a huge change. This is a turning point in history. Something different from the past will happen in our era. The World Government claims the last island is Lodestar, but when we got there, we knew that wasn't the real final point."
"So, the island the World Government fears so much that they had to hide all information about it… it's going to shock us when we find it. It will show itself in this special age!"
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