Chapter 593: The Aftermath (Part 1)
After some time, the Marines had gradually completed their retreat. Watching the hundreds of warships slowly drift away across the sea surface, the pirate side suddenly erupted into a massive cheer of victory.
Had they won? Had they actually won?
Facing such a massive Marine fleet, the pirates still felt a lingering fear. Turning to look behind them at the New Edd War reef cluster, they found that more than half of the reefs had been completely blasted apart by the Marine cannon fire!
Marco, Ace, and the other commanders couldn't help but swarm around Ian, one throwing an arm over his shoulder, another punching his chest, all marveling at Ian's timely arrival.
They all understood clearly: if Ian hadn't shown up at the critical moment, the severely injured Old Man might very well have had his wounds worsen again under the relentless Marine bombardment.
Red-Haired Shanks smiled as he glanced in Ian's direction, then walked toward Whitebeard.
"Hmph, showing up one after another without so much as a greeting—do you think this is a marketplace?" Whitebeard had no pleasant expression for Red Hair, sneering sarcastically.
Shanks looked up at Whitebeard and said, "Actually, Kaido and I shouldn't have been here at all. But I never expected that bastard Kaido would resort to underhanded tactics. If I hadn't found his behavior suspicious and tested the Beast Pirates with an attack, I would never have guessed that Kaido would abandon his crew and come running here..."
"Now he's run off again. You're useless here, so get lost!" Whitebeard said irritably.
"I'll leave, but not just yet..." Shanks' expression turned serious as he said to Whitebeard, "You were in the middle of battle earlier, so you might not know the news. In fact, not long after the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines started fighting, that bastard Teach attacked Holy Land Mary Geoise!"
"Huh!?" Whitebeard frowned and asked, "How do you know?"
"'Someone' told me via Den Den Mushi!" Shanks replied. "As always, the World Government chose to cover this up, but according to the intelligence I received, Teach killed three World Nobles in Mary Geoise and stole classified information from the World Government—a map of the Marine Science Unit's research facility locations. So I suspect the Blackbeard Pirates will likely attack these facilities next. I don't know what he's trying to get from them, but based on my estimation, this is not a good omen..."
"Don't trouble yourself with this matter!" Whitebeard glared at him. "The Whitebeard Pirates will handle Teach ourselves!"
Shanks smiled and said, "Indeed, this counts as an internal affair of your pirate crew. I won't interfere. I came here just to inform you."
While Shanks and Whitebeard were talking, Luffy and his crew were gathered nearby. Sanji lit a cigarette and asked Luffy, "Red-Haired Shanks of the Four Emperors... Luffy, he's the one who gave you that straw hat, right?"
"Yeah! It's him!" Luffy smiled, gazing at Shanks' silhouette.
"Aren't you going to see him?" Nami asked.
"No!" Luffy took off his straw hat, holding it in one hand with a nostalgic look. "I made a promise with him—I'll only meet him when I've become a great man. But right now, I'm far from that."
Hearing Luffy's words, Zoro folded his arms and sighed from the side, "Yeah, far from it... I never thought that following Ian to this battlefield would let me see so many monsters—Seven Warlords, Four Emperors—each one terrifying. We've underestimated the New World..."
Earlier, when Kuina was in danger, Zoro had charged out with Ian, but he found he couldn't contribute much. The blow to his pride was still significant.
Just then, Ian and Ace walked over. Overhearing their conversation, Ian patted Zoro on the shoulder and said, "A big gap isn't a problem, as long as you can feel shame and strive to improve. Now that the Whitebeard Pirates are pulling back too, what are your plans?"
Although the war was over, there were still many matters to handle, and the Straw Hat Pirates were one of them.
Back when Luffy insisted on coming, Ian hadn't thought much about it. Luffy was a single-minded guy—if he wanted to help Ace, no one could stop him. Now that things were settled and Ace was safe, Luffy could probably relax and continue his adventure with the Straw Hat Pirates.
But as they themselves admitted, with their current strength, entering the New World was truly too dangerous. If they insisted on continuing their adventure, they might end up like the other Supernovas, crashing and burning in the New World.
So Ian considered whether he should have them train for two years before continuing, as in the original timeline.
But it was a bit troublesome. Ivankov was here, so he could take Sanji and Mr. 2 to the Kamabakka Kingdom for training. Luffy could be sent to Rayleigh. Zoro could go find Hawk-Eye—Shanks should know where Hawk-Eye lived. But Nami and Chopper... Ian had no way to arrange for them.
So Ian felt quite troubled.
However, to Ian's surprise, Luffy, Zoro, and the others exchanged glances and then made their decision—they wanted to continue their adventure!
This caught Ian off guard, because he understood that their choice would be a much harder path.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ian asked. "You've seen it too—the New World and the first half of the Grand Line are completely different. With your current strength, I'm afraid..."
"That's exactly why we have to keep adventuring!" Zoro said. "We need to adapt to the New World!"
Even Usopp, who was usually the biggest coward, now spoke with a serious expression, echoing Zoro: "That's right! I... we will become stronger warriors!"
Even as he said this, his legs were still trembling, but his eyes were firm. Ian glanced over at the Red Hair Pirates and suddenly understood—Usopp had seen his father, Yasopp, hadn't he!?
Although, like Luffy, he hadn't gone over to meet Shanks and the others, the Red Hair Pirates' presence here was an inexplicable inspiration to them.
This made Ian think back to what Whitebeard had told him earlier. Yes, those sheltered under someone's wings never grow. Zoro might be his junior, but he had his own path. Ian really shouldn't interfere too much.
Maybe choosing to continue their adventure would lead to major setbacks in the New World, like other Supernovas. But as long as they weren't crushed, they would grow. Who said that without those two years of training, they would definitely fail? Perhaps they would have a different fate from the original history...
History had already been changed by Ian's intervention, so future memories could no longer be used as a reference. With that in mind, Ian decided not to stop them. He said, "Alright then. After we get back, I'll ask the Whitebeard Pirates to escort you to Sabaody Archipelago. Your ship is still there, right?"
Ace, holding his cowboy hat, grinned and said, "Leave that to me!"
Just then, Shanks and his crew were also preparing to take their leave. The Four Emperors each had their own territories. Generally, even if they weren't hostile, they rarely met. Although Shanks spotted Luffy's figure in the crowd, he tactfully didn't approach. He led his crew aboard the Red Force and departed.
The Whitebeard Pirates were also preparing to return to their home base. They no longer wanted to stay in the New Edd War waters. They helped their wounded comrades and gathered the bodies of the fallen, intending to take them back for cremation.
Meanwhile, news of the Marine's defeat in the Battle of New Edd War spread across the world!
Because the entire war had been broadcast live, the moment the Marines withdrew, a thick shadow of gloom fell over the entire world.
The people understood that this Marine defeat was not due to a failure in combat. The successive appearances of Kaido of the Four Emperors and Shanks of the Four Emperors proved that the war had spiraled beyond the Marines' control. People clearly saw that before Ian led the Dragon Hunter Pirates onto the battlefield, the Marines had a chance of defeating the Whitebeard Pirates. But the moment Ian appeared, the entire tide of battle was turned upside down!
It was then that people suddenly realized—without them even noticing—another terrifying enemy had emerged on the seas.