The five elders holding swords nodded.
"There is no time to lose, let us go and see Lord Imu now."
With that, they got up. The other five elders also tidied their clothes and went to the deepest part of Pangaea Castle.
--------
South Blue, Mareeg Island.
The ship of the Bonney Pirates was docked at the harbor, but the crew was nowhere to be seen.
Atop the island's peak.
Sabo held a latest intelligence map and spoke with Dragon.
"With this, all conditions are met."
"We can conquer the Four Seas at any time."
"However, with the pirates and the Navy currently at war in the New World, the will of the people..."
The core strength of the World Government was entirely in the Grand Line. The affiliated kingdoms in the Four Seas were all agrarian societies.
For the Revolutionary Army, which had already entered an industrial society, they were no match.
The only trouble was with kingdoms possessing powerful individual combatants like the Land of Flowers, or unique high-tech kingdoms like Germa.
However, Germa Kingdom had already been removed from the World Government's records and eliminated by the Navy.
Only the Land of Flowers, with its powerful individual combatants, remained, and it was not difficult to deal with.
Dragon's voice came from afar.
"The development of our Revolutionary Army is fundamentally different from the Navy."
"Overthrowing the nobles and corrupt kingdoms is our primary objective."
"Under the continuous suppression of the Navy, the scourge of pirates has been greatly reduced. What the people are concerned about daily now are the oppressions of the nobles."
"Our current governing policy does not conflict with that of the Navy."
"We do not interfere with each other."
Sabo nodded slightly.
"In that case, there are no problems."
"What about Bonney."
"Should we send her back, or continue to the Grand Line."
"After declaring war on the World Government, it would be safer to protect her."
Dragon was silent for a moment, as if contemplating something.
"Bring her back. If she's unwilling, force her back."
"Prepare yourselves. We will declare war on the World Government in seven days."
The outbreak of the war between the Navy and pirates was too sudden. The world was not prepared, and many things could not be communicated in time.
Everyone had been in meetings all afternoon without a break, discussing the next steps.
When the morning newspapers were distributed across the world, with only a few hours left until the execution, it directly ignited the New World.
Although only some intelligence was obtained, the content of that intelligence made it clear how intense the situation was, and how profound the Navy's reserves were.
In the New World, the Four Emperors simultaneously mobilized and fought a great battle against the Navy. The Navy fought four emperors and still had spare capacity.
Sakazuki was stationed at headquarters, and the former Fleet Admiral Sengoku was at Sabaody Archipelago.
Of course... the Four Emperors were not easy to deal with. If they fought to the death...
The outcome was still unknown, but with the current lineup of the Navy, it was impossible to imagine them losing. Therefore, the only consideration was how much spare capacity the Navy would have after the war.
Now that the Navy had committed all its fighting strength to the New World, it was the best time for them to declare war on the World Government.
The Navy's lineup was too terrifying. If they truly fought them to the death, the Revolutionary Army would have no chance of winning.
They could only conquer the Four Seas as quickly as possible, and then advance to the Grand Line, striving to reach Mary Geoise before the battle in the New World ended.
To change the rulers of the world.
This way, even if the Navy won after the battle in the New World, they could not defy the will of the world's people.
They could not slaughter all the people of the world.
Sabo nodded.
"Alright, I'll just..."
The Den Den Mushi's expression suddenly became shocked, as if Dragon had seen something terrifying.
"Kaze...!!"
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a roaring sound.
Rumble!!!
The Den Den Mushi in his hand trembled directly, and then, as if it were about to fall apart, it went limp.
Sabo's pupils contracted. He quickly picked up the limp Den Den Mushi and dialed out, but the other end would not connect.
"Damn it!!!"
After repeatedly trying to connect without success, Sabo immediately stood up and transformed into snow and wind, drifting towards the harbor, like a vast snow cloud.
--------
At the harbor, in a small tavern.
Bonney ordered a large table of food and was eating heartily.
Suddenly, a searing heat came from her chest, making her quickly take out what she was holding.
It was a Vivre Card.
In Bonney's terrified eyes, it turned to ash in just two breaths and slid from her fingers to the ground.
Bonney stood stunned, completely motionless, her face filled with disbelief.
Trembling, she reached out to touch the ashes of the Vivre Card, but dared not. She was afraid it was real.
That was... Grandmother's Vivre Card.
"No..."
"I must have seen it wrong..."
"Saw it wrong..."
But the searing heat from her chest and the ashes that had fallen on the table showed that this had truly happened.
She suddenly stood up, overturning the table, and rushed madly towards the ship at the harbor, tears constantly streaming from her eyes.
"Impossible..."
"Impossible!!!"
Before she even reached the harbor, a large snow cloud swept over from a distance, scooped up Bonney, and rushed into the sky.
Bonney had not yet recovered her senses when she heard Sabo's voice.
"We'll talk about it later!"
"Let's go back first!!!"
She clenched her fist, suppressing her words.
Her face was filled with anxiety and tears, and she was carried by Sabo towards the direction of the Kingdom of Sohbet.
--------
North Blue, the Land Forgotten by the World.
This was where Dragon witnessed the suffering of the world, and it was one of the islands suspected to be a Revolutionary Army base in the government's intelligence.
The island, already shrouded in night, had no one notice the enormous dark silhouette that appeared in the sky.
As the silhouette appeared, it enveloped the island.
Then, blinding bright lights lit up. People outside their houses looked up at the sky in confusion, shielding their eyes.
They saw dense streams of light descending.
Boom—!!!
The descending streams of light converged and suddenly exploded.
A super explosion several times larger than the island illuminated the night, exceptionally dazzling.
People on islands far away also looked towards that direction in confusion.
--------
Mary Geoise, the Holy Land.
Deep within the Flower Chamber, in front of a mysterious figure, a map was laid out.
Several red crosses were marked on the map. The mysterious figure picked up a pen and paused over Alabasta.
Then, he slowly put down the pen, discarded the map, and left.
Apart from Alabasta, which was not marked with a red cross, all the islands reported by the other five elders were marked with red crosses, totaling seven.
And these seven islands marked with red crosses not only unilaterally disappeared from the nautical charts.
They also disappeared from the world.