The North Sea, a warship was sailing slowly towards the next island for supplies.
Two years ago, the legendary pirate Rocks perished in God Valley, throwing the New World into chaos. Countless pirates, driven mad by bloodlust, fought to seize the territory and influence left behind by Rocks.
coupled with the remnants of the Rocks Pirates, figures like Golden Lion, Whitebeard, and Charlotte Linlin each recruited their own forces, gradually expanding their power.
The Navy, unable to maintain order in the New World, contracted its forces to the first half of the Grand Line, focusing on a vigorous crackdown on pirates, which, to some extent, indirectly weakened the strength of pirates in the New World.
Meanwhile, some pirates who failed to secure a foothold in the New World fled back to their homelands, recruiting heavily with the intent to make a comeback.
Sakazuki had submitted an application; the main targets for patrols in the Four Seas were those pirates.
These pirates, defeated in the New World, returned to their home islands in the Four Seas, taking large numbers of young men away, never to return. The consequences of this situation were predictable.
An island inherently had a limited population. With the departure of a large number of young adults, the population aged severely, the birth rate declined, and productivity dropped.
While productivity decreased, taxes did not. The burden on ordinary people doubled, creating a vicious cycle.
Furthermore, in order to train their forces, these pirates would seek out villages and islands with grudges against their hometowns, carrying out massacres and demolitions.
This was only a temporary situation. It was only when failed pirates returned to recruit that Sakazuki's pursuit significantly alleviated the occurrence of such events.
Later, the Great Pirate Era, ushered in by Roger, became the root cause of global turmoil. The rise of the Revolutionary Army was also directly linked to it.
Countless young men, without looking back, rushed to the New World. The population became old, with few newborns, leading to reduced productivity and heavier taxes, making it impossible for ordinary people to survive.
And those young men, after several killings, gained immense wealth and gradually lost their minds. Most islands were left with only the old and the infirm to guard them, which also led to increasingly brutal behavior.
Burning, killing, and looting became commonplace, with villages and towns demolished at the slightest provocation, resulting in countless deaths.
Do not speak of good pirates. There are many ways to go out to sea. It is not necessary to raise a pirate flag to sail, and no one would stop you if you set out on your own. Yet, you chose to raise the pirate flag.
Thieves are thieves, and there are no good ones.
The anime only depicted it superficially. The number of Navy soldiers killed by the Straw Hat crew alone was countless. If one were to truly put oneself in their shoes, one would understand.
For example, being hit by a stone tied to a rubber band stretched tens of meters long would surely be fatal. With a single slash of a sword, a large number of Navy soldiers would fall. Was it a sword hilt that was used to strike them?
The Great Pirate Era, ignited by Gol D. Roger, led to the deaths of innumerable people. Under a vicious cycle, countless individuals were oppressed, enslaved, and unable to survive.
And the Revolutionary Army, founded by Monkey D. Dragon, led these people, who could no longer survive due to Roger, in rebellion against their own countries and the World Government, resulting in yet more deaths.
This was why the World Government and the populace alike hated and feared the D. clan, for they acted as they pleased, without considering the consequences.
Some blind populace, throughout their lives until death, saw no hope. In their childhood, they lost loved ones to pirates; in their youth, they joined the Revolutionary Army due to oppression; in their middle age, they died during the course of their rebellion.
They might not have known what they were doing, only that they were trying to survive.
The populace who saw the truth feared the D., while those who did not continued to join the Revolutionary Army, hoping the D. would lead them to establish their ideal world, unaware that it was the D. themselves who caused all of this...
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"Report, pirates have been spotted on the supply island ahead!"
"Accelerate forward."
Gazing at the island, already engulfed in flames and spewing thick smoke, Sakazuki's low voice rang out.