Two years can be long.
Life needs only ten months to be nurtured and born; postwar Acropolis Port was rebuilt; a city was raised from nothing.
Two years can be short.
Measured against Magnus's eighty years of life, it's scarcely one-fortieth; compared to his long voyage across the seas, it's hardly worth mentioning.
Sea Circle Calendar 1468.
In the third year after the Battle of Acropolis Port, the world assumed that the clash between the White Wolf Pirates and the World Government would push their conflict past the point of no return.
But the truth was—
For these three years, the World Government never reentered the New World. Faced with an enemy at arm's length, they behaved as if that enemy didn't exist.
Everything turned eerily calm.
Magnus didn't mind; time stood on his side.
Rocks's pirate crew gradually spread its fame.
Edward's Whitebeard Pirates debuted ahead of schedule.
Though Rocks declared independence, he constantly drew supplies from the White Wolf Pirates and was treated like an affiliated fleet.
Naturally, that annoyed Rocks.
But with peace settling in, his growth hit a ceiling. Without seeking Magnus or Harald, there were precious few on the seas who could even be his opponents.
The first time he used Conqueror's infusion, it meant he had set foot on the sea's summit; to grow further, he would need one life-and-death battle after another.
But who could still stand against him?
And Rocks's pride refused to let him seek Magnus's guidance again.
Challenge Magnus?
He didn't even have a guaranteed win against Harald. How could he challenge the even stronger Magnus?
After all, he had only one shot!
Edward's situation made Magnus chuckle and sigh. He'd thought once Edward sailed out, he would, like Rocks, challenge everyone to grow stronger.
Who knew that, when news came back, Edward had gone right back to his old path?
He somehow gathered a large number of orphans. Income couldn't keep up with expenses, and he had to ask Magnus for help.
Half a year ago—
Shiki also asked to head out to sea. Magnus had no objections.
For these destined powerhouses, shackles of force are useless.
They want freedom—Magnus gives them freedom.
Just like Rocks, who, even after leaving the White Wolf Pirates, still wore its label. As long as Magnus lived, unless they broke with him, they would never escape his influence.
Pirates may trick one another.
But those who yearn for the top—the ones with the bearing of conquerors—their pride won't allow easy betrayal.
So—
As the brats left one by one, Magnus suddenly found himself idle. In two years, the only war that might have exploded was when he sailed to Wano.
Imu, however, simply abandoned Wano and handed it over.
Well, not completely.
Imu left behind the civilians with no combat ability and packed up the samurai, taking all of them away.
Magnus couldn't help but remark that Imu was strangely "considerate."
If the samurai had remained, Magnus helping Wano restore its nation would be merely the fulfillment of his promise to Ryuma.
But with the samurai gone, whatever Wano became… was his to decide.
Throwing the borders open outright was impossible.
Unless Magnus purged the old guard of Wano, indoctrinated the new generation, and added a little rhetorical art, he could drive the whole country into a frenzy of vengeance.
The samurai class had sunk deep roots into every facet of Wano. All twenty thousand samurai were taken by Imu; paired with Imu's power, that force made even Magnus wary.
At the same time, those twenty thousand were related to half the nation. Their disappearance plunged Wano into upheaval.
If Magnus weren't strong enough to suppress the whole country, Wano would already have fallen into chaos.
In fact, from Imu's conquest of Wano until the year Magnus arrived riding the momentum of Acropolis Port, Wano's people lived as if in hell.
After seizing Wano, Imu didn't "win hearts" step by step. She used her power to dominate the leaders, turning them into undying beings like the Holy Knights and the Five Elders.
But when she made them undying, she also stirred their deepest desires, leaving them puppets who would obey Imu alone.
The only mercy was that even Imu couldn't turn all twenty thousand at once. In the first year of her occupation, uprisings wracked the country, which is why those forces didn't make it to the battle at Acropolis Port.
Had twenty thousand Wano samurai entered the field, the entire situation would have been different.
In short—
Though Wano didn't open its borders, it formed a mutual defense pact with the White Wolf Pirates and was willing to supply weapons to Magnus's vassal forces in exchange for protection.
Wano's craftsmen are famous the world over.
When Imu led the samurai away, she couldn't take all the craftsmen; many fled into the mountains and escaped.
After the Eleven Iron Countries publicly sought the White Wolf Pirates' protection, several New World member states withdrew from the World Government and joined the White Wolf Alliance Magnus had formed.
Though their protection dues after quitting the World Government were less than half of the Heavenly Tribute they once paid—
The White Wolf Pirates didn't need to feed those piggish Celestial Dragons!
Fewer than twenty nations were enough to cover all current expenses—and still leave a large surplus.
Imagine if the World Government used half the Celestial Dragons' tribute to fund the Marines—their power would become terrifying.
But would Imu and the Five Elders ever do that?
Especially after Rona's defection from the Marines—though the situation is complex and Magnus remains a mortal enemy—
The Five Elders only loosened Marine promotions and launched a worldwide draft to fill their shortage of top-tier fighters.
As for fully unleashing Marine expansion?
Impossible.
Even with Magnus controlling the New World, in Imu's and the Five Elders' eyes, things weren't desperate enough to panic.
The four Blues and the first half of the Grand Line were still theirs.
Five mines against one—how do you lose?
Magnus didn't know what preparations the World Government was making over these two years, but in that same time the White Wolf Pirates entered a period of explosive growth.
A trade artery spanning the entire New World fully took shape.
With nothing better to do—
To the disdain of a few veteran crewmates, Magnus took a group of women and sailed again, living it up in decadent delight.
A pirate for life—what's wrong with enjoying it a little?
"Captain, I suspect you'll die on a woman's belly sooner or later."
"Oh? So little faith in your captain?"
Curled together, Ripley felt the sweep of Magnus's broad hand and rolled her eyes, tracing circles on his chest with a fingertip.
"Who told you to never stop for even one moment?"
"Nonsense—I make time to train every day."
"Except when you're 'training' like this."
Ripley shot him a look. If Magnus didn't always carve out time to train, keeping his combat power at its peak, she'd have suspected he'd sunk too deep into pleasures and let them rot his edge.
As someone who'd followed him since his comeback, Ripley was keenly aware: Magnus was the World Government's worst nightmare. Given the chance, they would never spare him.
And the only reason they hadn't moved was Magnus's strength.
If that strength faded—
Would the World Government still hesitate?
Pleasure is fleeting; never forget the bedrock of survival.
"Haha, worthy of my good crewmate—to remind your captain."
"Hehe, well, my body's the best."
Ripley giggled. She might not be the prettiest among those around Magnus, but her body was unquestionably the best of the bunch.
Anyone else would be limp and motionless by now.
"Since you've brought it up, I won't hide it—I didn't set sail this time just to have fun."
Cards all day long—was that because Magnus only wanted to play?
Of course not.
It's just that, in this era, there aren't many other entertainments.
He used to grind training hard.
As his cellular activity rose, Magnus clearly felt his body's potential still hadn't been fully tapped.
But it's been two years since the last system reward.
After his injuries healed, his physique improved again—
And then plateaued.
His body had reached its peak. No amount of training would raise it further. Beyond routine maintenance, Magnus shifted focus elsewhere—
Preparing for the final war.
"Not long ago, Rocks ran into a pirate crew that had just entered the New World. He thought they were ordinary rookies, but they actually slipped away."
"The Roger Pirates."
"Captain Roger, bounty 110 million."
At Magnus's level, ordinary big-name pirates barely registered—especially in these last two years of inflation, as bounties ballooned across the board.
Today, 110 million—
Was on the low side for true heavyweights.
But Magnus wasn't staring at the number—he cared about the man.
Roger.
The future Pirate King—someone who would write a grand stroke across history, and one of those who ultimately defeated Rocks.
Magnus hadn't expected Roger to have already taken to the sea in this era.
By rights it shouldn't have been this soon.
Earlier, Magnus had even thought about visiting the East Blue to look for him.
Unlike many powerhouses with unknown origins—
Roger was born in Loguetown in the East Blue, and in the end, as Pirate King, he was executed there—opening the Great Pirate Era.
Right now, Roger was at most in his early twenties, many leagues from his peak.
So when Magnus heard Roger had appeared in the New World—
His interest was piqued.
He'd already taken Rocks and Edward under his wing—
Why not add the future Pirate King?
If he couldn't recruit him, removing Roger outright was a fine option.
After all—
The New World was Magnus's turf now. Not a place for Roger to stir up trouble.
Still, that fight with Rocks had apparently scattered the Roger Pirates; Rocks even captured several of their crew.
Unlucky for Roger? Maybe. Meeting a near-peak Rocks and still getting away—now that was hacked by fortune.
Then again, lucky—most "big-name" pirates would've been fish food already.
"So, the newest rookie."
Hearing all this, Ripley nodded. She didn't know what about a rookie drew Magnus's eye, but after so long with him, she was used to his foresight.
Just like with Rocks and Edward—
Before they grew up, who would've guessed they'd be what they are now?
Say this much:
Anyone Magnus officially accepted into the White Wolf Pirates—
If male—
Even the currently "weakest," Zephyr, could stand on his own. He was with Rona now, helping build the New Navy.
As for the women—
Besides not-yet-of-age Linlin, which of them hadn't been taken by Magnus?
Oh—Tsuru hadn't.
But Ripley felt it wouldn't be long. On this voyage, aside from the women close to Magnus, only Tsuru and Linlin had come.
Magnus originally didn't want to bring Linlin, but she made a ruckus about wanting to go out and play, saying she'd suffocate if she stayed on Sphinx any longer.
Despite Magnus's efforts to teach her, as she grew, Linlin's Conqueror's Haki awakened as if on its own. Then came adolescence, and she basically listened to no one but Magnus.
Ripley and the others could make her behave a little, but teaching Linlin—only Magnus could do that.
Besides Magnus, no one on Sphinx could beat her.
In two years, Linlin's accumulation finally crossed the threshold into transformation.
Charlotte Linlin.
Fourteen.
Admiral level!
(End of Chapter)
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