The Battle of Jam Island in the New World would later be regarded by historians as the pivotal battle that changed an entire era.
It was just that no one had realized its profound significance yet.
However, the shockwaves caused by this battle still swept across the entire world at incredible speed, stunning everyone.
A battle for the throne of Pirate King in the New World, and in the end, the Marines were the biggest winners?
There was no question that Smoker's reputation as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea was completely destroyed in the pirate camp.
Countless pirates cursed him madly, calling him a lapdog, a traitor, a despicable bastard.
But there were still countless pirates who, seeing Smoker's ruthlessness, cunning, and powerful backing, quickly chose to join him instead.
The Whitebeard Pirates had suffered a devastating blow. Edward Newgate's injuries were so severe that, just as Finn had predicted, he would be unable to participate in any battles for at least a year.
Totto Land's territory had shrunk by one-third, most of it now occupied by Smoker. Charlotte Linlin and Kaido had strategically retreated to Whole Cake Island, not daring to engage in any further pirate operations.
Smoker appeared to be digesting the dividends of this war and hadn't pursued the Whitebeard Pirates or the Charlotte Linlin-Kaido alliance.
Of course, most people believed the reason behind this was that Smoker himself was exhausted.
The power of the Marines reached an unprecedented peak. The sailors on the frontlines of the New World were extraordinarily excited, their morale greatly boosted. Many of them wrote letters requesting combat deployment, declaring they wanted to end the so-called Great Pirate Era.
All of this was suppressed by Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
At the same time, the Marines' report to Mary Geoise didn't emphasize Marine bravery. Instead, it emphasized strategic cooperation, claiming it was coordination with the CP agencies using the Dyna Stone strategy in the New World that led to severe damage to the pirate forces on Jam Island.
This could be considered keeping a low profile. The Five Elders didn't think much of it and simply assumed Sengoku was being modest. At the same time, according to the intelligence summary they'd received from the CP agencies, this was roughly accurate.
With the end of the New World war, Finn's fame had reached its zenith.
According to rumors, during the Battle of Jam Island, Finn had defeated the world's strongest man, Whitebeard Edward Newgate, the Pirate King's right hand, Dark King Silvers Rayleigh, and Big Mom Charlotte Linlin!
Although so far these were just rumors and no one involved had come forward to clarify anything, it was precisely this "default" situation that further confirmed the story's authenticity.
After all, who could clarify? Whitebeard was bedridden right now. Charlotte Linlin was hiding on Whole Cake Island, traumatized by Finn. Rayleigh had even been captured by the Marines. Who was going to step forward?
And although the facts were somewhat distorted, it seemed reasonable to say Finn had defeated all three of them.
In short, Finn had become world-famous before he'd even returned to Marineford.
The title of "The Strongest Admiral in History" seemed to be recognized by all the Marines at headquarters and had been crowned upon Finn's head.
North Blue, the Donquixote Family residence.
Donquixote Doflamingo was currently reading the latest newspaper.
News about the Battle of Jam Island in the New World had broken several days ago. But in the subsequent period, detailed summaries of the situation, as well as opinions from various scholars and experts on the incident and its historical significance, continued to be published.
Today's newspaper was full of sensational headlines.
"The New World's Strongest Is Undoubtedly the Marine Admiral!" Morgans, that birdman, seemed to have noticed something. His stance had shifted noticeably toward the Marines. In this report, he praised Marine strength and power to the extreme. He'd even become Finn's bootlicker, calling him the embodiment of justice at sea, the representative of power, and the undisputed strongest in the world.
Then Morgans had dredged up all of Finn's old achievements.
Beat up Golden Lion. Beat up Red Earl. Capture Roger. Captured Kaido. And now defeated Whitebeard.
"Looking back over the past twenty years, ever since Admiral Finn left North Blue and arrived at Marine Headquarters, his legend has begun. Before this hero, universally recognized by many in the Marines as 'the strongest Admiral in history,' numerous legendary pirates have fallen, one after another. These include, but are not limited to, Golden Lion, Red Earl, the Pirate King, and, most recently, Whitebeard!
There is no doubt that the emergence of heroes like Admiral Finn in the Marines of justice is the choice of the times and the fortune of the people.
In Sea Circle Calendar year 1500, the Great Pirate Era began, bringing countless mad and evil pirates to the world. Yet I firmly believe that this chaotic and mad age will one day be rewritten by someone, someone who will rectify this chaos and disorder, restoring peace and justice to the sea. And that person seems to have already appeared. He is the most powerful Admiral in my heart, the one who best represents justice, Mr. Rodriguez Finn. I firmly believe that in another twenty years, someone will realize that this era no longer belongs to the Great Pirates, to Roger, or to Whitebeard. If this era truly must be named, I, Morgans, will be the first to proclaim its true name: This era belongs to the Marines, to Rodriguez Finn!"
Looking at the newspaper in his hand, Doflamingo couldn't help but laugh out loud.
He'd thought he had lost all moral integrity. But when he compared himself to Morgans, a journalist, he suddenly realized he still had quite a lot of it.
Morgans was completely shameless. He was actually openly licking Finn's boots in the newspaper.
And he was doing it so righteously, as if he'd always championed justice and order.
But what did a journalist like him really look forward to most? Big news, obviously. And where did big news come from? Chaos and conflict.
Yet now he was praising justice and order. What the hell.
Although he somewhat despised Morgans' lack of integrity, Doflamingo still keenly noticed something.
He knew Morgans. They'd met several times. Maybe the guy had no moral integrity, but he was undoubtedly smart. Very smart.
Morgans suddenly getting close to the Marines and praising Finn to the extreme definitely wasn't because he was afraid.
Because he didn't need to be afraid of the Marines. The Marines wouldn't deal with him easily. As long as he didn't cause trouble for them, no one would pay attention to him.
So perhaps the reason for this shift toward the Marines' position could be attributed to appealing.
If you dug deeper into the essence, you could guess it was "betting."
Was Morgans gambling on the Marines' future?
In terms of intelligence capabilities, there were two very powerful "intelligence agencies" in the underworld, and on the surface, neither of them was a formal intelligence organization.
The first was the Pleasure Street organization, disguised as a wine and entertainment business.
No need to say more about that.
The second was the World Economic Journal, disguised as a news and newspaper organization.
Indeed, the World Economic Journal was currently the newspaper with the largest circulation and widest audience in the world. But in truth, they also conducted intelligence business in the underworld.
Relying on this newspaper business, their intelligence capabilities were outstanding.
Doflamingo thought about this and murmured softly, "Morgans must have discovered something."
Then he put the newspaper away and tossed it on the table beside him. He picked up a glass of red wine, took a sip, and asked with doubt in his eyes, "What did he discover? What secrets are the Marines hiding? What future is Morgans betting on? What kind of future is it?"
Doflamingo felt he was about to touch the truth, but there was always a hazy barrier he couldn't see through.
Thinking of this, he picked up another newspaper. This one contained a summary of Finn's personal history, which was basically pure praise.
After studying it carefully again, Doflamingo's attention settled on Sea Circle Calendar year 1503.
This was a very special year for the Marines, and also for Finn.
It was at the end of year 1503 that Finn had been promoted to Admiral of Marine Headquarters.
Doflamingo's gaze rested on the word "Admiral." The more he looked at it, the more he felt something was wrong. This connection... Suddenly, he seemed to realize something and looked toward the beginning of 1503.
At the beginning of Sea Circle Calendar 1503, the Seven Warlords of the Sea plan was implemented.
In a flash, it was as if lightning struck through Doflamingo's mind. He suddenly realized something.
The Seven Warlords of the Sea, an organization hated by the Marines, might have had problems from the very beginning.
The first of the Seven Warlords of the Sea was White Hunter Smoker. He was from the Marines and was Finn's junior.
He'd heard that Smoker and Finn had deep hatred, that it seemed Finn was the one who'd kicked him out of the Marines. He hadn't thought much of it then, but now it seemed...
Smoker was most likely still a Marine.
Considering Smoker's current situation, the wealthy and mysterious Amway Group...
Doflamingo felt as if he'd touched upon the truth. Perhaps the Marines were secretly trying to break free from economic suppression and the constraints of military funding?
Were they trying to separate from Mary Geoise?
Doflamingo had originally felt something was wrong with the Marines and Finn. He'd even suspected whether they were planning to separate from Mary Geoise. But later, Doflamingo himself had overturned this idea because the Marines couldn't solve their own support problem. Without Mary Geoise's financial backing, the Marines wouldn't be able to survive.
But now, he seemed to have discovered the truth!
At the same time, he remembered the conversation he'd had with Finn.
"I didn't have a choice before." But now, it seemed he could choose.
After a brief pause, Doflamingo carefully recalled the organization of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
As a smart man, he could naturally understand why the Marines had been so resistant to the Seven Warlords plan at first. Because this plan was obviously nurturing a tiger to invite calamity, and would inevitably bring disaster to the world.
But now it seemed that the entire Seven Warlords organization existed in a strange state.
Including Doflamingo himself.
He hadn't thought much about it before, but now that he'd discovered some "truths," Doflamingo had to think more carefully.
The Seven Warlords of the Sea, who were supposed to be a threat to the world, had failed to demonstrate their destructive power.
"Could it be that except for me, all of them are Marine people?" Doflamingo asked with some doubt.
"No, that's impossible. How could that bastard Crocodile be a Marine? I must be overthinking it. Fufufufu..." Doflamingo tried to reassure himself.
Then he leaned back on the sofa and took another sip of red wine. After a long silence, he finally couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Impossible, right?"
Good god, he was starting to doubt his own sanity.
But no matter what, Doflamingo knew it was time for him to truly place his bet.
This time, should he bet everything on the Marines, on Finn?
What bargaining chip could make them excited enough to accept him?