One Piece: My code name is Green Bull

"Alright, what's the point of thinking so much? Soldiers die—it's part of the job. Keep your mindset steady."

Seeing Jon and Pemberton fall into silence, Borsalino was the first to snap out of his grief. Using his usual playful tone, he tried to console them.

"Borsalino's right," Pemberton chimed in. "Sacrifices are inevitable. There's no need to be overly sorrowful."

Jon changed the subject: "I still don't know much about the situation in the New World. Why don't you tell me more about it?"

Having spent more time there, Borsalino began explaining: "To be honest, in my opinion, pirates are all the same—nothing good about any of them. But even among pirates, there are levels. Take someone like Golden Lion, for example. Even if Fleet Admiral Sengoku personally intervened, he couldn't take him down. Then there's the Whitebeard Pirates, the Roger Pirates…"

After spending over a year in the New World, Borsalino had not wasted his time. He listed off the major factions of the New World as if reciting the contents of his pockets.

Jon listened attentively. He realized that the top pirate crews were all names he recognized. As for the other large pirate crews Borsalino mentioned, he had only heard of a few. Many of them were completely unfamiliar.

These lesser-known pirate crews likely disappeared permanently before Luffy set out to sea.

But from what Borsalino said, many of these unfamiliar pirate crews were exceptionally strong. While they couldn't match top-tier figures like Golden Lion, they were still first-rate pirates with bounties exceeding 500 million berries.

Jon was stunned. Were the pirates of the New World all this powerful?

After learning more, he finally understood why the Marine Headquarters had taken such a serious stance, sending Sengoku, Garp, and Tsuru—three of the Navy's highest-ranking figures—to the New World simultaneously.

It wasn't that the Navy was overreacting—it was simply impossible to intimidate the New World with just one admiral.

Borsalino mentioned that during his time there, even while "slacking off," he had killed over a hundred pirates. Sakazuki, who had arrived with him, was even more relentless, practically a pirate-harvesting machine.

At the G1 base, everyone—no matter their rank—knew Sakazuki's name. When he went after pirates, there were almost no survivors. He captured them and killed them all, so much so that even his fellow marines found his behavior terrifying.

Jon wasn't the least bit surprised by Sakazuki's actions. He had already witnessed Sakazuki's extreme stance on pirates firsthand. Though radical, the man had his own form of justice.

In Jon's opinion, compared to the rest of them, Sakazuki was more like the ideal marine—a pure hawk who embodied absolute justice.

"Jon, I've got to say—you had it easy in the staff department. Why go looking for trouble in the New World?"

Borsalino wore a "disappointed in you" expression, as if he would gladly switch places with Jon and return to Marine Headquarters.

Jon rolled his eyes at Borsalino. It wasn't as though he didn't want a carefree life. But he knew it wasn't realistic. The future world would descend into chaos, and he understood that better than anyone. Without sufficient strength, how could he ever feel at ease?

G1 Base Conference Room

Not long after arriving at the base, Tsuru was taken to the conference room by Sengoku for a discussion.

The room was large, with a round table surrounded by several people. Sengoku, as admiral, sat at the head of the table. On his left and right were Garp and Tsuru. Further down were the vice admirals and rear admirals stationed at the G1 base, totaling ten people in all.

"The purpose of today's meeting," Sengoku began, "is to address the increasingly rampant pirate forces. Maintaining peace across the seas is our duty as marines. However, with pirates running wild in the New World, we must take decisive action to suppress them."

As an admiral, Sengoku's authority was second only to Fleet Admiral Kong. While he should have been stationed at Marine Headquarters, the chaos in the New World necessitated his presence there.

The reason pirate forces had grown so massive was due, at its core, to the World Government. The World Government had always allowed pirates to exist and grow in order to serve its own interests.

Pirates brought substantial benefits to the World Government. Many regions and nations, desperate to avoid pirate invasions, were forced to pay large sums of wealth to the World Government for protection. The government, naturally, had no reason to reject such profitable arrangements.

Under the World Government's control, pirates were generally kept in check and posed no significant threat to the world. But that all changed years ago.

Over a decade ago, a pirate named Rocks D. Xebec emerged, pushing the influence of piracy to its peak.

Rocks was the most powerful and evil pirate of his time. Driven by ambition, he gathered many of the world's top pirates to form the Rocks Pirates, dominating the entire New World.

During that era, the Rocks Pirates were the strongest and most dominant force in the New World. Rocks' ambition grew to such an extent that he sought to overthrow the Celestial Dragons, who had ruled the world for 800 years.

Though the Rocks Pirates ultimately met their end, it wasn't because they were weak. Instead, internal divisions and a lack of unity led to their downfall.

Had the Rocks Pirates been united, even Garp's navy and the Roger Pirates working together would have been no match for them.

But Rocks' downfall was inevitable. His attempt to rule the crew through sheer force and domination led to fractured loyalties.

During their final battle, over half of the crew members were simply watching from the sidelines. After Rocks was defeated, they ransacked his treasures and fled. The once-mighty Rocks Pirates crumbled in an instant.

After the Rocks Pirates' destruction, the pirates of the New World suffered a significant blow and entered a brief period of decline.

However, with figures like Golden Lion rising to prominence, the New World once again descended into chaos. Although it wasn't as rampant as during the Rocks era, the pirates became more fragmented and complex. Many of the new-generation pirates rivaled Rocks in strength.

A vice admiral seated at the table, who was also the commander of the G1 base, said: "We've all faced off against the major pirate factions in the New World. Though I hate to admit it, it's clear that eliminating them completely will require significant sacrifices."

"Golden Lion, Whitebeard, Roger, Charlotte Linlin, John…"

Sengoku listed more than a dozen major pirates. These were the most wanted individuals, with the highest bounties, and their presence was the primary reason for the navy's repeated setbacks.

"These pirates are all formidable opponents. Taking them down won't be quick or easy—we're in for a long-term fight."

Outside the New World, the first half of the Grand Line and the four seas remained relatively stable despite their own pirate problems.

As long as those regions didn't experience major disturbances, the navy's main forces could remain stationed in the New World to engage in prolonged battles with the pirates.

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