Lily's words made Sage not even turn his head. He just paused for a moment, then continued to stretch out his leg, addressing the maid who had stopped moving: "Continue."
Soaking in the bath, the maid wearing sheer gauze that revealed her perfect figure heard Sage's words, lifted his foot, and placed it in her soft, fragrant, and elastic bosom, gently pressing.
Sage leaned his head against the edge of the bath, extended his hand, and beside him, a maid carried a tray, gently but quickly poured a glass of wine, and passed the cup from the tray to him.
He shook the glass and then spoke:
"It's expected. There's been no news for so long in the New World. The progression in the latter half was too rapid; he obviously abandoned his own forces to avoid repeating the same mistakes as the decisive battle from the past. Teach, that guy, has always been clever..."
It's roughly guessable.
Red Hair has been wiped out, but the strongest resistance in the New World is ironically found on the islands under Red Hair's protection and among those who accepted Red Hair's flag to form a grand fleet.
Blackbeard was just defeated, but his subordinates scattered like birds and beasts, with resistance being a minority, and most returned to their original state.
Teach probably knows he can no longer rally people, and to avoid forcing them together only for them to be dispersed in one fell swoop, starting anew is too simple.
Just as his speculation, he undoubtedly will cooperate with the World Government.
He has Garp in hand, considerable fighting power, and some surviving companions at his side; Kuzan and Shiryu are former government people, making connections wouldn't be too difficult.
With a change of thought, Sage lifted his head, happening to see Lily coming behind him, and the sight, viewed upwards, was blocked by two massive jiggly jelly-like peaks.
"So, where is he proclaiming himself king, which part of Paradise?"
"Not Paradise..."
Lily was holding a newspaper, showing it directly to Sage, and besides words, there was a picture of Teach laughing heartily on a throne.
"The Navy Headquarters, or rather, the former G-1 Region, right in the New World."
"Headquarters?"
Sage was a bit stunned and sat up straighter. With the sound of water, his feet dropped back into the bath.
He waved his hand, signaling the maids to retreat and, after some thought, decided not to soak anymore. He rose from the bath and stepped out while mist swirled around his lower body. As he opened his arms, a maid came to dry him off and put on a golden bathrobe.
He left the bathroom and moved to the lounge, sitting on the largest sofa, while Lily sat across from him, saying:
"Yes, Headquarters. According to intelligence, Akainu has withdrawn from the New World headquarters, relocating to the newly built Marineford. Now in the New World, aside from the Navy Branches near the Red Earth Continent, there isn't much power left."
"They're even prepared to temporarily ignore the North and West Seas..."
Sage laughed, "Seems like in Paradise, the Revolutionary Army is causing a lot of trouble. It's already gotten the Navy so occupied that they need pirates to guard me now?"
The world is divided in an 'X' shape, hence the concept of 'Four Seas'. From a geographical standpoint, the Grand Line close to Paradise can directly head to the East and South Seas, so these regions are relatively strictly governed.
As for the West and North Seas, connecting to the New World of the Grand Line and due to the many strong individuals, these regions are relatively more chaotic.
It's not that there is no deployment of forces; it's just that the Navy in the New World itself has to deal with stronger pirates, naturally prioritizing less focus, plus some matters and news from the New World are also transmitted into these two seas through the Calm Belt. The pirates in these areas are inherently stronger and harder to handle.
When Doflamingo was mixing in the North Sea, the strongest bounty in the East Sea hadn't exceeded twenty million.
Originally hard to manage, Akainu was stationed in the New World all along, able to suppress some forces and expand the influence, thus managing to consider the North and South Seas.
Now by doing this, it signifies that they temporarily can't govern the North and South Seas either.
After all, besides going through the Calm Belt, the only route is from Inverted Mountain to the West and North Seas.
"Power never leaves a vacuum, and neither does ruling; if you don't rule others, others will rule you. Since it's left open, there's no reason not to take it."
Sage chuckled and looked at Lily, a sinister smile rising: "But before that, let's catch that guy first. Since he agreed to establish a kingdom in the New World... Teach, that guy, should definitely be prepared. Let me see what kind of means he will use to deal with me!"
"Gather everyone back, forget the underlings, I need the key officers, the Hundred Beasts and Big Mom's Pirate gangs, including the Flying Six and ministers, on our side, Seven Stars or higher, everyone back."
He extended his hand outward, laughing heartily: "Let's begin the decisive battle! Once Teach is eliminated, the New World will officially fall under my rule, and from then on, there will be no more 'Four Emperors', only one Pirate Emperor, and that's me!"
"Sage, Straw Hat has recently started being called a 'Four Emperor' in the newspapers," Lily said.
"Ha! Who cares about that, soon they won't even gather enough people, where will four come from? No matter how much the Navy tries to hype it, the seas won't recognize it! Don't worry about that guy, his behavior won't pose any threat to us. Let him attract the World Government's attention instead."