During this period, one topic had been dominating conversations among pirates across both Paradise and the New World — following the capture of the great pirate Shiki and the Red Count one after another, who now deserved the title of the world's greatest swordsman?
This question had been posed by none other than Morgans — that man who thrived on sowing chaos.
The string of high-profile pirate captures had generated a series of explosive headlines, and the World Economic Journal's revenues had surged as a result.
People on the seas loved to discuss Roger's great treasure. They loved to debate who would become the next Pirate King.
But the most heated arguments of all came from the power-scaling crowd.
The unprecedented Pirate King — Gol D. Roger.
The Flying Pirate Fleet's Supreme Commander — Shiki.
The man who single-handedly defeated a Marine Fleet Admiral — Redfield.
Who among them was truly the strongest?
"Roger, obviously. Why else would he be the Pirate King?" Someone said it as though it were self-evident.
"Roger's only the Pirate King because he found the legendary One Piece. That doesn't make him invincible." Dissenting voices were quick to push back.
"In my book, the strongest has to be the Red Count. He single-handedly took down a Marine Fleet Admiral — that's on a completely different level!"
"Shiki's no slouch either. The Flying Pirate Fleet's territory in the New World is enormous! And it took both Fleet Admiral Sengoku and that hero Garp working together to bring him down!"
"Didn't that guy lose to the Pirate King at Edd War a few years back?"
"Exactly. And even before that, he lost the war against Inazuma. He's not even worth mentioning!"
The power-scalers started out with semi-reasonable analysis, but things quickly devolved.
Comments like "Roger fanboys, get out — I bet you couldn't even beat a Marine Vice Admiral" and "Shiki's genuinely strong, he just never wins a fight" flew back and forth.
Eventually, the discussion shifted from those three headline-grabbing figures to other notorious pirates across the seas.
"Inazuma's Raiden Shogun repelled Shiki."
"Among pirates, the only ones who've beaten Shiki in direct combat are him and Gol D. Roger."
"Not to mention, even the Marines do business with him. Whether you look at individual strength or overall power, he's undeniably at the absolute top!"
"I don't accept that. You're telling me Whitebeard isn't stronger than the Raiden Shogun?"
"Do you have any idea how many islands Whitebeard has sunk to date? The man can shatter the air itself — that's the power to destroy the world!"
"What about Kaido? He was pretty active recently, wasn't he? The Marines have captured him so many times, but they just can't kill him."
"Kaido? Haven't heard anything from him in a while. All this talk about immortality — he's probably dead in some ditch somewhere by now."
"..."
Morgans clearly recognized a gold mine in these debates. Power-scaling arguments were a universal constant, and in truth, the gap in strength between the truly elite fighters at the very top was razor-thin.
But different fighters excelled at different things. Morgans never announced a definitive answer — he simply analyzed whatever intelligence he had gathered, kept his conclusions deliberately ambiguous, and let the readers argue among themselves.
Debate drove engagement. Engagement drove circulation. Every issue, Morgans would profile a different pirate, praising them as though they were peerless.
Their supporters would nod in agreement while their detractors would scoff — but either way, the newspapers sold.
By now, that ground-chicken had systematically reviewed every notable swordsman among the pirate ranks, Ren included.
It was easy to predict the headlines that would follow.
"Who Is the Strongest Man in the World?"
"Who Is the Strongest Creature in the World?"
"When It Comes to Haki, Who Reigns Supreme?"...
And so on.
And this approach didn't make enemies, either. Pirates valued their reputation above all else — the ones being discussed at the center of attention were probably flattered by the attention.
At this moment, on a certain island in Paradise, a man in a western-style hat and an open long coat, with a massive cross-shaped sword slung across his back, leaned against the corner of a bar, nursing a drink while reading the latest newspaper.
"The world's greatest swordsman, huh?"
Joracule Mihawk studied the headline, a mixture of excitement and longing crossing his face.
But it wasn't the title he yearned for — it was the skill of the swordsman who sat upon that throne.
Swordsmen were naturally drawn to one another. And right now, the consensus across the seas was that the title of strongest swordsman belonged to Inazuma's Raiden Shogun.
In truth, that belief had been circulating for over a decade.
Back then, the universally acknowledged strongest swordsman was the dual-wielding Shiki. But after Shiki lost to Inazuma in their war, plenty of people argued that the Raiden Shogun's swordsmanship had already surpassed his.
Now, the vast majority of people accepted that assessment.
Whether he was truly the absolute strongest was debatable, but when it came to pure swordsmanship, Inazuma's Raiden Shogun stood above all others.
Mihawk silently set Ren as his benchmark, planning to head to the New World and challenge the Raiden Shogun himself!
Just then, another voice reached his ears.
"The Raiden Shogun? That man is something else, no doubt about it."
"But our captain's swordsmanship is nothing to sneer at either!"
Shanks recalled his one and only encounter with Ren all those years ago — a man whose mere presence felt like a blade cutting into you.
Roger himself had later said that the man's strength was not beneath his own.
Mihawk glanced over and saw a red-haired man in a straw hat sitting lazily on the bar counter with his legs crossed. Beside him sat another man with a serious expression.
That serious-looking man appeared dignified and composed at first glance — except he was busy flirting with the barmaid.
Absolutely shameless!
Hawk-Eyes shook his head in disapproval, but his sharp gaze had already been detected by the red-haired man.
The instant their eyes met, both recognized the other as a powerful swordsman. Their swords resonated with each other across the distance.
Shanks dropped his usual laid-back demeanor, his surprise genuine.
"Well, color me impressed. I didn't expect to run into someone like you in the first half of the Grand Line. Care to join me for a drink?"
"Hey, Shanks — this is a dangerous individual." The man who had been entertaining the barmaid turned around, caught sight of Mihawk's face, and immediately warned his captain.
"You're the one they've been calling the Marine Hunter, right?"
[
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