Because Teach had confidence in the Beasts Pirates and believed they could repel, or even defeat, Wano Country, he did not think providing logistical support to Wano Country would affect the outcome of the war.
As a result, while agreeing to help Wano Country, Teach also leaked the information to the Beasts Pirates.
Crayel was still somewhat inexperienced and failed to grasp the deeper meaning behind the message. Kaido, however, understood it immediately.
After all, he and Teach stood at the same level. That was precisely why Kaido was pleased. Teach's confidence in the Beasts Pirates was, in a sense, a form of recognition.
"Recall Omen and Lemor," Kaido ordered decisively. "Put the war with the Whitebeard Pirates on hold for now. Wano Country comes first."
He was in no rush to seize more of the Whitebeard Pirates' territory.
As long as the war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Nightfall Pirates continued, the Whitebeard Pirates would inevitably weaken. Their territory would become his sooner or later.
Wano Country, on the other hand, was a force powerful enough to demand the Beasts Pirates' full attention.
"What about the Whitebeard Pirates?" Crayel asked. "Could they attack us from behind? Vista is still there. If we don't keep him occupied, he'll definitely cause us trouble."
"Don't worry about them," Kaido replied dismissively.
"The Whitebeard Pirates can barely take care of themselves. How could they possibly spare forces to help Wano Country?"
Under the relentless pressure of the Nightfall Pirates, the Whitebeard Pirates had been retreating steadily.
Their overall strength was simply inferior.
Even with powerful figures like Marco leading the front lines, the best they could achieve was a temporary stalemate in isolated battles. Losses on other fronts would still accumulate.
Unless the Whitebeard Pirates suddenly produced seven monsters comparable to the Seven Chiefs of the Nightfall Pirates, there was no way to close the gap.
Even if they had fewer fighters of that caliber, they would still need two or three commanders working together just to contain a single Dark Night chief.
That alone would create a shortage of high-level officers elsewhere.
A disparity in overall strength could not be overturned by a few battlefield victories.
Furthermore, even with Marco and the others pushing themselves to the limit, the Whitebeard Pirates could only gain minor advantages in individual engagements.
They lacked the ability to alter the overall direction of the war.
Faced with the Nightfall Pirates' overwhelming pressure, the Whitebeard Pirates would have to be insane to launch attacks against the Beasts Pirates.
If they had spare manpower, they would send it to reinforce Marco instead.
The casualties among the Whitebeard Pirates were steadily increasing.
Their morale was also gradually declining.
After all, continuing to fight while knowing you were outmatched required extraordinary resolve.
At the beginning, the pride of the Whitebeard Pirates had sustained them.
But pride alone could not last forever.
Thoughts of doubt had already begun to emerge and spread among the crew.
Whitebeard's influence was unquestionable.
Many pirates were willing to die for him.
The easiest solution would be to concede defeat and surrender territory to the Nightfall Pirates. The war could end immediately.
Yet none of them were willing to take that step.
Once a force fell into a clearly disadvantageous position, especially one as obvious as this, the negative consequences would inevitably spread throughout its territory.
Although Whitebeard's prestige was immense enough to deter open aggression, countless people were taking advantage of the situation behind the scenes.
Human greed never ends.
Who would willingly ignore such an opportunity?
Unrest had already begun to stir throughout the Whitebeard Sea.
Vast territory brought immense wealth.
Unfortunately, the Whitebeard Pirates themselves were not wealthy.
In times of peace, their holdings could have generated enormous profits.
However, the New World had not known peace for years.
The Whitebeard Pirates had spent most of that time fighting wars and consuming resources.
At the same time, their territorial administration was loose.
While the core regions remained stable, overall revenues had actually begun declining under the influence of multiple factors.
Even the interests of various local factions were being affected.
Most of the Whitebeard Pirates' strength was concentrated in the Chaotic Sea, battling the Nightfall Pirates.
The rest was stationed along the borders of their territory to deter rival powers.
This included not only the Whitebeard Pirates themselves but also their subordinate pirate crews.
As a result, the interior regions of the Whitebeard Sea were left severely undermanned.
Maintaining order became increasingly difficult.
Without the Whitebeard Pirates' direct suppression and mediation, internal conflicts naturally intensified.
This outcome was inevitable.
The order of the Whitebeard Sea had always rested on the overwhelming strength of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Now that much of that strength was tied down by war, control began slipping away.
While the Whitebeard Pirates focused on external threats, internal chaos quietly spread throughout their territory.
The situation was especially severe in regions that had only recently come under Whitebeard's rule.
Those local powers had never truly submitted.
The period of rule had simply been too short.
They had bowed their heads only because of Whitebeard's overwhelming might.
The idea that entire regions willingly submitted because of Whitebeard's personal charisma sounded inspiring, but reality was far more practical.
Most islands already possessed their own ruling classes.
When the Whitebeard Pirates arrived, those groups inevitably had to surrender a portion of their interests.
Even if Whitebeard's rule was preferable to that of many other pirate crews, few people genuinely welcomed losing power.
Chaos.
Competition for resources.
Private wars.
Mutual slaughter.
All of it had already begun to emerge.
Meanwhile, the war itself consumed staggering amounts of resources.
Food, weapons, ammunition, and supplies all had to be extracted from territories within the Whitebeard Sea.
Although Whitebeard was known as an Emperor of the Sea, the Whitebeard Empire was, in truth, a very loose structure.
Defeat on the battlefield would inevitably trigger instability throughout the entire system.
No matter how strong a wall may be, it often collapses from within first.
If a pirate empire could not maintain order within its own territory, then its authority was little more than a joke.
Compared to the Nightfall Pirates' centralized and absolute rule, the Whitebeard Pirates governed far too gently.
They could not integrate the forces under their banner into a unified whole.
They could not leave an indelible mark of authority on every corner of their territory.
If the Whitebeard Pirates were ever destroyed, their lands would be divided up with remarkable ease.
Flags would change.
Little else would.
Resistance would be minimal.
Meanwhile, the Beasts Pirates began preparing for war with Wano Country. The recall of Omen and Lemor finally allowed Vista to breathe a little easier.
Just as the Beasts Pirates had predicted, he immediately consolidated his forces and moved to reinforce the Whitebeard Pirates' front against the Nightfall Pirates.
The scale of the losses was shocking.
Even Vista found them difficult to accept.
Still, they remained within the limits the Whitebeard Pirates could endure.
If he failed to provide support, casualties would continue escalating, even if the Whitebeard Pirates switched entirely to defensive warfare.
Among all the Whitebeard Pirates, Vista had communicated with Teach the most and shared the closest relationship with him.
Although he never said it openly, he had been the first to notice something unusual about Teach.
He had even attempted, in private, to persuade Teach to stay.
Again and again he failed.
Each attempt only strengthened his understanding of Teach's determination.
In truth, Vista understood Teach's decision.
He had seen the terrifying potential hidden within Teach.
The environment of the Whitebeard Pirates was simply too peaceful for someone like him.
Even during training, Teach had often concealed much of his true strength.
As a swordsman, Vista was extremely observant.
Teach's disguises had never fully escaped his notice.
Vista did not want to fight Teach.
Even though they no longer stood on the same level, he still felt reluctant.
The Nightfall Pirates, however, were another matter entirely.
Against them, he carried no such emotional burden.
News of Vista's arrival greatly boosted morale among Marco, and the others.
It was like receiving a desperately needed reinforcement.
The Whitebeard Pirates' disadvantage had become painfully obvious.
Their overall strength was weaker. Their strategic position was worse. They were being completely suppressed.
Their plans were repeatedly anticipated and countered.
The Nightfall Pirates could fully exploit their advantages, while the Whitebeard Pirates were denied even the freedom to choose their own battles.
Even changing opponents would not significantly improve matters.
Every one of the Seven Chiefs of the Nightfall Pirates was extraordinarily difficult to handle.
Mobius, a Zoan user, possessed terrifying physical combat abilities, near-immortal regeneration, bizarre mental powers, and deadly toxins.
After fully revealing his capabilities, he had become one of the most recognizable figures within the Nightfall Pirates.
His soul-targeting abilities even exerted a degree of suppression over Marco.
Marco's Blue Flames of Resurrection could heal physical injuries. They offered no protection against attacks directed at the spirit.
Mog Ratoon was another nightmare.
Like Slada, he possessed monstrous physical strength.
His abilities were straightforward rather than strange, but his overwhelming power, durability, and combat skill made him extraordinarily difficult to defeat.
Even Jozu, the strongest among the Whitebeard Pirates in terms of raw strength, found himself suppressed.
One captain from a subordinate pirate crew had already fallen beneath Shiryu's blade.
As battle after battle tempered him, Shiryu's swordsmanship became increasingly terrifying.
Wallace inspired fear for different reasons. His steel body, powerful martial techniques, and heat-based abilities made direct contact dangerous. Heat conducted through weapons and armor just as effectively as cold.
Even Armament Haki users could feel the effects during clashes.
His fists resembled Admiral Akainu's magma.
While lacking the explosive force of a volcanic eruption, Wallace more than compensated with his own formidable physical power and steadily improving combat skills.
Gar and Mostima were equally dangerous opponents.
Vista's arrival would undoubtedly strengthen the Whitebeard Pirates.
Besides him, additional division commanders and subordinate pirate crews would also join the battlefield.
What the Whitebeard Pirates lacked most was precisely this kind of high-end combat power.
At the same time, the Beasts Pirates continued their preparations for Wano Country's arrival.
The chosen battlefield would be the buffer zone between the territories of the Nightfall Pirates and the Beasts Pirates.
The Beasts Pirates had no intention of allowing war to unfold within their own lands.
Naturally, the fighting would have to occur elsewhere.
As a result, the islands and independent forces scattered throughout the buffer zone became unfortunate victims.
Everyone could see that they would be caught in the middle of the coming conflict.
The worst part was that resistance was impossible.
Neither Wano Country nor the Beasts Pirates was a force they could oppose.
Numerous islands existed within the buffer zone.
Because the Beasts Pirates and Nightfall Pirates had maintained an unspoken understanding for years, many people had assumed the area would remain relatively peaceful.
Pirates and independent factions had settled there, surviving between two top-tier powers.
Some were far from weak.
Several captains possessed bounties exceeding four hundred million Berries.
Unfortunately, none of them had anticipated a war of this scale.
If they wished to avoid being dragged into the conflict, they had only three choices:
Hide.
Leave the region entirely. Or enter the territory of another great power.
The Sageros Sea remained open to outsiders.
As long as they obeyed the rules and refrained from plundering, entry was permitted.
Of course, living there consumed money at an astonishing rate.
Without wealth, survival within the Sageros Sea became difficult.
The Nightfall Pirates' dominance prevented outside pirates from engaging in open plunder.
Both the Battle Pyramid and the Arena were places where fortunes vanished rapidly.
Although opportunities to earn money existed through combat and gambling, only a small minority actually profited.
Most pirates spent their wealth like water.
After running out of money, they would leave, raid other regions, then return to the Sageros Sea to indulge themselves once more.
For many, the Battle Pyramid was a paradise.
Once they experienced it, they no longer wished to leave.
Through this cycle, wealth was continuously extracted from the outside world and funneled into the Sageros Sea.
Its prosperity grew steadily.
The Nightfall Pirates became richer and stronger.
Many pirates unknowingly worked for the Nightfall Pirates without ever realizing it. More importantly, the Nightfall Pirates possessed more than enough power to suppress any troublemakers.
Even though countless strong warriors and infamous pirates gathered within the Battle Pyramid, almost none were foolish enough to provoke the Nightfall Pirates.
There was no benefit in creating enemies where none existed.
As tensions rose, a large number of pirates from the buffer zone chose to migrate into Dark Night territory.
The Beasts Pirates imposed strict entry requirements.
Either newcomers paid substantial fees or submitted directly to the Beasts Pirates.
Many found those conditions unacceptable.
The Nightfall Pirates, by contrast, charged only symbolic fees and required little more than signing a non-aggression agreement.
The process was simple and attractive.
Meanwhile, the Beasts Pirates accelerated their military preparations.
With an entire kingdom supporting them, their weapon development and manufacturing capabilities had advanced rapidly.
Massive cannons, some with barrels seven or eight meters long, lined their defensive positions.
Their sheer size hinted at terrifying destructive power.
As the defenders, the Beasts Pirates still had time.
Wano Country's army would need a considerable period to arrive.
That time would be used to construct fortifications, defensive lines, and war strongholds capable of halting Wano Country's advance.
This was only the second major war the Beasts Pirates had fought since their rise, following their conflict with the Wang Zhi Pirates.
Naturally, they treated it with utmost seriousness.
Beyond victory itself, the war offered valuable experience.
It would allow them to test newly developed weapons under real combat conditions and gather data for future improvements.
Their primary objective was simple:
Hold back Wano Country.
If possible, defeat them outright.
Every Executive Officer of the Beasts Pirates, along with Governor-General Kaido himself, had already prepared for the coming storm.
The Beasts Pirates also needed a grand war to showcase their strength to the world.
Deterrence was not created overnight.
It was built through battle after battle, atop a throne stained with blood.
A pirate crew that remained quiet for too long would inevitably see its reputation decline.
The Nightfall Pirates were the perfect example.
Their prestige throughout the New World, and even across the entire world, had already surpassed both the Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates.
Wano Country, however, was a worthy opponent.
A powerful nation.
A respected force.
An enemy strong enough to elevate the Beasts Pirates' reputation even further through victory.