After Monkey D. Luffy's death, Ace quickly carried his body away. All that remained was to wait for the arrival of the phoenix to handle the aftermath.
Meanwhile, Marco and Shanks moved aside.
Marco broke the silence first. "Red Hair, what are you planning to do next?"
Shanks stayed quiet for a moment. He had always waited for Luffy to grow, believing he was the one destined to change the world. Now that Luffy was gone, that expectation had collapsed, leaving him briefly unsettled.
But soon, Shanks smiled again. "Me? I will keep doing what I have always done. I will continue my voyages."
Marco raised a brow, clearly surprised by how easily Shanks carried on. "You gambled your arm on him. I thought you would be more affected by Luffy's death."
Shanks gave a faint, wry smile. "I would be lying if I said I felt nothing. And yes, I did place my hope on Luffy."
He lifted his remaining arm and rested it briefly where his left arm once was. "But people still have to move forward."
Luffy's death had disrupted Shanks' expectations, but it did not erase his direction. He still had his own path to follow.
Marco studied him carefully. Shanks had always been difficult to fully read. Even among the former Four Emperors, his true intentions were often unclear compared to figures like Kaido, Charlotte Linlin, and Edward Newgate.
Because of that, Marco asked directly. "Then do you plan to join the Emperors Alliance?"
Shanks immediately shook his head. "Forget it. I have no interest in alliances."
In his mind, he dismissed the idea completely. Aligning with Kaido and Big Mom would only lead to constant conflict. Their way of doing things relied entirely on force, something that never suited him.
Marco did not press further. Instead, he activated his observation to gauge Shanks' current strength. The result confirmed that Shanks still stood at the level of a top-tier Emperor, and the Red Hair Pirates remained a crew capable of standing among the strongest forces in the world.
Shanks then glanced at Marco with a faint grin. "Your strength seems to have increased a lot. Even I can't read it anymore."
Marco's lips curved slightly. "Are you curious?"
"A little," Shanks admitted casually. Then he added, "Do you know Joy Boy?"
Marco paused for a brief moment, then let out a small scoff. "Don't tell me you are about to say I am the reincarnation of Joy Boy."
Shanks looked mildly surprised, as if Marco had read his thoughts. "Has someone else already asked you that?"
Marco nodded. "Kaido and King asked me the same thing before. My answer is still the same. I have nothing to do with Joy Boy."
"I see," Shanks replied.
Then his expression shifted slightly more serious. "Marco, your Emperor Alliance plans to overthrow the World Government, right? I saw it in the newspapers. Your bounty has reached an unprecedented level. Even the World Government considers you someone who has surpassed Roger and Whitebeard."
Marco did not respond immediately. Shanks continued, his tone steady but probing.
"If you truly succeed in overthrowing the World Government, what kind of world are you planning to build?"
Marco narrowed his eyes slightly.
After a short pause, he answered, "I have thought about it. I have two possible paths, but I have not decided yet."
In truth, Marco had already considered this long ago. After the fall of the World Government, the world would need a new structure. Whether it would become a centralized empire or a parliamentary system remained uncertain in his mind.
His natural inclination leaned toward an imperial system. In the One Piece world, kingdoms were already the norm. If the World Government collapsed, the affiliated nations could be reorganized into a vast empire, with weaker nations becoming subordinate states. Resistance would have to be crushed by force if necessary, though he understood that force alone could not guarantee long-term stability.
Destroying a system was easy. Rebuilding one that people genuinely accepted was far more difficult.
History had already shown this pattern in countless ways. Even when powerful regimes collapsed, what followed was often instability rather than order.
The alternative was to adopt the existing framework of the World Government itself. On the surface, it functioned as a parliamentary system where the affiliated member nations held representation, while tribute from those nations served as a form of protection payment under its rule.
Marco remained silent, weighing both possibilities in his mind as Shanks watched him quietly, waiting for an answer that would shape the future of the entire world.