I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

I was drinking half of my Morgan's coffee when I suddenly spat it out.

If there really are pirates who are one or two hundred years old, wouldn't that be long before the era of Whitebeard, Shiki, and others?

Such big news also stirred Morgans's mind.

However, when he flipped to the very bottom of the document, even Morgans, who had seen countless big news stories, frowned.

"Fifty-six emperors? What the hell?"

.............

The worst prison break in history! Over 50 notorious pirates escape from Impel Down.

Major news! Mary Geoise and Impel Down have been attacked!

Several major newspapers, including Morgan's, reported the news in succession, and it spread rapidly across most of the world in just a few days!

In addition to the Impel Down incident, along with the newspapers, there were also dozens of new bounty posters for great pirates from the old era!

The whole world was shocked by this major news.

"Golden Lion, Whitebeard, and Higuma have formed a pirate alliance?"

"Besides Higuma, the other two are already Pirate Emperors! Has Higuma reached the point where he can stand on equal footing with the Four Emperors?"

"Sigurd attacked the Holy Land Mary Geoise alone and later participated in the war at Impel Down... His bounty is undoubtedly at the level of a Yonko!"

"Why was there absolutely no prior warning about such a major event?"

Besides these positive reports, the bounties on the heads of pirates from the old era caused panic among the people.

These pirates had bounties of hundreds of millions decades ago, making them arguably the most dangerous pirates the Navy had ever captured on this sea in decades, yet they collectively broke out of prison today!

There were also some unpublished rumors and gossip that attracted a lot of attention during the Impel Down war.

"The fifty-six great pirates who escaped from Impel Down are all said to have been defeated by Higuma!"

"Decades ago, these dozens of great pirates wreaked havoc on the seas. They were later defeated by Sieg alone and imprisoned in Impel Down. Now, Sieg has rescued them!"

Various rumors, accompanied by news reports, spread all over the world, and names such as Sigir, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion became highly sought-after.

.........

In the new world, inside the castle of the Whole Cake Island master.

"Whitebeard, Shiki, and Higuma... they've launched a surprise attack against the Navy!"

"Why don't we have any intelligence about something this big?"

Bigom sat on the throne in the hall, furious.

Among the Four Emperors, the Big Mom Pirates have the strongest intelligence capabilities, yet they received no information whatsoever, which is quite unusual.

"Mom, this could very well be a surprise attack. Not only us, but the Holy Land and the navy probably weren't prepared beforehand either!"

Bigom's eldest son, Perospero, sweating profusely, explained:

"Most likely, they launched the attack from above using Shiki's Float-Float Fruit ability, just like the last major battle in the Sabaody Archipelago, which the Navy couldn't have predicted beforehand!"

BIGMOM's anger subsided slightly, and she narrowed her eyes:

"The Float-Float Fruit, what a convenient ability..."

“And there’s Sig… well, well, well, well…” A strange smile appeared on BIGMOM’s face:

"He secretly allied with two other Yonko behind my back... What an interesting man."

.........

Another sea area in the New World.

On the pirate ship Red, Shanks held a newspaper in his hand, his face unusually serious, devoid of his usual playful smile.

"What's wrong? Mr. Sig and his crew have caused such a big mess, and it seems they even released Shanks' former comrades, right? Aren't you happy?" asked the first mate, Beckman.

"I'm more concerned about another man than Mr. Sig."

Shanks slowly reached out and pressed his hand against the three scars on his left eye.

Chapter 562 The Names of the Fifty-Six Emperors

"To be honest, I was relieved when I heard that Teach had been arrested and imprisoned."

Shanks pressed the three scars above his left eye that were still throbbing faintly, and said softly:

"But now, this monster has returned to the sea..."

“Marshall D. Teach…” Beckman pondered for a moment.

"Speaking of Teach... Shanks, I've come across another piece of news about Teach's Impel Down prisoners."

"You'll definitely find it very interesting."

Beckman handed Shanks another small entertainment newspaper, which Shanks glanced at and his eyelids twitched.

"Fifty-sixth Emperor? What a nostalgic title..."

Shanks suddenly recalled his first meeting with Siegfried a long time ago, when he was at the Windmill Village tavern.

Memories surged up like a tide, wave after wave.

.........

"Shanks..."

"I've already taken down 56 guys like you!"

"Like the solitary red Reddfield, or the devil's descendant Barrett..."

"There are also many extremely vicious pirates whose names have been erased by the World Government because of this, all of whom I have killed."

"If I hadn't intervened, things wouldn't be as simple as just the Four Emperors of the New World now."

"It's the Sixty Emperors of the Sea!"

..........

"The Fifty-Six Emperors?" Shanks' expression gradually became serious.

Although he didn't know why his conversation with Sieg had suddenly appeared in the newspaper so long later, it reminded him of many things.

Shanks, Beckman, and others have had their doubts.

When they talked with Rayleigh in the Sabaody Archipelago, the two of them questioned whether Sieg was a member of CP0, but later they gradually dispelled their doubts.

"Mr. Sig, he joined forces with Whitebeard and the others to rescue the fifty-six Emperors from Impel Down?"

"What's going on here?"

Shanks and Beckman exchanged a glance.

According to Beckman's initial speculation, it was Higuma who secretly acted behind the scenes of the era, defeating fifty-six great pirates who had the potential to become emperors one by one, bearing the weight of the entire world alone, maintaining the balance of power, and bringing about the tripartite balance of power between the Four Emperors, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and the Navy.

If this speculation is true, then why would Higuma join forces with Whitebeard and Shiki to release these fifty-six great pirates?

Doesn't this mean that Sieg has personally turned all his efforts into nothing?

"Could it be that I misunderstood before?"

Beckman momentarily doubted himself, but then he remembered something else, and his pupils trembled slightly, a stark contrast to his usual composure.

"Shanks... Shiki the Golden Lion, now known as the Fifth Pirate Emperor, reappeared on the seas, isn't it because of the Angel-Angel Fruit?"

"And Golden Lion is just one of the so-called Fifty-Six Emperors! He is now known as the Fifth Pirate Emperor!"

“In other words…” Beckman’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down:

"Of the fifty-six emperors who sound so extravagant and absurd, one of them has already actually become a pirate emperor!"

"Moreover, the Angel Fruit that created the Golden Lion is also deeply connected to Mr. Sig!"

These words caused Shanks' expression to change slightly.

"You don't mean to say that Mr. Sig's purpose in releasing these great pirates is to make them the real Fifty-Six Emperors?"

"But what do we need so many pirate emperors for on the high seas?"

Beckman gave a slight, wry smile.

"This is just my guess. That man's thinking has always been unconventional... Take this sudden Impel Down war, for example. The newspapers say he destroyed half of the Holy Land and half of Impel Down! Who could have imagined that?"

Shanks nodded, sighed softly, and gazed at the newsbirds flying towards other islands where the clouds met the sky.

"Regardless of Mr. Sig's purpose... they have indeed released some formidable individuals, whose existence is enough to shake the era."

"No one can stop it anymore... This era is about to go berserk."

Shanks said softly.

.........

Wano Country, Oni Island.

Kaido picked up the gourd in his hand and started gulping down the wine.

"Such a massive war, and I've missed it again! What a pity!"

"Why weren't we informed of this war beforehand?!"

Kaido, drinking his wine, was already getting a little angry.

"Lord Kaido..." Jack the Drought, standing beside him, scratched his head, also looking somewhat troubled.

Jack the Drought fell into the sea during the incident where Shiki the Golden Lion wreaked havoc on the Sabaody Archipelago, and almost all of his crew were lost. However, he, a fish-man, survived and was later rescued by his Beast Pirates crewmates who arrived at the scene.

"Lord Kaido... there are quite a few once-renowned powerhouses among the prisoners in Impel Down this time!"

Upon hearing Jack's words, Kaido, who had been dazed with drunkenness, immediately widened his eyes.

"Not bad! Perhaps there's a powerful enemy among them capable of killing me..."

.........

On an island shrouded in mist, inside an ancient castle, Hawkeye Mihawk was reading the latest newspaper.

"A bounty of 28 billion? That's comparable to the Four Emperors."