I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

"What does this so-called 'bloodstained serpent' refer to?"

Ah Ling glanced at the white-bearded man, then turned her head away nonchalantly, offering no response whatsoever.

A loud voice came from the side:

"Dad, I know the answer to this question."

Whitebeard looked up at the sound and saw a huge giant with a blue face and fangs staring at him.

"Little Oars, you know about Elbaf too?" Whitebeard asked, slightly surprised.

Oars Jr. is an ancient giant with long horns, protruding fangs, and strange pale green skin. He looks like a demon and is 38 meters tall, as tall as six white-bearded men.

Of course, it's much smaller than the San Juan Wolf.

Little Oz nodded.

“My homeland is one of the giant kingdoms, not Elbaf. But I do know something about Elbaf.”

"For us giants, things the size of ordinary humans are tiny... What we call a 'great serpent' must be something extremely, extremely large."

Whitebeard nodded in agreement, simultaneously reviewing in his mind the image of a giant serpent...

"Could it be some kind of enormous sea serpent-like sea king?" he asked.

"of course not."

Little Oz smiled:

"Even the colossal sea kings of the Calm Belt are not an impenetrable obstacle for the Spear of Elbaf."

He further explained:

"What the warriors of Elbaf believed they could not pierce with the Elbaf Spear must be some insurmountable barrier."

Little Oz paused for a moment, then revealed the answer;

"The so-called 'blood-stained serpent' actually refers to the Red Earth Continent."

"In the eyes of us giants, the Red Earth is like a great serpent that circles the world, with its head and tail connected. Because its color is red, it is called the Bloodstained Serpent."

A giant serpent encircling the world, a divine kingdom atop the World Tree, and the ancient kingdoms of Elbaf, steeped in Norse mythology...

"The déjà vu is pretty strong. Fast forward to Nidhogg gnawing on the roots of the World Tree, Ragnarok is coming..." Sig thought to himself.

As is well known, the geographical environment of One Piece is unique.

Whether it's the Grand Line, the Red Line, or the Calm Belt, everywhere is filled with an unnatural atmosphere.

Siegfried has similar speculations about the Red Earth continent, which encircles the entire world, being modeled after the mythical World Serpent.

But Sieg knew nothing about the divine kingdom on the World Tree.

While they were chatting, a man with a white beard came over to inform them.

"Dad, the Red-Haired Pirates have arrived, and Rayleigh is here too."

"Rayle...where has he been slacking off..." Sig thought to himself.

The battle with the Flying Pirates was quite a spectacle, but Rayleigh never showed up until now.

Before long, the crowd in the distance stirred and parted to both sides on their own.

Shanks and Rayleigh walked through the crowd, like stones parting the water in a stream, side by side.

The two men exchanged a glance, and finally Rayleigh stepped forward and spoke first:

"Looks like everyone's here..." Rayleigh glanced at Roger and the others, and chuckled softly.

"We have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

"Let's start with the bad stuff," Sig said.

“Bad news…” Rayleigh’s face was serious:

"I found a CP agent on the island and got some information from him: the Navy is secretly gathering the Seven Warlords of the Sea."

Before Sigurd could respond, Whitebeard spoke first:

"Oh? There are CP people on this island?"

This island, called West Asia Island, is near his territory, yet it has been targeted by CP agents, and the intelligence they possess is supposedly a call to summon the Seven Warlords of the Sea...

This is an ominous sign, indicating that the navy is about to take significant action.

And their targets...

"It's probably targeting Roger Wang," Sieg concluded.

"He is definitely the Navy's top target."

On the Sabaody Archipelago last time, Roger's identity was already known to Sengoku and others, which ultimately forced the Navy to retreat.

It is foreseeable that the subsequent counterattack will be very swift.

After all, he is the Pirate King, so it's not unreasonable for him to mobilize the Seven Warlords of the Sea to besiege him.

"And what's the good news?" Sieg asked again.

This time it was Shanks' turn to speak:

"The exact location of the Snake Current has been roughly determined, and according to known patterns, it should appear in 1-2 days."

“Mr. Roger, you should leave, and you should leave as soon as possible. If you are the Navy’s primary target, staying in the New World will only bring you danger,” Shanks said.

"I see."

Roger paused for a moment, then looked at Rayleigh and Shanks in front of him:

"You will represent the Roger Pirates and help Oden and Wano Country," Roger said solemnly.

"Oden? Wano Country? What's going on here?" Whitebeard frowned in confusion.

It was only after Whitebeard asked that Sigurd realized what was going on.

Because of the previous attack by Shiki, they hadn't had a chance to tell Whitebeard the true purpose of their trip.

Sieg then explained his purpose for coming.

Whitebeard's reaction was...

"Gurararararararar... So that's how it is." Whitebeard gripped his Murakumogiri tightly, his gaze resolute.

"That Kaido kid is a pretty big problem."

"If you're going to Wano Country, count me in."

“That’s right, I’ve wanted to go to Wano Country for a long time,” Marco and the others chimed in.

"Oden's affairs are our affairs."

"Yes."

“Then it’s decided.” Sig’s eyes lit up as he saw a huge, thick golden thigh.

With a powerful figure like Whitebeard by his side, like when facing the Flying Pirates just now, Higuma didn't need to take any risks and was quite safe.

"Is the Whitebeard Pirates planning to join the war...?" Shanks pondered for a moment before speaking:

"Oden's matter concerns me, but it has nothing to do with the Red-Haired Pirates."

"Since the Whitebeard Pirates are going to participate in the war, I will only participate as an individual and will not bring the rest of the Red-Haired Pirates with me."

"I will send my pirate crew to take Mr. Roger to the Serpent Current."

At this point, Shanks smiled:

"However, even without me, having you all is enough."

Shanks silently counted the lineup in front of him.

The group heading towards the location of the Serpent Current were Roger and his wife, along with the Red-Haired Pirates.

As for the trip to Wano Country...

The Whitebeard Pirates, the Higuma Mountain Bandits, Rayleigh and Barrett, and Shanks alone.

Shanks thought he was now completely safe.

Sieg was somewhat disappointed and tried to persuade Shanks, but the latter insisted, so he had no choice but to give up.

After all, everyone is an adult with their own stance, and it's impossible for him to give an order and have these pirate crews all stick together and advance or retreat as one.

Shanks has always been a mystery; he has his own stance... something even Siegfried finds hard to fathom.

"Ah Ling, what do you think?"

Sig turned to look at Ah Ling.

During the breaks in their conversation, he and Stusi and the others almost finished off all the snacks that had been soaked in seawater.

“I’ll go with you,” she replied briefly, already starting to clean up the snacks on the floor.

Sieg nodded, then looked at Hale beside him.

"Black-----" Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Hale's hearty laughter:

"First mate, I've always been your subordinate. Wherever you go, I'll go."

Hale's expression remained firm, unwavering in the slightest.

But out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Ah Ling without leaving a trace, and seeing that she didn't seem bothered, he felt relieved.

Being with two dangerous people like Sig and Alyn is obviously inconsistent with Hale's instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm.

But since there's no way to resist, one can only lie down, find a more comfortable position, and accept the ravages of reality.

This was also Hale's motivation for reminding Sieg earlier that there were snacks in the package.

.........

On the edge of the cliffs of this West Asian island, the two groups parted ways and set sail on their own.

The once-famous name of Wang Luojie has since disappeared from public view.

Several days later.

News of the Flying Pirates' contact with the Whitebeard Pirates and the Higuma Mountain Pirates on the edge of Whitebeard's territory in the New World quickly reached Marine Headquarters.