Teach did not pay much attention to the great battle in the Golden Sea. The pirates' surprise attack had already forced the Marines to retreat.
With more powerful pirates arriving one after another, Jaya Island's defensive strength, especially its high-end combat power, was more than sufficient. The presence of Kronos alone, a fighter with Admiral-level strength, greatly increased their confidence.
At the moment, the Marines were deploying their forces, weaving a massive net intended to surround the entire Jaya Island sea region.
Such a large-scale operation could not be completed in just a few days. The next major clash would still take time. The current calm was only the surface. Beneath it, a much greater conflict was quietly brewing.
Even so, Teach continued monitoring the Marines' movements.
The first half of the Grand Line was the Marines' home territory. If the Marines ignored the consequences and chose to endure the wrath of the New World's great pirates, they might attempt to trap all these powerful pirates within the Jaya Island sea area.
The possibility was small, but Teach did not ignore it.
After all, the current Fleet Admiral of the Marines, Sengoku, was a highly rational man. He would not easily make a decision that harmed a thousand enemies while costing himself eight hundred, or perhaps even more.
Inside the Night Palace, Teach was training in his personal training chamber under intense gravitational pressure.
Teach was now twenty years old. Four years had passed since the beginning of the Great Pirate Era.
During those four years, he had never stopped strengthening his body. This was also the stage when his strength was increasing the fastest.
While enduring the crushing gravity, Teach pushed his Observation Haki to its limit. His microscopic Observation Haki carefully observed the internal structure of his own body.
At the same time, he consumed Armament Haki.
Unlike the normal method of simply coating the body with Haki, Teach's control over Armament Haki had reached an extremely refined level.
Teach did not know exactly how Garp tempered his body with Armament Haki. However, once Teach understood the concept of a "Haki Body," he naturally began searching for a method that suited him.
Garp's method might not be suitable for him. Every fighter had to develop their own path.
With Observation Haki and the assistance of his Life Return technique, Teach was attempting to integrate Armament Haki directly into his body.
This was incredibly difficult.
The conventional use of Armament Haki was to form an invisible armor around the body. Even the higher-level technique known as Ryuo was essentially an enhanced and more fluid version of that external coating.
But a true Haki Body required something far more complicated.
Armament Haki had to be controlled with extreme precision and integrated into every strand of muscle, bone, and flesh.
The entire process demanded complete focus.
As a swordsman, Teach had experience tempering black blades. However, compared to forging steel, the human body was infinitely more complex.
Only by maintaining such a state could the body truly be tempered.
Even so, Teach was only taking the first step, and it was already extremely difficult.
Without his advanced Observation Haki and mastery of Life Return, such training would be impossible. At most, he would only be able to temper specific areas of the body, like Garp did with his fists.
That was how the title "Iron Fist Garp" had been born.
Ordinary fighters would never dare involve vital organs such as the heart or internal systems in such training.
But Teach's ambition was far greater. He wanted a complete Haki Body.
This was an enormous undertaking.
Even now, Teach could only integrate Haki into about one third of his body at the same time.
To spread Armament Haki throughout his entire body and circulate it internally for full-body tempering would take at least two more years.
Still, this difficult beginning gave Teach confidence.
The future held endless possibilities.
Haki was an innate power.
Its growth was not only about strengthening combat ability. It also enhanced the body itself, increasing vitality and life force.
Teach had begun to reflect on the essence of Haki.
Many people understood how to use Haki, but few truly understood what it represented.
This natural power was not just a weapon. In many ways, it was a path toward raising the life level of the human body itself.
As the body grew stronger, Armament Haki would naturally improve.
And once Armament Haki reached a certain stage, it could in turn stimulate the body to evolve further.
For most people, the process worked in reverse.
They became stronger only after learning Armament Haki. As their Haki improved, it gradually strengthened their physical bodies.
Using combat as a method to grow stronger was perfectly valid.
But there were also rare monsters who were born with extraordinary physiques, or who possessed immense strength even before awakening Armament Haki.
Once such individuals awakened Armament Haki, both the quality and quantity of their Haki would be extraordinary.
In just a short period of time, their Armament Haki could surpass people who had trained it for many years.
Teach had personally experienced both stages.
When he first awakened Armament Haki, his physical talent allowed it to grow rapidly.
Later, within only a few years, his Armament Haki had reached the highest level.
Now it had begun influencing the growth of his body in return.
Combined with his natural talent, the next few years would be a period of explosive growth for Teach, especially in terms of physical strength.
Haki existed naturally within the human body.
Its influence on the body was beneficial, but subtle and gradual, particularly when it came to improving vitality.
The stronger a person became, the stronger their life force would grow. Their recovery ability would also increase. But recovery was not something people were simply born with.
Years ago, Teach did not possess such powerful healing abilities.
Once, a beast had scratched him. The wound took half a month to fully heal.
Now such an injury was trivial.
It would take only half a day for his body to recover naturally.
If he used Life Return, the same injury could heal within just a few breaths.
This level of recovery was not inferior to Kaido's legendary immortality.
The difference was that Kaido's regeneration came purely from his monstrous body.
Teach's recovery required stamina. Life Return accelerated healing by consuming his physical energy.
Kaido's immortality was not only about regeneration. His body was so powerful that very few people could even injure him.
Combined with his terrifying recovery ability, the result was a nearly unkillable monster.
This was why Kaido, the Emperor of the Sea known as the "Strongest Creature in the World," had reached a point where even Whitebeard found it difficult to kill him.
Difficult to kill did not mean impossible to kill.
However, if Kaido continued growing stronger, that might change in the future.
Teach's Haki Body training represented something different. It was the difference between passive growth and active evolution.
Even though Teach could not yet circulate Armament Haki throughout his entire body, the process had already begun to show results.
The improvements were subtle, but real.
Teach was completely immersed in training.
The Nightfall Pirates and the Sageros Sea had already entered a stable stage of development. All that remained was steady growth.
If anything truly important happened, Mostima and the others would inform him.
For Teach and the Nightfall Pirates, strengthening himself was still the most important task.
Without overwhelming strength, everything else was meaningless.
Teach's power determined the position of the Nightfall Pirates in the New World.
Meanwhile, the three strongest fighters of the Nightfall Pirates were also undergoing intense training.
Redyat had witnessed the terrifying strength of Silvers Rayleigh.
Now that he had stepped into the New World, he felt an increasing sense of urgency.
Ares had traveled to a remote beast island where he continued honing his strength and accumulating power.
Their training paths were similar.
Both focused on mastering the fusion of Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki.
They had already mastered Ryuo. With their talent, reaching the highest level of Armament Haki, internal destruction, would only be a matter of time.
But what truly mattered was the next step.
Coating attacks with Conqueror's Haki.
This was a technique only the strongest individuals in the world could wield.
Since both of them possessed the aptitude of kings, they naturally wished to master it as early as possible.
During his battle with Kaido, Ares had personally witnessed the technique.
Combined with Teach's knowledge and guidance, Ares now pursued that same goal.
While Teach focused on training, the Nightfall Pirates continued carrying out his highest directive.
In the three months following the Marine Awards Ceremony, they steadily strengthened their control over the Sageros Sea.
Some islands developed smoothly and required only minimal forces for protection.
In fact, except for border regions, the inner territories did not need many pirate guards at all.
Even though the Nightfall Pirates ruled the Sageros Sea, they were not the only force present.
Several independent pirate crews and local factions still existed.
However, within the Nightfall Pirates' territory, they had to follow the rules.
Anyone who caused serious trouble would be suppressed.
Even if the executives did not act personally, powerful subordinate pirates were more than enough to deal with troublemakers.
Most powerful pirate crews had already been absorbed, destroyed, or driven away.
The remaining ones either submitted or kept a low profile.
Unlike many dominant pirate crews or even Emperor-level forces, the Nightfall Pirates did not simply collect protection fees and ignore everything else.
They truly managed their territory.
Because of this, the waters of the Sageros Sea had become unusually stable.
In just three months, many people had already felt the change.
The remaining pirate crews consisted mostly of ordinary groups or those who hoped to become affiliated crews under the Nightfall Pirates.
However, becoming an affiliated pirate crew was not easy.
Many pirates were unwilling to dissolve their crews and merge fully into the Nightfall Pirates. They preferred to keep their own flags.
But the requirements for affiliation were strict.
Even so, the economic activity of all pirate fleets operating within the Sageros Sea ultimately benefited the Nightfall Pirates.
Meanwhile, large construction projects had begun.
On Parage Island, the massive Battle Pyramid was still under construction.
At the same time, thirty six smaller arenas were being built across the Sageros Sea, one on each major island.
Although none of them were completed yet.
The Nightfall Pirates were managing their territory like an empire.
This brought peace to the region, which many kingdoms welcomed.
But for pirates, peace could become a poison.
Too much stability could weaken their fighting spirit.
Teach understood this clearly.
That was why he ordered the construction of the arenas.
These arenas would serve many purposes.
They would generate enormous profits, attract pirates and visitors from outside seas, and increase the reputation of the Sageros Sea.
More importantly, they would strengthen the overall combat power of the region.
The gravity field Teach created in the Night Palace could only be used by members of the Nightfall Pirates.
But these arenas would constantly produce new talent.
If outstanding fighters emerged, the Nightfall Pirates could recruit them directly.
This would strengthen their forces while simultaneously training their subordinates.
All of this had been planned long ago.
The Sageros Sea was Teach's kingdom.
And in this regard, the Nightfall Pirates had already surpassed many pirate crews.
Because not only pirates, but even the people living in these kingdoms had begun to pay homage to Teach.
That was the difference.
However, something unexpected happened.
After issuing his command, the Nightfall Pirates did not immediately expand further.
Other forces had assumed they would.
Instead, the Nightfall Pirates paused after their initial surge of expansion.
Before that pause, they had already struck quickly.
By targeting islands controlled by major forces first, bypassing intermediate territories, and attacking at lightning speed, they prevented their enemies from reacting in time.
Most major pirate crews had concentrated their forces around the Sea of Chaos.
They never expected their rear territories to be attacked.
By the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late.
Within just ten days, the territory controlled by the Nightfall Pirates had expanded by nearly half.
But the retaliation was inevitable.
Sea of Chaos.
The Moby Dick sailed through the turbulent waters.
The Whitebeard Pirates had been fighting in the Sea of Chaos when the news arrived.
Whitebeard laughed loudly after hearing it.
"Gurararara! Can't hold back anymore, Teach? My sons, go take back our territory!"
His Haki surged with his laughter.
Whitebeard was not angry.
In the New World, this kind of thing was completely normal.
"Pops, let me go!"
"We can't let the Nightfall Pirates act this arrogant!"
"We must take back what we lost!"
"We are the Whitebeard Pirates!"
Several division commanders immediately volunteered.
The Whitebeard Pirates were not the only ones reacting.
Other powerful pirate forces also dispatched their strongest fighters.
War erupted once again.
What had been taken had to be reclaimed.
Otherwise, how could these emperors and overlords maintain their reputation?
More importantly, the Nightfall Pirates were a rising power in the New World.
Many believed they had to be suppressed before they grew too strong.
But this was exactly what Teach wanted.