i agree
this is why i don't get people saying that BB is the final villain.
there's this dude who's been scheming in the background for 800 years and everyone is sleeping on him/her. imu actually feels like a serious threat.
Though I think we have to be open to the possibility to that either Shanks or Blackbeard are successful in reaching LT before Luffy and taking something.
For example I can (very biasedly) see Shanks taking One Piece from Laugh Tale, unbeknownst to anyone. Whilst Luffy and Blackbeard are on a race to get there and fight completely over becoming Pirate King after Blackbeard already having committed some pretty serious atrocities, potentially with ancient weapons. He gets to Laugh Tale somehow without the RPs or steals them from Luffy.
Then Luffy beats Blackbeard, but doesn't "become" PK because while he found the True history and meaning behind everything, Shanks took One Piece for X reason.
Then que final war on 3 fronts
- Luffy's side
- Shanks' side
- WG/Marines
Where Luffy then fights Akainu and Im, then at the close of the Great War, fights Shanks to bring the series full circle (maybe at God Valley or something). He becomes PK and fulfills his second dream and potentially even dies in the process.
But, I'm already super biased about this idea Lol.