Wano Country — Onigashima
Inside Onigashima, Kaido stared at the intelligence in his hands.
His expression gradually twisted with rage.
The next moment, his five fingers suddenly tightened.
Crack!
The Transponder Snail and the fax in his hand were crushed together.
"That damn bastard!"
"This is absolutely outrageous!"
"Someone actually dared to act so arrogantly against the people of the Beasts Pirates!"
"Not only did he kill members of my Flying Six, he defeated Jack and sent him to Impel Down!"
"And now he’s even planning to declare war on the Beasts Pirates?"
"Does he really think that I, Kaido, will cower like Whitebeard?"
Kaido roared furiously.
He grabbed his enormous kanabo and swung it horizontally at one of the pirates standing nearby.
BOOM!
The pirate hadn’t even recovered before he was turned into a human baseball, blasted away by the impact and sent flying across the sea.
The speed was so tremendous that, after only a few breaths, he had disappeared completely beyond the horizon.
The sudden outburst immediately caused the surrounding pirates to retreat.
Only Queen and King, who had long since grown accustomed to such scenes, continued standing where they were.
"Heh heh, Big Bro Kaido, Jack is one of our own. We obviously can’t just let him get sent to Impel Down without doing anything."
Queen took a drag from his cigarette, his expression dark.
"The Beasts Pirates aren’t anything like those cowards in Whitebeard’s crew."
"Don’t forget, Kozuki Oden died, and Whitebeard didn’t even fart."
"No."
King suddenly spoke.
"I just received word. Whitebeard has declared war."
"He even asked whether the Beasts Pirates have the guts to follow suit."
"Whitebeard declared war?"
Queen and Kaido’s expressions changed slightly.
Neither of them had expected Whitebeard, who had been so cautious for so many years, to finally show some backbone.
But when Kaido thought about King’s final words, he slammed his kanabo into the ground again and roared.
"Good! Very good, Whitebeard!"
"You still haven’t forgotten to mock me even now!"
"Then I’ll see who gets the last laugh!"
"King, spread the word."
"Tell Marine Headquarters to prepare even more forces to deal with me."
"I’m nothing like Whitebeard’s old and worn-out forces!"
"Let the entire sea know."
"The Beasts Pirates accept the declaration of war!"
His thunderous voice echoed throughout Onigashima.
The pirates who had been waiting nearby immediately erupted into earth-shaking cheers.
Unlike the Whitebeard Pirates, the Beasts Pirates had always been engaged in constant fighting and bloodshed.
Compared with the dull life of staying around Onigashima, they much preferred this unprecedented great war.
With two Four Emperors now declaring war and Marine Headquarters issuing a general mobilization order, the entire sea seemed to sense that a storm was about to descend.
And the Beasts Pirates went even further.
They began issuing recruitment notices throughout the sea.
Any pirate crew willing to join the Beasts Pirates in this war would, if they survived and the Beasts Pirates emerged victorious, be granted the opportunity to become an official member of a Four Emperor crew.
Faced with such an extraordinarily tempting opportunity to join the Beasts Pirates, the entire sea became more turbulent than ever.
If the Beasts Pirates had been fighting Marine Headquarters alone, these pirates naturally wouldn’t have rushed forward to serve as cannon fodder.
But Marine Headquarters had gone completely insane.
They were actually preparing to fight two Four Emperors simultaneously.
That seemingly suicidal decision gave these pirates a glimmer of hope.
If Marine Headquarters really declared war on two Four Emperors at once and was crippled in the process...
Then, without the Marines’ self-proclaimed enforcers of justice controlling the sea, wouldn’t that mean they could seize even greater territories, prestige, and status?
According to intelligence gathered by Marine Headquarters’ intelligence network, in just three to five days, the Beasts Pirates had recruited more than twenty pirate crews whose bounties exceeded 100 million Berries.
Faced with the Beasts Pirates’ astonishingly rapid expansion, which was almost like activating some kind of mass-recruitment cheat, Tsuru, Sengoku, and the others couldn’t help but show traces of concern.
In their eyes, a mere Drought Jack naturally couldn’t compare with the importance of Fire Fist Ace.
The two battlefronts they were preparing to establish would also prioritize Ace’s battlefield.
The forces allocated to deal with Kaido would therefore be considerably smaller.
In other words, that battlefield was merely a scaled-down deployment.
Unless Lucas truly possessed the ability to recruit powerful combatants from across the sea, Marine Headquarters might very well be crushed by Kaido.
New World — Paradise
A massive Marine warship passed through the Gates of Justice at the Red Line.
Riding a special ocean current, it rapidly cut through the waves and disappeared into the distance.
Only after the warship had gone far away did the Marines stationed before the gates begin talking.
"Commodore Gibbon, was that the newly appointed Marine Admiral, Glutton Lucas?"
"He’s so young, yet he’s already reached the rank of Admiral. It’s simply unbelievable."
"But according to the rumors, he’s carrying an extremely important mission this time."
"He’s supposed to search the sea for special combatants."
"Can there really be suitable candidates in Paradise?"
Gibbon shook his head solemnly.
"That’s not something we can concern ourselves with."
"Let’s just hope Admiral Lucas can really accomplish it."
One day later, the massive warship was still cutting through the waves.
At the lookout tower atop the mast, Hina, serving as the navigator, held a cigarette between her lips.
"Admiral Lucas, we still haven’t found the island you’re looking for."
"Are you sure the location recorded on this Log Pose is correct?"
"I checked the Marine records for Log Pose locations, but I couldn’t find anything matching it."
The moment she finished speaking, everyone’s nerves aboard the ship tightened.
They all knew exactly how important Lucas’s mission was.
The outcome would determine whether Marine Headquarters could truly stand against two Four Emperors simultaneously.
On the deck, Doll, who had voluntarily joined the voyage this time, couldn’t help stepping forward.
"Admiral Lucas, I admit that I’m very unhappy about you taking Gion’s Admiral position."
"But I also hope that, when it comes to matters concerning the Marines, you’ll shoulder your responsibility to uphold justice."
"At a critical moment like this, please don’t do anything meaningless."
"Otherwise, you’ll only disappoint everyone at Marine Headquarters."
Four days earlier, after hearing that Lucas was going out to recruit special combatants, Doll had become somewhat uneasy.
She had therefore volunteered to accompany him.
Sengoku had found the request somewhat troublesome.
However, considering Lucas’s habit of being a hands-off commander, someone still needed to handle the other affairs aboard the ship, including serious negotiations when necessary.
So Sengoku had allowed Doll to accompany him.
During this period, however, apart from witnessing Lucas’s strict 9-to-5 work schedule, Doll hadn’t seen the slightest sign that he was actually searching for anyone.
More importantly, they were still in Paradise, the sea regarded as a haven for the weak.
Could they really find the so-called special combatants here?
"Vice Admiral Doll, if you don’t trust my abilities, then at least trust the power of money."
Lucas smiled and took a gulp of strong liquor.
He raised an eyebrow and continued with a grin.
"The timing is perfect."
"We’ve found our first special combatant target."
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