At the same time, a heated meeting was underway inside the conference hall of Marine Headquarters.
Sengoku’s expression instantly became extremely grim as he read the report he had received from Momonga.
"Sengoku, what happened? Has Doflamingo started causing trouble again?"
Tsuru’s expression darkened as she spoke.
As the former Marine Vice Admiral who had once spent years chasing Doflamingo across the seas, Tsuru knew better than anyone just how troublesome that man known as the Joker could be.
Right now, Marine Headquarters was already overwhelmed with its declaration of war against the Yonko.
There was no doubt that Doflamingo would seize this opportunity to exploit the situation.
For a moment, everyone’s eyes fell upon Sengoku.
Even Akainu and the others were no exception.
The atmosphere inside the conference hall became noticeably more oppressive.
Sengoku’s expression darkened as well.
He tightened his grip on the fax received through the Transponder Snail and spoke coldly.
"Tsuru, your guess was correct. Doflamingo really is the most troublesome of the Seven Warlords."
"Vice Admiral Momonga was sent to summon the Seven Warlords of the Sea, but Doflamingo attacked and drove him back."
"That man’s only demand is for Lucas to personally go and invite him. Otherwise, he won’t participate in the war against the Yonko. He even threatened to switch sides, using the situation to blackmail Marine Headquarters."
"That ungrateful bastard!"
Tsuru and the others’ expressions changed drastically.
They had originally assumed Doflamingo would use this opportunity to demand various benefits and concessions.
They had never expected his target to be Lucas.
"Sengoku, Admiral Lucas has already clashed with Doflamingo before. Not only did he seriously injure Pica of the Donquixote Family, but he also sent Doffy flying at the harbor not long ago. Given Doflamingo’s personality, there’s no way he’ll let that grudge go."
Tsuru’s expression was solemn.
"Now Doflamingo is demanding that Admiral Lucas personally go and invite him. Putting aside the fact that Marine Headquarters has never had an Admiral act as someone’s errand boy, even if we actually send Admiral Lucas there, I doubt Doflamingo will simply let the matter go."
"He’ll probably come up with all sorts of ways to make things difficult for him."
"Given Admiral Lucas’s way of doing things, I’m afraid something completely beyond our control could happen."
Everyone present fell silent.
After everything that had happened recently, they already understood Lucas’s way of doing things all too well.
If Lucas went to bring back one of the Seven Warlords, the initiative might very well end up shifting into Doflamingo’s hands.
And if that happened, Doflamingo could turn against Marine Headquarters at this critical moment and stab them in the back.
That would only make an already dire situation even worse.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Admiral Lucas has been responsible for recruiting Special Combatants during this period."
"If we allow Admiral Lucas to be treated unfairly in front of Doflamingo, it could also interfere with his mission to recruit those Special Combatants."
Aokiji, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke.
"Don’t forget, Marine Headquarters is already struggling to open two separate battlefronts against two Yonko simultaneously."
"Only with the addition of the Special Combatants—even if they don’t increase our chances of victory, they can at least ensure that Marine Headquarters doesn’t fall behind."
"Otherwise, everything we’ve done will be in vain!"
His words moved the Marine officers present.
They simply couldn’t refute Aokiji’s analysis.
After all, every Yonko represented an overlord of the sea. Normally, any one of them was enough to make people wary.
And now they were facing two at once.
"Aokiji, you’re right."
Akainu rarely spoke in such a low voice.
"But don’t forget, the Special Combatants are still an unknown factor. The Seven Warlords, however, are existing combat power."
"I don’t approve of joining forces with those useless bastards, but the current situation doesn’t allow us to indulge ourselves."
"Six days have already passed since the declaration of war, yet we still haven’t heard anything concrete about the Special Combatants."
"If I were making the decision, I’d have Lucas put the bigger picture first and make the trip."
Aokiji fell silent.
He was a Marine Admiral himself, so he understood what Akainu meant.
Akainu’s words might sound harsh, but right now, the overall survival of Marine Headquarters had to come first.
"Enough. I’ll make the decision on this matter."
Sengoku’s voice was heavy.
"As for whether Lucas will go, I want to hear his opinion first."
With that, Sengoku took out a Transponder Snail.
Tsuru pondered for a moment before asking,
"Sengoku, you’ve already made up your mind?"
"Don’t worry. I’ll give Lucas a reasonable choice."
Sengoku pressed the call button.
"Gu-ru gu-ru!"
The urgent ringing of the Transponder Snail echoed from the other end.
The enormous conference hall instantly fell silent.
Everyone held their breath.
After all, everyone wanted to know how Lucas, as a Marine Admiral, would choose when Marine Headquarters’ very survival was at stake.
"Hello, Old Man Sengoku. It’s already off-duty hours."
"If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even have answered the call."
The moment those words came through, the oppressive atmosphere inside the conference hall was instantly shattered.
The muscles in Sengoku’s cheeks twitched uncontrollably.
Sure enough, Lucas was probably the only person in the world who could talk about being off duty with such absolute conviction.
"Admiral Lucas, everyone is listening. This isn’t the time for jokes."
Tsuru spoke first.
As Marine Headquarters’ Chief of Staff, she didn’t want Lucas to derail the entire meeting the moment he opened his mouth, so she quickly got to the point.
"We’re calling because Doflamingo attacked and drove back Vice Admiral Momonga, who was sent to summon the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
"He specifically named you and demanded to meet with you personally."
"We want to know what you think. Fleet Admiral Sengoku has already said that if you don’t want to go, we’ll find another way."
Her low voice fell across the conference hall.
Everyone’s nerves tightened once again as they stared fixedly at the Transponder Snail, as though they could somehow see through it and determine what expression Lucas was wearing on the other end.
"Meet with me?"
Lucas was momentarily stunned.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, adding another task to my workload all of a sudden is going to disrupt my plans."
"But as a Marine Admiral, I still have to shoulder some responsibility."
"Still, my face should be worth a little money, right?"
Many of those present immediately wore bitter expressions.
Even Tsuru could only smile wryly.
They had originally expected Lucas to strongly resist Doflamingo’s demand.
Instead, the moment he opened his mouth, they were once again confronted with that unmistakable smell of money.
Sengoku couldn’t help rolling his eyes.
"Brat, are you sure you’ve thought this through?"
"Marine Headquarters desperately needs sufficient combat power right now. Issho and Ryokugyu have already rejected our invitations, so we absolutely cannot simply abandon the Warlord summons."
"So, on this trip, I hope you’ll show some restraint."
"For this invitation mission, I’ll give you the maximum bonus currently available ."
"Thirty million Berries."
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