"That costs extra?"
The muscles in Doll’s cheeks twitched involuntarily.
Recalling the awe-inspiring slash Lucas had unleashed moments ago, the lofty image of him that had just been established in her mind was instantly dragged back down to earth by his overwhelming obsession with money.
However, when she looked at the seven or eight Special Combat Assets gathered not far away, Doll soon smiled in relief.
Faced with these Special Combat Assets, each possessing such wildly different personalities, perhaps among the Four Admirals, only a weirdo like Lucas could actually bring them all together.
Seeing that even the Mokomo Dukedom, which even the World Government had been unable to recruit, had now become one of their Special Combat Assets, Doll couldn’t help but think about the coming Summit War.
For some reason, she felt considerably more at ease.
"Admiral Lucas, now that the two Kings of the Mokomo Dukedom have agreed to become Special Combat Assets, there are only twenty days left before the date you agreed upon with Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Should we return immediately and make preparations?"
"Return?"
The moment those words were spoken, everyone’s attention was drawn to them.
Whether it was Fujitora or Aramaki, they all became interested.
At the very least, they also wanted to know whether Lucas’s "bonus" had finally reached its limit.
"No. Since we still have time, how could we possibly pass up another opportunity to make Sengoku pay extra?" Lucas said with a grin as he took another gulp of Strong liquor .
"Next, I want to make a trip to Wano Country."
"Go to Wano Country?"
Doll froze for a moment before hurriedly saying, "Admiral Lucas, isn’t Wano Country Kaidō’s territory? I’m afraid there won’t be any so-called Special Combat Assets there."
Fujitora and the others fell silent as well.
In their eyes, Wano Country had been under the control of Kaidō for so many years.
Given his iron-fisted rule, shouldn’t anyone with significant combat strength have already been completely suppressed?
And if there really were any powerful fighters left...
They had probably already been assimilated into the Beasts Pirates.
However, before they could react, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi—who had just finished swearing their allegiance and stood back up—suddenly became excited.
They immediately spoke in unison.
"Admiral Lucas, we’re very familiar with that place!"
"I happen to know a few people I can sell—"
Nekomamushi abruptly stopped.
"I mean, a few people I can recommend. Perhaps they could become Special Combat Assets for the Marines."
Doll and the others were instantly dumbfounded.
Looking at Nekomamushi and Inuarashi casually making recommendations, they suddenly felt that Fleet Admiral Sengoku’s wallet was about to suffer a catastrophic blow.
But when they looked at the monstrous Special Combat Assets gathered behind them, Doll and the others couldn’t help but feel their scalps go numb.
If Lucas really managed to recruit more people from Wano Country, the final number of Special Combat Assets summoned by the Marines...
It might very well exceed what could be counted on ten fingers.
Of course, the strength of these Special Combat Assets varied considerably.
But the sea wasn’t a place where everyone had the power of a Yonko.
With the Special Combat Assets Lucas had already gathered alone, Doll was absolutely certain of one thing.
If Lucas were to leave Marine Headquarters right now and raise the flag of a pirate crew...
A Fifth Emperor would emerge on the seas in an instant.
"Admiral Luo... Lucas, have you ever thought about leaving Marine Headquarters one day?"
Doll couldn’t help asking.
Lucas raised an eyebrow.
Seeing the urgency on Doll’s face, he took another gulp of alcohol before smiling.
"Justice or injustice? I don’t really care about that."
"The only thing I care about is whether Old Man Sengoku is willing to pay more."
"It’s getting late. It’s exactly five o’clock now, which means I’m off work. Everyone, rest here for a day or two. We’ll set out after the weekend."
With that, Lucas picked up his wine gourd and turned around, walking away briskly.
As Doll continued staring blankly after him, Tashigi couldn’t help laughing.
"Vice Admiral Doll, are you wondering whether Admiral Lucas was joking?"
"However, if Admiral Lucas had given some other reason just now, I might have been suspicious."
"But when he said he wanted Fleet Admiral Sengoku to pay more, I actually believed him."
"Don’t forget what Admiral Lucas always says: You can go against anyone you want, but you’ll never go against money. And when it comes to Fleet Admiral Sengoku paying extra, that’s even more true."
Doll was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter.
Looking at Lucas’s disappearing figure, she suddenly felt that...
It really did make perfect sense.
Five days later.
At the heart of the Beasts Pirates’ territory in the New World stood a colossal island nation dominated by enormous cliffs.
At this moment, tens of thousands of pirates gathered there under the banner of the Beasts Pirates.
Various flags fluttered in the wind, but none could overshadow the enormous flag representing one of the Four Emperors of the sea—the Beasts Pirates.
At the mouth of the harbor, a massive warship adorned with an enormous dragon’s head stood out conspicuously among more than a hundred pirate ships.
However, at this moment, the tens of thousands of pirates gathered on the decks were all looking toward the massive harbor embankment.
Three enormous figures stood there.
Several dozen samurai were gathered nearby as well.
Among them was an extraordinarily beautiful woman dressed in the attire of an oiran, her long pale-green hair flowing down her back. She stood guard nearby.
Standing before her was a lecherous-looking man whose face was shaped like a square brick.
"Heh heh. Kaidō, how many years has it been since I’ve seen you mobilize such a massive force?"
Kurozumi Orochi was the first to speak, laughing loudly.
"You’ve gathered nearly seventy percent of the pirates within Wano Country, and another fifty or sixty thousand pirates from across the sea, forming an army of a hundred thousand."
"This is practically an expedition intended to wipe out an entire country!"
"No, wait. Are you planning to scare those people at Marine Headquarters to death? Maybe even capture Marineford while you’re at it?"
"By the way, I heard not long ago that Marine Headquarters simultaneously declared war on two Yonkō. Besides you, there’s another fellow called Whitebeard."
"Are they planning to simply hand over their territory? If that’s really the case, even I would be tempted!"
As the shogun of Wano Country, Orochi certainly had the air of a puppet.
But that didn’t prevent him from harboring ambitions or keeping himself informed about events beyond Wano.
At the very least, in order to maintain effective control over Wano Country, Kaidō had left the role of villain to Orochi.
It was obviously much easier that way.
"Heh heh, Orochi, do you really want to?"
Queen, standing nearby with a cigar in his mouth, gave him a teasing smile.
"If that’s the case, why don’t you lend us your samurai? I can take you along for the fun."
Orochi’s expression stiffened.
He hurriedly shook his head.
"Heh heh, Queen, you’re really joking. Isn’t it much better to stay here as the shogun of Wano Country?"
"Why would I want to go running around outside? Having all of you protect me is the safest option!"
"Still, I heard that Marine Headquarters has sent a newly appointed Admiral across the entire sea to recruit Special Combat Assets."
"I suspect that’s nothing more than a smokescreen!"
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