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New World. Onigashima!
"WHAT??" Big Mom stared, eyes bloodshot, at the Transponder Snail in her hand.
Since forming their pirate alliance, Big Mom had stayed with Kaido. The alliance was formed precisely because Big Mom felt the terrifying threat from Sky Sovereign Rowen.
Though the details after the Summit War's broadcast ended were not public, what was shown—Rowen's displayed strength—was already above Big Mom's.
And with Luffy, an Admiral-level combatant, by his side, their combined might, even the often-delusional Big Mom knew, would lead to her crushing defeat.
Thus, allying with Kaido and staying in one place was the only way to prevent such a scenario.
But who could have imagined that before they could even make their move, the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet would launch a preemptive strike on both the Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates.
Though this surprised Big Mom and Kaido, it didn't cause a major emotional fluctuation. They were already planning to go to war with Sky Sovereign anyway.
SO, AN EARLY WAR?? THEN LET THE WAR BEGIN!
But the current situation caught Big Mom completely off guard...
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"That's the situation, Mama. The Navy is attacking us like madmen, they've even pushed their fleet into the waters near Totto Land. It's highly likely they're planning to attack Whole Cake Island,"
Katakuri's voice came from the Transponder Snail.
"DAMMIT! WHAT ARE THOSE NAVY FOOLS TRYING TO DO??" Big Mom's eyes blazed red.
Totto Land, where all the races of the world lived together, was her lifelong dream and effort. If the Navy destroyed it, her life's work would be reduced to ashes!
Big Mom's eyes turned crimson.
SHE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND!
At a time when their Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates were allied and at war with the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet, why would the Navy specifically target her Big Mom Pirates for annihilation??
Unlike Kaido, a war maniac who periodically provoked the Navy for sport, her Big Mom Pirates had always maintained a relatively peaceful relationship with them, focusing on her tea parties and efforts to bring the remaining few races into her Totto Land.
And—
After the Summit War, the Navy's number one enemy, without a doubt, was Sky Sovereign Rowen.
Sky Sovereign had not only killed multiple Warlords but had also brought two under his command, single-handedly destroying the Warlord system, which once left only Mihawk.
And he had killed a Marine Admiral in front of the entire world.
Plus, this man had orchestrated the Alabasta Incident, the Enies Lobby Incident, the Buster Call Incident, the Mariejois Incident.
Without a doubt, among the Four Emperors, the one the Navy and the World Government wanted to eliminate most—WAS SKY SOVEREIGN!
If the Navy were to launch an all-out attack on an Emperor, it should be against Sky Sovereign!
Why choose her Big Mom Pirates??
In their own war plans, they had predicted the Navy might intervene, but only after they and Sky Sovereign had worn each other down.
They had made no contingency plans for a direct Navy assault, at least not in the short term. All of her and Kaido's energy was focused on mobilizing resources for the war against the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet.
Their strategic objective was also very detailed.
Though Big Mom's mind was often addled and Kaido was a drunkard, they didn't need to be military geniuses to become Emperors. They had vast forces and no shortage of strategists.
Katakuri and King the Wildfire were more than capable of handling such duties.
The primary target of their alliance in the war was not Rowen himself.
That man's Devil Fruit abilities, displayed in full during the Summit War, made him too elusive. As the user of the Door-Door Fruit, he was nearly impossible to pin down. Even with two Emperors working together, they had no guarantee of capturing him.
Their targets were Sky Sovereign's limbs.
Straw Hat Luffy, Pirate Hunter Zoro, Black Leg Sanji, Desert Princess Vivi, and Fire Fist Ace!
THESE WERE THE PRIMARY TARGETS!
Especially Pirate Hunter Zoro and Fire Fist Ace.
Pirate Hunter Zoro possessed Conqueror's Haki, and that demonic power that could channel a sliver of Conqueror's Haki without mastering Haōshoku Coating.
Given time, Pirate Hunter would surely master Haōshoku Coating like Straw Hat. He had to be eliminated.
Fire Fist Ace was an extremely unstable factor. Forget his future potential—the remaining old geezers of the Roger Pirates were a force not to be ignored.
If Fire Fist Ace, using his identity as the Pirate King's son, publicly recruited the old Roger Pirates, it was hard to say if those old geezers who had been in retirement for years wouldn't come out again.
As former members of the Rocks Pirates who participated in the God Valley Incident, Big Mom and Kaido knew very well how troublesome those old Roger Pirates were.
So, Fire Fist Ace was also a target they had to deal with. Preferably captured alive.
The Pirate King's bloodline was of great use to them.
As for Black Leg Sanji, though it wasn't clear if he possessed Conqueror's Haki, his displayed combat power was also very strong. And according to Queen, Black Leg's body contained the Lineage Factor.
Queen was a former member of MADS, a research group led by Vegapunk, along with Vinsmoke Judge and Caesar.
The Lineage Factor was discovered by them.
This was also why Vegapunk was targeted by the World Government and eventually became their Chief Scientist. MADS also disbanded because of this.
But as a former MADS member who discovered the Lineage Factor with Vegapunk, Queen could easily see through Sanji's modified exoskeleton.
With Lineage Factor modifications and such strong Haki, it was unbelievable. Black Leg Sanji was of great research value!
Queen hoped Kaido could capture Black Leg Sanji alive.
As for Straw Hat, a combatant who had reached Admiral-level, only Big Mom and Kaido themselves could deal with him.
But at the same time, they had to guard against Sky Sovereign's movements. So they didn't make Straw Hat a primary target.
And finally, the one ranked last among Sky Sovereign Rowen's main combatants, the Sand-Sand Fruit user, Desert Princess Vivi—her combat level and the Sand-Sand Fruit's potential were more than enough to warrant Kaido and Big Mom's attention.
They would first cut off Sky Sovereign's most important limbs—then, based on the situation, decide the next step of the war plan.
After all, this was a large-scale war; it was impossible to predict the entire course from the beginning. They could only set an initial goal, then continuously adjust based on the war's progress.
But who could have known! Before they could even begin their plan... this disaster had struck!
The Navy was attacking them.
WHAT DID THAT BRAT AKAINU WANT??
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Big Mom's eyes turned crimson. She stood up.
"MAMA!"
Her children who had accompanied her to Onigashima, her eldest son, the Candy Minister, user of the Lick-Lick Fruit, Charlotte Perospero—and her 14th daughter, one of the Sweet Three Generals, the Juice Minister, user of the Squeeze-Squeeze Fruit, Charlotte Smoothie—all stood up.
The other children of Big Mom also had ferocious looks.
The Navy had the audacity to attack their Big Mom Pirates... And hurt their siblings.
If not for Katakuri's timely arrival, Oven and the others would have been finished!
This was a debt that had to be repaid in blood!
"Linlin, what are you going to do?" Kaido asked, looking at Big Mom, veins bulging on his forehead.
"The Navy is attacking my Totto Land! Do you expect me to let them??" Big Mom's mind began to become unstable.
Totto Land was her life's dream. With it under threat, only one thought consumed her mind: RETURN TO TOTTO LAND!
"Don't be rash. We don't know the situation there yet. If you reveal your position now, you'll become a clear target for both the Navy and Sky Sovereign," Queen said, chewing on his cigar.
"Whether it's the Navy or Sky Sovereign, the intelligence they want most right now is your and the Governor-General's coordinates," As a genius scientist, Queen's mind was still sharp.
"Are you telling me to just let the Navy attack my Totto Land, Queen?" Big Mom's gaze turned dangerous.
'This mentally unstable old hag...' Queen cursed inwardly. He was trying to help her, and she was aiming her killing intent at him...
"At the very least, we need more intelligence. The enemy's main combatants haven't appeared yet. Katakuri and the others should be able to hold out. And we can send reinforcements," Queen explained patiently.
The so-called 'main combatants' were naturally Admiral-level fighters.
Without such fighters appearing, the Big Mom Pirates would suffer some losses at most, but they wouldn't be routed. For an Emperor to appear—wasn't that just giving these fighters a designated target?
This was why Queen hated dealing with brainless idiots like Big Mom who were all power and no sense.
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"Reasonable. Let the Tobiroppo lead the artificial Devil Fruit army," Kaido issued the order.
The Tobiroppo were the six strongest Headliners under the All-Stars, all of them powerful Ancient Zoan users. And the Beasts Pirates also had their SMILE-user army. Though their numbers were smaller than planned due to Doflamingo's death and the factory's destruction, dispatching a portion of them as reinforcements was not a problem.
"How about it, Linlin?" Kaido looked at Big Mom.
"Hmph!"
Big Mom, calming down slightly, sat down with a thud.
She still made some adjustments, ordering a portion of the children she'd brought, led by Smoothie, to accompany the Beasts Pirates' reinforcements to Totto Land.
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Marine Headquarters!
"You're too reckless, Akainu," Tsuru sat in the conference room, frowning. When the footage came in, she was elsewhere planning overall strategy.
She hadn't expected such a major event to occur.
Akainu had directly issued orders to attack the Big Mom Pirates. This completely disrupted their initial strategic deployment.
"Could it have been wrong? The Mirror-Mirror Fruit user Brûlée, the Mammoth-form Jack—their appearances and Devil Fruits in the video... those can't be faked, can they?" Akainu chewed on his cigar, his gaze fierce.
He knew Rowen could steal Devil Fruits, but the figures in the video looked correct, and their powers were right. Plus, he had repeatedly confirmed the authenticity of the intel with Drake—all verification information had passed perfectly.
"I just feel something is wrong. Big Mom and Kaido... why would they so easily ally with Sky Sovereign? To besiege our Navy," Tsuru frowned.
She felt something was amiss, but couldn't put her finger on what.
Whether it was the content of the footage or the confirmation from Drake, there were no problems. Drake's loyalty was not in doubt; Marines who could carry out a mission to infiltrate an Emperor's crew were carefully selected by them.
But they were dealing with Sky Sovereign. A man whose powers were more bizarre and terrifying than anything the sea had ever seen.
They had to be cautious.
"Even if there's a problem, I only conducted a probing attack. I haven't gone to war with the Big Mom Pirates. I'm also continuing to confirm the authenticity of the intel," Akainu chewed on his cigar, glancing at Tsuru.
He wasn't acting on pure emotion. At least he hadn't dispatched any Admiral-level combatants yet. Having suffered so many losses at the hands of Rowen, Akainu had also learned some lessons.
"Phew. Let it be so. I and the staff officers will make some contingency plans," Tsuru, hearing this, didn't object.
BAAAAANG!
Suddenly, the door was slammed open!
"R-Report!" a Marine HQ Rear Admiral, his face filled with panic.
"What's wrong?" Veins throbbed on Akainu's forehead.
"The Big Mom Pirates... they're attacking us like madmen! It's the Minister of Baking, Charlotte Oven! And the Minister of Butter, Charlotte Galette!" the Rear Admiral stammered, sweating profusely.
"Hm? Since we besieged them, isn't it normal for them to retaliate after escaping?" Tsuru frowned.
"But, alongside Charlotte Oven and Charlotte Galette... we've spotted..." the Rear Admiral's eyes filled with complete terror.
"SPOTTED WHAT??" Akainu's forehead was beaded with cold sweat.
Tsuru's expression also turned grim.
Don't tell me!
"TRACES OF SKY SOVEREIGN'S SUBORDINATES! PIRATE HUNTER AND JINBE!"
"WHAT??"
Akainu and Tsuru shot to their feet.
THEY... REALLY HAVE ALLIED??
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