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"Brother! Are you alright?" Brûlée asked, looking worriedly at Katakuri.
"I'm fine. Don't worry, Brûlée," Katakuri replied reassuringly. He was now wrapped in bandages, the most severe wound on his abdomen still seeping blood.
"DAMN YOU, KIZARU!" Oven snarled, his face contorted in pain and righteous fury.
"Thankfully, this is our territory—our forces held the advantage, forcing him to retreat," Katakuri commented, his expression dark.
As expected of a Marine Admiral... Kizaru is strong.
The Glint-Glint Fruit's long-range lasers had destroyed many ships in their fleet. After notifying Big Mom, Katakuri had seen that Oven's group was on the verge of being annihilated by Kizaru and had made the hard choice to attack
Big Mom was still on Onigashima, even if she left immediately, she wouldn't arrive in time. By then, Oven and the others would have been long dead.
Katakuri had shown the resolve befitting the second-in-command of the Big Mom Pirates, immediately leading his fleet to engage Kizaru. But Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit was too powerful.
His long-range lasers inflicted heavy losses on their fleet. Even his own ship was hit, and he took a laser to the abdomen. Luckily, Brûlée's Mirror-Mirror Fruit ability allowed him to retreat—otherwise, his situation would have been even worse.
And though Big Mom didn't arrive, reinforcements from Onigashima, led by Smoothie, had arrived. Seeing the approaching forces, Kizaru had finally withdrawn.
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"Brother." Smoothie arrived at Katakuri's side, her expression dark.
"Our losses are too heavy. That bastard Kizaru was too ruthless!"
"Deploying an Admiral... it means the Navy has truly begun an operation to annihilate us! What are they trying to do?? ARE THE MARINES INSANE??" The 30th son of Big Mom, Minister of Mixing, Charlotte Chiboust, roared.
"There's no point talking about this now. The war with the Navy... has begun," Katakuri stated, his expression incredibly grave.
Regardless of the Navy's motives, the deployment of an Admiral meant this was now a full-scale war. And they had suffered such horrifying losses. For the sake of both revenge and the dignity of an Emperor's crew, they had to retaliate.
Buru-buru-buru!
"MAMA!"
The Transponder Snail connected. Katakuri and the others immediately looked towards it.
"DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, KATAKURI! LET THE NAVY KNOW THE TERROR OF THE BIG MOM PIRATES!"
Big Mom's neurotic, enraged roar came through the snail.
"YES!"
Led by Katakuri and Smoothie, the eyes of all of Big Mom's children glinted with a fierce light.
To be bullied like this—if they didn't retaliate, what face would the Big Mom Pirates have left to call themselves an Emperor crew??
How could they maintain their foothold in the New World??
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Marine Headquarters.
"What? Mass-producing Transponder Snails that can release Conqueror's Haki??"
Akainu stared at Kizaru and Ryokugyu, slamming his fist on the table, veins bulging on his forehead.
The fact that Rowen could use Transponder Snails to release Conqueror's Haki was no secret. Whether it was the famous Mariejois Incident or the annihilation of the Donquixote Family in Dressrosa—Sky Sovereign had used Transponder Snails to release his Haki.
But now the situation was completely different!
He was storing his Haki directly in the Snails, allowing them to be used without his personal involvement. And there wasn't just one... there were three! They could be mass-produced!
"Though it's unbelievable, that is indeed the case," Kizaru scratched his head.
"The Haki released is of a very high level. It can temporarily seal my Devil Fruit ability and cancel my elementalization," Ryokugyu added, his expression incredibly grave.
"If they can be mass-produced... that's very troublesome. It's so lethal even to an Admiral... A Vice Admiral would have no resistance at all before this Haki," Tsuru's brows were deeply furrowed.
If that were the case, Vice Admirals on solo missions would be in extreme danger. Did this mean all future deployments would require at least one Admiral to lead?
They only had three Admirals!
Akainu, as Fleet Admiral, had to command from HQ.
Sengoku was semi-retired.
And Garp was only a force to be deployed in the most critical moments. At this rate, their Marine forces would be stretched incredibly thin!
"What's worse is that it's basically confirmed. The Big Mom Pirates, the Beasts Pirates, and the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet have joined forces," Tsuru sighed.
Though there were still many unresolved questions, the facts were before them.
The core members of all three crews had been seen fighting alongside each other against two Admirals.
Kizaru had confirmed the identities of Oven, Page One, and the others.
Faced with this evidence, even though Tsuru's gut screamed that something was wrong, she had to accept the reality: the three Emperor crews had truly united.
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"BASICALLY?? DO WE STILL NEED TO DOUBT IT AT THIS POINT??" Akainu bit down hard on his cigar, glaring at Tsuru.
With ironclad proof right before their eyes, there was no room for doubt! The three Emperor crews were about to launch an all-out assault on the Navy!
The Navy was about to face the greatest crisis in its history!
"We still need to be careful. Our opponent, after all, is Sky Sovereign Rowen," Tsuru cautioned.
Suddenly—
"REPORT!"
The office door was slammed open.
"Hm?" Akainu and Tsuru, still arguing, quickly looked over.
"THE BIG MOM PIRATES! THE BEASTS PIRATES! AND THE SKY SOVEREIGN GRAND FLEET'S FORCES! HAVE LAUNCHED A SURPRISE ATTACK ON THE G-5 BRANCH IN THE NEW WORLD!"
"G-5... HAS BEEN COMPLETELY WIPED OUT!"
The reporting Marine was drenched in cold sweat, but could only report the facts.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY??" Akainu and Tsuru shot up from their seats, their expressions utterly grim.
The G-5 Branch, located in the New World, was a special Marine unit. Unlike other branches, this group didn't listen to Marine HQ's orders—they were more like pirates than Marines, even torturing and killing pirates.
Though, unlike the original story, because of Rowen, Smoker never became the G-5 base commander, another person held the position.
"DO YOU STILL NEED TO DOUBT?? THEY'RE NOT EVEN PRETENDING ANYMORE!" Akainu roared, glaring at Tsuru.
If the joint annihilation of an entire Marine base wasn't enough to confirm the alliance, what was?? Were they supposed to wait until the three crews were at the gates of the new Marine HQ??
"Phew! I understand." Tsuru exhaled slowly.
At this point, Tsuru had no time to ponder the inconsistencies.
The facts were before them. Just as Akainu said, if this situation didn't confirm the alliance, then they'd have to wait until the three Emperor crews were at their doorstep to truly confirm it.
But by then, it would be too late...
Most importantly, with the current situation exposed by the enemy, they had enough justification to report to the World Government.
"Immediately Assemble Our Forces! Launch An All-out War Against The Three Emperor Crews!" Akainu's expression was incredibly grim. But at the same time, his tone was incomparably iron-blooded. Even facing three Emperor crews, he would not retreat an inch!
"But we must have a primary target," Tsuru looked at Akainu.
"Big Mom! Take Out Big Mom First!" Akainu stated with iron certainty.
Pick the softest target first.
Big Mom and her crew were the weakest of the Emperors. If they could eliminate her first, their chances would be much better.
"I agree," Tsuru also strongly approved of this.
Kaido was too hard to kill. Sky Sovereign Rowen, needless to say, had already transcended the combat limits of this sea. Beside him was Straw Hat, a powerful combatant who could unleash Admiral-level power in short bursts.
To besiege either of these two, the price their Navy would have to pay was too great, with no high chance of success.
A siege against an Emperor had to be a decisive, one-hit kill!
Big Mom was the best choice.
"BEGIN! LURE BIG MOM OUT! AND THEN, KILL HER!" Akainu issued his Fleet Admiral's order.
The staff officers, led by Tsuru, immediately began to operate. A top-secret operational plan was slowly drafted.
The plan to take down an Emperor.
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New World, G-5 Branch.
"Hmph! Marco," Smoothie looked hostilely at Marco, who was leading the team opposite.
"Don't look at me like that. Didn't we cooperate very pleasantly just now?" Marco smiled.
"That's only because the Navy is more detestable than you!" Smoothie grit her teeth.
After they launched their revenge attack on the G-5 Branch, Marco, leading the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet forces, also arrived. But Marco didn't attack them—instead, he launched an attack on the G-5 Branch from another direction. Though puzzled, Smoothie and the others hatred for the Navy was bone-deep.
The Navy had inexplicably launched a siege war against their Big Mom Pirates, even deploying an Admiral, causing them immense losses. In their view, even if they had to fight Marco and the others, it would be after completely destroying the G-5 Branch.
And after completely annihilating the G-5 Branch, Marco and the others didn't launch a war against them.
According to Marco and the others' explanation—Sky Sovereign launched a war against them only because he learned of the alliance between the Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates.
And Sky Sovereign actually wanted to eliminate the Navy and the World Government most.
After learning the Navy had launched a siege against the Big Mom Pirates, Sky Sovereign, unwilling to let the Navy reap the rewards, also launched a siege against the G-5 Branch.
"Don't give me that crap!" Smoothie roared at Marco.
The Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet was just as detestable as the Navy. They had also caused their Big Mom Pirates terrifying losses.
Now, using such words to placate them, Did he think they were idiots?
And according to this logic, their three pirate crews could even form an alliance?
What a joke!
The reason their Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates allied was because the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet's potential was too frightening—they had to curb the development of Sky Sovereign's combatants!
"In any case, we're not here to fight you, Smoothie. But if you want a fight, we won't back down," Marco's gaze also gradually cooled.
Smoothie was one of the Sweet Commanders, a powerhouse second only to Big Mom and Katakuri in the Big Mom Pirates. But he, Marco, was the former second-in-command of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Katakuri, a man with Conqueror's Haki who had trained his Observation Haki to its peak, was one thing.
But Smoothie—was not yet in his league.
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"Sister, the Navy's reinforcements must be on their way. We have to retreat," Charlotte Panna, Big Mom's 28th daughter, advised when she saw Smoothie about to erupt.
"Hmph! We're leaving," Smoothie snorted coldly.
"'That woman is really arrogant," Whitey Bay, who had also led her pirate crew to join the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet after the Summit War, said unhappily, looking at the departing Smoothie.
"Let's go. Leave here from the opposite direction. These guys... don't even know their Transponder Snails are being monitored by the Navy," Marco smiled.
"The Navy's trap... is waiting for them," Marco looked at the distant sky.
There, a strange ripple shot up into the sky.
"Wh-What is that??" Panna pointed at the sky in terror.
WHOOSH!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Under the disbelieving gazes of all the Big Mom Pirates' members, and the Beasts Pirates' Tobiroppo members who had come to assist—the sister of Page One, Ulti and Sasaki—a giant meteorite fell from the sky.
"A meteorite??" Smoothie's forehead broke out in cold sweat.
To summon a meteor like this... it had to be a Devil Fruit user!
"IT'S-IT'S TOO BIG!" Big Mom's 11th daughter, Minister of Love, Charlotte Cornstarch, stared at the giant meteorite in terror. She had no way to defend against an attack of this magnitude.
"Juice Giant——!" Smoothie's entire body shone with light. The next moment, her body rapidly giantized, becoming a Juice Giant.
The power of the Squeeze-Squeeze Fruit allowed Smoothie to store squeezed moisture within her body, achieving gigantification, becoming a Juice Giant, wielding terrifying power like a Giant.
"Armament——!" Smoothie coated her equally giantized longsword with thick Armament Haki.
CLANG!
The giant longsword directly slashed at the giant meteorite.
A terrifying energy fluctuation made the pirate fleet rock violently.
"Damn it!" Smoothie's forehead was beaded with cold sweat. Taking this blow consumed a great deal of her stamina and Haki.
What a strong Devil Fruit ability!
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"I have been waiting here for a long time, Big Mom Pirates," a voice came from a Marine warship emerging from the mist. On its deck, a blind man wearing a Marine Admiral's Justice coat stated gravely.
"AN ADMIRAL??" Smoothie's face changed.
"My name is Issho. Codename... Fujitora."
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