"Mmm…"
"The greatest masterpiece Kaido ever created… what a lovely child."
"Soon, Auntie Linlin will be hosting a tea party in Totto Land. If you have time, you must come. You'll see scenery quite different from that of Wano."
At this moment, Charlotte Linlin finally snapped out of her daze.
Although Ragnar's sudden address of "Auntie Linlin" caught her off guard, she was still a Four Emperors' veteran. She recovered her composure quickly. But…
When she looked at Ragnar and Yamato again, the heavy makeup on her face couldn't mask the gentleness in her smile—less ferocious now, more like that of a doting elder toward younger kin.
That expression was something none of her nearly one hundred children had ever seen.
And her tone… when she invited Ragnar to her tea party—it was sincere.
All her past tea party invitations sounded like suggestions, but in truth, they were commands that could not be refused.
Only Ragnar…
On their very first meeting, he was granted the freedom to choose. Even to refuse her.
"I will!"
Ragnar nodded without hesitation in response to her invitation.
"Good boy."
"I won't let you call me 'Auntie Linlin' for nothing."
"Just because you and Yamato called me Auntie Linlin, this time at the Five Emperors Tea Party… I'll be on your side."
Charlotte Linlin's smile grew even more affectionate at Ragnar's ready agreement.
"Auntie?, you sly old hag!"
"She really came here just to back up Kaido's family!"
Watching the only queen among the Five Emperors publicly declare her allegiance upon arrival, both Whitebeard and Red-Haired Shanks felt the same heaviness settle in their hearts.
They weren't fools.
Especially Whitebeard—he had long understood the bond between Kaido and Charlotte Linlin, going all the way back to the Rocks Pirates 38 years ago.
There was no chance Linlin would stand with them in this clash.
Ragnar's use of "Auntie Linlin" had simply acted as a catalyst—solidifying her choice to stand beside Kaido's legacy.
"Shanks, what now?"
Even Ben Beckman, renowned for his strategic mind, was at a loss. The scale of the conflict—Five Emperors converging in a war that could shatter the balance of the New World—was beyond any battlefield he'd ever calculated for.
For the first time, even his brain couldn't keep up.
"Whitebeard, you came all this way to save my Red Hair Pirates."
"So I'll say this only once. If you want to fight, I'll fight. If you want to retreat, I'll retreat."
"Whatever you decide, I will follow."
At that critical moment, Shanks demonstrated exceptional decisiveness.
He handed all authority—even the fate of the Red Hair Pirates—into Whitebeard's hands without hesitation.
Not because he had no will of his own.
But because he was grateful—grateful to Whitebeard, who had crossed the seas for his sake.
"Whitebeard!"
"Dad!"
All the Red Hair Pirates, the commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates, and every crew member turned their gaze toward the towering man who stood with Murakumogiri in hand.
They awaited the judgment of the world's strongest man.
If Whitebeard chose to fight—they would fight to the death.
If he chose to retreat—they would all fall back without question.
"…"
Whitebeard remained silent, his face unreadable—neither joyful, angry, nor sorrowful.
But that very silence… said everything.
The world's strongest man… was hesitating.
After all, this isn't just a clash between two pirate crews—it's a battle between the Five Emperors.
Once it begins, the entire New World will be thrown into chaos.
Even the man closest to becoming the Pirate King must think twice.
Because he's not alone—behind him stand countless sons.
Is saving Red-Haired Shanks worth sacrificing them all? That's a question he must consider carefully.
"Whitebeard, it's true—you're a relic of a bygone era."
"You don't need to be asking that question at all."
"Let me make this clear. The real question isn't whether the Whitebeard Pirates dare to go to war with me—"
"—it's whether I feel like letting your Whitebeard Pirates go."
As Red-Haired Shanks, Marco, and the others awaited Whitebeard's decision, a thunderous voice pierced the air—carried by an overwhelming burst of Conqueror's Haki.
The sheer force of the aura stunned most of the Red-Haired and Whitebeard Pirates.
"Aunt Linlin, don't you think the New World has become too small?"
"In the past, even with just four emperors, it was already overcrowded. And now there are five!"
"So while everyone is here today—why don't we redefine the power structure of the New World?"
Ragnar gripped his three-pointed, double-edged sword, the eye on his forehead gleaming with ambition vast enough to swallow the seas.
With just a single thought—
His aura surged.
BOOM— like a hurricane and torrential downpour, his Conqueror's Haki swept across the ocean.
Even the massive tsunami that Whitebeard had created just moments earlier, now frozen into a towering iceberg...
Couldn't withstand the sheer force of Ragnar's ambition.
Crack—
The sound of shattering glass echoed as fractures spread across the iceberg.
The power structure of the New World—
The era of the great pirates—
It all seemed as fragile as the cracking iceberg, about to collapse under the weight of Ragnar's will.
"How do you propose we redefine it?"
Feeling the terrifying aura pressing in, Charlotte Linlin narrowed her eyes slightly.
Her hands, resting by her legs, clenched involuntarily.
It was unclear if she was shaken by Ragnar's power—
Or moved by the magnitude of his ambition.
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