Chapter 539: Licking Their Wounds (Part 1)
"Mother! Is it really alright for us to do this?" Katakuri asked, looking at the silent bodies of the Marines lying on the ground around them.
Katakuri wasn't worried about the Marines; he was worried about the Rockefeller Pirates. This island had been clearly designated as Rockefeller territory before the war. For them to invade it so brazenly, wasn't this a direct slap in the face to the Rockefeller Pirates? Would they simply ignore it? The Big Mom Pirates had just finished one major war; were they really about to start another?
"Mamamamamama! That Rockefeller brat is busy chasing the Marines right now. So what if I take a few islands? If he has a problem with it, he can come and see me himself," Charlotte Linlin declared, clearly intoxicated by her victory. After securing the territory that was rightfully hers, she had become greedy for more, pushing her territory forward by several islands.
Seeing the avaricious look on his mother's face, Katakuri knew she wouldn't give up this golden opportunity. No amount of persuasion would work now. It seemed another great war was inevitable. He looked at the exhausted faces of his siblings and crewmates behind him. It wasn't just the Rockefeller Pirates who were weary; the Big Mom Pirates were just as tired. After parting ways with Rockefeller, Charlotte Linlin had led them on a non-stop journey to claim her territory, sailing for three or four consecutive days until their occupation was complete.
As Charlotte Linlin continued to encroach on the central territories of the New World, a furious Charlotte received the news and immediately led the Rockefeller Pirates to meet the Big Mom crew.
On the tumultuous sea, the fleets of both crews, more than forty warships each, lined up in formation.
"Charlotte Linlin, what is the meaning of this?" Charlotte stood on the bow of his ship, holding a large megaphone and roaring at Linlin, who was a thousand meters away. "Didn't we already divide the territories before the alliance? What do you mean by invading my islands? If you don't give me an explanation today, don't even think about getting back alive!"
"Mamamamamama! I'm a pirate! And as everyone knows, pirates don't care about their word! Mamamamamama!" Charlotte Linlin laughed, holding Napoleon and looking at Charlotte.
"Damn you!" Charlotte's veins bulged on his forehead in fury.
"Kill them!" With no more words to say, Charlotte waved his hand, and the Rockefeller Pirates charged.
In an instant, a great battle erupted between the two crews. Cannonballs flew, landing on enemy warships. The electromagnetic cannons fired, picking off targets one by one. A new conflict had begun.
Two days later, the battle between Charlotte Linlin and Rockefeller Charlotte simultaneously came to a halt. The Big Mom Pirates retreated to within their original sphere of influence. In the two days of fighting, they had suffered heavy losses, steadily pushed back by the Rockefeller Pirates' assault. However, the Rockefeller Pirates' lower ranks had also taken considerable casualties.
After this battle, both sides cooled down, each returning to their own territory to lick their wounds. The New World fell into a temporary peace. But this peace felt like it was merely brewing the next great war.
The battle between the pirates and the Marines had ended with the Navy's crushing defeat. The three great pirate crews had suffered varying degrees of losses.
The Whitebeard Pirates had lost the most.
When Edward Newgate led his crew away from the battlefield and tallied the casualties, his heart felt as if it were being torn apart by knives. Before the expedition, he had over forty thousand men. Upon their return, only about ten thousand remained. The deaths of nearly thirty thousand men cast a dark shadow over the entire crew. And of the ten thousand who survived, half were wounded. This single war had cost Whitebeard more than thirty thousand of his men. To lose so many of his sons in a single day weighed heavily on his heart.
"Pops!" Marco said, approaching him. But Whitebeard didn't react at all, continuously pouring sake into his mouth, the liquor spilling all over the floor. Seeing his father in this state, Marco's own heart ached, but he steeled himself and reported the casualties from the list in his hand.
"In this war, the Whitebeard Pirates suffered twenty-nine thousand and eighty-seven deaths. Five commanders were killed. Twelve subordinate pirate captains were killed. We have eight commanders from the main crew remaining, three of whom are injured. Fourteen subordinate crews survived, but ten of their captains are seriously wounded."
Marco forced the words out, suppressing his own grief. The list of names on the paper was agonizing. Just a few days ago, he had been drinking with these men. Now, they were gone forever.
Hearing the death toll, Whitebeard silently closed his eyes.
"Take them back to the island and bury them with their other brothers," he said, his face etched with pain as he looked at Marco. "The Whitebeard Pirates have been grievously wounded. For the time being, do not start any conflicts with anyone."
"Yes, Pops." Marco sighed and walked away. His father was grieving and needed to be alone.
When the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates learned of their losses, they all fell silent. Their usual arrogance and condescending expressions vanished. The boisterous claims of uniting the New World disappeared. All that was left was silence. All that was left was to silently lick their wounds.
The Whitebeard Pirates were, without a doubt, the biggest losers of this war, second only to the Marines.
Next were the Big Mom Pirates.
After their clash with the Rockefeller Pirates, they returned to Whole Cake Island and cooled down. Charlotte Linlin, as if she had been shaken by her fight with Charlotte, became uncharacteristically quiet upon her return, doing nothing but eating cake. She handed all affairs over to Katakuri and her other children.
Katakuri finally had time to calculate the Big Mom Pirates' casualties. The results surprised him. It wasn't that their losses were heavy; before the war, he had already anticipated that the death toll would not be small. But seeing the final statistics was still unexpected.
"Mama, these are the Big Mom Pirates' losses from the war. Please take a look," Katakuri said, handing the report to Charlotte Linlin. But she was in no mood to look at such things, merely stuffing her face with cake and mumbling incoherently.
Katakuri sighed inwardly. "Mama," he reported, "the Big Mom Pirates' losses were relatively small. Aside from some lower-ranking officers, not a single member of the Charlotte family was lost. We only lost a little over six thousand soldiers, which is a negligible loss for us."
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