Marineford Naval Harbor.
A ship powered by two giant sea snakes slowly docked at the pier.
Pirate Empress Boa Hancock stepped onto the pier with a cold expression.
"Please follow me."
A Marine captain who had been waiting for some time gestured politely, indicating for Hancock to follow him to the meeting location.
"Sister, be careful!"
Sandersonia tightly gripped the ship's railing, calling out to her sister's tall figure with a worried expression.
Hancock stopped in her tracks, tilting her head slightly with an air of arrogance. "I became a Warlord because of my strength."
"Fufufufufu... Long time no see, Pirate Empress Boa Hancock."
Hancock looked ahead and saw Doflamingo walking toward her with his hands in his pockets, his stride as arrogant as ever. Her eyes grew even colder.
"Hey hey, we're allies now."
Doflamingo wasn't angered by her attitude. He approached Hancock and extended an invitation. "You should understand that man's strength. If we underestimate him, the outcome will be disastrous. So... let's work together."
"Get lost!"
Hancock ignored Doflamingo's goodwill and walked past him toward the meeting location.
A vein bulged on Doflamingo's forehead, but he quickly regained his composure, acting as if nothing had happened. He continued walking behind her with his usual swagger.
Hancock was the last of the Warlords to arrive.
When she entered the meeting room, Crocodile smirked, removing the cigar from his mouth. "Pirate Empress, I didn't expect you to accept the Marines' summons."
"Crocodile, I didn't expect you to accept it either."
Hancock took her seat and calmly retorted.
The Warlords were all notorious pirates who had accepted the World Government's amnesty. Each was unruly and arrogant, and even the World Government's summons didn't guarantee their compliance.
Hancock glanced around, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.
Dracule Mihawk, Crocodile, Jinbe, Donquixote Doflamingo, Bartholomew Kuma, and herself, the Pirate Empress.
Aside from Gecko Moria, who had already been captured by Reddy, all six of the current Warlords had accepted the summons.
"Fufufufufu... Everyone."
Doflamingo used his distinctive laugh to draw the others' attention. He continued to persuade them. "The Marines are deploying Admiral Akainu and that monster Kuzan this time. We can't afford to underestimate that man, or some of us might end up left behind in the East Blue."
"I only heard that his clones possess decent swordsmanship... Hmm, and that he himself is a skilled swordsman. I'm interested."
Mihawk crossed his arms and calmly stated his reason for accepting the summons.
Jinbe was even more direct. "I heard that Dr. Reddy wants to build a peaceful Loguetown in the East Blue. I want to see it for myself."
"I feel like he and I are similar."
Crocodile puffed on his cigar, his face showing interest.
He had long been plotting to take over the Alabasta Kingdom and seize the lost Ancient Weapon Pluton.
Reddy, on the other hand, didn't seem interested in seizing other kingdoms, but Jinbe could tell he had ambitions of founding his own nation.
Kuma remained silent, his expression unchanging.
But inwardly, he was tense.
The Marines had already decided on this punitive operation, and nothing could change that.
Not only were they sending Admiral Akainu and Kuzan, who was practically acknowledged as the next Admiral, but they had also summoned the Warlords.
He was deeply concerned about whether Reddy could survive this calamity.
For this reason, he had rushed from Egghead to Marineford, hoping to use his status as a Warlord to obtain some classified intelligence.
Seeing that Mihawk, Jinbe, and Crocodile had no intention of fighting Reddy seriously, Doflamingo turned to Kuma and Hancock, his heart sinking.
Reddy's influence was growing at an alarming rate.
He had also guessed that Reddy hadn't actually defeated Garp, but the fact that he had taken Loguetown right under Garp's nose spoke volumes.
Yet among the six Warlords present, aside from himself, the others had only accepted the summons out of curiosity.
At that moment, Sengoku entered the meeting room.
As soon as he took his seat, Sengoku got straight to the point. "Since you have all accepted the summons, you already know the purpose of this Marine operation. I hope you will assist the Marines in capturing the rogue scientist Dr. Reddy."
The room fell silent.
Mihawk's face remained as impassive as ever. Jinbe was calm. Kuma stayed silent. Hancock's expression remained cold. Crocodile, at least, had an expression—a mocking smile.
Sengoku's expression darkened.
The Warlord system truly had a fatal flaw.
Even if these individuals accepted the summons, there was no guarantee they would actually work for the World Government.
"Fufufufufu... Fleet Admiral Sengoku, how many troops will Marineford deploy for this operation?"
Since the other five Warlords were useless, Doflamingo stopped trying to persuade them and instead asked Sengoku about the Marine forces.
"Fifty warships. Fifty thousand men."
Before Sengoku even finished speaking, the expressions of all six Warlords, including Doflamingo, changed slightly.
This was a terrifying number.
When was the last time the Marines had mobilized such a force?
Even the Buster Call, which struck fear into the world, only involved five Vice Admirals and ten warships.
"Fufufufufu... Perfect!"
Doflamingo was now completely reassured, laughing heartily.
"Exactly."
Sengoku didn't want to spend any more time with these Warlords than necessary. He stood up and instructed, "I hope you will all remain in Marineford until the operation begins, so as not to miss the critical moment."
As Sengoku left the meeting room, Doflamingo tried one last time to incite the other Warlords to contribute more during the operation.
But the others ignored him, standing up and leaving one after another.
Two veins bulged on Doflamingo's forehead. He smirked darkly and muttered, "No matter. That man is as good as dead this time."
Marineford Harbor.
Warships arrived one after another.
Marineford didn't have enough troops to spare, as they still needed to maintain a presence to uphold their deterrence in the New World and Paradise.
Most of these forces had been drawn from various branch bases, primarily from the New World, and consisted of elite soldiers.
Three days later, the fifty thousand Marines gathered at Marineford had finished their brief rest and assembled in formation on the docks.
Doflamingo and the other Warlords stood on a high platform, overlooking the massive Marine formation below. No one spoke.
No matter how arrogant they usually were, witnessing such a terrifying military force made even them suppress their usual defiance.
A force of this scale would guarantee a hundred percent victory, even against one of the Four Emperors.
Soon, Sakazuki walked over, chewing on a cigar.
Behind him, Kuzan maintained his usual indifferent expression, while the nine other Vice Admirals all had fierce, intimidating faces.
Sakazuki stopped in front of the fifty thousand elite Marines, scanned the formation, then turned and walked toward the warships docked at the pier.
"Move out!"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━