Charlotte Linlin, who was tearing through the air in flight, suddenly felt something in her coat grow hot.
When she reached in and pulled it out, she discovered that it was Katakuri's Vivre Card.
"You bastards!"
The dark clouds in the sky were violently blasted apart as wave after wave of Conqueror's Haki swept out from Charlotte Linlin in every direction.
"Damn Marines! I will make you pay!"
"How dare you kill my most capable son!"
Although Charlotte Linlin was usually not good to these children of hers, that did not stop her from venting her fury at the Marines because of Katakuri's death.
If the Marines had not suddenly attacked, Charlotte Katakuri would never have died in battle.
Ever since she left the Rocks Pirates, Charlotte Linlin had no longer held any desire to dominate the world.
All along, her dream had been to build an ideal nation containing every race in the world.
Totto Land.
That was her dream.
And now that dream had already shattered.
With the Marines pressing forward step by step, Totto Land had essentially become an empty shell in name only.
After Katakuri died in battle, Charlotte Linlin finally realized that the Marines intended to erase the entire Charlotte Family from the sea.
"I will make you pay!"
Charlotte Linlin, whose mind had already been consumed by rage, still thought there were only two Admiral-level fighters on the island: Issho and Zephyr.
To be honest, the last time Charlotte Linlin had left this place, Zephyr had already been seriously injured.
Although Charlotte Linlin had never fought Issho before, she believed that even Zephyr and Issho together could not completely defeat her.
And she intended to target the ordinary Marine soldiers and Vice Admirals, so the Marines could experience her rage as well.
Unfortunately, Charlotte Linlin did not know that Garp had already joined Zephyr without her realizing it.
And even more than that, she did not know that while she was flying, her children and ministers had already died completely.
Her Totto Land had been destroyed the moment she left Whole Cake Island.
While Charlotte Linlin was flying toward the island at high speed, Golden Lion Shiki had already begun walking across Whole Cake Island.
Looking at the twisted corpses lying on the ground, Shiki's eyes held no emotion.
He himself had been famous on the seas for his brutality, and now that he had been transformed into a Seraphim, he no longer possessed human emotion at all.
He carefully used Observation Haki to scan every corpse lying on the ground, observing whether any of them still had a chance of being alive.
As for some powerful pirates who were still struggling, Shiki did not mind using his famous blades to send them on their way.
From the sky, one could clearly see that with Whole Cake Island as the center, poisonous mist of various colors was spreading outward at a terrifying speed.
From this moment on, the Charlotte Pirates, one of the Three Emperors' crews, had officially been erased from the sea.
The only pirate left was Charlotte Linlin.
...
The Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
Inside the white palace hall, the Five Elders had gathered once again.
This time, their expressions were extremely ugly.
The members of Cipher Pol under them had already gathered all the recent intelligence from around the world and placed it before them.
Only after all of them had browsed through it did the Elder holding the cursed blade slowly speak.
"Ever since the Revolutionary Army declared war, there has been no movement from them. They can hardly be seen anywhere. That is very abnormal."
"The Marines led by Sakazuki are seizing cities and territory across the Four Blues, yet they have not killed or captured a single high-ranking Revolutionary Army leader. That is extremely abnormal."
"Originally, because of the Revolutionary Army's threat, those foolish nobles were willing to offer up massive amounts of wealth in exchange for the Holy Land's protection. Now that trash actually wants to take those things back."
The long-bearded Elder spoke.
"Although the Revolutionary Army can no longer pose much of a threat right now, we still have to remain vigilant against their leader, Dragon."
"I have a feeling that the Revolutionary Army secretly leaving the Four Blues means they are going to do something major."
"Perhaps something that will directly change the world situation."
"Have the CP0 agents move out. They must investigate clearly where Dragon and those Revolutionary Army elites who left have gone."
The burly Elder coughed twice, then spoke.
"The Revolutionary Army cannot stir up much of a storm. What worries me most now is the Marines."
"I have no choice but to admit that we misjudged back then. We mistakenly believed Raleigh was an obedient loyal dog. Instead, we allowed him to grow powerful."
"This man's talent is too good, his strength is too solid, and his support within the Marines is far too high. In both mind and methods, he far surpasses the previous Fleet Admirals."
The World Government had, after all, ruled the world for eight hundred years.
Even though Raleigh had guarded against them extremely strictly in this regard, they still obtained enough intelligence through other methods.
Even the New World, which had seemed airtight, had been infiltrated by their people.
"Looking at it now, our original belief that the Marines and pirates could keep each other in check was wrong. Using an alliance between the Revolutionary Army and pirates to oppose the Marines was also wrong."
"More importantly, the World Government's chief scientist, Vegapunk, is no longer under control. Even if Raleigh says he does not know where Vegapunk is, I do not believe him at all."
"Vegapunk must have become his man long ago."
In truth, even the Five Elders were deeply shocked and frightened by Raleigh's methods.
In their past understanding, nothing in the world could escape their eyes.
The secret agents cultivated by the World Government allowed them to obtain any information at any time.
Unfortunately, this method had suffered its first setback before Raleigh.
They had originally thought there would be high-ranking officers within the Marines who would secretly pledge loyalty to the World Government.
Yet the people they sent to turn those officers disappeared one after another.
Even the nails the World Government had cultivated and hidden within the Marines were quietly removed by Raleigh, or pushed out of the core of power and turned into useless scraps.
"If there is no other way, we can send people to contact Sengoku again."
"I think supporting Sengoku back into the position of Fleet Admiral would also be a decent choice."
The short-bearded Elder laughed.
"Do you think we haven't tried? We already sent CP0 members to contact Sengoku."
"But Sengoku clearly rejected us and told us that he would not tell Raleigh about this matter."
"Even Kuzan under him directly refused our conditions."
The Elder leaning on a cane spoke.
"The Marines have been moving too much recently. Our intelligence has already become somewhat delayed in certain areas."
"According to the latest information, a large number of Marines are stationed at the third defensive line of Totto Land. It is very possible that they are already attacking Totto Land's third defensive line."
"Hurry up and contact Shanks. Give him this intelligence."
"Otherwise, if Charlotte Linlin and her people are wiped out by the Marines, Shanks alone will have no way to oppose the entire Marine force."
In truth, the Five Elders already understood.
Although the Marines had not said it openly, they had effectively broken with the World Government.
The World Government had cut off all supplies and funding supporting the Marines, but the Marines had said nothing in response and remained silent.
Moreover, without the World Government's support, they still insisted on fighting this war against all pirates.
However, the Five Elders believed that with only the Marines' own strength, they would never be able to complete such a grand war.
The reason was simple.
War was fought with resources.
Although the Marines occupied a large amount of territory, the actual controllers of those territories were still the member nations, and the member nations' first choice was still to pay taxes to the World Government.
In other words, the islands the Marines spent supplies to conquer could not provide them with enough resources.
This was the confidence of the World Government and the Five Elders.
The Marines, who occupied Paradise in the first half of the Grand Line and were about to occupy the entire Four Blues, were simply too massive in scale.
As long as they suffered setbacks during their offensive in the New World, they would not have much time left.
There was no need for Shanks and Charlotte Linlin to defeat the Marines. All they needed to do was drag the war out.
Once enough time passed, the Marine branches in the Four Blues would be the first to fall into trouble because of funding problems. After that, it would trigger a chain reaction like a row of dominoes collapsing.
The enormous Marine force would fall apart in an instant.
Meanwhile, the World Government and the Five Elders would remain firmly seated, watching the fish take the bait.
However, what they did not expect was that Raleigh did not play according to common sense at all.
This world was very strange, and also very miraculous.
The influence of the World Government, the Marines, and the Revolutionary Army spread across the entire world, and each could ignite sparks anywhere at any time.
No matter which side it was, all three possessed the foundation to contend for world domination, yet none of them would ever openly proclaim that they ruled the world.
Only low-level idiots like pirates would choose to go out to sea because someone said a phrase like "Pirate King."
Devil Fruits could appear randomly in any corner of the world. Because of this miraculous characteristic, pirates continued appearing endlessly.
Even though many of them had no idea why they had to choose to go out to sea after obtaining power.
Therefore, for now, the World Government only needed to locate Dragon, then pray for their king, Lord Imu, to use the ancient weapon Uranus and destroy the Revolutionary Army's leadership with terrifying force.
As for the remaining death struggle between the pirates and the Marines, they were happy to see them fight.
The sword-bearing Elder nodded, reached up, and pushed his glasses.
"The Marines' strength is too vast now. Even if Lord Imu wants to act, it will not be easy."
The Five Elders also felt helpless.
Who could have known that after the worldwide draft, the Marines' strength would suddenly swell to this degree?
The combination of five Admirals and one Fleet Admiral was already nearly invincible in this world.
Even with the ancient weapon Uranus in their hands, they did not dare guarantee one hundred percent success.
No one dared gamble on such a thing.
Therefore, letting those idiot pirates exhaust the Marines and waiting until the Marines could no longer sustain themselves was the method with the smallest losses.
The long-haired Elder nodded.
"Then I will contact Shanks now."
From the moment the Five Elders made this call to Shanks, the struggle for world supremacy officially entered its most intense stage.
Among the four powers, only two sides were true chess players.
One side had supported the Revolutionary Army through Vegapunk's assistance.
The other side had supported the pirates through Red-Haired Shanks.
Before waiting for a chance to wipe out the other side in one move, both sides would tacitly maintain the stability of the situation.
...
New World, Kilkil Island.
This was an important base of the Red Hair Pirates, located very close to Marine territory.
After the Red Hair Pirates failed in their attack on the Marine fortress last time, Shanks had been recruiting pirates of the New World here to participate in this war.
Pirates from the rear continued gathering here in a steady stream before being assigned by Shanks.
Blu blu… blu blu…
Shanks, who was holding a simple meeting with several pirate captains, suddenly heard a mysterious Den Den Mushi ring inside his coat.
Shanks gave Beckman a look, then made an excuse and left the temporary meeting room.
After walking alone into the deepest part of the building, Shanks answered the Den Den Mushi.
After briefly exchanging a few words with the other side, he hung up.
When Shanks returned to the temporary meeting room, there was excitement on his face that he could not suppress.
Then he spoke and overturned the plan they had previously made.
"Something came up unexpectedly. The plan needs to be reformulated. I will inform everyone of the specific time later. Thank you all for your hard work."
While the many pirate captains were still completely confused, Shanks overturned the attack date he had personally set and left the meeting hall with several members of the Red Hair Pirates.
Inside the captain's meeting room of the Red Force, Beckman, Yasopp, and the others quietly waited for Shanks to speak.
Years of trust made it clear to them that Shanks was not someone who spoke nonsense.
Since he had overturned his own plan, something major must have happened.
While everyone waited, Shanks mysteriously took out several blueprints and documents and placed them on the table.
His face carried an expression as if he were asking for praise.
Beckman and Yasopp were the first to pick up the blueprints on the table.
After looking at them twice, they could not help letting out shocked voices.
"This is…!"
"Where did you get this, Shanks?"
It was no wonder Beckman, Yasopp, and the others were shocked.
The information Shanks had taken out was simply too astonishing.
Placed before them were the New World Marines' defensive deployment map and a detailed map of the New World.
Beckman dared swear on his own head that only a handful of people in the entire world had seen these documents.
As the navigator, Building Snake immediately began comparing the detailed New World map with the charts he had recorded.
When he raised his head with a shocked expression, everyone already understood.
This nautical chart was definitely real. Otherwise, Building Snake would never show such an expression.
The value of this chart was simply too great. Even the Marines might not necessarily possess such a map.
Especially since it also included the Marines' deployment map, which made it impossible not to think deeply about the power behind it.
Shanks nodded and said, "That is right. These documents were given to us by the World Government."
"Their people took the initiative to contact me and make a deal with me. I agreed."
"Later, they will also pass Marine intelligence to us, because they do not like the current Fleet Admiral, Christian Raleigh."
"They also told me one important piece of news. The Marines' supply lines have effectively been cut off. We only need to hold out for three months, and then we can switch from defense to offense."
Everyone aboard the ship fell silent.
They knew that obtaining information like this must have come at a considerable price.