"This is bad! It's the Marines! The Marines really came—there's thirty warships!"
In Egghead Island's control room, Edison, one of Vegapunk's satellites, yelled at the top of his lungs.
Vegapunk rushed over and stared at the monitors, watching the Marine fleet advance in a tight, overwhelming formation. He started grumbling nonstop. "I knew it would come to this… The Marines really came."
Lilith, on the other hand, looked completely unfazed. "What's there to be afraid of, Stella? So what if the Marines came? Just order the Sea Beast Weapons to sink their warships. Doesn't that solve it?"
"How can that be?!" Vegapunk shouted back immediately. "Do you know how many people would die like that?! Just have the Sea Beast Weapons surface and see if they can scare them off!"
Marco and the captains, who were also in the control room, walked over to the screens. Marco spoke calmly. "The Marines definitely won't give up that easily."
Sure enough, the moment the Sea Beast Weapons surfaced, Admiral Fujitora used the power of the Gravity-Gravity Fruit to lift all thirty warships high into the air.
"So those are the Sea Beast Weapons… Vegapunk's technological weapons, huh?" Admiral Ryokugyu stood at the bow, looking down at the monsters below. The fusion of enormous sea beasts and advanced machinery was undeniably bizarre.
Fujitora said, his face grave, "The Phoenix Pirates are still on Egghead Island. It looks like this is going to be a fierce battle."
"Still, we're the Marines. We know the layout of Egghead Island like the back of our hand." Ryokugyu bared a sinister grin and barked to the soldiers, "The latest order from the Gorosei is to eliminate Vegapunk. He might have been the greatest scientist in the world under the World Government, but now he's betrayed the Marines and the Government. He has to be executed."
Guiding the floating ships toward Egghead, Fujitora murmured in a heavy tone, "For the world's greatest scientist, Dr. Vegapunk, to end up siding with pirates… It's truly heartbreaking for the Marines to lose a talent like that."
In the control room, Vegapunk watched the thirty warships suspended in the air over Egghead's surrounding waters and blurted out, "That's Admiral Fujitora's power! And Admiral Ryokugyu is here too! This is a huge problem! The Pacifista alone are no match for them!"
Marco, standing beside him, glanced at the flustered scientist and couldn't help feeling a bit speechless. Are all scientists this timid? He tried to reassure him. "Doctor, don't panic. We're still here, aren't we?"
Vegapunk, somewhat comforted, straightened up and said seriously, "Then it's decided, Marco—you must protect me! I'll have Sentomaru support you."
Marco nodded, then asked with some curiosity, "By the way, what about the Seraphim? Are they not done yet?"
Vegapunk shook his head. "They're mostly complete, but they still can't be put into actual combat."
"Is that so?"
Hearing that the Seraphim weren't finished yet, Marco let out a quiet breath of relief.
If the Seraphim weren't complete, then the Gorosei hadn't secured full authorization over them. When the time came, he might still be able to seize the highest authority.
Marco turned to Ace and the others. "Brothers, get ready for battle! Vista, Jinbe, Jozu—you stay here and protect the Doctor."
"Understood."
If it were only the Marines, Marco felt no pressure at all. His strength now stood at the level of a Peak King level, and his Conqueror's Haki had already reached a Legendary tier.
After his Conqueror's Haki evolved to that level, it didn't just expand in sheer scale; it gained pinpoint precision and the power to nullify Devil Fruits. Marco had already tested it on Jozu and Ace. As long as he locked onto them with his Conqueror's Haki, he could directly suppress their Devil Fruit abilities. Aside from not being able to knock people unconscious, the effect was basically the same as Seastone.
The downside was the time limit. Maintaining that kind of precise targeting burned through his willpower and Haki in an instant.
Leaving the control room with the captains of the Phoenix Pirates, Marco raised his voice: "Everyone, go get ready! Order all Phoenix Pirates members to head to Egghead Island as reinforcements. We're probably going to have a world-shaking clash with the Marines here—maybe even the World Government itself."
"Oh!!!"
The captains and vice-captains scattered to make preparations.
"Captain Marco, shouldn't we notify the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates as well?" Izo stepped up and asked.
"Of course we should," Marco replied, voice firm. "You handle the transponder snail calls—tell Fossa and the others what's going on. As for Kaido and Big Mom, I'll talk to them myself."
"Got it."
Marco then pulled out two transponder snails and dialed Kaido and Big Mom. If it were only the Marines, he had nothing to fear—but if the Gorosei descended with them, that was another story.
The Gorosei could appear directly via teleportation circles. On top of that, they could summon the God's Knights at any time. If he had to face that many monsters at once, the Phoenix Pirates alone wouldn't be enough, even with his current King-level power. If both the Gorosei and the God's Knights moved out, things would become truly difficult.
Besides, with the Seraphim out of play, Egghead's strongest combat unit was the Pacifista. Pacifista were terrifying against cannon fodder, but against enemies at Vice Admiral level and above, their effectiveness dropped sharply.
The transponder snail connected, its features morphing into Kaido's scowling face.
"Hey, Marco, what do you want from me?" Kaido's cold voice rumbled through the line.
Marco said evenly, "Hold on. Once Linlin's transponder snail connects, I'll explain the situation to both of you, one by one."
On the other end, Kaido sounded a little puzzled. Before he could say more, another den-den mushi crackled to life, and Big Mom's voice rang out, "Mama mama! You need something from me?"
Hearing her, Marco continued, "Alright, Kaido, Linlin—now that you're both here, you can hear each other, right?"
Kaido replied impatiently, "Yeah, I can hear. Hurry up and spit it out—what do you want?"
Big Mom sneered, "Mama mama… to call the two of us directly, something big is happening again, isn't it?"
Marco remained calm. "Kaido, Linlin, I'm currently on Egghead Island, and I'm under attack by the Marines here."
"Marines?" Kaido and Big Mom both frowned.
Big Mom's mood immediately soured. Was she going to war with the Marines again? It had only been a little over a month since the Whole Cake Island war. Her territory lay in ruins, and her crew had dropped to fewer than twenty thousand. She had created many new Homies by taking the lifespans of several thousand Marines Marco had sent her, but her fighting strength was still far from its peak.
Kaido asked coldly, "Egghead Island… if I remember right, that island used to be Marine territory. Didn't we agree we'd deal with the Marines after we brought the entire New World under our control? Why did you attack the Marines directly—and without telling me first?"
Marco grinned. "I didn't have much choice. Dr. Vegapunk has been researching poneglyphs, which crosses a world government taboo. Faced with a plea for help from the world's greatest scientist, I couldn't just stand by and watch, could I?"
"Anyway, I didn't call to ask you to help me deal with the Marines. If it's just them, the Phoenix Pirates can handle it ourselves. What I'm really worried about is the Gorosei—and even the God's Knights—getting involved. I want you ready to back me up at any time."
Big Mom's head spun. She shouted in shock, "Vegapunk? You've got Vegapunk?"
Kaido, in contrast, sounded thrilled. "You're saying Vegapunk can read ancient scripts?"
Marco ignored their questions and spoke more solemnly. "Vegapunk is extremely important to the World Government. The Gorosei are very likely to step in personally, just like last time. If they really show up, and teleport to Egghead Island with a magic circle like they did to Cake Island, I want you to support me through Brûlée's mirror."
Hearing Marco's words, Kaido and Big Mom fell into a brief silence. They hadn't expected to clash with the Marines—and even the World Government—this soon, but it seemed there was no way around it.
"Wororororo… alright." Kaido bared his teeth in a sinister grin. "But I have one condition."
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