Kaido sneered. "Worororo… if you really can do it, then go all out!"
"Back on Cake Island, I showed up too late and didn't get to fight to my heart's content. Today, don't disappoint me!"
Warcury's gaze was icy. "Insects… such shameless boasting. Do you truly believe that just because you've gained some strength, you can contend with gods?"
Marco quickly cut in, voice urgent. "To kill them, we have to use Conqueror's Haki. Without it, we can't break their immortality."
Kaido and Big Mom both looked taken aback.
"Marco, you already know how to break their immortality?" they asked in unison.
Marco gave a small nod and continued, "Try condensing your Conqueror's Haki into a single, focused point before you strike. You'll see results you didn't expect."
"A single point?" Kaido's brows drew together slightly.
"That's right," Marco explained. "Normal Conqueror's Haki infusion isn't enough to break their immortality. Their Conqueror's Haki is monstrously strong too. If we want to kill them, we have to compress our Conqueror's Haki first, then attack. Only that can break their immortality."
Kaido nodded, falling into thought. He had already prepared all kinds of methods for dealing with immortality, but since Marco had clearly found a working approach, there was no need for pointless experiments.
Marco then turned to Kaido and Big Mom, expression grave as he assigned roles. "There are only three of them right now. Each of us will take one. You two have no objections, right?"
Kaido laughed with absolute confidence. "Worororo, of course not! And didn't you say they used some damn 'God's Blood' and powered up a lot? I'll personally test how much stronger they've gotten."
Big Mom, while a bit uneasy, refused to lose face in front of the other two Emperors. She forced a casual sneer. "Mamamama… who do you think I am!"
Hearing no objections, Marco nodded. "Then keep it quick. Take down the enemies in front of us, then we move to rescue Vegapunk immediately. The other two Gorosei have already gone into the lab to chase him. The situation is critical—we have to act fast."
Out on the battlefield, the tide suddenly turned. With the Beasts Pirates and Big Mom Pirates joining in, the Marines were quickly pushed into a disadvantage.
Before this, against just the Phoenix Pirates and the Pacifista—and with two Admirals holding the line—the Marines had barely managed to keep things steady.
Even with Admiral Ryokugyu being held off together by Fire Fist Ace and Ogre Princess Yamato, Fujitora was far from easy to handle.
Most of the remaining Phoenix Pirates commanders were at strong Yonko commander level, and the Vice Admirals managed to tie them down. Only Kingdew, Izo, and the newly appointed commanders Nekomamushi and Inuarashi rushed to block Fujitora.
But their strength was far beneath his. Even four-on-one, they could barely slow him down.
Now, however, the top officers of the Beasts Pirates and Big Mom Pirates piled onto Fujitora as well. Their regular officers scattered across the field, sharing the pressure that had been crushing the Phoenix Pirates. Whatever slight edge the Marines had was erased in an instant.
While Marco and the others were loudly planning their moves, Warcury and his comrades had already slipped into a quiet telepathic exchange, urgently contacting Saint Peter and Saint Saturn.
"Saturn, Peter, what's your status? Have you dealt with Vegapunk yet? Kaido and Big Mom are about to come support him. You must take Vegapunk down as quickly as possible."
Inside Vegapunk's lab, Saint Peter and Saint Saturn were locked down, facing seven Seraphim and three commanders—a grim standoff. Saturn answered with a solemn look, "We can't break away for now. We're being held up by the Seraphim."
"Seraphim?" Warcury's brows knitted.
Mars's eyes went cold and vicious. "So Vegapunk's betrayal has been brewing for a long time. The Seraphim are already complete, and he hid it from us all this time."
Nusjuro's voice was cutting and firm. "We will do our utmost to block the Three Emperors Alliance. You must deal with Vegapunk as fast as possible."
"Understood," came the terse, forceful reply.
Facing the three Gorosei in front of him, Marco knew each of them possessed kingly might. In that brief exchange earlier, it might have looked like a one-versus-three, but he had been completely suppressed by their combined assault. His face hardened.
"I'll handle Saint Mars. You two choose your opponents. Zack, you assist me."
"Yes," Zack answered respectfully.
Big Mom responded at once. No matter how much she hated to admit it, she knew she was the weakest of the three Emperors here. She shouted to Kaido, "Kaido, you go deal with that wild-boar-looking one. I'll take this bald guy."
She had already seen Warcury fight on Cake Island. Back then, he hadn't even used 'God's Blood'—yet she still couldn't do a thing to him.
Of course, he hadn't been able to do anything to her either. At that time, they had essentially been evenly matched.
But now it was different. Warcury's entire body was flushed red, veins bulging, his aura several times stronger than on Cake Island. Big Mom had no intention of tangling with such a troublesome opponent.
Kaido nodded indifferently. In his eyes, even if they were stronger than before, he would never lose to the likes of them.
Big Mom fixed her gaze on the remaining Saint Nusjuro, not daring to relax for a second. She called out to Katakuri, voice low and serious. "Katakuri, you assist me later."
"Alright, Mama…" Katakuri replied grimly. He had already crossed fists with a Gorosei on Cake Island and knew just how terrifying they were. Against such a monster, a one-on-one was absolutely the worst option.
Just then, King stepped forward and addressed Kaido. "Kaido-san, allow me to assist you as well."
Kaido refused without hesitation. "No need. Trash like this, I can handle alone. You go help that old hag."
Turned down, King simply bowed his head. "Yes."
Deep within the research facility, Saturn and Saint Peter casually knocked back the lunging Seraphim.
At the same time, both were genuinely surprised by the Seraphim's durability.
"So this is Lunarian blood… the defense of this body is astounding," one of them muttered.
Watching the Seraphim get knocked flying again and again, only to stubbornly rise each time, Peter frowned slightly. "What troublesome weapons. It pains me, but if we don't completely destroy these Seraphim, I fear we won't be able to complete our mission at all."
With that, he shifted into a massive human-beast form: a giant sand worm whose jaws could rend almost anything. He fully believed that no matter how indestructible the Seraphim's bodies seemed, they couldn't withstand his bite.
"Wait…" At the critical moment, Saturn stopped him with a telepathic command.
Peter, puzzled, asked back via telepathy, "Saturn, what is it?"
Saturn's response was cold. "Round them up. I'll immobilize them with my technique. Then you go deal with Vegapunk. The Seraphim are top-tier technology, on par with the Mother Flame. It would be a waste to destroy them."
Hearing Saturn's plan, Peter had to admit it was the better option and agreed.
In his Ushi-oni form, Saturn's immobilization technique had limited effect on those of equal strength or powerful Haki users, but it was more than enough against the Phoenix Pirates' commanders.
As for the Seraphim, though powerful, they were still human weapons and knew nothing of Haki. They could be suppressed with ease.
"Good," Peter replied quickly.
Across from them, Vista, Jozu, and Jinbe wore equally grim expressions.
They knew the three of them alone were absolutely no match for two Gorosei. Their only saving grace was the Seraphim fighting by their side.
"I didn't expect these Seraphim, who look like kids, to be this strong," Jozu said in disbelief. He'd watched them withstand the Gorosei's attacks head-on without a scratch; their defense was almost comparable to his own Diamond Fruit.
Jinbe nodded, explaining, "So this is Lunarian blood… what incredible power."
Vista added, "As long as the flames on their backs don't go out, their physical defense is practically invincible."
Jozu grinned, a trace of relief in his eyes. "And they're still just children. According to the Scientist, the Seraphim will keep learning and growing through battle. It's a good thing they're our allies. Hard to imagine how terrifying it'd be if these monsters, with both offense and defense, were our enemies."
The other two silently agreed.
In a safe, hidden laboratory, everyone was watching the Seraphim's performance on the monitors. Vegapunk and his six satellites saw everything clearly. Lilith couldn't hide her excitement.
"Stella, looks like the Seraphim are already a huge success!"
Shaka agreed calmly. "The power they've shown far exceeds our predictions, and they're still in their growth phase. It's hard to say how strong they'll become. As expected of the 'strongest humans' you envisioned, Stella."
Staring at the monitor, Vegapunk finally allowed himself a satisfied smile. Their power even surpassed his expectations, bringing him a measure of relief—if they were this strong, then perhaps his own life could be spared.
He then switched the surveillance feed, turning to another brutal clash unfolding on Egghead.
The three Emperors' crews were jointly facing three Gorosei, two Admirals, and thirty thousand Marines. Aside from the Gorosei's side having a slight edge, the Marines as a whole were clearly being pushed back by the combined assault of the three Emperors' forces.
Among the two Admirals, Ace and Yamato together were successfully holding off Admiral Ryokugyu.
Elsewhere, the other commanders, along with the Beasts Pirates and Big Mom Pirates officers, were joining forces against Admiral Fujitora. With the Pacifista on Egghead also lending support, their momentum against the Marines was overwhelming.
For the pirates, this battle was also an act of revenge. In the Whole Cake Island War, the Big Mom Pirates had scraped out a narrow victory, and afterwards, the Beasts Pirates had lost Wano to the World Government, suffering massive losses.
This time, however, the operation was led directly by the Gorosei. They were utterly indifferent to Marine casualties; only the objective mattered.
"How are we supposed to defeat these monsters?"
"We can't win. Against a lineup like the Three Emperors Alliance, there's no way."
"Is the Marine finished? Even the world's greatest scientist has defected to them…"
Marine morale began to waver. The pirates of the Three Emperors Alliance were all titans of the New World, and with their many officers plus the Pacifista, the Marines were completely suppressed.
"Do not fear casualties! For justice and righteousness, we must not retreat!" Admiral Candidate Momousagi stepped forward, shouting to rally the troops.
"Don't throw around empty slogans," Smoothie said icily, striding toward her. "A gap in strength like this isn't bridged with speeches."
Momousagi whirled around, eyes sharp as blades as she swept her gaze over Smoothie and Fossa behind her, face turning grim. On her own, she could have easily handled two Whitebeard division commanders while still directing the battlefield. But now, with two such troublesome foes joining in, the situation had become far more difficult.
"Fossa, great timing. It'll be much easier with you here," Harta called to him, unable to hide his relief.
Fosta smiled wryly. "Yeah… this time we're really going to give the Marines a proper beating."
Atmos, expression serious, still couldn't help but praise their opponent. "This female Marine is really something. Even as a woman, she surpasses a lot of men. I shouldn't say this, but in a one-on-one, I'd probably lose to her."
Fossa took a slow drag on his cigar, then stepped in front of Momousagi, expression turning solemn. "We don't have any personal grudge, but this is the cruelty of war."
Smoothie, standing beside him, bristled at that. "What do you mean, no grudge! Back on Cake Island, she killed many of our Charlotte siblings. I swore I'd personally avenge their blood!"
Fossa fell silent at that, saying nothing more as his body began to change—white fur sprouting across his frame as he transformed into the human-beast form of the Polar Bear Fruit.
Facing the group before her, Momousagi's eyes narrowed. "Hmph. So you're relying on numbers?"
The gentlemen of the Phoenix Pirates all looked a bit awkward at her words. Harta answered seriously, "To be honest, we don't want to gang up on you. But you're a Admiral Candidate. In this situation, we don't dare challenge you one-on-one."
Smoothie, as a woman herself, wasn't moved by that appeal in the slightest. "So what if we're bullying you with numbers? When you ambushed Totto Land, weren't you relying on numbers too? Don't forget—we're pirates."
Her bold, big-sister tone actually eased the guilt weighing on Fossa and the others. In the end, as pirates, they had no need to bind themselves with any "gentleman's" code.
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