Back in the Crimson Empire, York gathered Gloriosa, Stussy, and Shakky in his private quarters and informed them about the political marriage deal he had struck with Charlotte Linlin.
To his mild surprise, they all remained completely calm after hearing it, not surprised in the least.
York couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why aren't any of you angry?"
"What is there to be angry about?" Gloriosa rolled her eyes at him, looking mildly annoyed by his denseness. "From the day I agreed to be your woman, I knew a conqueror like you would eventually build a harem."
Stussy gracefully poured herself a glass of wine and shrugged. "I was already the second when I joined you. I knew what I was signing up for."
Shakky puffed on her cigarette, exhaling a thin cloud of smoke. "I was the third. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if you had a fourth, a fifth, or a tenth. On the contrary, the fact that a man with your status and physique only has the three of us right now is what actually surprises us."
York was utterly speechless.
Was it that he didn't want to find more? It was purely that he couldn't find many women who actually caught his eye in this chaotic world! There was Vice Admiral Tsuru in the Marines, of course—she was stunning in her youth—but she was a sworn enemy. Finding an opportunity to have a fling with her might be possible in a different life, but bringing a zealous Marine back to his Pirate Empire... he'd rather not deal with that headache.
"You three!!" York deliberately put on a fierce, overbearing expression, stepping toward them. "It seems I've been far too lenient with you all lately! It's time to show the absolute authority of the head of this household!!"
Stussy and the other two feigned screams of terror, laughing as they successively turned and ran into the Mirror World, with York aggressively chasing right after them...
Several days later.
York emerged from the Mirror World looking incredibly refreshed. In the royal courtyard, Kaido and Dragon were already fully prepared for the impending assault.
York looked at them and issued his orders. "This time, only Kaido needs to come with me. Dragon, you are in absolute charge of guarding the home base. We won't bring any other subordinates."
Dragon's face showed immediate eagerness, and he was about to speak, but then he heard York continue.
"This time is mainly a personal vendetta against Ochoku, and the key is to protect our current national achievements from being destroyed by a World Government feint! You are the shield, Dragon!"
Hearing the tactical logic, Dragon nodded firmly, having nothing more to say.
Before long, Shakky, now fully dressed in her combat gear, also emerged from the Mirror World.
"I'm going too!!" Shakky declared, her eyes cold. "That scoundrel Ochoku set me up! I'm going to personally kick his head in!!"
York and Kaido glanced at her, saying nothing to stop her. Although Shakky had always played the role of a laid-back intelligence gatherer, her baseline strength was never weak; after all, she was a legitimate Pirate Empress of her generation. According to York's rigorous evaluation criteria, she was easily Warlord-level.
While they waited quietly at the port, a massive, gaudy pirate ship that looked as if it had sailed straight out of a sugar-coated fairy tale appeared in the waters near the island.
This was Charlotte Linlin's newly constructed flagship: the Queen Mama Chanter.
The colossal ship docked, and Charlotte Linlin led a detachment of her children ashore. York stepped forward, greeting her with a charismatic smile.
"Welcome to my Empire, Queen Linlin!"
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Stussy and Gloriosa emerged from the Mirror World. They smoothly took over the task of entertaining Linlin and upholding the defensive pact, while York turned to look at Kaido.
Kaido grinned ferociously. He transformed into a colossal Azure Dragon, letting out a roar that shook the port, and soared into the sky.
York leaped directly onto Kaido's massive dragon head, sitting casually between his horns.
The dragon's face darkened, and Kaido sternly reminded him, "York! We are equal partners!! I'm not your damn pet!"
York replied with a brazen smile, "It's precisely because we are partners that I'm not being polite with you! Now mush!"
"Hmph!!" Kaido snorted coldly, blowing a cloud of hot steam. He didn't openly embarrass York in front of Big Mom, but merely ascended rapidly. Only after they were high above the clouds and out of sight did Kaido violently shake his massive head.
"Get off me!!"
However, no matter how aggressively Kaido thrashed and rolled in the air, York remained steadily seated on his forehead.
Kaido, failing in his struggle, looked up at his own forehead with his giant reptilian eyes, only to discover that York—that absolute scoundrel—had actually activated his Mythical Zoan Awakening to manipulate the friction and gravity, keeping him glued firmly to the scales.
"You bastard!! Are you still a three-year-old child?!" Kaido roared.
"You're the three-year-old, aren't you?" York laughed. "We're partners! Why care about such trivial details?!"
"Go to hell!!" Kaido cursed angrily. Refusing to be a taxi, he immediately dropped his dragon form, reverting to his hulking human form and conjuring a dense cloud of purple Flame Clouds to stand on.
York, seamlessly using the flight abilities of his Sun God power, hovered independently in the thin air. Watching Kaido's completely uncooperative demeanor, York couldn't help but chuckle.
"Alright, fine, let's do it this way. We can still fly to Pirate Island."
Hearing this, Kaido couldn't help but frown, looking at York's glowing aura. "If you keep your Devil Fruit Awakening active now, aren't you afraid of running completely out of stamina by the time we actually get to Hachinosu?"
A terrifying, cold light flashed in York's eyes.
"Kaido, have you forgotten my primary method for recovering stamina?" York asked softly. "Back on Hachinosu, I only used that specific ability to the absolute minimum extent out of consideration for us being fellow crewmates under Rocks."
York's smile vanished.
"But now... we are completely and utterly enemies with that island!!"
Kaido finally reacted, remembering the horrific nature of York's 'Happy Corruption'. A ferocious, bloodthirsty sneer slowly spread across the Oni's face.
"You're right! We and them... we are completely enemies now!!"
With that, Kaido transformed back into an Azure Dragon, riding the thunderclouds and mist, and flew rapidly in the direction of Pirate Island.
York, radiating pure, blinding sunlight, no longer insisted on sitting on Kaido's head. He adopted a streamlined flying posture and blasted through the sky alongside Kaido's dragon head, the two Emperors advancing side by side like twin meteors.
Several hours later.
Pirate Island — Hachinosu.
"OCHOKU!!!"
An apocalyptic roar exploded from the sky above the lawless pirate haven.
Dark thunderclouds violently gathered, and hurricane-force winds rose as a massive Azure Dragon head slowly emerged from the churning heavens.
Beside the terrifying dragon, a humanoid sun—radiating pure, blinding white light—stood suspended in the void.
This humanoid sun suddenly began to freefall toward the densely populated pirate town below. As he plummeted, countless, microscopic Holy Light tentacles erupted from his body, raining down like a localized plague and instantly piercing into the thousands of pirates who had rushed outdoors to see the commotion.
"Ahhhh~~"
"Such ecstasy~~"
"Lord York is back~~ It feels so good~~"
One pirate after another offered absolutely no resistance. Even the vast majority of the veteran pirates who had the Haki and reflexes to actively dodge instead allowed these glowing tentacles to entwine their bodies, bringing them an overwhelming, mind-melting wave of ecstatic pleasure.
Large, visible streams of pale pink life energy were violently drawn from their bodies without a shred of resistance, flowing rapidly back up the countless tentacles and directly into York.
The stamina York had consumed by keeping his Devil Fruit Awakening active during the long flight was instantly replenished by this massive, forced infusion of life force.
Not only that, because York was completely extracting their vitality without any regard for the cost or their survival, an even larger amount of excess life force accumulated in his body. This stolen vitality couldn't permanently enhance his baseline strength, but it could temporarily remain stored in his cells, serving as a massive, overflowing battery for the impending battle.
Correspondingly, under York's reckless, absolute extraction, the thousands of pirates who passively or actively welcomed the Holy Light's embrace were entirely drained. They collapsed to the streets, transformed into shriveled, emaciated mummies with horrifying, euphoric smiles frozen on their skeletal faces.
The surviving pirates on the periphery watched this apocalyptic scene in sheer horror.
One second, they had been eager to try and experience the rumored pleasure of York's power; the next second, they were completely terrified. Their hair stood on end, and they didn't even dare to breathe loudly, desperately scrambling backward. They feared that the Holy Light tentacles, having just drained their crewmates into husks, would seek them out next.
BOOM!!!
York switched from his blinding Sun mode back to his base Holy Light mode, deactivating the full extent of his Awakening.
He finished his freefall, crashing violently into the town center of Hachinosu like a meteor. The impact created a massive, deep crater in the cobblestones, blowing away buildings in a shockwave of dust.
York stood up from the center of the crater, completely unharmed and overflowing with stolen stamina.
He slowly looked up, his cold eyes locking onto the massive, iconic skull-shaped mountain fortress that Rocks had once carved.
Standing high above at the command window of the skull, the newly appointed Warlord of the Sea, Ochoku, was staring right back down at him.
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