On the boundless sea, a black pterosaur flew past at high speed.
On the pterosaur's back, there was also a figure sitting cross-legged.
Both King, who had transformed into a pterosaur, and Katakuri on his back felt extremely awkward.
"Have you sensed anything, Katakuri?" King asked.
"There's no one nearby," Katakuri said.
"Are we going to have to fly all the way to Whitebeard's hometown?" King complained. "They couldn't have given up on revenge, could they?"
"They haven't. The Whitebeard Pirates have been scattered; it must take time to regroup."
The Big Mom Pirates were in a similar situation now, so Katakuri could understand.
Marco wouldn't let go of such a grudge.
The two fell into silence again, and the atmosphere became awkward.
The reason they were in this situation was that Buggy, wanting to show off at the time, hadn't left any way to contact Marco.
Now that the plan had been moved up, he had no choice but to send King to notify them.
But Buggy feared Marco might have already set sail, so he had King take Katakuri along, as his expertise in Observation Haki allowed for a wider sensing range.
Thus began the journey of an emperor's second-in-command carrying an emperor's second-in-command to find another emperor's second-in-command.
Both of them were the solitary type; King used to wear a mask all the time, and Katakuri also covered his mouth with a scarf. Combined with their former high positions, where they only needed to maintain dignity, they were not good at socializing.
Putting these two together was nothing short of torture.
"Do you want some mochi?" Katakuri asked, trying to find a topic of conversation.
"No, thank you." King replied, thinking to himself that who knew where that mochi of his came from.
Katakuri could only push his Observation Haki to its limit, hoping to find the Whitebeard Pirates sooner and end this awkward situation.
Finally, as they neared Whitebeard's hometown, Katakuri picked up Marco's trail.
It was an ordinary small boat with fewer than ten executives of the Whitebeard Pirates on board.
The Whitebeard Pirates, once the most powerful force among the Four Emperors, were now reduced to this.
Katakuri only recognized Marco, Jozu, Flower Sword Vista, and a few other famous ones; he basically didn't know the rest of the executives.
Seeing the combination of King and Katakuri, the Whitebeard Pirates grew wary and prepared for battle.
"We are from the Buggy Pirates," King said. "Not enemies."
"When did you join the Buggy Pirates?" Marco asked in surprise.
He had just fought King a while ago, and he hadn't expected King to become an ally in the blink of an eye.
And what was the deal with Katakuri on his back?
"We'll talk about that later; the plan has changed. The Blackbeard Pirates are now entrenched on Whole Cake Island, and Captain Buggy has already set out."
Katakuri jumped off King's back, and King also transformed back into human form and landed on the small boat.
"Whole Cake Island?" Marco glanced at Katakuri, roughly guessing what had happened.
"That's right, Totto Land has also become Blackbeard's territory now," Katakuri said grimly. "But it's only temporary. He'll be paying the price soon."
"If it's Whole Cake Island..." Marco looked at the dilapidated boat beneath his feet and said awkwardly, "This thing isn't very fast. I'm afraid we won't make it in time."
Have the Whitebeard Pirates really become this poor? King was somewhat speechless.
"I have an idea," King said, thinking of the Pirate Empress Hancock's ship. "It could speed things up."
He explained his idea.
"I'm fine with it," Marco said. "It's just a bit of a burden on you."
"It's much better than having a man sit on my back. Let's do it," King replied, transforming into his pterosaur form.
"..." Katakuri said nothing. His awakened Mochi Mochi no Mi transformed the part of the boat above the sea into hardened mochi, reinforcing the hull, while also creating two mochi ropes.
Seeing this, Marco also transformed into his phoenix form and grabbed one of the ropes.
"Add some Armament Haki; I'm afraid it won't be strong enough," King said. "We need to get back as fast as possible."
Katakuri infused the ropes with Armament Haki, turning them into Black Ropes.
"Let's go!"
Towed by the two emperors' second-in-command, the mochi boat sliced through the sea, kicking up waves over ten meters high as it sped along.
"This is the most ridiculous ship I've ever been on in my life," Flower Sword Vista remarked.
Even Moby Dick wasn't this exaggerated.
"Have both the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates merged into the Buggy Pirates?"
On the way, Marco also learned about the recent events from King. "That's truly incredible..."
"Do you guys want to join?" King asked.
"Forget it. Right now, I just want to protect Pops' hometown," Marco said.
"Protect it with what? By sitting idly in front of a grave every day?"
"I also do some work as a doctor," Marco explained.
"Being a doctor won't change Whitebeard's hometown. Your so-called protection is just wishful thinking. If you really want to do something for Whitebeard's home, you'd be better off joining us and changing this world," King said.
Kaido once said he would change the world, and King also believed he was Joy Boy.
But Kaido himself didn't believe it; he slowly turned from a leader into a drunkard obsessed with suicide and alcohol.
Until King met Buggy and saw the changes in Wano Country.
"Stop wearing that mask. Even if the whole world knows you are from the Lunarian tribe, so what? You are a member of our Buggy Pirates. If the World Government dares to cause you trouble, then we'll just go to war," that man had said casually.
"But where do I go to collect the bounty if I report you? It feels like the World Government is just writing bad checks. Otherwise, I could have set up a shell company for bounty hunters; this sea is just floating with Berries!"
Kaido, did you know? Captain Buggy is truly changing the world.
Joy Boy is no longer important. Even if such a guy really existed, Captain Buggy wouldn't care.
True powerhouses do not believe in fate!
"King, don't fly too fast! The boat is about to capsize!" Katakuri's voice interrupted King's thoughts.
Marco was already trying his best to keep up. "You can really fly in that pterosaur form. I'll consider what you said, but it only represents my personal wish. Before that, I want to see what kind of world Buggy wants to turn this into."
"You'll find out soon enough. After the Blackbeard Pirates are wiped out, there will only be one voice in these waters."
"Don't underestimate Blackbeard," Marco warned. He felt a chill down his spine just thinking about him. "His cunning is beyond your imagination."
"Don't worry, our Captain takes Blackbeard very seriously—even more seriously than Blackbeard takes himself..."
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A/N: 40+ Advance Chapter Has Been Uploaded.
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