https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-324-Eight-Thousand-Against-Twenty-Thousand-/12612662/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-326-Let-s-Start-with-a-Greeting-/12612664/
Chapter 325: Hand Over Katakuri!
Chapter 325: Hand Over Katakuri!
Sengoku listened to the report from the navy in front of him, his head, which had been biting on a cigar, lifted slightly, and a puff of smoke escaped from his mouth.
The hand clenched on the table turned reddish, instantly causing smoke to rise from the table and melting a hole in it.
"Are these guys still causing trouble after Whitebeard's death?"
"Oh~ how terrifying. Are the two great pirate crews about to go to war?"
Yellow Monkey, who was trimming his fingernails on the sofa beside him, pouted and exclaimed in surprise, "I'll head over there."
"No, Borsalino."
Sengoku said in a low voice, "Let them fight for now. No matter who wins, it won't be that easy for them."
As he spoke, the redness on his clenched fist intensified, melting an even larger hole in the table, with flames licking at its edges.
"What's important now is our World Recruitment!"
His words were almost gritted out.
"Pff!"
At the door, an old man with white hair and a goat poked their heads out, one above the other.
Sengoku covered his mouth, stifling his laughter. "Marshal, that's a tough one."
Sengoku's eyes twitched, and he roared, "Shut up, you semi-retired man!"
"Meeh."
The goat below bleated as if in mockery and withdrew its head along with Sengoku, disappearing from the doorway.
"Mr. Sengoku."
Yellow Monkey chuckled. "You seem much cheerier. Is it because there's less pressure now?"
Sengoku took a deep breath, a vein throbbing at his temple.
"They're all like this, one after another! And that fool Kuzan, disregarding justice. If he were here, we wouldn't be so passive right now!"
That was the nature of the navy; they just needed to follow orders. But as Marshal, Sengoku had a lot more to consider.
Being a Marshal was indeed challenging; one would never know unless they experienced it themselves. Some things were very different from when he was an admiral.
Sengoku, a staunch believer in 'absolute justice,' had wanted to lead a team to personally deal with Big Mom's crew when he first heard that they intended to go to war with her. His first reaction was to strike while they were occupied and eliminate them.
His second thought was that the higher-ups would never approve.
In fact, the first thing he did after becoming Marshal was not the World Recruitment, but to propose an all-out war on the pirates to the higher-ups, only to be rejected.
Besides, while he was a bit radical, he wasn't reckless.
Pirates were different from the navy; they would turn on each other if left alone, but if the navy showed up, they might very well unite against a common enemy.
Moreover, their forces were currently insufficient. They had lost many elite soldiers in the Summit War, and Kongming's attempt to arrest Sage using the opportunity of Cerent's incident had also failed, resulting in further losses.
With Kuzan's departure, the current navy, even after defeating Whitebeard, could only focus on consolidating their power.
For now, they could only watch as the pirates fought in the New World.
Hiss!
As these thoughts crossed his mind, the table melted even faster, disappearing by more than half in an instant.
Sengoku stood up and instructed the navy, "Prepare the ship. This old man is going to Mariejois!"
No matter what, he had to try!
...
Under the clear blue sky, a fleet of ships sailed forward in a triangular formation.
At the very back were over twenty small pirate ships. Every four ships had a slightly larger, twin-masted pirate ship in front of them, none of which bore any particular markings or served as a flagship.
Only the sails and jolly rogers displayed the starry sky skull-and-crossbones flag of the Natural Disaster Pirate Group.
In the middle were two much larger three-masted pirate ships. One of them was round and resembled a tiny island.
The other was built in a more conventional style, except for the statue at the prow, which was a round straw hat.
Leading the fleet was an enormous black ship, dwarfing all the others.
Its black hull was shrouded in a flag bearing a starry-eyed, fire-breathing skull, and its prow was adorned with an expanding dragon beast emblem.
In the New World, every pirate now recognized this ship.
It was the Death Harbinger, the ship of Norton Sage, the captain of the Natural Disaster Pirate Group.
In the captain's room, Lily was fully armed, clad in battle armor, with matching guards on her arms and legs.
She glanced out the window, her expression solemn. "Not a single drop of rain has fallen."
Mary, sitting beside her, had also opened her eyes, her usual gentle and soft expression replaced by one of gravity.
Even little Renitia grasped the seriousness of the situation, occasionally glancing at Sage, who sat there with a smile, drinking his wine.
After spending so much time together, they all knew what this meant.
It was understandable if the weather remained clear while they were on the island, as there were fixed climatic conditions there.
However, once they set sail, rain was inevitable. Even if there was sunshine, it would only come after the rain.
But ever since they left their base, not only had it not rained, but the sky had remained unchanged.
This signaled extreme danger!
Sage drained his cup in one gulp and grumbled,
"What now? When it rains, you look at me. When it doesn't rain, you still look at me. So am I supposed to control the weather now?"
"But that's Big Mom," Lily said. "Aren't you worried at all?" She could charge forward bravely, but that didn't mean she would neglect tactical considerations.
The power and influence of the Four Emperors were indeed beyond what their crew could match, and that was a fact.
This time, they were putting everything on the line in this battle.
All the combat-capable pirates stationed on the affiliated islands.
All the executives, and even three members of CP9, excluding Sivir and Misty, who were not of the same system and were kept as a last resort, were deployed.
"Now, with this formation, at the very back are the pirates who joined with their own ships. Each of them has a crew of just over a hundred, followed by captains like Bellamy.
Including Gabra, Owl, and Weigu, there are six ships in total, with around three hundred men on each ship.
Next are Moria and Hawkins' flagships, each carrying a thousand men.
The largest is the Death Harbinger, with two thousand crew members, including the three female executives.
In total, just over eight thousand, which is all the might that the Natural Disaster Pirate Group can currently muster.
However, this force is clearly insufficient to take on Big Mom.
The Emperor of the Sea is a formidable entity, with a combined troop strength of at least thirty thousand.
The Whitebeard Pirates brought fifty thousand to the Summit War.
In terms of numbers, Sage is no match for the Emperor of the Sea.
As for strength...
We won't know until we fight, but it certainly won't be easy.
No one wouldn't be worried about such a dangerous battle."
"Rest assured, Old Hawk already predicted our chances of victory to be 30% with his divination." Sage shrugged nonchalantly.
Lily sighed, "That's exactly why it's so risky."
Before the battle, Lily had gathered as much intelligence as possible. In this regard, they had CP9, and Donquixote Doflamingo in the underground world.
News of such a significant event couldn't be kept secret, and information was spreading like wildfire across the seas. All parties were gathering intelligence.
Lily had even called Doflamingo directly, and combined with the information CP9 had obtained from Lucci, the picture they formed was alarming.
Big Mom was taking Sage seriously and had personally joined the battle, bringing a force of twenty thousand!
And those core members... Well, they outnumbered Sage's side by quite a bit.
On top of that, there was Hawkins' prediction about their chances of victory.
His divination ability wasn't about being right or wrong; it was about probability.
30% chance of victory meant a 70% chance of failure!
"Risky," Lily admitted.
Sage bared his teeth in a fierce grin. "Are you scared?"
Lily's eyes narrowed, and she gripped the hilt of her sword at her waist. "Don't joke around, Sage. Probability is probability, and fear is fear. We are your executives!"
"Damn right!" Renitia raised her tiny fist and showed her tiger teeth. "I'll blow their asses wide open with my cannons!"
"Well, if the captain isn't scared, how can the crew be?"
Mary laughed. "But if my hands get bloody, don't blame me if the taste of my cooking changes afterward."
"I'll definitely blame you," Sage said with a laugh. "As a chef, you can only get better, not worse."
Sage grinned at the three of them and then said with a sinister smile, "Alright, let's do this!"
Lily closed her eyes briefly, took a deep breath, and then opened them again, her expression resolute. "First, let's talk about the notable opponents we'll be facing."
"First, there's the Sweet Commander, Urouge, who is currently recuperating on Skopp Island after his battle with one of the other commanders, Snack, who retreated with injuries, but we don't know his whereabouts. However, based on the battle reports, we won't have to face him, which is one less Commander to deal with."
"That leaves three Commanders. The most notable is Katakuri, who has a bounty of 1,057,000,000 berries, second only to Charlotte Linlin herself among Big Mom's crew.
"According to our intelligence, Katakuri is forty-five years old and Big Mom's second child. As a pirate, he has never been defeated, and his bounty is even higher than Moria's, which means he's definitely a formidable opponent."
Lily paused, her tone determined as she continued, "I'll take him on."
If Urouge could defeat a Commander, Lily was confident she wouldn't fall behind. She would take on the most challenging opponent!
"Oh? I thought you'd let Moria face him," Sage said with a smile.
"Our main force is insufficient, and Moria can handle the remaining forces. He's an old-time pirate and a former Shichibukai, so he has both the strength and the experience. If we want to maximize our chances of victory and preserve our strength, those enemies are best left to him."
Lily analyzed, "That leaves two other Commanders, Smoothie and Cracker. One has a bounty of 932,000,000 berries, and the other, 860,000,000. We don't have many people who can take them on, Mary, you choose one."
"Then I'll take on the one with the bounty of 932,000,000."
Determination flashed in Mary's beautiful eyes as she said, "I'll take on some of the burden, Sage."
"Does that mean I get Cracker?" Renitia pouted. "I want a strong opponent, too!"
"No, Ren, Cracker will be handled by Hawkins."
Lily explained, "You're too young for these crucial battles. We'll take on the main forces, and your job is to support Moria and take out as many of them as you can!"
The upcoming battle would be intense, and Renitia wasn't the best fit. She was an ordinary person, young, and her physical body might not be able to withstand significant damage, despite her talent and well-developed Devil Fruit ability.
No matter how talented she was, if she couldn't take the hits, she wouldn't last.
Pitting her against such opponents would only put her in harm's way, and some things were still too early for Renitia.
Hawkins was the best choice for this.
As she finished speaking, Lily tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword, her face set in a resolute expression.
It was time for them to share some of the burden with Sage!
Just as Sage needed to fight Big Mom to boost his reputation, they needed these formidable opponents to prove themselves and keep up with Sage's rapid growth.
Now was the time for their trial by fire!
(End of Chapter)
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