Chapter 336
The sickeningly sweet air inside the throne hall seemed to freeze into solid ice.
Katakuri’s pupils contracted without warning.
His gaze lost focus for a fraction of a second as Observation Haki surged through his senses and carried his awareness several seconds into the immediate future.
The enormous doors at the far end of the hall were still closed, yet Katakuri had already seen what was about to happen.
They would open, and a man dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit would enter without the slightest hesitation, carrying a dark golden scroll in one hand.
He would stop before the two Emperors as though the crushing pressure filling the throne hall meant nothing to him, then calmly announce that he had brought them a grand gift.
That was all.
The vision ended almost as quickly as it had appeared, returning Katakuri to the present before the doors had even begun to move.
Charlotte Linlin immediately noticed the change in her son’s expression.
“KATAKURI!”
Her enormous voice shook the throne hall, rattling plates and glasses across the nearby tables.
“What did you see?”
Katakuri drew a slow breath and kept his eyes fixed on the entrance.
“Someone is coming.”
Perospero’s long tongue paused halfway across his lips.
“Who?”
“Dapus.”
The name immediately changed the atmosphere.
Linlin’s expression darkened, and even Kaido lowered the enormous sake gourd he had been drinking from.
Director Dapus was one of the last people either Emperor expected to appear here without warning.
He was not one of the Five Elders, despite the influence he wielded behind the scenes, but as field director of CP0’s Aegis Execution Unit he operated directly beneath them and handled assignments the World Government preferred never to acknowledge publicly.
Linlin certainly remembered his previous involvement in Totto Land.
Her fingers tightened around Napoleon.
“What does that bastard want?”
Katakuri’s Future Sight had already given him the answer, or at least the small portion of it he was capable of seeing.
“He says he brought the two of you a grand gift.”
Kaido stared toward the entrance for several seconds before a low chuckle rumbled from his chest.
“Worororo… A gift from the World Government?”
He tilted the sake gourd against one shoulder.
“That usually means somebody else gets stabbed in the back.”
Linlin did not laugh.
“Mamamama… If that bastard thinks he can walk into my territory and play another one of his games, I’ll tear him apart before he finishes his first sentence.”
Before Katakuri could respond, the future he had just witnessed began unfolding in front of them.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Hard leather shoes struck the floor beyond the entrance.
The doors swung inward.
A tall man emerged from the corridor, dressed in a spotless black tailcoat with a dark crimson cape hanging from his shoulders.
A gold-rimmed monocle rested over one eye, while an elaborately decorated dark golden scroll remained tucked beneath his arm.
Several Charlotte family members immediately tensed.
Dapus paid none of them any attention.
He walked directly toward the center of the throne hall, stopping only when the combined pressure of two Emperors would have made almost anyone else struggle to breathe.
Then he smiled.
“Well.”
His gaze moved first toward Charlotte Linlin and then toward Kaido.
“It seems I’ve arrived at precisely the right moment.”
Linlin rose from her throne so abruptly that the structure groaned beneath her weight.
“YOU’VE GOT SOME NERVE SHOWING YOUR FACE HERE!”
A violent gust rushed through the hall as her fury surged outward.
“Last time, your Government promised me Zaraki! Instead, Snack died, my territory was torn apart, and that brat walked away with Gion after turning everything upside down!”
Her enormous face twisted with rage.
“And now you stroll back in here talking about gifts?!”
Dapus remained perfectly composed.
“I remember our previous arrangement very well.”
“Then you remember how badly it ended!”
“I do.”
His answer was so calm that Linlin’s rage momentarily stalled.
Dapus adjusted the sleeve of his coat before continuing.
“But I did not come all the way to Totto Land to debate an operation that has already failed. The Five Elders have no interest in wasting time mourning past mistakes, and neither, I imagine, do either of you.”
Kaido’s visible eye narrowed.
“Get to the point.”
Dapus’s smile deepened.
“Gladly.”
He slowly lifted the dark golden scroll.
“I came under direct orders from the Five Elders.”
The mention of those five men immediately drew Katakuri’s attention.
Dapus allowed the silence to settle before continuing.
“They are prepared to offer the two of you something considerably more valuable than compensation for a failed operation.”
Linlin sat back slightly, though the hostility in her face did not disappear.
“And what could those old bastards possibly have that I want?”
“A shared objective.”
Dapus turned enough that both Emperors could see his expression clearly.
“For centuries, the World Government has maintained its position by preserving a balance among powers that would otherwise tear one another apart. The Marines, the Warlords, the Four Emperors, the kingdoms beneath the Government’s banner—each piece restrained another.”
His thumb slid along the edge of the scroll.
“That balance is already collapsing.”
Kaido gave an amused grunt.
“Because of Zaraki?”
“Among other things.”
Dapus did not deny it.
“One Emperor has been openly wounded. The Warlord system is destabilizing. Several of its strongest members have rejected direct orders, and the Marines have already lost one of the most dangerous fighters they have produced in decades.”
His expression became colder.
“Meanwhile, Edward Newgate continues to occupy a position no pirate of his age should still possess.”
Linlin’s eyes sharpened.
“Whitebeard.”
“Exactly.”
Kaido’s grin slowly widened.
Now Dapus had his attention.
The old rivalry between Whitebeard, Linlin, and Kaido required no explanation.
They had known one another since the era of Rocks, and decades had done little to soften any of those grudges.
Dapus raised the scroll slightly.
“Four days from now, your alliance banquet will begin on Onigashima. The New World already knows about it, which means every major power will be watching Wano.”
His monocle caught the light.
“The Five Elders intend to ensure that the gathering becomes far more significant than an ordinary celebration between two pirate crews.”
Perospero licked his lips.
“What exactly are you proposing?”
Dapus looked at him only briefly before returning his attention to the two Emperors.
“A battlefield.”
The word fell quietly.
“A place where several problems can be gathered together and resolved at once.”
Linlin’s grin slowly returned.
“Mamamama…”
Kaido raised his sake gourd again.
“Worororo…”
Dapus finally began unrolling the dark golden scroll.
“I believe you will find the Five Elders’ grand gift quite difficult to refuse.”