Chapter 337
The moment Dapus finished speaking, the throne hall sank into an uneasy silence.
Charlotte Linlin leaned back in her enormous seat while Kaido remained beside the banquet table, one hand wrapped around his sake gourd.
Neither Emperor appeared particularly surprised by the idea of turning their alliance celebration into a battlefield; if anything, the possibility seemed considerably more appealing to them than the political ceremony they had originally planned.
Katakuri, however, watched Dapus carefully.
The Government man was too calm.
Whatever he had brought from Mary Geoise involved more than a simple promise of military assistance.
Linlin tapped one thick finger against the armrest.
“So you’re telling me those five old bastards suddenly want to help pirates?”
Dapus smiled faintly.
“I would not insult either of us by calling it friendship.”
“Mamamama! At least you know your place.”
“This is cooperation based entirely on mutual interest,” Dapus continued. “Nothing more.”
Kaido took another drink.
“And after Whitebeard is dead?”
“Then our interests may diverge again.”
The bluntness of the answer drew a sharp grin from Kaido.
“Worororo! Better than listening to some Government dog pretend we’re all friends.”
Dapus inclined his head.
“The Five Elders are under no illusion that either of you would willingly serve the World Government, just as you should be under no illusion that Mary Geoise has suddenly developed affection for the Four Emperors.”
He slowly rolled one end of the scroll between his fingers.
“But Edward Newgate presents a problem for all of us. His territory, reputation, subordinate fleets, and decades of accumulated influence preserve the old structure of the New World. As long as he remains standing, any new order must account for him.”
Linlin’s eyes gleamed.
“And Zaraki?”
The faint smile disappeared from Dapus’s face.
“Zaraki is another matter.”
His voice became noticeably colder.
“The Five Elders have already made their position regarding him clear.”
Kaido snorted.
“You declared him dead and he walked right back into the world.”
Dapus’s expression twitched almost imperceptibly.
The official report claiming that Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro had executed Zaraki after pursuing him from Mary Geoise had not survived contact with reality for very long.
Zaraki’s continued existence had turned what was meant to be a clean political solution into another public humiliation.
Kaido clearly enjoyed reminding him of it.
Dapus ignored the provocation.
“The fact that he survived does not alter the decision.”
Katakuri’s gaze sharpened.
“You intend to attack both Whitebeard and Zaraki at the banquet?”
“If circumstances permit.”
Perospero gave a startled laugh.
“Perorin~! That’s quite ambitious, even for the World Government.”
“Which is why the Five Elders are not asking the Charlotte Family or Beasts Pirates to carry the entire burden.”
Dapus finally opened the scroll farther.
“This time, forces operating directly under the Five Elders will participate.”
Linlin’s smile faded slightly.
The previous arrangement had relied heavily on pirates, indirect pressure, and concealed Government involvement.
If Mary Geoise intended to commit its own personnel openly enough for Dapus to admit it beforehand, then whatever the Five Elders were planning had moved far beyond their earlier schemes.
Kaido evidently reached the same conclusion.
“Which forces?”
“That will depend on developments over the next four days.”
Dapus’s answer came without hesitation.
“CP0 assets have already begun moving, but they will not be the only Government personnel involved.”
Kaido stared at him.
“You’re avoiding the question.”
“Only because the answer has two parts.”
That finally made Linlin lean forward.
Dapus placed one gloved finger against the dark golden scroll.
“One representative of the Five Elders will participate personally.”
Perospero’s tongue stopped moving.
Even Katakuri’s expression changed.
Kaido lowered his sake gourd.
“One of the old men is coming to Wano?”
“Yes.”
“Worororo…”
Kaido’s grin widened until his teeth showed.
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Linlin’s eyes narrowed.
“Which one?”
Dapus did not answer immediately.
Instead, he continued.
“And that is merely the first part.”
Katakuri felt the pressure in the hall change again.
Dapus’s gaze swept over everyone present.
“The Five Elders have also secured the cooperation of an exceptionally useful outside party.”
Perospero frowned.
“Another pirate?”
“Among other things.”
“Who?”
Dapus’s mouth curved upward.
“Someone whose ambitions happen to align rather neatly with ours.”
Kaido’s grin disappeared just enough to reveal genuine curiosity.
“What kind of bastard is stupid enough to work with the World Government after everything that’s happened lately?”
“The kind who never intended to remain loyal in the first place.”
That answer made Katakuri’s eyes narrow.
Linlin slammed one palm against the throne.
“Enough riddles! Which Elder is coming, and who is this so-called powerful ally?”
For the first time since entering the hall, Dapus looked genuinely satisfied.
He leisurely unfurled the remainder of the dark golden scroll.
“Very well.”
His fingertip came to rest upon the first name.
“Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro will represent the Five Elders personally.”
Kaido’s eye sharpened.
Linlin merely grunted.
Nusjuro’s name was hardly unfamiliar after the Government’s previous interference in Totto Land and the chaos surrounding Zaraki’s departure from Marineford.
Dapus then moved his finger lower.
“As for our outside ally…”
His smile widened.
“I suspect this name will interest Edward Newgate considerably more.”
…
Dapus leisurely unfolded the dark golden scroll across his hands, running his fingertips over its ancient patterns as the faint smile on his face deepened.
“The ally I’m referring to is Marshall D. Teach.”
For several seconds, nobody inside the throne hall spoke.
Then Kaido’s visible eye narrowed.
“Blackbeard?”
Charlotte Linlin’s face twisted with immediate suspicion, while Perospero stopped fidgeting with his candy cane.
The name had been spreading rapidly throughout the New World.
Teach had murdered one of Whitebeard’s commanders, abandoned his former crew, obtained provisional recognition from the World Government under highly unusual circumstances, and then used that status to reach Impel Down before betraying everyone involved.
Dapus watched their reactions with obvious satisfaction.
“You seem familiar with him.”
“Mamamama… That traitorous little bastard who ran away from Whitebeard?”
Linlin’s grin showed no warmth.
“That’s your grand ally?”
“Not by himself.”
Dapus tapped the scroll.
“Teach has recently acquired several companions whose names carry considerably more weight than the crew he possessed before.”
Katakuri’s eyes narrowed.
“What companions?”
“Shiryu of the Rain, for one.”
That name immediately produced a reaction from several people in the hall.
Dapus continued without waiting.
“And several prisoners formerly confined within Level 6 of Impel Down. Catarina Devon. Avalo Pizarro. Vasco Shot. Sanjuan Wolf. There may be others we have not yet confirmed.”
Perospero’s expression changed.
“Level 6?”
Even pirates who had never seen Impel Down understood what that meant.
The deepest publicly known section of the prison held criminals considered dangerous enough that the World Government often preferred the world to forget they existed at all.
Kaido barked out a laugh.
“WORORORO! So that sneaky bastard used the Government to walk into Impel Down and stole prisoners right out from under you?”
Dapus’s smile tightened.
“An unfortunate consequence of his temporary authorization.”
“You mean he made fools of you.”
“His method is irrelevant. The result is what matters.”
Dapus’s voice cooled enough to end the amusement in Kaido’s face.
“Teach possesses a powerful crew, a personal grudge against Edward Newgate’s family, and ambitions large enough that the collapse of Whitebeard’s position would benefit him immediately.”
Perospero frowned.
“And you expect us to trust someone like that?”
“No.”
Dapus answered so simply that Perospero fell silent.
“Trust is unnecessary when shared interests are sufficient. Teach betrayed Whitebeard, betrayed the World Government, and would undoubtedly betray either of you if given an opportunity profitable enough to justify it.”
He casually adjusted the edge of the scroll.
“That is precisely why nobody will be foolish enough to rely on his loyalty.”
Kaido gave a low chuckle.
“Worororo… Now that sounds more believable.”
Dapus inclined his head.
“Teach wants opportunity. Whitebeard’s death would leave territories, subordinate crews, influence, and an enormous symbolic position vulnerable. I doubt anyone needs to explain to a man like him how valuable that could become.”
Linlin’s eyes slowly brightened.
That was an arrangement she understood perfectly.
Nobody needed to like Blackbeard. Nobody needed to believe he would honor an agreement after the fighting ended.
If his hatred, greed, and newly acquired strength could be aimed toward Whitebeard for one decisive battle, then he was useful.
“And Nusjuro?” she asked.
“He will attend Onigashima personally as the Five Elders’ representative.”
Dapus’s expression grew colder.
“The Government has tolerated enough embarrassment surrounding Zaraki. Saint Nusjuro has his own reasons for wanting that matter settled.”
Kaido remembered the reports surrounding Mary Geoise and laughed again.
“So the old swordsman wants another round.”
Dapus ignored the phrasing.
“Four days from now, when your alliance banquet begins on Onigashima, forces under the Five Elders will already be positioned to act if necessary. Teach and his people will have their own role.”
He looked from Linlin to Kaido.
“If Edward Newgate chooses to attend, he will not be facing merely the combined strength of two Emperors.”
His monocle caught the light.
“And if Zaraki appears as well, so much the better.”
A heavy silence filled the throne hall.
Then Charlotte Linlin began to laugh.
“Mamamamama!”
She slowly settled deeper into her throne, greed replacing the last traces of suspicion in her eyes.
“Fine! Let them come!”
Her enormous hand tightened around Napoleon.
“Let Whitebeard fight Blackbeard. Let Zaraki fight your Government. Let every bastard who thinks he can stand above me tear chunks out of the others until they can barely move!”
Her grin became monstrous.
“When they’re finished, I’ll take whatever’s left!”
Kaido threw his head back and roared with laughter, slamming the base of Hassaikai against the floor hard enough to send vibrations through the chamber.
“WORORORORO!”
His expression became savage.
“I don’t care what scheme the Government is planning, and I don’t give a damn what Blackbeard wants. If Newgate comes to Wano, I’ll settle things with him myself!”
Dapus calmly rolled the scroll closed.
“Then we understand one another.”
He turned toward the entrance.
Two masked Aegis operatives who had remained beyond the doors immediately stepped into view and fell in behind him.
Perospero blinked.
“You’re leaving already?”
“My purpose here is finished.”
Dapus adjusted one glove while walking toward the doors.
“The remaining coordination can be handled through secure channels. I suggest you spend the next four days ensuring Onigashima is prepared.”
He stopped at the threshold and glanced over his shoulder.
“After all, the entire New World may soon remember that banquet as the place where one era ended.”
Linlin’s grin widened.
“Mamamama… Tell those old bastards they had better keep their side of the bargain.”
“I will.”
Dapus continued through the doorway with the two Aegis operatives following close behind. The enormous doors closed after them, leaving the two Emperors and their commanders alone.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Perospero turned toward his mother.
“Mama… if the Government really sends Nusjuro and Blackbeard appears with those prisoners, this could become much larger than the alliance banquet we planned.”
“Of course it will.”
Linlin’s laughter returned.
“That’s what makes it interesting!”
She slammed one enormous hand against the armrest.
“Tell the fleet to prepare! We leave for Wano as soon as everything is ready. I want every idiot attending that banquet to understand exactly what it means to stand beneath the flag of two Emperors!”
Kaido lifted his sake gourd.
“Worororo! Newgate, Zaraki… don’t keep me waiting.”