Chapter 275: The Strongest Alliance?

Even though Kaido was currently in his massive dragon form, every single individual present on the field could clearly hear the turbulent tremor underlying his voice.

"Huh?" Big Mom glanced up at the gargantuan azure dragon hovering in the clouds, her expression relaxing into a wide grin. "Of course I did. He's right down at the base of the Red Line this very second. Though I suppose he won't be needing to come up here himself—otherwise, I'd just be adding another formidable competitor to the field, wouldn't I?"

A cold, calculating smile spread across Big Mom's features as she spoke.

"Hey! Linlin... you said you had business to negotiate with me, didn't you?!"

"Kaido!" the scarred Elder who had personally escorted Kaido to the field shouted sharply to interject, but Kaido completely ignored him, his murderous gaze locked firmly onto Big Mom.

At this realization, a sudden wave of understanding washed over the assembled armies. So the World Government had been leveraging King—the lead All-Star of the Beast Pirates—to blackmail Kaido, forcing him to act as their muscle on the battlefield...

If that was truly the layout, then the World Government's methods were despicable to an absolute extreme!

Every pair of eyes on the plaza converged upon the two Emperor-tier powerhouses. Big Mom paused for a brief microsecond before catching onto the subtext, her lips splitting into a cruel, wide grin.

"That's right. That precious bird of yours, King, is actively resting on my flagship as we speak. If you have no objections, I might just recruit him into my Big Mom Pirates permanently. Mamama... MAMAMA! What do you say to that, Kaido...?"

Hearing those words, Kaido opened his gargantuan dragon maw and let out a booming, thunderous laugh.

"Worororo... That won't do at all, Linlin! King happens to be my most cherished right-hand man!" As he spoke, his massive serpentine body churned violently through the heavens, stirring up fierce atmospheric winds.

"Spill it—what is your true objective here? What did you mean by your earlier proposal?!"

"So... you agree to terms?" Big Mom snapped her eyes wide, sweeping her sharp gaze across the expressions of every major figure present on the battlefield.

"My objective for coming here... Kaido, it has been several decades since you and I last fought side by side, hasn't it?"

"Hm? What are you implying...?"

"Mamama... MAMAMA! My meaning is simple. The Big Mom Pirates and the Beast Pirates shall forge an absolute, unified alliance! Well? How does that sound to you, Kaido...?"

"WHAT!!??" A collective gasp of absolute horror erupted across the plaza. To think that news of this world-shattering scale would be declared right out in the open before their very eyes!

Two Emperors of the Sea forming a unified alliance?!

"Curse those bastards, Kaido and Big Mom! Isn't this scenario an exact mirror of God Valley eight hundred years ago?!"

Every strategist on the field understood with terrifying clarity that the moment these two Emperor-tier crews merged their military mass, they would unequivocally register as the absolute strongest alliance on the face of the planet!

Bar none.

"Was King genuinely broken out of captivity?! Contact Warden Magellan at Impel Down immediately! I want to know exactly what in the hell happened down there!!" the scarred Elder roared in a fit of pure, unbridled fury to his subordinates.

"Sir!"

Kaido stared deeply down at Big Mom, his heavy brows furrowing into a tight, complex knot. He couldn't fully decode Big Mom's underlying game plan.

Proposing a formal alliance at a flashpoint like this?

She knew as well as anyone that his Beast Pirates were effectively defunct at this milestone, completely fractured and scattered across the seas.

Among his three Lead Performers, Jack was confirmed dead, and Queen's coordinates were completely unmapped. All Kaido knew was that after their defeat, both he and King had been handed over to the Navy by the leaders of Wano Country.

To integrate Wano into the global geopolitical grid and complete their grand vision of opening the borders, the new regime had used the two of them as bargaining chips to secure official recognition from the World Government.

Following their capture, King had been shipped straight to the dark depths of Impel Down, while Kaido had been brought directly before the Five Elders.

After enduring a long, agonizing period of total imprisonment, he had only been released from his shackles today—under the terms of a forced transaction dictated by the World Government.

They mandated that he deploy his absolute combat power on their behalf during this war. In exchange, they promised to release King from Impel Down; should he refuse, King would face immediate, summary execution.

And so, he had stepped onto this field.

"You know full well that the Beast Pirates no longer exist as a functional fleet. What are you truly playing at, Linlin?!" Kaido growled, his dragon nostrils snorting a cloud of thick, white steam.

"Mamama... MAMAMA! Still as cautious as ever, I see. But Kaido... even if I offered to let you join my Big Mom Pirates as a subordinate, a man like you would mathematically never accept such a arrangement, would you?"

"Oh?" Kaido suddenly erupted into a wild, boisterous laugh. "Worororo... You're damn right about that...!"

The uninhibited laughter echoed across the heavens like a loud declaration of defiance against the entire global order. Moments later, Kaido slowly lowered his massive dragon head, his gaze fixing upon Big Mom.

In a flash of light, his gargantuan dragon frame condensed, reverting back to his massive human form as he landed heavily on the stone right beside Big Mom.

"In that case, starting today... the Beast Pirates..."

Big Mom's face warped into a manic, triumphant grin. "...and the Big Mom Pirates..."

"OUR ALLIANCE IS OFFICIALLY FORMED!!"

The declaration struck the entire battlefield like an absolute, physical shockwave.

"Kaido! I won't hide it from you any longer—I have already verified through my networks that the final Road Poneglyph is anchored right here within this Holy Land of Mary Geoise!" Big Mom noted, casting a sideways glance at Kaido.

"Eight hundred years ago, after Roger reached Laugh Tale and claimed the title of Pirate King, the World Government moved with extreme desperation to prevent a successor from ever emerging. They expended endless resources to secure one of the Road Poneglyphs, locking it away deep within their subterranean vaults."

"WHAT?! It's right here in Mary Geoise?!" Kaido's eyes widened in genuine surprise.

"Precisely."

"I see... The piece hidden here, combined with the one located on that phantom island of Zou—that makes all four!" Kaido shouldered his massive, spiked kanabo, a long-absent, feral grin spreading across his features. "Worororo... So that was your true endgame all along!"

"The Pirate King!" Kaido declared, his eyes burning with absolute, re-ignited ambition.

"Indeed. That has perpetually remained our ultimate objective, hasn't it?"

"Mamama... MAMAMA!" Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, Big Mom and Kaido rotated their collective gaze toward the elevated platform anchoring the rear of the Navy's grand assembly.

"Akainu... and you Five Elders who love hiding in the shadows... You know exactly where the Road Poneglyph we seek is hidden, don't you?"

An eerie, suffocating silence fell over the entire battlefield. The intelligence dropped into the open air was simply too staggering to process.

Though the average soldier possessed zero understanding of what a "Poneglyph" actually was, they could easily deduce from the exchange between Kaido and Big Mom that it represented the key to claiming the ultimate title of Pirate King.

High above in the heavens, Dragon silently observed the scene unfold. He made zero attempt to utilize the sudden pause in momentum to haul up the remaining Revolutionary Army soldiers waiting below.

He remained completely motionless.

Noticing his total lack of movement, the Five Elders—who had been deeply anxious a microsecond prior—gradually felt a weight lift from their chests. Yet almost instantly, a subtle, uneasy intuition warned them that something about the overall layout was dangerously wrong.

They simply couldn't pinpoint where the flaw in the equation lay.

"You bastards... actually believe that forging a pathetic alliance grants you the liberty to act without restraint on this field?!" Fleet Admiral Akainu growled, his eyes glaring with lethal, unbridled malice.

Had he not been bound by the administrative duties of Fleet Admiral, he would have long since launched himself into the fray to engage these lawless criminals directly. In his personal ideology, zero spoken words carried more weight than a heavy, Haki-infused fist.

For any conflict that could be resolved through absolute military force, he fundamentally despised wasting cognitive energy on diplomacy.

It was entirely unnecessary.

"Akainu!" The scarred Elder raised his hand to check Akainu's aggressive stance. Taking a deep breath as if arriving at a monumental, high-stakes decision, he addressed Kaido and Big Mom: "We can hand over the item you seek."

"However..." His tone underwent a sharp, cold pivot.

"You must guarantee our absolute victory in this war first!"