Since both Kaido and Marco had already agreed to the condition, Big Mom realized that she could not refuse.
More importantly, if she could obtain Vegapunk's technological expertise, it might truly become possible to create an artificial Giant race.
After all, Kaido's Brutes had originally been part of Vegapunk's Giant experimentation program. They were essentially failed Giant test subjects.
Even as failures, their strength was extremely impressive. Their only real weakness was their low intelligence.
After hesitating for a short moment, Big Mom finally spoke.
"Alright, this old lady agrees as well."
She did not truly want to accept the condition, but there was no other choice. Among the three pirate crews in the alliance, the Big Mom Pirates currently held the weakest position. Now that the Three Emperors Alliance had been formed, there was no turning back.
Kaido immediately burst into loud laughter.
"Worororo, excellent! In that case, I'll head over to support you right away."
Marco quickly raised his voice.
"No, wait."
Kaido paused slightly.
Marco continued calmly, "Right now I only see the Marines. The Gorosei have not appeared yet. If the two of you arrive directly, the Gorosei may choose not to show themselves."
He then explained his plan.
"You two should enter the Mirror World first. Later, I will contact you through a Transponder Snail. Once the Gorosei appear on Egghead Island, that will be the moment for you to come out."
Marco's eyes grew colder as he finished speaking.
"This time, I'm using myself as bait. My goal is to eliminate several members of the Gorosei."
When Kaido heard this, his blood immediately began to boil with excitement.
"Worororo! So those old monsters rely on immortality, huh? This time I'm going to break their cursed immortality myself."
During the last war at Whole Cake Island, Kaido had only briefly encountered the Gorosei. Once he arrived, the Marines and the World Government forces quickly chose to retreat. Because of that, Kaido never had the opportunity to properly test their so called immortality.
For more than a month, he had been constantly thinking about ways to overcome it. If he faced them again, he planned to try every method he had devised.
Marco nodded.
"Good. Then it's settled."
Soon after ending the call, Marco stepped outside.
At that moment, every member of the Phoenix Pirates was staring toward the distant sky.
Thirty warships floated through the air like massive flying fortresses, slowly approaching Egghead Island.
Sentomaru, Vegapunk's personal bodyguard, stepped forward. Although he had always disliked pirates, his duty had always been to protect Vegapunk.
Now that Vegapunk was targeted by the World Government for researching Poneglyphs, Sentomaru had no choice but to follow him. In doing so, he had effectively left the World Government's side and joined the pirate faction.
Behind Sentomaru stood rows of Pacifista.
When the Phoenix Pirates saw them, many could not help but feel surprised.
During the war at Marineford, their allied pirate crews had suffered enormous losses against the Pacifista. These human weapons possessed terrifying durability and destructive power. Even criminals with bounties exceeding 100 million Berries struggled to damage them. Even the captains of some allied pirate crews found it difficult to destroy a Pacifista quickly.
But now, these terrifying weapons stood on their side.
This realization greatly boosted the confidence of the Phoenix Pirates.
Sentomaru spoke in a serious tone.
"Although the Doctor instructed us to avoid killing Marines whenever possible, this is still war. It is extremely difficult to fight while only injuring the enemy."
He paused briefly.
"However, since many of these Marines were once my comrades, I will do my best to leave them a way out."
After saying this, Sentomaru looked toward Marco and the members of the Phoenix Pirates.
"Phoenix Marco, I will have the Pacifista shoot down all the warships in the sky first. After that, please try to capture the Marines alive whenever possible. Do not take their lives if it can be avoided. These ordinary soldiers are simply following orders from their superiors."
Marco chuckled lightly.
"Doctor Vegapunk really is committed to humanitarian ideals."
Still, Marco eventually nodded.
"Alright. But this applies only once. If the Marines are willing to surrender, I won't kill them. But if they continue to resist, I will not hold back."
His tone became firm.
"The lives of my crew are far more important than those Marines. Besides, battles between pirates and Marines will only become more frequent. If we hesitate to kill, they certainly will not hesitate to kill us."
Sentomaru understood this reality and simply nodded.
"That is acceptable."
Then he immediately issued an order.
"Pacifista, fire and shoot down all warships in the sky."
At once, the Pacifista raised their arms and opened their mouths. Bright energy began gathering within their palms and mouths.
High above, the Marines aboard the floating warships saw rows of Pacifista below aiming upward like anti aircraft weapons.
Panic quickly spread through their ranks.
As Marines, they understood the destructive power of Pacifista far better than most pirates. Ordinary Marines had almost no chance when facing one.
The next moment, countless narrow beams of light shot into the sky.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Laser beams streaked toward the Marine fleet.
At that moment, two figures stepped forward.
Issho, better known as Admiral Fujitora, drew his cane sword and swung it forward.
"Gravity Blade, Fierce Tiger!"
A massive wave of gravitational force erupted outward.
At the same time, Admiral Aramaki raised his arms as they transformed into twisting vines.
"Forest Blessing!"
Towering wooden barriers erupted upward, forming thick defensive walls around the fleet.
One Admiral attacked while the other defended.
Many of the incoming lasers struck the wooden defenses created by Aramaki and exploded violently. Others were deflected by Fujitora's gravitational force and scattered in different directions.
Several beams were even redirected toward Egghead Island itself.
Boom, boom, boom.
Explosions erupted across the streets of the island as stray laser blasts struck the ground.
Sentomaru frowned slightly.
"I didn't expect the two Admirals to step in so quickly. It looks like this battle won't be easy."
Ace stepped forward with confidence.
"Leave the Admirals to us."
A fiery determination burned in his eyes.
"Last time I fought a Marine Admiral, we never decided a clear winner. This time I'm going to settle that score properly."
Beside him, Yamato laughed excitedly.
"Yeah. This is going to be fun."