The group exchanged glances.
Jozu spoke first, his tone heavy and resolute.
"Personally, I don't trust alliances. Under Pops, and even now, we've never relied on anyone else. That said… Marco, this decision is yours."
Jinbe nodded firmly.
"You are the Captain. Whatever you decide, we will stand behind you."
Ace thought for a moment before adding,
"I feel the same. We still don't know enough about them. We've only just stabilized our footing in the New World—suddenly jumping into a Yonko alliance feels… risky."
Izo's expression darkened.
"I oppose it outright. Kaido is the one who killed Lord Oden. Even if we don't seek revenge, there's no reason to ally with such a man. And he just executed Orochi—his own nominal ally—without hesitation. If we join him, what's stopping him from turning on us next?"
Kaido's brow furrowed, his voice turning cold.
"Orochi was a weakling who brought death upon himself. If I had wanted him gone, he would've been useless the moment Oden fell."
"I'm asking you, Marco," Izo pressed, his gaze intense. He clearly hoped Marco would reject the proposal outright.
But Marco hesitated.
Though the system promised the same reward whether he accepted or refused, Marco wasn't a puppet of numbers. He had his own ambitions—bigger ones. He, too, wanted to drag the Celestial Dragons down from Mary Geoise.
With the system at his side, Marco believed that given enough time, even reaching—or surpassing—Imu was possible.
But not yet.
Right now, he stood at Strong Yonko level. While that placed him among the world's elite, it didn't make him untouchable. Marine Admirals could still fight him evenly, and defeating one outright would likely require a brutal war of attrition.
Kaido and Linlin noticed Marco's hesitation—and inwardly rejoiced.
The two had already formed an alliance long ago. They were merely concealing it, wary of alerting Marco and Shanks too early. If those two sensed the danger, Kaido's plan for a broader alliance would collapse before it began.
What Kaido wanted now was simple: test the waters.
If he could pull Marco—and ideally Red Hair—into the fold, the New World would be firmly under the Yonkos' control.
Benn Beckman caught the flicker of conflict in Marco's eyes and felt a chill run down his spine.
He knew Shanks well. The Red Hair Pirates never wanted the balance of the New World broken. Worse still, Benn had already deduced the truth—Kaido and Linlin were almost certainly already allied.
If the Phoenix Pirates joined as well, forming a three-Emperor alliance, the balance would shatter instantly. Even the Red Hair Pirates would struggle to survive, let alone the rest of the New World.
Benn Beckman spoke coldly, cutting through the silence.
"Pirates thrive on betrayal. Once interests diverge, blood inevitably follows. A so-called Yonko alliance is nothing more than a fantasy."
Shanks said nothing, but his gaze remained fixed on Marco.
Marco's expression was conflicted—and that alone made Shanks uneasy. As fellow Emperors, he couldn't interfere directly. Pressuring Marco now would only push him the wrong way.
At last, Marco lifted his head and looked straight at Kaido and Linlin, a faintly mocking smile on his lips.
"Kaido… Linlin… you two haven't already formed an alliance, have you?"
For an instant, both Kaido's and Linlin's pupils contracted—just a fraction.
Ace and Jinbe immediately stiffened, their gazes turning sharp and wary.
"They're already allied?" Ace muttered.
Kaido was genuinely startled. He had told no one—not even his own subordinates. Was Marco guessing… or had he seen through everything?
After a brief pause, Kaido replied evenly,
"Linlin and I have discussed the idea—but no alliance has been finalized."
But Marco's question had already planted doubt.
If Kaido and Linlin were secretly allied, then even a three-way alliance would leave the Phoenix Pirates at a disadvantage—outnumbered and surrounded by schemers.
Kaido, however, remained confident.
In his mind, the worst outcome was maintaining a two-Emperor alliance with Linlin. The best outcome was drawing in the Phoenix Pirates and forming a three-Emperor coalition.
As for Red Hair? Kaido had never seriously expected Shanks to agree. The Red Hair Pirates walked a completely different path—few in number, elite to the core, and unbound by territory. They had little incentive to ally with anyone.
But they couldn't be ignored.
If only Kaido and Linlin allied, then Red Hair and the Phoenix Pirates could just as easily form a counterbalance—rendering Kaido's advantage meaningless.
That was why Marco mattered.
Everything hinged on his decision.
Kaido laughed suddenly, changing the subject with a booming voice.
"Worororo! I've already thought through your concerns… Who's Who—"
"Yes, Lord Kaido."
Who's Who hurried forward, three neatly bound documents clutched in his hands. At Kaido's gesture, he placed them one by one before Marco, Shanks, and Big Mom.
Kaido leaned back, his voice steady and confident.
"This is the alliance treaty I drafted. Take your time and read it. If anything doesn't sit right with you—or if you want revisions—we'll discuss them openly."
Marco lowered his gaze to the bold title at the top of the document:
Yonko Alliance Treaty
The contents were concise—only six clauses.
The first clause declared that once the treaty was enacted, all four parties would formally recognize and respect each other's territories, with no invasions or encroachments allowed.
The second clause established mutual economic exchange between the four crews.
The third clause stated that if any party were attacked by the Marines or other pirate forces, the remaining parties were obligated to provide full military support.
The fourth clause prohibited interference in each other's internal affairs.
The fifth clause was ruthless: should any party betray the alliance, the remaining three would unite to eliminate the traitor.
The sixth and final clause allowed any dissatisfied party to withdraw from the alliance freely, without restriction, during the alliance period.
Shanks skimmed the document in silence, his expression grave as he continued sipping his sake. His real concern wasn't the clauses themselves—it was the fragile balance of theYonkos.
He had already staked everything on Luffy's future. If the balance of power collapsed now, Shanks feared that Luffy might never be given the chance to reach the summit.
Jozu and the others instinctively turned their attention to Marco. Whatever decision he made, they would follow without hesitation.
Marco finally looked up at Kaido.
"An alliance isn't off the table," he said calmly. "But before I agree, I have one condition."
"Oh?" Kaido's eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
As long as Marco joined, the alliance would effectively become a three-Emperor coalition—an overwhelming force that no one in the New World could oppose.
Shanks' expression darkened slightly, but he remained silent. As a fellow Emperor, he couldn't interfere directly—not without risking the opposite effect.
At that moment, Yamato blurted out anxiously,
"Hey—Marco! Are you really going to ally with the Beasts Pirates?! That old bastard killed Oden! Wasn't Oden one of Whitebeard's crew?!"
"Yamato, shut your mouth!" Kaido roared instantly.
If this alliance collapsed because of Yamato's outburst, Kaido would not forgive her—even as his daughter.
After all, he had already calculated everything.
Once the alliance was formed, with his newly awakened strength, Kaido was confident he could seize the greatest authority within it.
Marco turned to Yamato and spoke calmly, his tone measured.
"Oden was once the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, that's true. But more than twenty years ago, he joined the Roger Pirates. If it had ended there, it would've been one thing—but what he did afterward can only be called betrayal."
"Betrayal?" Yamato's eyes widened in disbelief. She had read Oden's journal countless times, yet this was the first she'd heard of such a thing.
Marco continued evenly, "About twenty-four or twenty-five years ago, the Whitebeard Pirates encountered the Roger Pirates on a small island. We fought them for three days and three nights without pause."
"After the battle," Marco said, "Roger personally invited Oden to join his crew. He needed Oden's ability to read the poneglyphs—the final piece Roger lacked to become Pirate King."
Kaido's brows lifted slightly. "Oden… could read the ancient texts?"
Marco nodded. "He could."
Something flickered through Kaido's eyes, as if an old memory had been stirred.
"At the time," Marco went on, "Pops refused. Oden was effectively the second-in-command of the Whitebeard Pirates. Letting Roger take him would've been a humiliation."
"But Oden insisted," Marco said quietly. "He promised he'd only sail with Roger for one year. After that, he would return. Pops agreed—because he trusted him."
Marco met Yamato's gaze.
"You know what happened next. After Roger's final voyage, Oden went straight back to Wano. He never returned to us."
"Later, we learned that Wano was already in turmoil," Marco admitted. "But from our perspective back then, Oden broke his promise. We waited for him for years—for decades. Calling that betrayal isn't unfair."
"We left the second division commander's seat vacant for over twenty years," Marco continued. "Only two years ago did Ace finally take that position."
Yamato's expression dimmed slightly. The heroic image of Oden in her heart cracked—but didn't shatter.
"Oden must've had his reasons," she insisted.
"I know," Marco said softly. "And once we learned the truth, we didn't blame him. We understood why he couldn't return."
Then his tone hardened.
"What angered us wasn't that he stayed in Wano. It was that he never trusted us enough to ask for help."
"If Oden had told us the truth back then," Marco said, voice edged with steel, "the Whitebeard Pirates would never have stood by and done nothing."
Yamato fell silent.
Ace, startled, muttered, "So… that's how Oden really left."
He had heard fragments of the story before, but never the full truth.
Behind Kaido, Kozuki Hiyori—still posing as a mere ornament to the room—listened quietly, her heart roiling with conflicting emotions.
Kaido burst into harsh laughter.
"Worororo! Exactly! If that fool had called Whitebeard for help back then, I'd never have taken Wano. At the time, I was no match for that monstrous old man."
Yamato bristled at Kaido's words, but for once, she held her tongue.
Kaido turned his gaze back to Marco.
"Enough of old ghosts. Marco, what was the condition you mentioned?"
A sharp glint of killing intent flashed in Marco's eyes.
"Blackbeard," he said coldly.
"If you want me to join this Yonko alliance, then use your intelligence network to find Marshall D. Teach. As long as you can help me locate him, I'll agree to the alliance."
The room fell silent.
The price Marco demanded was clear.
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