Seeing his rating finally reach King Level, Marco felt a rush of elation. Now he could honestly claim to be the strongest after Imu. He glanced at Kaido and rechecked his combat rating—Kaido remained at Weak King Level.
'I knew it. Even if Kaido inexplicably upgraded once, without a cheat—even if he accidentally reached Weak King Level—that would be his limit.'
After all, Kaido's timing for the upgrade had been clever—it happened during the same two years Luffy was training, precisely when talk of the Pirate King surfaced again.
If the world truly held that blessing of power, then those two years would have been a period when its restrictions on Kaido were weakest, making his successful upgrade possible.
Marco tapped into the special attributes section and froze at another discovery: there was a rank above Legendary for Conqueror's Haki.
"Haki Upgrade: Observation Haki (Top-tier) -> Observation Haki (Legendary), consumes 30,000 attribute points;
Armament Haki (Top-tier) -> Armament Haki (Legendary), consumes 30,000 attribute points;
Conqueror's Haki (Legendary) -> Conqueror's Haki (Mythical), consumes 100,000 attribute points."
"There's Mythical above Legendary, this cost is a bit unrealistic!" Marco murmured, wondering if anything even greater lay beyond Mythical.
He pushed the thought aside. The path to advancement was clearly long and costly. Still, after elevating his Conqueror's Haki to Legendary, Marco felt its presence swell inside him—as if a switch had been flipped. His power now rivaled anyone short of Imu; he could call himself King Level. Even Kaido, with his Azure Dragon Fruit awakened, would no longer be a sure match. He should pick a time to face Kaido.
Marco scrolled through his current missions:
"Mission: Overthrow the World Government, Slay World King Imu: The World Government has existed for eight hundred years and is rotten to the core. Overthrow the World Government, slay World King Imu. Reward: 50,000 attribute points."
"To slay World King Imu, the World Government's lackeys will inevitably try to stop you.
Bounty: Kill a Celestial Dragons' ordinary guard: Reward 10 attribute points;
Kill a CP0 member: Reward 200 attribute points;
Kill a Celestial Dragons: Reward 500 attribute points;
Kill a God's Knights Member: Reward 5,000 attribute points;
Kill a Gorosei: Reward 10,000 attribute points;
Kill Imu: Reward 50,000 attribute points."
"Mission: Revenge: Annihilate the Blackbeard Pirates. Reward: 10,000 attribute points."
"Bounty: Captain Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach: 3,000 attribute points;
Crew members: Shiryu, Doc Q, Vasco Shot, etc., 500 attribute points each."
"Mission: Avenge Humiliation: Defeat Kaido. Reward: 10,000 attribute points."
"Mission: Surpass the Old Era, Become the Strongest of the New Era: Reach a bounty of 5,564,800,000 Berries or more, and inherit Whitebeard's title of 'strongest man in the world'. Reward: 10,000 attribute points."
Suddenly, with a heavy thud, Big Mom, who had just been standing, went limp and collapsed. Kaido, nearest to her, frowned in confusion. "Old hag..." he muttered.
"Mama..." The members of the Big Mom Pirates went pale and surged forward, Charlotte family members encircling her. A ship doctor hurried over to tend to her, and Kaido took a few strides toward the fallen Yonko, which made her crew tense.
Looking at Big Mom, it was clear why she had gone under: her Homies' souls were utterly spent. The lifespan she had painfully replenished had been severely drained again during her fight with Warcury.
She had reverted to that emaciated, white‑haired form. Kaido frowned; though he could still sense Big Mom's presence, it was far weaker than before. "Linlin, can you still hold on?" he asked.
Big Mom heard him, forced her tired eyes open, rallied what strength she had left, and spat, "Who do you think I am?! Kaido, as long as this old woman has enough souls, I can recover very quickly."
Kaido's grin split his face as he laughed. "Worororo, that's good. You are an important ally of mine! Our alliance has just begun, and I won't allow you to die here. Get well!"
When Kaido made no move to press the attack, Smoothie and the others exhaled in relief. It made sense—Kaido wasn't the only emperor on the island; Marco was here too.
All three Emperors were present now. If Kaido used the chaos to strike the severely wounded Mama, the alliance would collapse.
Katakuri's expression was grim. He was already badly battered, having fought Admiral Aramaki, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, and Gorosei Saint Peter in succession—one brutal clash after another. His body had long since passed its limits; he was hanging on by a thread. If he fell now, who would the remaining younger siblings turn to?
With the battle on Cake Island, the Big Mom Pirates had taken devastating losses and, without question, were the weakest of the three Emperors at the moment. They had to be extremely careful lest the Phoenix Pirates or the Beasts Pirates swallow them whole.
Everyone watched the so‑called Three Emperors Alliance warily. An "alliance" only worked if the strengths were equal; otherwise, the stronger partners could simply devour the weaker.
Still, neither Marco nor Kaido was thinking along those lines. Kaido owed Big Mom a debt—so long as she lived, he wouldn't strike her crew. Marco didn't entertain the idea either; even without the Three Emperors Alliance, he intended to fight the World Government, so he had no reason to harm the Big Mom Pirates now.
"Doctor, how is Mama's condition?" Smoothie asked.
The ship doctor answered gravely, "Her Majesty's physical condition is very poor. Although there are no external wounds, her internal injuries are severe and her bodily functions are declining. She's like an eighty‑year‑old woman."
At that, members of the Big Mom Pirates dragged forward the barely living Marines from Cake Island and urged, "Mama, use their lifespans to recover from your injuries."
The moment someone said "lifespan," Big Mom's eyes flared. She shot out a massive hand and plucked at the wounded Marines, wrenching their remaining lifespans free. The men went slack, tilted their heads, and died on the spot.
As the stolen soul energy flowed back into her, Big Mom's shriveled frame slowly plumped up, and her white hair eased back toward its old pink.
Marco stepped up to Kaido just then. Kaido grinned, chuckling, "Worororo, Marco, I heard you lot supposedly killed Sakazuki this time! And you even captured Admiral Kizaru, is that true?"
"Mhm," Marco nodded. "What about you? I heard Sengoku and Garp tried to intercept you. Did you run into them?"
Kaido's face darkened briefly. He snorted, "Hmph, those old geezers kept playing guerrilla games with me—refused to fight head-on."
Marco wasted no time. "Kaido, now that the Marines and the World Government have personally entered the fray, the war's only going to escalate. I want to hit the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, again—capture a few Celestial Dragons, execute them publicly, and declare war on the World Government and the Marines. What do you think?"
Kaido was quiet for a beat, then looked at Marco. "No. Don't rush. We're not ready yet. First we take One Piece, then we declare war on the World Government."
Marco's expression soured. "Is there a need to chase something called One Piece? Do you even know what it is? Or are you still chasing that pirate king title? With your strength now, you should already be on par with Roger, right?"
Kaido fell silent, considering. He realized he might be clinging too hard to One Piece and the idea of being pirate king. By strength, he was already the mightiest creature on land, sea, and air—he was sure he could have beaten Roger if Roger were alive. Still, One Piece was the ultimate pirate dream; as a pirate, how could he not want it?
"Marco, you really have no interest in One Piece at all!" Kaido grinned, then asked, "By the way, did Whitebeard really not leave you a Poneglyph?"
Marco scoffed. "It's enough to ask this once or twice; asking more is pointless."
"And I've already said, I have no interest in One Piece. Don't ask such boring questions anymore."
"Mamamama!" Big Mom bellowed, laughing loudly. "Don't say that! Marco, as a pirate, isn't it normal to aim for One Piece?"
Seeing Big Mom—who had been barely clinging to life moments before—fully recovered, Kaido laughed too. "Worororo, Old Hag, that Devil Fruit of yours is handy! You bounced back fast."
Big Mom bristled with pride. "Hmph, who do you think I am?! Unless you kill me outright, so long as there are souls, no matter how bad the wounds, I can recover."
Her face hardened. "Since you two are here, let's talk about our next move properly! The Marines made me suffer heavy losses this time, and I won't let them get away with it."
Katakuri still looked worried. "Mama, your body..."
"Hmph, it's just a minor injury. Hurry up and get me some food—I am starving!" Big Mom shouted. After seven or eight hours of high-intensity fighting, even if vitality could be hastily restored by plundered souls, mental energy couldn't be, and physical strength couldn't be fully regained that way. She needed food to recover her stamina.
"Yes..."
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