Onigashima.
Nearly the entire Whitebeard Pirates crew had gathered.
Whitebeard. Renji.
The commanders of all sixteen divisions.
Even Crocodile and Jinbe were present.
"Well done."
At this moment all the islands previously occupied by the Beasts Pirates had been fully reclaimed by Fourth Division Commander Thatch, Fifth Division Commander Vista, Sixth Division Commander Blamenco, Seventh Division Commander Rakuyo, and Renji.
In addition Onigashima itself, the island that had long been a contested territory, had also fallen into their hands.
At the very least, Whitebeard's sphere of influence had expanded once again.
Looking at the people below him, Whitebeard revealed a satisfied expression.
This mission had originally been somewhat risky.
After all, the Whitebeard Pirates had only recently gone through the Summit War, and their overall strength had weakened considerably.
What surprised him was that Kaido had not chosen to defend his territory stubbornly.
As for Renji killing Queen Whitebeard did not care about that at all.
Since Kaido had chosen to strike first and had even resorted to the despicable tactic of attacking while they were weakened.
Then he should naturally be prepared to pay the price.
"Report!"
At that moment a messenger hurried in from outside.
"Someone from the Beasts Pirates has arrived."
"Kaido?"
"They still have the nerve to come here?!"
The members of the Whitebeard Pirates instantly erupted in outrage.
Especially people like Thatch and Vista, who had personally witnessed the devastation on those ruined islands.
Calling the Beasts Pirates beasts was honestly being too kind.
Not only had they implemented a complete scorched-earth strategy of killing, looting, and burning they had even treated the civilians of the occupied islands like slaves.
Kaido had occupied twenty-three islands under Whitebeard's protection.
Because of him nearly a million people had become homeless.
Tens of thousands had been killed or abused.
"Everyone, calm down first."
Seeing the atmosphere below nearly spiraling out of control, Whitebeard immediately spoke to calm them.
Right now, the most important thing was avoiding chaos within their own ranks.
"Let him in."
After receiving Whitebeard's permission, the messenger quickly nodded and left.
Very soon a man dressed in the unmistakable attire of the Beasts Pirates strode into the hall.
His eyes swept across the room.
Despite standing inside the Whitebeard Pirates' territory and facing two Emperor-level monsters like Whitebeard and Renji.
There was not the slightest trace of panic on his face.
Unhurriedly, he pulled out a document.
Without giving anyone around him a chance to question or interrupt, he began reading on his own:
"The New World is ever-changing. Within it stand four absolute rulers 'Beasts' Kaido, 'Red-Haired' Shanks, 'Big Mom' Charlotte Linlin, and 'Whitebeard' Edward Newgate. These figures are collectively known throughout the world as the Four Emperors of the New World. However…"
After a long pile of meaningless nonsense the man finally got to the point.
"Today, the Beasts Pirates formally declare war on the Whitebeard Pirates."
"We will bring true security to the islands, factions, and nations that have long suffered under Whitebeard's oppression."
"What?!"
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Hearing Kaido's declaration of war, everyone present felt as though Kaido had gone insane.
"I can understand the declaration of war, but explain something to me—what exactly do you mean by islands, factions, and nations oppressed by Whitebeard?!"
"Bullshit! And your Beasts Pirates are supposed to bring people a sense of security?!"
"I'll fucking—!"
For a moment every member of the Whitebeard Pirates exploded with fury.
They instantly surrounded Kaido's messenger.
"What?"
The messenger showed no fear at all.
Instead, he straightened his back proudly.
"You wanna kill me? Go ahead! Come on!"
As he spoke, he stuck out his neck.
"Right here. One slash is all it takes."
"If none of you kill me today, then everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates is a coward!"
"The hell with this! I'm killing you right now!"
The Whitebeard Pirates followed rules but they were still pirates.
How could they possibly tolerate this kind of humiliation?
Someone immediately rushed forward.
"Stop."
At that moment Whitebeard spoke calmly, stopping everyone.
Looking at the arrogant messenger, he said indifferently,
"When two armies go to war, messengers are not killed."
"Let him leave."
With Whitebeard speaking, everyone could only glare viciously at Kaido's messenger.
"Tch."
"A bunch of cowards."
The messenger remained unbelievably arrogant.
"The declaration has been delivered."
"I'll be taking my leave now."
As he spoke he turned and hurried toward the exit.
Judging by how fast he walked, it was obvious that deep down, he was nowhere near as calm and fearless as he pretended to be.
Boom!
Suddenly an overwhelming pressure descended directly onto the messenger's body.
A massive, suffocating burst of Conqueror's Haki instantly forced Kaido's messenger to his knees before he even realized what had happened.
"What's going on?!"
Seeing himself kneeling on the ground, Kaido's messenger wore a completely confused expression.
At that moment another wave of Conqueror's Haki descended!
Unlike the previous overwhelming pressure, this one was far sharper and filled with murderous intent.
As the layers of Conqueror's Haki crashed down on him, the messenger who possessed strength comparable to a Supernova was slammed flat onto the ground!
"Why aren't you leaving yet?"
At that moment Renji's voice rang out.
He slowly walked over to the messenger's side.
Looking down at him with slight dissatisfaction, Renji said:
"We don't provide meals here."
I'd love to leave too!
Kaido's messenger desperately tried to move his body, but it was completely useless.
His body felt as though it had been glued to the floor.
The moment Renji approached him, he finally realized the one responsible for his current state was Renji himself.
"Aba... aba..."
The messenger opened his mouth to protest.
Yet no sound came out!
He was absolutely certain that his vocal cords had not been damaged in any way.
But no matter what, he simply could not make a sound.
An unknown and mysterious terror instantly spread through his entire body.
The arrogance in his eyes rapidly transformed into fear as he looked at Renji.
"Heh."
At that moment, Renji withdrew his Conqueror's Haki.
Then he spoke calmly,
"Although messengers theoretically aren't killed by either side during war…"
"That doesn't mean they get to leave unharmed."
"You!"
Kaido's messenger staggered back to his feet.
He had just been about to explode in anger when he met Renji's eyes once again.
That deep-rooted fear immediately surged back into his heart.
At this point, he no longer cared about anything else.
He turned around and ran.
"Wait."
Kaido's messenger immediately froze in place and looked back at Renji with confusion.
"When you get back tell Kaido this."
"Our Whitebeard Pirates have never feared anyone."
The messenger nodded frantically before fleeing at full speed.
In less than three seconds he had already disappeared from the temporary meeting hall.
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