"Forget it. I won't get involved this time. Whatever Whitebeard wants to do is up to him."
"This time, the target isn't Marine Headquarters. Instead of getting mixed up in a battle between two forces, let's wait and see how the Navy reacts."
Shanks went straight to the key point—something the others had overlooked.
Back during the Summit War, Kronos's actions had humiliated Marine Headquarters in front of the whole world via live broadcast.
Now that Whitebeard had openly raised a banner to go to war against Kronos, it was very likely the Navy would take this opportunity to intervene and reap the rewards like a fisherman benefitting from two clashing forces.
It was hard to believe that Fleet Admiral Sengoku would sit idly by. Most likely, he would send a squad of elite or even top-tier fighters to join the battle again.
"So we're going to stop the Marines from interfering? Hahaha, Boss, you really know how to give us a challenge!"
"I didn't get to fight the Marines properly last time. If we act now, it'll be a good warm-up."
"Yeah, let's go! I've been bored just sitting around anyway. Why not head out and stir things up?"
"That's right, Boss. We'll follow your lead no matter what. Wherever you go, we go."
Everyone looked at Shanks, clearly eager. They had nothing better to do, so they might as well look for strong opponents and stretch their muscles.
Shanks raised his eyebrows in surprise, looked at the crew, and chuckled.
"You guys really know how to stir things up. Hahaha! Fine, just don't say I didn't warn you when things get out of hand."
"Let's rest for now and watch how things unfold. We'll sit this one out for the time being."
It wasn't that Shanks didn't want to get involved. He simply didn't want to see his crew getting caught up in something dangerous unnecessarily.
Meanwhile, on Whole Cake Island, the base of Big Mom, her children and senior officers had already gathered upon receiving the news.
"Lalala~ Whitebeard is still Whitebeard. He actually dared to take Kronos's territory!"
"That old man should've died back at Marineford. Now he's going up against Kronos—I wonder if he'll finally die this time?"
Big Mom laughed maniacally after reading the news, her eyes glinting with excitement as if she could already see a brighter future ahead.
The rise of Kronos and the Kamui Pirates as a new Fifth Emperor crew had made Big Mom extremely uneasy. She'd been looking for a good opportunity to make a move against him.
Now, thanks to Whitebeard's boldness, many of her worries had been solved.
"Mom, should we take this opportunity to raid Whitebeard's territory?" Katakuri asked, his arms crossed. "Or maybe go after Kronos's turf?"
"That brat just took Dressrosa, defeated Shichibukai Doflamingo, and now he's expanding like there's no tomorrow. If we don't act, he'll soon have no place left for us!"
Katakuri was waiting for Big Mom's decision. One way or another, they had to act—they couldn't just sit on the sidelines.
As for which target to strike, only Big Mom could make that call. Everything would proceed according to her will.
"Dressrosa's not bad," Big Mom mused with a wicked grin, "but Whitebeard's Hachinosu—Honeycomb Island—is far more tempting!"
"I've wanted to kill Whitebeard and take that island for a long time… just never had the right opportunity—until now."
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