Upon hearing Alucard's words, Charlotte Linlin, who had half-risen to kill all the female government agents disguised as maids, sat back down. "Since you said so, then so be it."
"No need to wait any longer. Whitebeard is absolutely not coming," Alucard stated with certainty.
Charlotte Linlin squinted and gave a strange chuckle. "Mamama... Maybe he thinks he's too good to be seen with us 'juniors.'"
"Hmph!" Kaido snorted, saying nothing else.
"It doesn't matter if Whitebeard doesn't come. His absence won't affect the topic at hand. I just didn't expect that after getting old, he would completely lose a pirate's basic ambition," Alucard said, a hint of disappointment in his tone.
CRACK!
Whitebeard was the first of the Four Emperors to fall. It wasn't just a matter of his declining strength and age; his mentality was the most crucial factor.
"So, Immortal, you reappear after half a year and call us two here. What do you want to say?" Charlotte Linlin asked, tossing a roll cake into her wide mouth.
"Temporarily stop the fighting between the three of us," Alucard said, getting straight to the point.
The moment he said this, everyone in the room except Alucard had a sudden change in expression.
After a long moment, Charlotte Linlin regained her composure. "Mamamamama... That's a strange thing to hear from the person who has killed the most people among the three of us."
"Don't be ridiculous," Alucard said with disdain. In a combined total, Alucard was far from the number of deaths caused by the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates. However, his personal kill count was higher than both Kaido's and Charlotte Linlin's.
"Boring!" Kaido said in a rage. "In a boring world like this, if we don't fight, we might as well just destroy it all!"
"Mad dog, I haven't finished speaking. Listen until I'm done," Alucard said coldly.
"Wanna fight?" Kaido's eyes turned red. "Don't think I'll hold back just because Garp and the Marines are here!"
Charlotte Linlin, who was still somewhat capable of listening, suddenly spoke up. "Stop the fighting between the three monsters? You don't want us to lie low, do you? You want us to shift our main focus to other pirates and the Marines, right?"
Charlotte Linlin was the most senior of the three and instantly analyzed the meaning behind Alucard's words. "If we do that, our three groups can expand our territories with full force. In the end, with Whitebeard, who already has a huge influence from the previous era, it will become a state of four-way power."
"That Whitebeard guy has completely lost his ambition. All he wants to do is hang around with his so-called sons. If we don't provoke him, Whitebeard won't care about anything," Alucard said calmly.
Hancock, who was standing behind Alucard, heard this and her pearl-like eyes shifted. No wonder he said from the start that it didn't matter whether Whitebeard came or not…
"A four-way power balance does sound interesting. But I want to know why you're doing this. What's the point?" Charlotte Linlin asked, glancing at Alucard.
"Heh, I'd love to take both of your lives. And you two are the same. We could fight here, but that would be too boring. It will be much more interesting to fight after we've established a four-way power balance," Alucard said with a wicked smile.
"Alright, you can go now." After saying this, Alucard ruthlessly dismissed them.
"Heh... You don't want to hear my answer?" Charlotte Linlin didn't care about Alucard's rude dismissal. She was more annoyed that he was sending her away without even waiting for her decision.
"Can you really trust what a pirate says? I'll know your true answer from your future actions," Alucard replied.
He was right. Whether it was pirates, Marines, or the World Government, no one's words could be trusted. Anyone could say anything, but their true intentions could only be seen through their actions.
"Mamamamama! Then I'll give you my answer now. I'll temporarily stop my attacks on the Whitebeard Pirates and the Beasts Pirates. And you, of course." Charlotte Linlin laughed heartily, but her expression suddenly changed, becoming menacing. "But once this four-way power balance is established, I can't guarantee which one of you I'll attack first~~"
Leaving the round table, Charlotte Linlin walked down the stairs, followed closely by Perospero and her other subordinates.
Kaido got up, turned, and left the hall as well. This surprised Alucard slightly. He had thought he'd have to exchange a few more blows with this mad dog.
"Government agents, aren't you going to hurry and report to your superiors?" Alucard leaned back in his chair, his eyes flickering toward the maids.
The women were startled. Their cover had been blown, but they were fortunate that Alucard hadn't killed them. They quickly turned and jumped out the window.
Thirty minutes later, World Government.
"…So that's Alucard's goal?"
In the Gorosei's room, the blond-haired Gorosei squinted at the agent in front of him. After the agent repeatedly nodded, he pressed a hand to his temple. "He doesn't show himself for half a year, and the moment he does, he causes trouble."
"We haven't even gone to settle the score with him yet, and he's already causing new problems. He's just like Roger was," the bald Gorosei with a katana said with a cold laugh.
"Then, this 'four-way power balance' plan that the three monsters have accepted…"
The curly-haired Gorosei's eyes sharpened. "How should we… respond to it?"
Alucard hadn't used the term "Four Emperors Era," but instead, he used the phrase "four-way power balance."
Alucard, Kaido, Charlotte Linlin, and Whitebeard.
The first three had already agreed to this plan, and as for Whitebeard… in fact, the Gorosei thought the same as Alucard. He had lost his ambition. The Gorosei even had the vague idea of, "as long as Whitebeard doesn't cause any trouble, we'll just let him live for another ten years and die of old age."
The long, white-haired Gorosei pondered for a long time before slowly saying, "Alucard's plan is to temporarily stop the fighting among the three monsters, right? Then we'll do the opposite. We'll find a way to make them fight each other."
"Hmm? How?"
The other four were immediately intrigued, while the agent, knowing his place, had already left.
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