The Seven Seas Kings

The thunder roared, and the wind and rain raged.

The already dark and damp island seemed even more eerie and treacherous in the pouring rain and silvery thunder and lightning.

"Why do we have to meet in this hellhole? I'm so sick of it!" The giant man with the wolf's head tattooed on his left cheek growled in discontent.

"It is the Lord's will that we meet here." The priest dressed as a bald man exclaimed piously.

"What a sacrilege to beauty in such a filthy place!" The tall, cold queen disgustedly took the measure of everything around her.

"Whatever is good, let's get started!" The man in the captain's coat, who looked most like a pirate leader out of the few, said indifferently.

"I'm sorry to have you all meet on my property. I prefer dark corners to sunlight. After all, pirates ... are supposed to hide in the dark!" The speaker was shrouded in black robes and seemed to have the shadows of ghosts accumulated.

"Cister, get on with it. I don't want to stay on this mysterious island of yours for a moment longer!" The only woman of the five said with disgust.

"Tiffany, Queen of Pirates, is as proud as ever!" Cister hissed, "The purpose of this invitation is to discuss how to gain the best interest of the New World."

"Although we are known as The Seven Seas Kings along with Big-Mom and Kaido, no one knows the truth of this situation better than us."

"And the New World may be able to accommodate three rulers, four rulers, but no more than five at most, and if we don't find a way to get the guys in front of us down there, we're never going to get our start."

"If those guys were that easy to get down there, it wouldn't be your turn to tell such lies." Aldrich, the Three-Headed Wolf, sneered.

Cister didn't mind the sarcasm but continued, "It would indeed have been impossible before, but now we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in front of us."

"You're not going to talk about Whitebeard's war with the Marine, are you?" Titus Refa asked quietly.

"Whitebeard and Marine have been fighting for decades. At the height of it, even Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr attacked together. It was scenes like that all allowed the Whitebeard Pirates to survive, and now this level of war is nothing at all." Preacher Claude calmly analyzed.

"Don't underestimate those marines. There's a lot of tough guys in those Headquarters who are not only Garp but really, it'll probably be more intense than those wars a decade or so ago," Cister said.

"So? After the Marine took out Whitebeard, all those territorial forces were taken over by the other two bastards. Do you think it's our turn?" Tiffany said scornfully.

"Marine's handiwork is bigger than you think," Cister smiled grimly. "You all know, I suppose, that Kaido is allied with Big-Mom because of a previous experience they had together, and the Marine ... isn't going to let the remnants of Rocks' crew continue to get away with it."

"It's massive that Marine is trying to wipe out the three rulers in one go ...," said Tiffany, suddenly responding, "No, how did you know about the Marine's actions?"

"Jie Jie Jie!" Cister gave an oozing laugh, "I'm sorry, but the Marine sent someone to contact me and ask us to work together against Whitebeard, Kaido, and the others."

"What? You guys are even connected to Marine!" Aldrich stood up sharply and looked around warily.

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to help the Marine to kill you, it wouldn't do me any good, and I can't survive in the grips of those three monsters on my own without your support," Cister said frankly.

Hearing Cister's explanation like this, Aldrich was reassured, pirates are inherently profit-oriented, and if the other party said something like loyalty for loyalty's sake, he would have to wonder about Cister's purpose instead.

"Marine also knows that with their strength, it's barely enough to deal with one or two pirate groups. And if they want to eradicate three pirate groups in one fell swoop, even if there's an enemy like Kaido stirring the pot, they'll still have to use enough external forces to do it, and we ... are the external forces Marine intends to use! "

"Imagine Marine finally annihilating the enemy and us gaining the New World, how wonderful and glorious, an extremely advantageous choice for both of us!"

There was dead silence in the conference room as the remaining four pondered the trade-offs, and a little while later, Refa sneered, "Help Marine defeat Whitebeard and then throw us in jail instead when we get bigger? That's a good thing Marine would think, isn't it?"

Cister said with ease, "If we miss this opportunity, what awaits us will be constant encroachment, but if we take this opportunity, at least we have a fighting chance."

"So, are you going to sit back and wait to die, or are you ... going to give it a go?"

Cister said and stopped talking, waiting for an answer from the remaining four.

The gasping in the conference room grew cloudy, and it was clear that all four were impressed by Cister' words.

Indeed, pirates are a band of outlaws, with a gambling nature, even more deeply rooted in all pirates' hearts.

The risks and rewards that Cister presents are enough for them to make a choice!

"I agree to participate." Claude, who had been silent instead, was the first to respond, "If we can occupy a larger sphere of influence, we can surely shed the glory of our hosts on a more distant realm."

"Prodigy!" Tiffany muttered under her breath and then took another deep breath, "I bet too. The path to the Pirate King is right in front of me, and I have no reason to give up."

"Nah! Marine is no good, but the insult that crazy bitch Big-Mom gave me is something I'll never forget, and if I ever get the chance to trample her under my feet, I'll do it!" Aldrich said grimly.

Hearing such gritty words from Aldrich, the rest of them shuddered. They also heard that he had been captured by BIG-MOM and had been a male pet for some time. So much so that his sexuality had changed drastically after escaping.

"I'm in." Refa also gave a precise answer after a moment of silence.

"Happy cooperation! I believe ... the future of the New World will be ours." Cister shouted.

...

Due to the harsh environment of Ghost Shadow Island, the remaining four sea pirates departed on small boats soon after reaching an agreement.

Only after seeing the four men off did Cister wander back to the dark corner and sit down, skillfully extracting two Den Den Mushi and placing them in his hand, one a Den Den Mushi and one a white Den Den Mushi used to prevent eavesdropping.

Brubulu! Brubulu! Brubulu!

"Number three, how's it going?" When Den Den Mushi connected, there was an icy tone across the line.

"It went very well."

"Great!"

"Can I go back after I've completed my mission?"

"…"

"If I accidentally mix up and become some Seven Seas King, I'll be quite troubled if this progresses a few steps forward and becomes a pirate king or something."

"After this mission is complete, I will place you in CP0."