As soon as those words were spoken, the entire room erupted.
Doflamingo sneered: "Old man, did you just drink fake liquor to talk like that? From any angle, in terms of number of strong fighters, the Yonko Alliance far outnumbers the Marines. Not to mention Dragon lurking on the side, ready to pounce at any time."
"Oh, you mean Lord Imu at the World Government? But wasn't He already seriously injured by the Gold List? An injury that severe probably won't heal in a short time."
Doflamingo slapped his forehead and laughed hehe: "Almost forgot, there's still the Gorosei. They're all big figures who made the top 20 rankings. But, so what? That's all there is."
"Don't forget, currently the mysterious existences ranked first and second on the Gold List are unknown where they are. Don't you consider the possibility that he's someone from the pirate side? If he moves, who among you can stop him? Admiral Kizaru, what do you think?"
Kizaru's face changed slightly. Unconsciously he touched his empty sleeve. The eyes behind his sunglasses narrowed, looking dangerous.
That mysterious existence made him unable to sleep soundly until now. He couldn't even clearly remember that person's face. It was a fear that seemed to penetrate to the depths of his soul. If he hadn't run quickly, forget losing one arm, perhaps not even his ashes would remain.
And that was the condition where that person hadn't moved; what attacked him was just a pet beside him.
He couldn't imagine if an existence like that was truly on the pirate side, then they might as well not fight and just surrender directly. Anyway, if that really happened, Kizaru would definitely be the first person to flee.
The Marine side fell silent. Even the three Admirals didn't speak at this time. Because what Doflamingo said was fact.
The Gorosei were indeed strong, even stronger than the Yonko, that was undoubted. The rankings on the Gold List had explained everything—two of them even made the top ten. Of course, if Imu hadn't "courted death," the World Government itself could dominate three positions in the Gold List's top ten.
However, on the Yonko side, the number of experts was also considerable.
The Three Calamities under Kaido were all on the list, existences with bounties over one billion belly. The Three Sweet Commanders under Big Mom were also not easy opponents. Not to mention Red Hair; among the Yonko, their pirate group had the smallest number, but all were elite, where each member at least had Vice Admiral level strength.
Meanwhile, Shirohige had a total of sixteen division commanders, and not one of them was easy to deal with.
If the number of these strong fighters was combined, Admiral-level combat power alone was already several times that of the Marine side. When the experts held each other back, their remaining forces would easily sweep through low-level Marines.
And now, news about the Yonko alliance had spread throughout the pirate world. According to information they obtained, pirates from the four seas had flocked toward Mary Geoise. The Yonko's prestige had been built up over many years. It was believed that in this great wave, once they stood and called out commands, these pirates would immediately come swarming like a swarm of locusts.
The number of Marine personnel indeed wasn't sufficient compared to the number of pirates rampaging on the seas. Otherwise, over these many years, there wouldn't be so many pirates acting arbitrarily. The New World was even divided by the Yonko, and there were rebel organizations like the Revolutionary Army. It wasn't that the World Government didn't want to eliminate them, but they didn't have that capability.
Or more precisely, to eliminate one of those sides, they would have to pay a very heavy price, and that price was enough to make them destroyed at the hands of the other side.
Regarding Doflamingo's assumption that the Gold List's first rank was a pirate, everyone wasn't too concerned. After all, this mysterious existence had always hidden very deeply. An expert with power like that could shake the world just by stomping his foot. Yet until now there were no rumors about him, which showed he wasn't someone who liked to show off, at least unlikely to be the type of bad-charactered pirate who relied on plunder.
What do pirates seek? Reputation? Wealth or freedom? For an existence like that, did he need such things?
Moria laughed strangely: "Forget it Sengoku, we're all not fools. Speak frankly, bring out your trump card. Otherwise, we won't accompany you to die. Those people will arrive soon. If you haven't decided now, don't blame us if we betray..."
Sengoku and the others' gazes instantly became ice cold. The atmosphere at that place became very tense, only needing one spark to fully explode.
However, the Shichibukai remained calm. They knew that in conditions like this, the Marines wouldn't act rashly. The Shichibukai's existence itself was a form of compromise between the Marines and World Government.
Shichibukai—legal pirates acknowledged by the World Government and Marines. They were above ordinary pirates, could plunder legally without being sanctioned, moving in the gray area between black and white. They were rejected by fellow pirates and Marines alike; when gaining privileges, they also lost something.
Sengoku withdrew his aura, lowered his eyelids, then suddenly chuckled and stared at Doflamingo.
"Mingo, is your business still running?"
Doflamingo was stunned, then his face became somewhat ugly. Behind his black sunglasses, his eyes emitted cold flashes, not knowing what he was thinking. At his fingertips, vaguely there were transparent threads moving.
Tsuru said in a hoarse voice: "Mingo, I suggest you don't do anything rash, or Marineford will become your burial place today!"
Doflamingo narrowed his eyes, his Adam's apple moved slightly, then he laughed strangely: "What does the Fleet Admiral mean?"
Sengoku tapped his finger lightly on the table, said casually: "The business you run you think is very secret, but the Marines have long obtained information about it. Doing business with Kaido isn't so pleasant, is it?"
"..."
Doflamingo unconsciously leaned back in his chair, snorted and said: "So what if you know? The business I run doesn't affect the Marines and World Government's interests."
"Whether it affects our interests or not, that's a matter for later."
Sengoku waved his hand: "Do you know where the Artificial Devil Fruits you sent to Kaido came from?"
Everyone present was stunned, then one by one showed suspicious and disbelieving expressions, especially Doflamingo, whose gaze was restless.
Sengoku laughed and nodded: "You've become Shichibukai, some things actually aren't secret to you. Like this Mingo, who even dipped one hand into this business. But you don't know that these Artificial Devil Fruits we've actually been developing for a long time..."
"What!"
The Shichibukai were very shocked.
Bartholomew Kuma rarely lifted his gaze from his book, asking in a heavy voice: "Been developing for a long time... what does that mean?"
The seven of them couldn't help but sit up straight and shift their gazes toward Sengoku.
Sengoku smiled thinly, stood from his chair, walked slowly to the large glass window, staring at the clearly visible coastline in the distance, then turned toward the seven of them and said word by word.
"Exactly as you suspected, Artificial Devil Fruits, we have... many! Very many!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present couldn't help but draw in a deep breath. There were very many Artificial Devil Fruits?
"That's impossible!"
After being shocked, Doflamingo immediately calmed down again and sneered: "Sengoku, this trick of yours is too cheap. Sorry I can't help you, it seems more reasonable to help the Yonko Alliance attack you!"
While saying so, he was about to stand to leave the conference room.
"You can try stepping out!"
Suddenly, the temperature in the entire conference room dropped drastically. A layer of ice crystals instantly covered the entire room. A sharp ice thorn suddenly crossed in front of Doflamingo's face, only a few inches from his pupil.
Both his legs were also wrapped in a layer of ice, making him unable to move even a bit.
Aokiji leaned in his chair, turning toward Doflamingo with an ice-cold gaze, where vaguely could be seen flowing blue ice crystals. Other Marine high officials also stared at Doflamingo coldly, killing intent radiating from their eyes. They didn't mind cleaning up this unstable factor here.