With the sound of the gunshot, everyone from the Big Mom Pirates sprang into action, and all the guests present had their movements restricted by weapons.
“Linlin, what are you doing? Aren’t we friends?”
Even the emperors of the Underworld were no exception. In the Underworld, they were fearsome big shots, but here they were nothing more than lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
“Yes, Mama and all of you are friends, but the seas are far too dangerous right now. Just think about Joker recently, he carried the title of Shichibukai, yet in the end he still couldn’t hold on to his position.
If he hadn’t had a bit of a connection with the Beasts Pirates, he’d probably be in Impel Down by now, wouldn’t he?
In order to protect everyone, Mama has joined forces with Mr. Kaido and decided to lend our flag to you all. That way, crises can be avoided.”
Someone with Katakuri’s overwhelming combat power had already begun taking action, so the talking here was left to Perospero, the eldest son by age.
Some things couldn’t very well be said directly by Big Mom herself, so Perospero polished up the wording.
Anyone who had climbed to this position in the Underworld wasn’t a fool. Naturally, they understood what Perospero really meant. This was plainly an attempt to absorb them.
They knew Doflamingo’s downfall would bring changes, but they hadn’t expected things to change this completely.
Big Mom joining forces with the Beasts Pirates; this move was truly enormous.
“Isn’t it fine the way things are now? Why make it so complicated?”
Even though it was the Underworld, they still had authority over their own territories and didn’t want to be controlled so easily, trying to express their stance in a gentler tone.
The fist on the other side was simply too big; they didn’t dare flip the table.
“I’m very sorry, but this is actually the simplest solution. This sea doesn’t need so many complicated voices. Having just us is enough.
Oh right, about the documents I updated earlier: if you signed them, that’s fine, but if you didn’t, then those papers are null and void from this moment on.”
Tesoro added a timely remark, making some of the people present finally understand what the so-called draconian terms the Beasts Pirates had sent them some time ago really meant.
Now it seemed that those draconian terms had actually been the most lenient conditions.
“Of course, you’re free to refuse, but if you do, things will become very difficult for us. If you refuse, your fate may end up just like theirs over there.”
Perospero pointed toward Germa’s table nearby. Judge and the others were already fixed in place by candy, stuck to the table.
However, unlike what Perospero had expected, there was no fear on Judge’s face. If anything, there was a hint of confidence.
“Aren’t we forming an alliance by marriage?”
“Don’t be naïve. A mere Germa isn’t worthy of marrying into our family. What we want is only your technology. Without your combat suits, you have no ability to resist at all. Just stay there obediently and wait for death.”
“Is that so? Then you’re really underestimating Germa. Transform!”
Germa’s technology involved principles of spatial compression, allowing their entire combat suits to be compressed into a small scroll, while the oversized sleeves on their arms served as even larger containers.
Because they were Augmented Humans to begin with, even if they couldn’t reach them by hand, they could still use their thoughts to control the power of the Lineage Factor within their bodies to activate that thing.
At Judge’s command, the Germa group was engulfed in a blinding light. The candy blocks created by Perospero were blasted apart, and when the light dissipated, what remained were several beast-shaped robots standing several meters tall.
After being misled by Queen and embarking on a strange path of research, Judge had indeed achieved some results. The transforming mecha forged from Wapometal mixed with small amounts of alloy was one such example.
Moreover, just like the combat suits, these mecha possessed different traits depending on the abilities of their operators.
In the sky appeared a pink, butterfly-shaped mecha—this was Reiju’s machine, the Venomous Powder Butterfly.
On the ground, a red lion was wreathed in flames burning from its mane, melting the surrounding candy blocks into syrup.
Ichiji’s mecha—the Blazing Lion—possessed the same abilities as his Sparking Red combat suit.
Next came Niji’s Blue Lightning Cheetah and Yonji’s Winch Green Rhino. The leopard- and rhinoceros-shaped mecha took up positions on either side, warily watching the enemies around them.
Finally, a yellow monstrous bird arrived beside Reiju—Judge’s own mecha, the Supreme Commander Garuda.
“Do you really think we still rely solely on combat suits now? This is Germa’s latest technology!
That Queen gave me an inspiration. When it comes to this field now, he’s long since fallen behind me! Germa, combine!”
At Judge’s command, the five mecha began to transform and combine. Reiju and Judge together formed the upper body and head, along with a pair of wings on the back.
Yonji’s rhino split apart to form the legs, while Ichiji and Niji became the arms. As the combination was completed, a combined robot roughly twenty meters tall appeared on Whole Cake Island.
“That’s so cool!! What is that?! It’s really awesome!!! Usopp, Franky, look at that, a transforming robot!”
“That’s a SUPER idea! I was just thinking of something like this myself. Sanji’s old man seems to have some real skill.”
Inside Bege, upon seeing Germa’s latest technology, the Straw Hats fell into a state of excitement. For a moment, they seemed to forget they were still plotting a battle, scrambling to the windows to stare at the robot outside.
Transformation, combination, summoning; these hit every possible excitement trigger for the youngsters. Not only them, even some Germa fans among Bege’s subordinates were moved to tears, making it feel almost like a fan meeting.
The normally aloof Law didn’t say anything, but the fact that he monopolized a window by himself said it all.
“So this is the power of the outside seas? It’s truly astonishing.”
Kanjuro and Kin’emon also marveled at the changes in the outside seas, but Bege was the exception.
“That’s enough, all of you! This is our last chance. Move, now!!”
Germa’s transforming mecha had drawn everyone’s attention; even Charlotte Linlin looked at the massive robot with undisguised greed.
The people of Beasts Pirates were no exception, but their discussion went in a different direction.
“Dad, do they sell toys like that outside?”
“Yeah, it looks so fun. There should be transforming robots like that, right?”
“Queen still has quite a few of those. You can just go ask him when we get back… though I didn’t expect someone to actually put this thing into practice.”
Zeraora remembered clearly that Queen had similar models in his possession, but he hadn’t invested much effort into them. According to Queen’s theory, they were time-consuming, labor-intensive, and mentally exhausting, with only so-so actual combat power.
Rather than researching this, it was better to develop a more powerful laser cannon.
The Beasts Pirates had no intention of heavily developing mecha in the first place, and with Queen being busy and not focused on mecha as his main field, he naturally didn’t have the time to pour effort into it. At most, he would build a few frames suitable for Genesect and let Arceus modify them.
Judge, however, was different. Running Germa, his mind was full of ways to strengthen combat suits through the Lineage Factor, and after fighting Queen once, he ended up going down a misguided path.
“Come on, witness the power of Germa science!”
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