A Face That Didn't Match the Strength

Watching everyone's morale surge at once, Whitebeard smiled in satisfaction.

There was no better feeling than having others call him Pops of their own accord.

"Alright, let's continue the feast and celebrate in advance that Ace will be able to bring Teach back!" Whitebeard grabbed the enormous sake bowl beside him and burst out laughing.

The slightly oppressive atmosphere immediately dissipated by more than half.

Even Marco, who had kept a grim face and held himself tense, finally let out a breath.

Just as he was about to pick up the bottle beside him, an urgent Transponder Snail call rang out.

"Moshiboshi, this is Doma. Requesting to speak with Captain Marco... emergency call..."

An emergency call?

The sudden ringing of the Transponder Snail instantly wiped away the atmosphere that had only just begun to ease.

Everyone turned in unison, their gazes locking onto Marco.

As Whitebeard's second-in-command, Marco possessed tremendous strength and directly oversaw the subordinate pirate crews under Whitebeard's command.

Whenever those subordinate pirate crews encountered any emergency, the first person they could contact was Marco.

Then, Marco would relay the matter to Whitebeard.

Looking at the Transponder Snail that kept calling in his hand, Marco instinctively glanced at Whitebeard.

"Answer it first. Let's see what Doma wants. He seemed to have been active near Kaido's territory lately. Maybe that shameless bastard Kaido has made another move," Whitebeard said, his expression darkening.

Thinking of the duel arranged not long ago between the Marine rookie Laxus and Kaido of the Beasts—

For Whitebeard, who was also one of the Four Emperors and had once come from the Rocks Pirates, it was simply a humiliation.

"Yeah." Marco nodded, then answered the Transponder Snail. "Doma, this is Marco. What happened that made you use the emergency Transponder Snail? Does it have something