Chapter 826: Chapter 506: Every Belly Found Belongs to Norton!

Pa!

Sage first flicked his lighter, lit a cigar, then poured himself a glass of liquor, leaned back on the throne behind him, and snapped his fingers to signal that they could begin.

The throne behind him was different again.

It was a towering throne, with smooth, powerful lines, every carved ornament exquisitely detailed, the seat wide, inlaid with beast‑headed jade stones, lofty and solemn.

This throne was one of Big Mom’s collectibles, no one knew where she had gotten it. When they were tallying the spoils, Sage took a fancy to it at a glance and had it brought back and placed in the conference room.

There weren’t many thrones left that could catch his eye now.

The Jewelry Throne and Golden Throne they first plundered were now placed in a side hall and the main hall, the Velvet Lion‑Head Throne was in the banquet hall, and the Cyan Sand Wood Throne had been put into the Captain’s cabin of the Death Star.

And this "Beast Jade Throne" had been placed in the conference room within the Royal Palace.

Sage had many thrones, but most were just there to make up the numbers, not worthy to be called good thrones. Counting this one, there were only five that truly pleased him.

He wondered if that guy Kaido had the habit of collecting thrones as spoils of war...

"I’ll do the briefing."

Under the gaze of the many officers, Lily stood up and walked to a spacious spot up front, pulled down a large curtain, activated a Video Snail, and projected a rough, general Sea Map.

It showed the front half of the New World section of the Grand Line. It wasn’t detailed—only the main islands and some important nodes.

Such as Dressrosa, the Moving Zou, Totto Land, Wano Country, and further on from there, O’hara at the end of this Sea Map.

The map also had a demarcation line drawn on it, roughly extending down from O’hara, enclosing Totto Land and Dressrosa, like a giant beast with its jaws open, ready to bite down on Kaido’s Wano Country.

Other small islands were not on this map.

The planning they were doing now was all at the strategic level. Ever since Sage became one of the Four Emperors, any undiscovered islands were basically defaulted as his territory—the only difference was between "discovered" and "undiscovered."

Only beings on the level of Kaido, another of the Four Emperors, would even show up on this map.

"We won’t put up the second half of the map. Blackbeard and Red Hair are the two strongest forces in the back half. As an ally who has formed an alliance with Sage, Blackbeard is still trustworthy for now. With him keeping Red Hair in check, we’re unimpeded in the seas of the front half."

Lily said, "Totto Land now also belongs to our sphere of influence. Although it will take time to digest, that’s just a matter of time. For the moment, we don’t need to worry too much about security and stability. Katakuri is an excellent Gatekeeper."

"Now..."

She pointed at the area on the map that belonged to Kaido. "The biggest obstacle to unifying the front half is this place. According to the current plan, there’s only one last step left..."

"The subjugation of Kaido!"

Sage’s plans were always broken into steps, and with enough accumulation, some steps progressed very fast.

The plundering during the accumulation period, the construction during the dormant period—now the entire O’hara domain could be moved like his own arm, which meant when war broke out, they wouldn’t be lacking weapons, ammunition, or logistics.

Compared to those Pirates still roaming the seas trying to rob and increase their combat power—even Pirates of the Four Emperors level—they weren’t even in the same league.

If you had to describe it...

A thickened, reinforced plus‑version Big Mom!

While listening to Lily, Hawkins was shuffling his Tarot Cards, casually drew a few, frowned, and said, "Chance of victory, 51%. Degree of danger, infinitely close to 100%. And my personal survival rate is as low as 3%?"

Then he tossed the Tarot Cards aside, leaned back in his chair, and stopped caring.

"Hm? You’re not calculating anymore?"

Sage looked at Hawkins with interest.

If he remembered correctly, this guy, in his impression, died in Wano Country.

Now that he’d joined his Pirates, his survival rate was still this low...

"It’s meaningless."

Hawkins said blandly, "A battle with a Four Emperor is inevitable. The exact rate of victory or survival means nothing. As long as you win, Sage, then we all win. If my survival rate is low, then it’s low. Struggling against fate is one of the joys of life."

"Exactly."

Urouge raised one hand with ten fingers extended, keeping his weird grin. "This humble monk cares not for victory or defeat, only for delivering souls."

Seated below them, the officers from the New Star generation were all visibly fired up as well.

In their eyes, Kaido was no different from Big Mom—both were Four Emperors. Although Kaido had the reputation of "King of One‑on‑Ones," they didn’t buy it anymore.

After all, the King of One‑on‑Ones had never killed a single Four Emperor.

Their Captain had personally taken down a Four Emperor!

"Heh‑shishishishi, we’re finally coming to Kaido?"

Moriah cackled sharply, his eyes bloodshot. Among everyone present, he was the most excited.

That bastard who, long ago, killed many of his comrades and broke his spirit would never have thought he’d come back like this.

"But... are we really going to fight now? Sage, we just swallowed Big Mom’s territory. Don’t we need some time to digest it first so it’ll be more secure, in case of accidents?"

The hatred was there, but the bigger picture mattered more. Since joining the Disaster Pirates, Moriah had been actively doing his part.

For Sage to become King, he was willing to set aside his hatred.

"Precisely because of that, we have to move fast."

Sage grinned ferociously. "If we give the World Government time to free up their hands, then we’ll end up on the back foot."

After killing Big Mom, he was already the most powerful Pirate force in the New World, beyond comparison with the current Four Emperors.

But it was exactly because of that that they had to be quick.

"If the Navy frees up, they’ll keep the closest watch on us. If we want to make any big moves after that, it’ll be troublesome."

Lily said, "Right now is indeed an opportunity. The World Conference held every four years is still ongoing, so the Navy can’t spare the manpower to keep a close eye on us. Once we take down Kaido and occupy the front half of the New World, we can seize the greatest initiative."

"Exactly."

Sage shot Lily a look of approval, stood up, and said loudly to everyone:

"The world doesn’t wait for anyone. No one has all their wishes come true, and there’s no such thing as ’prepare, prepare, then prepare some more.’ Sometimes you simply can’t be fully prepared—you just have to fight your way up!"

"It would of course be great to fully digest Big Mom’s territory and turn it all into the strength of our Disaster Pirates—but how long will that take? It took me two years just to occupy and digest half of Whitebeard’s territory! For the full domain of a Four Emperor not inferior to Whitebeard, how long am I supposed to spend?"

"Even if the model is fixed now and we stack O’hara’s governance method on top, it still takes time. One year? Two? Three? No, I can’t wait even a month!"

"The Navy has always been our enemy. With territory this vast, it’d be weird if they didn’t keep us under tight watch. Those decrepit old men in Mary Geoise, decayed like undead, will never let me grow unchecked!"

"By taking Totto Land we’re already facing a pincer from the back half and the Navy head‑on. Since we’re strategically getting pincered anyway, we might as well expand further. I have no intention of being pinched by Kaido as well. Taking the offensive is the only right choice!"

Sage stretched out his hand and clenched it hard. "Taking advantage of the opportunity of the World Conference, within this front‑half sea area I’ve drawn a line around—whether it’s flying in the sky or swimming in the sea... it all belongs to me, and it all must submit to the rule of me, Norton Sage!"

Under everyone’s eyes, he let out a bold roar, "In short, if you pick up even a single Belly, it’d better have the surname Norton! Hahahahaha, hohahahahaha!!"