**Boom! Boom! Boom!
With a series of dull thumps, hands made of mochi from walls, furniture, stone, and metal pounded relentlessly against the mirror.
Katakuri was well aware of Big Mom's immense power. Despite Rowen's ability to severely wound her, killing her would be a difficult task.
At least for him and his peers, even engaging her in battle was out of their league. The Yonko's level was simply too high!
However...
"Heh, is that all you've got, Katakuri?"
**Whoosh...
Crash!**
A large hand appeared through the dust, twisted souls with blue and purple faces forming a shield that blocked the mirror.
Katakuri's fierce attack landed on it but didn't even leave a crack.
"She's coming out, scatter!"
Seeing this, Dante's pupils shrank. He roared as he swung his sword, creating countless sword shadows. Transforming into a sword shadow laser, he charged at the door.
"Stay here, Marine!"
Smoothie watched in amazement. Despite his nearly crippled legs, Dante managed to burst out with such speed. It reminded her of the Marine Beheading Force she had fought before. Those guys were also incredibly fast, which was why they were so successful.
This was the new trend of the Marines with two-speed specialists. Rowen and Kizaru's combined suppression power made the world realize that sometimes speed really was more important than strength.
**Buzz!**
With the sword shadows surrounding Dante, Smoothie didn't want to test whether the Marine Ghost Sword's Phantom Sword technique was real or just an illusion. Her Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) flared up, causing a deafening buzz.
As a woman with a natural disadvantage in stamina, Smoothie's Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) was extraordinarily powerful!
**Clang! Clang! Clang!
Enhanced with Busoshoku Haki, Smoothie charged, swinging her sword in a rain of blows. The sword shadows collided with her blackened form, creating a cacophony of collisions.
Several white marks appeared on Smoothie's body, but none of the sword energy broke through her defenses.
"What a strong defense!"
"What a terrifying attack!"
Both were astonished by the other's techniques. Dante, who was quick to adapt, realized that his opponent could ignore his protective sword energy. He decisively dropped his attack and began to spin in place.
**Moonlike Stream Murdering Sword: Bright Moon's Returning Edge!
**Bang!
The sudden change in technique caught Smoothie off guard. From an outsider's perspective, it looked like Dante never intended to break out of the room, but was waiting for her to come close.
Smoothie knew otherwise.
"Hmph!"
As her opponent gained the upper hand, Smoothie drew her weapon to defend herself.
A swordsman's vacuum slash and close-range slash are different. The former is an extension of the latter and is optional in combat. Judging a swordsman's strength solely by the intensity of his sword energy is a grave mistake!
Her Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) could block Dante's protective sword energy, but not his melee attacks.
Sure enough!
As soon as their weapons collided, Smoothie felt a relief in her caution.
Dante took full advantage of the momentum from his sprint and spin, combining his muscle power with his sword technique. The resulting slash was like a thousand-ton boulder, numbing Smoothie's arms and tearing her palm.
But thanks to her weapon's short block, Smoothie dropped her long sword and quickly retreated.
**Bang... Boom!**
The floor was struck, creating a crater larger than a swimming pool. The steel plates beneath the room bent like tin foil.
Debris hit her face, making Smoothie's mouth twitch.
"Are you a swordsman or a stonemason?!"
With a successful hit, Dante didn't pause. Adjusting his stance in mid-air, he landed and quickly moved to escape.
But then...
"I know you, you're the loyal follower of the Soryu, descendant of the once greatest sword hero of the world, the Quinn Family."
Turning around, Dante froze completely.
A pink dress, heavy purple eye shadow and lipstick, and a towering figure nearly 30 feet tall with fists filled with fire and lightning.
BIG MOM had stayed behind to ambush him instead of going after Katakuri.
"Charming, huh!"
Dante wanted to curse, a thousand huskies running through his head.
What could he say?
Kudos to the Charlotte family, the best in the business at gathering information. They even knew all about an obscure person like me.
**I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!
"Do you think killing you will make the Soryu angry?"
BIG MOM's eyes gleamed with murderous intent as her terrifying Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) filled the air with crackling purple-black lightning, sweeping away everything in its path. Under the overwhelming pressure of her aura, Dante felt like a fragile leaf in a storm, constantly on the verge of capsizing.
**This is the power of a Yonko!
A moment of clarity flashed through Dante's mind.
So Rowen had been fighting enemies of this caliber all along?
"Die!"
While Dante was deep in thought, BIG MOM had no such hesitation.
At that moment, her only desire was to kill Dante, to make Rowen feel the pain of losing his loved ones, one by one.
In the style of the BIG MOM pirates, the pirate style, she wanted to make Rowen suffer!
A massive flaming fist descended from the sky. It wasn't one of the original three Homies, Prometheus; it was simply a weapon created by BIG MOM, imbued with the power of her Soul-Soul Fruit Awakening. Although it was not as flexible as the previous homies, its power was nearly identical.
If struck by this fist, Dante estimated that he'd be shattered into pieces.
"Get down!"
Suddenly, a cry rang out.
Facing the nearly nine-meter-tall BIG MOM, getting down might seem like a bad tactic, leaving one exposed within her attack range. But Dante trusted Katakuri, knowing he wouldn't deceive him; it would serve no purpose. Without hesitation, he dropped, buying himself less than half a second of survival time.
And at that moment...
**Boom!!**
**"Ahhh!!!"**
A violent shudder and a piercing scream erupted simultaneously. Dante felt dizzy, his eardrums bursting from the shockwave, causing intracranial resonance. At the same time, a warm sensation spread across his back - was it...?
"Blood?!"
Dante looked up to see BIG MOM's massive frame slowly tilt backward, losing her footing and toppling over bit by bit.
Turning to see the source, Katakuri stood inside a red container with its doors flung open, a five-meter silver-white cannon pointed outward, its crackling electrical discharge revealing what had just happened.
**Super electromagnetic cannon!
**"Impossible!"
Smoothie's pupils dilated in disbelief as she screamed, "Those were the supplies sent by Umit and Stussy! Why is there a Marine Super Electromagnetic Cannon?"
"The reason is simple, Smoothie... that's your name, right?"
**Zzzz...**
Electric currents crackled ominously, a suffocating pressure enveloping the entire island. Smoothie's eyes flickered with fear as she slowly turned around.
**Boom!**
BIG MOM's colossal body slammed into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.
Beyond the dust cloud, the newcomer waved his hand, dispersing the ashes, then took a drag from his cigar, exhaling a cloud of white smoke.
"Umit and Stussy wanted to turn over a new leaf, so they sold you out," Rowen spoke calmly.
In his heart, he added.
'Of course, this was all orchestrated by CP0 agent Stussy.'
She revealed her intention to collaborate with the Marines in her role as one of the Four Emperors of the Underworld, and Umit, the Shipping King, readily agreed, as he had deep ties to the Marines.
...
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