A massive sword slash sliced through the air, exploding in a burst of violent flames at the point of impact.
The giant-sized Smoothie walked slowly, making her way toward the smoke and dust caused by the explosion.
Next to her, Oven's eyes were burning with intensity, his entire body radiating searing heat.
As the two approached, water splashed forward, dispersing the thick smoke.
Aqua, holding the Goddess Staff, appeared with her usually arrogant face now smeared with dirt, looking somewhat disheveled.
The foolish goddess, despite her immense magical power, was severely lacking in battle experience and had a very low tolerance for pain, leaving her with no choice but to take a passive beating.
However, her time spent on this adventure had at least taught her a bit of restraint. Even when provoked to her limits, she had managed to resist the urge to flood and drown both of them using her world-ending flood powers.
Thanks to the Water Observation Haki she had secretly learned from Zyhark, she had a clear understanding of the various battle situations across the island.
She knew she needed to hold out a bit longer until her companions dealt with their respective enemies.
Perhaps it was because she understood the importance of this battle to Zyhark, but for once, the foolish goddess had put some thought into her actions.
"A runaway like you with a bounty of 560 million Berries? Hard to believe," Smoothie remarked, stopping in her tracks and using her natural height advantage to look down at Aqua. "The title of Goddess of Water really is exaggerated, huh?"
"Hurry up and deal with this small fry already. I wonder how Mama and Zyhark's fight is going…" Oven said in a deep voice, clearly in agreement.
The casual attitude of the two deeply triggered a sensitive nerve in the foolish goddess.
The dignity of a goddess was something she would defend with her very life!
"You dare question this goddess's title and call me a small fry!!"
True to form, Aqua's patience lasted less than three minutes, throwing all thoughts of restraint and consequences out the window.
A radiant divine light burst forth, with multicolored flames blazing fiercely, radiating an overwhelming sacred aura.
"Go to hell, God's Fist!!"
In a fit of rage, Aqua abandoned any thought of strategy, raising a fist imbued with immense magical power and charging straight at them.
Seeing this, Oven, who had already experienced the flashy but ineffective nature of Aqua's attacks, stepped forward.
His arms, hanging at his sides, glowed with intense red heat as the temperature around him rose.
"Her body is strange, just like Mama's Iron Balloon, she's tough to hurt," Smoothie calmly stated, stepping in front of Oven. "Let me handle this."
After a brief exchange, both Smoothie and Oven had realized just how ridiculous Aqua's physical resilience was.
Despite her frail appearance, slashes and scorching punches landed on her with little effect, only eliciting cries of pain without leaving much of a mark.
Even the seemingly delicate feathered robe she wore remained undamaged!
And so, Smoothie decided to take a more straightforward approach to defeat her opponent.
Using the power of her Squeeze-Squeeze Fruit, Smoothie planned to completely drain the water from Aqua's body!
No matter how resilient someone's body might be, as long as they were still human, they would die once all the water was drained from their body—just like all her previous victims.
As she thought this, the multicolored flames were already upon her.
Smoothie calmly removed the gloves from her hands, coating her palms with Armament Haki, and reached directly for Aqua's incoming fist.
Even though she was confident in using her powers, Smoothie remained cautious, knowing her opponent had water-based abilities. As for the blazing fire fist, she completely ignored it.
Boom!
As Smoothie had expected, when her palm grasped Aqua's fist, the pitiful strength behind it posed no threat at all.
The foolish goddess, still bewildered as to why her God's Fist had been so easily blocked, found herself lifted into the air by Smoothie, who had grabbed both her hand and ankle.
The size difference between the two was so vast that Aqua looked like nothing more than a ragdoll in Smoothie's hands.
No, that's not quite right—Smoothie's fruit ability was already at work, and Aqua was literally being wrung dry like a rag.
Drip, drip.
Clear water dripped continuously from Aqua's body, quickly soaking the shattered ground.
"This… strange feeling…"
The astonishing amount of water flowing from Aqua's body made Smoothie, who had drained countless victims, furrow her brows in confusion.
Just as she was about to increase her power, a look of shock suddenly appeared on her face.
The water that had pooled on the ground seemed to have a life of its own, rapidly flowing up Smoothie's long legs.
What followed was an overwhelming sense of fatigue as all her strength was drained in an instant!
"Something's wrong! This woman is wrong!"
As Smoothie hurriedly dropped Aqua and tried to retreat, the purifying water had already engulfed her entire body.
It was as if she had fallen into the ocean—the effect was even more intense, rendering her unable to struggle before she passed out, her eyes rolling back as she floated helplessly in the water sphere.
"Smoothie!"
Realizing something was wrong, Oven quickly gathered his strength and hurled a heated punch directly at Smoothie's face.
Whether intentionally or not, the force of the punch sent Smoothie flying, crashing into the ruins nearby.
Though blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, at least she had escaped the water sphere's grip.
"Hahaha! The water in this goddess's body can't be drained in ten lifetimes!"
"What a pair of fools—you started fighting each other all on your own the moment I used a bit of my brain!"
Seeing Smoothie's furious expression as she got back up, Aqua burst out laughing.
That idiot Zyhark always called her stupid, but little did he know, this goddess was brilliant!
With her smug, obnoxious face, Aqua truly looked like she deserved a punch.
Of course, the foolish goddess had no real strategic mind—she had simply gotten lucky.
Still, the results spoke for themselves, and she had somehow pulled it off.
"That wretched woman… dared to mock me…"
Smoothie's face darkened to the extreme as she raised her giant rotating sword and unleashed a massive, powerful slash.
Boom!
Caught off guard, Aqua was sent flying dozens of meters by the sword energy, crashing into a ruined cake building.
After this brief interlude, the foolish goddess, now terrified of pain, resumed her flight, with an enraged Smoothie and Oven hot on her heels.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the island's coast, split in two, a barrage of candy bullets rained down relentlessly, chasing after the rapidly moving Meowth.
To give credit where it's due, Meowth, who had survived countless Thunderbolts as a Pokémon, was quite gifted.
During the time spent training with Rayleigh on the island, Meowth had not only mastered the Navy's Six Powers, but had also learned both Observation and Armament Haki.
Although still at a basic level, it was just enough to dodge Perospero's attacks by using Shave.
"Kanna-chan, are you okay?"
Dodging another barrage of candy bullets, Meowth anxiously glanced back at Kanna, who was clinging to his back.
"I-I'm fine!" came a muffled, unclear reply from behind him.
Not fully convinced, Meowth turned his head to check once more, only to see something that made his face fall.
"Kanna-chan, do you want to try some of this candy? It's really sweet!"
Kanna, with her cheeks puffed out, extended a small hand, revealing a light purple candy.
Meowth: "..."
Not only was the adorable Kanna unhurt, but she was actually enjoying herself, happily munching away!
Absolutely ridiculous!
Of course, for Kanna, an ancient dragon, Perospero's attacks were too weak, barely even comparable to the playful games she used to play with Thor when she was younger!
As Meowth struggled with his complex feelings, the road ahead was suddenly replaced by an endless expanse of ocean.
They had reached the edge of the coast.
"You really can run, huh, pet cat?"
Daifuku stopped as well, a monstrous genie floating menacingly beside him.
"I'm a Pokémon, not a pet cat, you bald-headed jerk!" Meowth snarled, his fur bristling with anger.
Since he couldn't vent his frustrations at Kanna, he unleashed all his pent-up rage on Perospero and Daifuku.
"Enough talk—let's eliminate this potential threat."
Perospero licked his large, exposed tongue, his gaze dark and menacing. "We've wasted too much time already."
What had initially seemed like a quick and easy task had turned into a long chase, with the cat somehow managing to escape all the way from the center of Cake Island to the coast, all while carrying someone on his back.
The thought of returning to be ridiculed by his siblings made Perospero sigh in frustration.
"I understand," Daifuku nodded.
"Heh, who'll be eliminating whom is still up in the air, nya!"
Meowth, now calm again, smirked with a villainous grin.
As soon as his words fell, to the shock of Perospero and Daifuku, a large shadow quickly descended from the sky, hovering in mid-air.
"Now, let's settle the score for all that chasing, nya!"
With a powerful leap, Meowth jumped onto the deck of the Endless Dream, which had come to his rescue.
Standing on the familiar deck of his ship, Meowth finally relaxed his tensed nerves.
That's right, his whole plan had been to lure the enemies to the hidden location of the Endless Dream!
Facing two officers of the Big Mom Pirates, especially with Kanna drained of her strength, was far too much for him to handle alone.
But, now that he was aboard the ship he had built alongside Tom-sensei, Meowth's confidence soared!
"Kanna-chan, head to the recharge room on the ship to recover your strength. It's much more efficient there. Leave the rest to your big brother Meowth!"
After setting Kanna down, Meowth gave a thumbs-up, trying to appear like the reliable big brother.
However, when he noticed the "low battery" indicator on the special charger attached to Kanna's back, Meowth froze in place.
He had personally crafted that charger, and although it couldn't quite compare to Zyhark's creations, the tests showed it could fully meet Kanna's needs.
Which meant…
"Mm! Meowth, ganbatte!"
Watching Kanna's adorable, innocent face, Meowth could only sigh inwardly.
It wasn't that Kanna was intentionally holding back—before the battle, Zyhark had specifically instructed her not to get involved unless absolutely necessary.
The reason was simple: Zyhark wanted the Big Mom Pirates to serve as valuable combat experience for the crew.
After all, their future enemies would be even stronger than Big Mom, including Kaido of the Beasts, the Navy, the World Government, and the Five Elders!
It was crucial for the crew to gain as much experience as possible in preparation for those future battles.
'That scheming captain... After this war is over, I'm definitely tossing him into the engine room to generate power!'
Meowth quickly guessed that this was all part of the devious plan crafted by that sneaky captain Aqua always complained about. He clenched his fist in frustration.
But there wasn't much time to dwell on it, as the Endless Dream's alarm system went off.
Down below, Perospero and Daifuku had already launched their attack.
Still seething from being dragged into this, Meowth wasted no time. He activated the ship's entire weapon system, unleashing a barrage of firepower at the two enemies, covering the coast in explosions.
Flames and explosions engulfed the shoreline.
Far away, in the waters of Totto Land, Zyhark's battle with Big Mom had also reached its peak.
Lightning, flames, and Haki-infused slashes rained down on the ground like there was no tomorrow, frightening the massive sea beasts that lived in the area, sending them fleeing in terror.
"If this drags on, aren't you worried that all your companions will be killed?"
Big Mom, now in a frenzied state, stood atop her fiery cloud, her massive chest heaving. It was clear that her stamina was running low.
For someone who could casually fight Kaido for a full day and night, it was strange for Big Mom to show signs of exhaustion. The reason was simple—Zyhark had been fighting at full strength from the very start.
In this situation, Big Mom had no choice but to respond with an equal level of power.
As the battle dragged on, the toll on her stamina became significant.
"Instead of worrying about my companions, you should be concerned about your children."
Compared to Big Mom, Zyhark was breathing steadily. After this prolonged battle, his aura had only grown stronger!
This was the terrifying nature of his Devour skill. As long as he wasn't hit by a fatal blow or overwhelmed by a group, in one-on-one duels, he was almost invincible!
Of course, the stronger he became now, the harsher the backlash would be later.
"Mamamama! You think Katakuri will lose?"
Big Mom threw her head back and let out a sharp, piercing laugh as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world.
She had absolute confidence in Katakuri, no matter what!
"Not exactly."
Zyhark's eyes sparked with electricity, his battle intent surging.
"Big Mom, you too will meet your end here!"
His gaze fell on the vast ocean below.
Now that Big Mom's stamina had been drained, it was time to execute his plan!
"You arrogant brat, don't think you've won just because of your special abilities!"
Big Mom's smile faded, replaced by the ferocious expression of a ruthless pirate. "I am one of the Four Emperors, Big Mom!!"
Without bothering to respond to her boastful proclamation, Zyhark, hovering in mid-air, took a deep breath.
His arms, now transformed into crackling arcs of electricity, stretched downward, reaching deep into the ocean below.
As he pushed his Rumble-Rumble Fruit to its limits, the calm surface of the sea suddenly erupted into a blinding flash of lightning.
In the next instant, a massive shadow loomed over the entire sea.
Under the guidance of his lightning, an enormous wave hundreds of meters high rose from the ocean in the blink of an eye!
"How about this?"
"Thunder-God Tsunami!!"
(End of Chapter)
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