About a quarter of an hour later, several warships from the Big Mom Pirates appeared on the horizon.
"They're here, Master Alastor!" Batman quickly informed Alastor.
Alastor's expression remained unchanged as he calmly said, "Everyone, prepare for battle."
The members of the Hundred Beasts Pirates immediately took up their positions, armed and exuding fierce auras.
Among them, the twenty or so gifters transformed into their animal forms, their faces grinning grimly.
"I'm going to make sure those bastards never come back!"
"How dare they try to steal food from our Hundred Beasts Pirates? They really don't know when to quit!"
"Even with the Four Emperors behind them, our Boss Kaido is the strongest creature in the sea, land, and air!"
None of the Hundred Beasts Pirates feared the Big Mom Pirates. They were all visibly excited and bloodthirsty, including Page One.
Page One approached Alastor, dripping with sweat, eager to fight.
Alastor casually asked, "How's the training going?"
Page One replied happily, "I feel like my physique has improved a bit. The training really works!"
Alastor thought to himself: Training is indeed useful, even for ordinary people. But whether anyone can reach my level... well, that's another story.
Alastor encouraged him, "Good job, Pay Pay. I like you."
Now, Page One no longer found it harsh when Alastor called him "Pay Pay." After all, Alastor was stronger and more powerful than him, and had even shared his secrets to becoming stronger. Page One felt immense admiration and gratitude.
"Brother Alastor, let me go teach those bastards from the Big Mom Pirates a lesson!"
His new confidence in calling Alastor "brother" was growing more natural.
Alastor looked into the distance and reminded him, "Don't underestimate the enemy."
It was still unclear who was leading the Big Mom Pirates this time. If it was Katakuri, Alastor wouldn't hesitate to call for reinforcements from Ghost Island to have Yamato come out.
However, the possibility of it being Katakuri was low. If a commander of the Four Emperors was dispatched, this wouldn't be a simple skirmish for an island; it could escalate into an all-out war between two royal groups. Big Mom wouldn't be foolish enough to make that move.
Sure enough, Batman in the sky reported again: "Lord Alastor, I can clearly see that the leader of the Big Mom Pirates is General Charlotte Cracker!"
Cracker?
Alastor turned his gaze toward the warships.
Cracker's strength was indeed formidable. His Biscuit Soldiers required Straw Hat Luffy in his fourth gear to break through. However, now that Alastor had mastered internal destruction, no matter how tough the Biscuit Soldiers were, they wouldn't pose much of a threat.
Soon, Cracker's warship neared the coast.
Alastor ordered, "Fire the cannons!"
Whoosh!
Dozens of shells were launched toward the approaching fleet.
Cracker, an older man with a beard, didn't flinch as the shells flew toward him. Instead, he turned to his subordinates and calmly said:
"Bring the boat to shore."
His subordinates panicked. "What about the shells? They're going to hit us!"
Cracker's tone turned cold. "Who do you think I am, you fool?"
He clapped his hands, and a massive Biscuit appeared above the warship, intercepting all the incoming shells.
The Big Mom Pirates cheered in admiration, "Master Cracker!"
Cracker smiled proudly.
The warship docked safely on the shore, and Cracker jumped off, his eyes scanning Alastor and Page One. He spoke in a disappointed tone:
"So, you two are the ones sent by the Hundred Beasts? One's a brat, and the other has only recently made a name for himself at sea. I'm really disappointed."
"The combined bounties of the two of you don't even match mine!"
Alastor's bounty was 330 million Berries, and Page One's was 290 million. The total was still far less than Cracker's 860 million, a considerable difference.
However, bounty doesn't always represent strength, especially in Alastor's case. The Navy's initial bounty doesn't even come close to reflecting his true power.
Cracker would soon learn that lesson.
Page One was enraged by Cracker's arrogance. His hands transformed into the claws of a Dragon, and with a powerful push, he rushed toward Cracker.
"When I tear you apart, you'll see that a high bounty means nothing!"
The dragon claws slashed the air, bringing gusts of wind with them.
Cracker looked at him with disdain and sneered, "How dare you talk so boldly in front of me, you brat!"
Cracker didn't even try to dodge.
No matter how sharp Page One's claws were, they only scraped some biscuit crumbs off Cracker's body.
On the outside, Cracker appeared to be a bearded uncle, but in truth, this was merely a Biscuit Knight he had created with his powers. His true form was hidden inside.
"What?!"
Page One, unaware of this, was shocked when his claws hit the seemingly invulnerable surface of Cracker's body.
Cracker sneered and pulled out a long sword, slashing at Page One.
Page One couldn't dodge in time, and his arm was severed, blood spilling out.
"The Hundred Beasts Pirates are nothing special. Come on, everyone, let's take back this island for my mother!"
With Cracker's shout, hundreds of Big Mom Pirates surged forward, eager to attack.
They screamed and charged with reckless abandon.
The Hundred Beasts Pirates weren't about to back down. Under the leadership of more than 20 gifters, they charged forward without fear.
The two powerful forces clashed immediately, the sounds of battle filling the air. Soon, the sea was stained with blood.
In the end, neither side could claim a decisive victory, and the outcome of the battle would depend on the clash between the leaders.
Upon seeing that his opponents were only Page One and Alastor, Cracker's confidence grew even stronger.
Holding his sword, Cracker walked slowly toward Page One, taunting:
"With a subordinate like you, it's truly embarrassing for Beast Kaido."
When Page One heard this, his eyes immediately turned red.
"Asshole!"
With a roar, Page One transformed into his human-beast form and charged at Cracker without hesitation.
The sarcasm on Cracker's face deepened as he clapped his hands, summoning another Biscuit Knight to stand in front of Page One while he watched from behind.
Page One, furious, was shocked to discover that even a single Biscuit Knight was beyond his expectations.
No matter how hard he tried, he could only knock off one of the knight's arms.
And within a blink, the arm instantly regenerated.
Cracker laughed loudly upon seeing this: "Little devil, you're too weak. You should kneel down and beg for mercy. For Kaido's sake, I won't kill you."
Page One's face turned pale with anger. There was indeed a huge gap in strength between him and Cracker, the General Star.
But to kneel and beg for mercy? That was a dream!
Seeing that Page One wasn't going to back down, Cracker took control of the Biscuit Knight, raised his long sword, coated it with armament haki, and thrust it toward Page One's abdomen.
If this strike landed, even if Page One were an Ancient Zoan-type, he would be seriously injured.
At that moment, a faint voice suddenly rang out:
"Hey, Biscuit Man, Pay Pay is the first little boy I've taken in. It's not very polite to tease him like that."
As the voice spoke, a hand appeared, placed firmly on the back of the Biscuit Knight.
The next second—
Bang!
The Biscuit Knight, which Page One had struggled to damage, exploded into biscuit crumbs that filled the sky.
Cracker's pupils shrank in disbelief.
"How could my Biscuit Knight..."
His eyes locked on the person responsible: it was Alastor.
Alastor withdrew his hand, and a layer of red, domineering cherry blossoms surrounded it.
Cracker noticed this and was shocked.
That wasn't ordinary armament haki!
Realization hit Cracker. He had underestimated this guy named Alastor.
"Brother Alastor."
Page One cast a grateful glance at Alastor and then lowered his head in shame. He felt like he had embarrassed the Hundred Beasts Pirates.
Alastor spoke reassuringly: "Don't blame yourself, Pay Pay. You're still young and have a lot of potential. Go help the others. Leave Cracker to me."
Page One nodded firmly and left.
Before going, he glanced at Alastor and swore to himself:
"I'll train hard and someday, I'll have a body as strong as Brother Alastor's!"
Now, it was a one-on-one battle between Alastor and Cracker.
After the initial shock, Cracker quickly regained his composure and proudly said:
"You've got some skill, much better than that kid earlier. But breaking my Biscuit Knight isn't easy. I can make countless more!"
Perospero's argument for persuading Big Mom was that Cracker could continually produce durable Biscuit Knights.
In battle, that ability was a powerful weapon.
Slap, slap, slap...
Cracker kept clapping his hands, soon creating more than a dozen Biscuit Knights that surrounded Alastor.
"This is my ability, sir. Let's see how many knights you can smash!"
Cracker crossed his arms, wearing a mocking grin.
But Alastor's words froze his smile.
"Your Biscuit Soldiers aren't endless. Huh, how long can your stamina last?"
It took a significant amount of energy for Cracker to create Biscuit Knights. The more he made, the faster his stamina would deplete.
In the original story, Straw Hat Luffy was the one who used the "drag" strategy, holding out for eleven hours to exhaust Cracker's stamina before defeating him.
And this was a secret Cracker never shared. How could Alastor from the Hundred Beasts Pirates know it?
Cracker's expression darkened, and a trace of murderous intent crept into his voice: "You know my ability very well..."
Originally, he hadn't intended to kill Alastor or Page One. His goal was simply to beat them and drive them off the island to prevent an all-out war between the two Emperors' factions.
But now that Alastor knew the secret of his Devil Fruit ability, Cracker couldn't help but feel genuine killing intent.
"So what if you know my information?"
Yet Cracker quickly regained his confidence and his tone became more assured.