To their mother, they were never seen as children, just tools that could be discarded at any time.
If a child was strong and useful, they might be treated a little better. But those without power were always in danger.
Big Mom had killed countless husbands, so killing her own children meant nothing to her.
Brûlée, for example, had decent strength, but her mother still didn't care when she hurt and turned her into a disfigured monster.
Lola and Garrett were used as pawns, forced into marriages they didn't want. Garrett was lucky her fiancé, the Emperor of West Blue, turned out to be a good man.
But Lola refused her arranged marriage and ran away. No one knows if she survived; she disappeared without a trace.
Big Mom once ate her own son, Moscato, during a schizophrenic episode—and felt no guilt when she came to.
Every time Perospero remembered these things, it made his heart heavy. It wasn't that he wanted to rebel, but what their mother had done was just too cruel.
If Katakuri were here, and saw their younger siblings die, he would surely lose control.
Now that Enel is guarding the sky, no one dares to make a move—not even Quinn or the others. They've seen that Enel has reached an incredible level of power.
At least King is still in Wanokuni, holding down the fort. That gives Quinn the confidence to fight.
"West Blue was hiding someone this powerful?" Daifuku's face was full of fear. Luckily, the man had no intention of making a move.
Someone at Admiral level would require at least three of the Four Sweet Commanders to handle, one of them had to be Katakuri.
The battlefield was chaotic, changing every second. Multiple fights were happening at once. So much had just happened, yet it had only been a few minutes.
Each fight felt like a snapshot of the larger war.
Lynch was still trying to stop the island from collapsing, locked in battle with Kaido.
In his mythical Sun Candle beast form, Lynch grabbed Kaido's dragon tail and swung him around like a giant spicy stick.
The ground trembled as Kaido was thrown around, dizzy and disoriented.
"Lynch!" Kaido roared, his world spinning.
A wave of nausea hit him as he twisted his long dragon body and bit down hard on the Sun Candle's leg.
Bright red blood, laced with gold, burst from the wound, falling from the sky like a basin of spilled paint.
As Lynch's blood touched the sea below, the water began to boil.
Fish and shrimp went wild, swarming toward the blood despite the ongoing artillery fire.
A 10 cm fish swallowed a drop—and instantly grew.
20 cm… 30 cm… 50 cm… one meter… two meters… five meters!
Its body swelled fifty times larger in moments.
The little fish that had absorbed Lynch's blood now seemed smarter, a glint of awareness in its eyes. It began fighting with the others for the remaining drops of blood.
Kaido had accidentally swallowed some of Lynch's blood too. His eyes widened in shock
"What a surge of energy!"
"Kid, your blood is something else," Kaido growled, tearing open Lynch's wound and gulping down more.
"Damn it, you think you're the only one who can bite?"
Lynch looked at Kaido's thick dragon tail and suddenly felt hungry. He lunged forward and took a huge bite out of it.
"Mmm~ Kaido, you really should cut back on the booze. Your meat tastes awful."
He didn't even chew it Sun Candle's black hole mouth broke it down instantly. Not only did Lynch recover the blood he lost, but he absorbed even more energy.
"You brat, you dare bite me!" Kaido roared in pain, letting go of Lynch.
He raised his massive head, dragon eyes glaring as he brought his face close to Lynch's.
As the saying goes when two men get this close, they either kiss or fight.
Flames surged in Kaido's mouth, while crackling energy lit up in Sun Candle's.
Boom!
Both unleashed their blasts at the same time, causing a massive explosion.
Kaido's Azure Dragon form was blown away, but Lynch quickly chased him down. Grabbing him midair, Lynch hurled Kaido down toward the island.
Kaido crashed into the island, shifting its trajectory. Instead of falling into the heart of the army, it now headed toward the edge, where two battlefields were about to meet.
The island Kaido crashed into was massive, like a giant meteor falling from the sky.
Lynch was about to follow up with another kick, but before he could, Kaido charged out from the pirate camp and attacked him again.
...…
Sabaody Archipelago.
The people watching the live broadcast were stunned. The screen had gone silent, and for a long moment, no one spoke. Finally, someone broke the silence.
"If I hadn't known this was real, I would've thought it was some kind of special effects..."
"Yeah, the clash between those two mythical beasts is unbelievable. Compared to them, humans really are like ants. So this is the true power of Kaido of the Beasts and Emperor Lynch."
"He kicked an island away with one kick... Are they even human!?"
"The power of those two is insane. Calling them gods wouldn't even be a stretch."
"At this level, aren't they basically invincible?"
No one argued over who was stronger. Everyone was simply overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the battle they were watching.
The fight between Sun Candle and Azure Dragon was beyond anything anyone expected.
Even Rayleigh, an old veteran who had seen countless Admiral-level battles, couldn't take his eyes off the screen.
He had never in his life seen two giant mythical beasts, hundreds of meters long, clash like this.
"Brother Lynch's strength just keeps growing," Rayleigh muttered, deep in thought. "Even Kaido can't overpower him now..."
Had Lynch already broken past the "limit" that Roger once spoke of?
…
"Look! Something's falling from the sky!"
"Stop fighting! Fall back, retreat now!"
Soldiers from both sides spotted the massive island descending from above and quickly turned their ships around, trying to escape its impact.
No one wanted to be crushed to pieces.
"Shinra Tensei!"
"Golden Divine Fire!"
"Candy Curtain!"
"Cream Heat!"
To cover their retreat, both sides' enemy and ally worked together without a word. They used their powers to slow the island's fall.
Thanks to everyone's efforts, the island hovered in the air for a while, suspended by various abilities.
Once all forces had pulled back to a safe distance, the island finally dropped.
Fortunately, because of their combined strength, it landed in the sea without creating huge waves.
"A place to stand!"
The island's appearance immediately changed the situation. Now both sides had the same goal to seize control of the island at all costs.
For most Devil Fruit users, their power only works at full strength on land. Fighting at sea is always risky, and falling into the water is a death sentence.
"Kakashi!"
Hearing Lynch's call, Kakashi understood at once.
Without hesitation, he jumped toward the falling island in the sea.
.
.
TO BE CONTINUED
___________________
I've added an advanced chapter on P@treon, where you can read 130+ chapters ahead of everyone.
Link : patreon.com/MoonEater18