The fifteen Biscuit Generals were annihilated by a single palm strike, turning into dust. Cracker's ability was certainly overpowered, but that was only when he wasn't facing an even more overpowered opponent. Right now, Wilder was more overpowered than him.
The massive body then truly showed everyone what it meant to be invincible. Of the eighty Biscuit Generals, sixty-five remained after the initial fifteen were destroyed. And soon, they too would follow their brethren.
Smack, smack, smack!
A rapid succession of palm strikes!
The giant Swamp General, which looked incredibly clumsy, moved with astonishing speed. It repeatedly slammed down its thick, massive palms, causing the ground to tremble. The remaining Biscuit Generals continuously dodged, but it was like ants under a human hand. Their own considerable speed seemed sluggish under the giant palms. With each slap, they were utterly crushed without any chance to resist.
Some attempted to slash or pierce the giant body with their longswords. The attacks were indeed effective, but after the strike, the slight wounds would quickly heal and return to their original state.
Dust flew everywhere. When Wilder's final palm strike landed, not a single one of the eighty Biscuit Generals remained.
How could anyone fight this?!
Watching this scene, everyone couldn't help but ask themselves this question.
Cracker had never imagined that his pride and joy, the Biscuit Generals, would one day appear so "fragile."
Yes, fragile. In the past, if anyone had dared to call his biscuits fragile, he would have shown them the true meaning of the word with his own hands.
But now… no matter how he looked at it, it was true. The Biscuit Generals were just too fragile.
It was unbelievable, but what he felt more was indignation and an uncontrollable rage.
This guy…!
"Clap, clap, clap!"
Cracker once again began to clap his hands rapidly. Soon, the surrounding powder quickly gathered, forming one complete Biscuit General after another.
"There's more! There's more! How many can you finish?!" Cracker seemed to be going mad, an excited laugh escaping his lips. "Gehahahaha!"
Powder continuously materialized from the air, quickly forming into cold-faced Biscuit Generals.
Twenty!
Fifty!
Eighty!
One hundred!
Two hundred!
A full two hundred Biscuit Generals stood densely packed on the battlefield, tightly surrounding the massive Swamp General in the middle. The spectacular scene made the scalps of Wilder's men tingle, and they broke out in a cold sweat for him.
Wilder naturally knew that, all else aside, two hundred Biscuit Generals, each with a single slash, would be enough to dismantle his massive body. And he couldn't possibly defend against it. The moment he launched an attack, at least a hundred greatswords would land on his body.
These weren't a bunch of children; their slashes had real power.
It had to be said again, the overpowered aspect of this overpowered ability was that it could endlessly create these turtle-shell-like biscuit men without any regard for stamina. It was equivalent to fighting an endless stream of enemies who knew no fear or pain.
If there was a person in the world with infinite stamina, and that person ate this overpowered fruit, then they would be nearly invincible.
They could exhaust the stamina of any enemy.
The two hundred Biscuit Generals moved in unison. The light from their greatswords shone across the entire battlefield, obscuring everything else. The eyes of the onlookers were filled with nothing but that cold light.
The scene seemed to freeze in that moment. About half of the two hundred biscuit men leaped high into the air, reaching the massive giant's waist, thighs, calves, chest, abdomen, neck, and head.
The other half remained on the ground. But whether in the air or on the ground, at that moment, they all made the same move, swinging their swords to strike the Swamp General.
Only the giant stood unmoving.
To be honest, Wilder really didn't want to resort to any schemes or tricks. In fact, he didn't think he was that kind of person. But isn't battle all about strategy and formation? It was perfectly normal, justifiable, scientific, and humane to set up a formation to meet the enemy at the start of a battle.
There's a saying, "to catch bandits, first catch the king," and other similar strategic terms with clear meanings. But some people just didn't pay attention to these things. Cracker was one of them. He had probably forgotten that he was the "king" among this group of biscuit men. Or perhaps he was just overconfident in his own ability to handle anything.
So, the ground beneath his feet suddenly collapsed, revealing the thick, viscous swamp lake below.
He was still in a state of shock as he fell directly into the swamp.
When the trap was laid was no longer important. It was probably set while the Swamp General stood motionless in its original spot. What was important now was that Cracker had been completely swallowed by Wilder.
Once inside Wilder's swamp, escape was difficult, if not impossible. Under Wilder's deliberate control, gurgling bubbles rose from the surface of the swamp. And below, Cracker felt terrible. Uncomfortable.
The swamp, as if alive, continuously drilled into his nostrils. When his mouth reflexively opened due to the blockage, a gurgling stream of swamp poured in.
An attack wasn't always a head-on collision. Compared to a direct confrontation, Wilder preferred to end his enemies' lives in this silent, insidious way.
This had two advantages. One, he would never get hurt himself. From beginning to end, it was the swamp that fought the enemy. Two, once an enemy fell into this situation, it meant there was no possibility of escape or survival.
In this situation, Cracker had no chance to resist. Even if he could fly, he wouldn't be able to fly out.
So, as more and more swamp poured into his mouth and nose, Cracker soon felt a strong sense of suffocation. His strength was draining away rapidly. And just as the attacks of the Swamp Generals finally touched the giant's body…
The sound of "pop, pop, pop, pop" rang out almost simultaneously. Then, one after another, the Biscuit Generals exploded into clouds of powder in mid-air and vanished.
Once a Devil Fruit user loses consciousness, the abilities they have activated will also disappear. Of course… with the exception of environments that have already been altered.
There were many examples of this. For instance, if Aokiji froze the sea, even if he fell asleep, it probably wouldn't instantly turn back into water.
Or, for example, if the Stone-Stone user Pica made a building twist and move, would the building return to its original shape if he lost consciousness? The answer is no.
And Wilder was the same. The swamp he created wouldn't disappear just because he lost consciousness one day. This simple principle was similar to how workers build things. Their raw materials are trees and stones. After being processed by the workers, they become beams and bricks, or cement powder. They are used to construct buildings. The original trees and stones can't go back to what they were. They are fixed in their final form.
Cracker losing consciousness was different. The biscuits were something he created out of nothing. So, as he lost consciousness, the biscuits would also vanish in that instant.
But it couldn't be ruled out that there were some Devil Fruit users whose creations, made from nothing, wouldn't disappear even if they fell asleep. This world often didn't make sense.
The defeat was like a landslide. Wilder didn't hesitate for a moment. A sharp swamp spear pierced the chest of the already unconscious Cracker, ending his life.
Next, the Enraged Army was completely routed by Wilder's attack. Those who could be captured were captured, those who could be killed were killed.
And at that moment, in the seas beyond the Kingdom of Morass, a heaven-shaking battle was raging.
The battle had not stopped for a single moment since it began. And yet, there were only three combatants.
Big Mom, Kizaru, and… the latecomer who was half-fighting, half-slacking, Sengoku.
Just then, on Big Mom's body, several Vivre Cards began to burn. She realized what had happened. Her eyes instantly turned blood-red. She looked in the distant direction of the island, and an aura so cold it could freeze souls erupted from her, shooting into the sky.
"LU… CI… FER… -WIL… DER…!!"
No one knew the final details of this great battle. They only knew that afterwards, Big Mom voluntarily retreated. The reason was that an important island and sea territory she had just conquered half a month ago was being invaded by the Blackbeard Pirates. She had to withdraw and redeploy her forces to deal with the situation in her rear.
The Marines lost three Vice Admirals in the battle, and twenty-some other officers of various ranks. The enlisted soldiers did not fight, so there were no casualties among them. Kizaru's glasses were cracked, and although he was still as sleazy as ever, he was indeed injured.
As for Sengoku, the old man only really got serious and made his move when Big Mom went berserk at the end. Otherwise, she might have really broken through and gone to kill that Wilder fellow.
Even so, the wrath of a Yonko was terrifying. Sengoku also took a few punches and feeling a bit nauseous was normal.
As for Big Mom, she naturally didn't escape unscathed, but no one knew the extent of her injuries.
After this battle, all three of them were injured to some extent, mainly due to Big Mom's desperate, life-risking fighting style at the end.
Next came the cleanup of the battlefield.
About a tenth of the Enraged Army's forces managed to escape, including Mont-d'Or and the Minister of Whipped Cream. However, both of them left an arm behind. The remaining, Charlotte Galette, was captured. "Demon Lady" Amande was killed, and her sword, Shirauo, was confiscated.
Bobbin was killed. The other key figures were also all killed for resisting. The reason Galette survived was because she had lost her ability to fight at the very beginning and couldn't resist even if she wanted to. The final result was that she was captured.
Not a single Chess Soldier made it back. Thus, of the Enraged Army forces that participated in this battle, only Mont-d'Or and Opera, two of the main combatants, made it back alive.
However, Wilder's side also suffered heavy losses. A total of one thousand two hundred low-level combatants were killed, six hundred and twenty-two were seriously injured, and eighteen were lightly injured.
Among the officer rank, thirty-two were killed, twenty-seven were seriously injured, five were crippled, and two were lightly injured.
Among the Senior Executives, Kuchiel was seriously injured but his life was not in danger. Bica and Yves were lightly injured. Bacon, Sherilmo, and Eigg were seriously injured. Franpetar was also seriously injured. Vice was unharmed and had taken one of the Minister of Whipped Cream's arms. Claire had exhausted her stamina but had not sustained any serious injuries, aside from a few scrapes.
The losses in this battle were heavy. The only thing that relieved Wilder was that not a single Senior Executive was lost. This was the most important thing. It was too difficult to cultivate a fighter of that level. Every master lost was one less.
After this, the immediate threat was completely neutralized. However, the real threat was far from over. Wilder knew that from now on, it was a fight to the death between him and Big Mom.
Kizaru also learned that Wilder had killed Cracker. His reaction at the time was to be silent for a long time, and then he spoke in a much more serious tone than usual.
"The Marines also suffered heavy losses this time to stop Big Mom. You'll have to be careful from now on, Wilder-kun. The Marines can't always have a top-tier fighter stationed here. Although this new fortress will become my post, I'll have to leave frequently for missions. And also… the Marines did you a big favor this time, Wilder-kun. So if the Marines need your help in the future, please don't refuse."
Wilder naturally understood this. This was also part of their original deal. The Marines gaining control of this sea area was one benefit. In exchange for helping Wilder weather this threat, Wilder had to fulfill his duties as a Warlord more diligently than the others. That is… he had to help when the Marines needed him.
But this feeling of entrusting everything to someone else, of relying on others for his safety, ultimately made Wilder clench his fists.
After killing Cracker this time, he knew he would have to face Big Mom's wrath. But Kizaru had also said that he didn't need to worry for a short time. Not only had this sea area become a Marine military fortress, but Big Mom herself was now busy dealing with a series of troubles from all sides.
This time, Big Mom's mobilization had been seized upon as an opportunity by others. Many of her islands had been attacked, Blackbeard being one of them. Even Kaido and other famous pirates had gotten restless.
All in all, Wilder had become the trigger for Big Mom's heavy losses this time.
In as little as six months, or as long as two years, Big Mom, who had suffered such a major loss, would eventually come to attack him personally.
"Is weakness a sin…?"
Under his cloak, his hands once again couldn't help but clench into fists.
Get stronger!
So strong that no one dares to provoke me!
So strong that the mere mention of my name makes them tremble!
So strong that neither the Marines nor the Yonko dare to touch me!
At that moment, a brilliant light shone in his eyes. Deep within Wilder's emotionless shell was a heart burning with the blazing fire of ambition!
The war had just ended. The nation was newly founded. There were still many affairs to handle. Wilder decided that once everything was taken care of, he would go into secluded training.
And the most urgent matter at hand was to build the capital. No matter what, a nation's capital was indispensable. Only with a capital could he issue orders and extend his governance over the entire country.