"Bello-bello-bello…"
"Bello-bello-bello-bello…"
The Den Den Mushi on Kizaru suddenly rang. He pulled it out, a bit puzzled, managing to get the right one on the first try this time.
"A call at a time like this?" A bad feeling suddenly crept into Kizaru's heart.
The battlefield thundered with cannon fire. Kizaru glanced toward the heart of the conflict, and the ominous premonition grew stronger.
Without further hesitation, he answered the call.
"Moshi-moshi…"
The voice on the other end was muffled by static, but Kizaru heard his subordinate's trembling report before the line was abruptly cut.
He walked over to Wilder. Under Wilder's questioning gaze, a shadow fell over Kizaru's glasses. He seemed to struggle with what tone to use before finally speaking in a voice that was flat to the point of being oppressive. "Katakuri… escaped."
Wilder's pupils slowly dilated. "How?"
"They were ambushed by a backup fleet Charlotte Linlin had prepared. I need to report this to Akainu. Looks like the old man has to run around again. These pirates… they really don't give an old man a moment's peace. If only they were all like you, Mr. Wilder." With that, Kizaru's body slowly dissolved into a streak of golden light that shot toward the sky. An invisible sliver of that light found its way into Akainu's ear.
Akainu, still locked in his standoff with Big Mom, felt his facial muscles twitch slightly before he gave a stoic nod.
Snap! Wilder got a cigar from a Marine and lit it, leaning against the ruined wall as he sank into thought.
He had never expected Katakuri to escape.
Just like that… the wings I worked so hard to tear off have grown back.
Wilder took an agitated drag from his cigar.
This was far from an irrelevant matter to him. In fact, he was more concerned about Katakuri's escape than anything else.
It meant that when he eventually clashed with Big Mom, he would face one more powerful enemy—an enemy he thought he had already removed from the board.
Otherwise, Wilder wouldn't have had the leisure to help the Marines fight Katakuri in the first place, much less join the battle to resist Big Mom's invasion. In the end, all his actions were driven by his own goals and self-interest.
Everything was done to seize the opportunity this incident provided, to clip as many of Big Mom's wings as possible. That way, when their two forces truly went to war in the future, things would be much easier.
"Looks like the battle will be over soon. That old woman, Big Mom… it seems like she planned for everything. Whether her invasion of Morass or the Marine fortress succeeded or not, she could at least ensure Katakuri was safe. This woman is nothing like her brutish appearance suggests."
In the time it took for Wilder to ponder this, Big Mom and Akainu had already moved, erupting into another earth-shattering clash.
Without a doubt, Akainu possessed the strength to take on any of the Four Emperors single-handedly. The process might be messy, but Akainu never cared about the process. He only cared about the result, and he would never be the one to fall in the end. This was his conviction, his justice.
His fight with Big Mom was no different. She was an Emperor, after all, and Akainu soon looked a bit worse for wear. But his combat strength was completely unaffected. On the contrary, he fought with increasing ferocity. To him, his injuries were like child's play, not nearly enough to hinder his performance.
Wilder's eyelids twitched as he watched. He imagined what would happen if he were the one facing Akainu… The thought alone sent a cold sweat down his back.
If circumstances allowed, Wilder really wanted to shout at Akainu: "I dub thee the toughest bastard alive!"
Yes, Akainu was truly tough, absurdly so. Most people, no matter how durable, would show signs of fatigue after taking damage and unleashing powerful attacks. But Akainu showed no such signs. Fatigue? It didn't exist for him.
He only grew stronger as he fought.
And Big Mom was another anomaly among the Emperors. A complete and utter monster. Her raw combat power might not be the absolute highest among the Four Emperors, but her physical defense was monstrous.
Magma that could melt steel in an instant struck her body, yet it couldn't even break through her flesh, only managing to cause surface burns.
Of course, those injuries were still terrifying. Enough surface burns could be fatal.
But that was for ordinary people. No one in the pirate world was normal, let alone Big Mom.
"Great Eruption!" Akainu's attacks were as aggressive as his personality. He relentlessly hammered his opponent with his strongest moves, paying no mind to defense. It was just attack, attack, and more attack—a reckless, life-or-death fighting style that sought to give his enemy no room to breathe.
"Aaargh!" Big Mom let out a pained scream under the assault. With a vicious look, she ignored the attack and swiped her massive hand at Akainu!
Akainu raised his left arm to block, while the colossal pillar of magma from his right hand continued to press down on Big Mom.
Bam! A trickle of blood escaped the corner of Akainu's mouth as Big Mom's blow slammed him into the ground.
"Hound Blaze!" But the next moment, the ground beneath him melted into a crimson pool, and a magma hound erupted from below, lunging at Big Mom!
Bam! The giant magma hound's head struck Big Mom squarely in the chest. A sizzling sound filled the air, and the smell of burnt flesh wafted out. Even her thick coat of Armament Haki couldn't withstand it.
"Cough!" Big Mom had finally sustained a serious injury. The blow forced her to cough up a mouthful of blood.
Her chest was a scorched, blackened mess of broken flesh.
"Aaargh!" Big Mom threw her head back and let out a strange cry, once again falling into that mindless state of rage.
Akainu furrowed his brow. Even with earplugs, some of the sound still got through, making him deeply uncomfortable.
"Die!" Akainu shot up, leaping into the air. In an instant, he was right in front of Big Mom's face. Magma surged from his right hand, coalescing into a tight, cylindrical shell around his fist and arm.
"Dark Hound!"
The magma descended on Big Mom's face, but at that exact moment, an incredibly dense layer of Armament Haki frantically crawled across her features.
CLANG! The magma fist slammed into Big Mom's face, producing the sharp ring of metal on metal.
A massive, blackened hand swept toward him. Akainu's expression changed. He wanted to pull back and dodge, but it was too late. With no leverage, he took the full force of the slap.
His body shot backward like a cannonball.
"Admiral Sakazuki!" The surrounding Marines cried out in alarm.
But the next second, Akainu stood up as if nothing had happened, patting the dust off his clothes with a blank expression.
BOOM! Magma erupted from under his feet, launching him high into the sky like an erupting volcano.
"Great Eruption!" The same move, but executed in a different way. The magma bursting from behind him acted as a propellant, adding immense speed and power to his dive. At the same time, a giant magma fist formed on his hand, and propelled by the blast, it hurtled downward with terrifying might.
Big Mom looked up, her eyes turning dangerous and fierce. She reached a hand toward the sky. Dark clouds roiled, and a bolt of lightning fell from them, chasing the magma below like a slithering electric serpent.
CRACK-BOOM!
A tremendous clap of thunder, accompanied by an explosion, echoed across the sky. The entire battlefield could hear the massive sound. Looking up, they saw a giant mushroom cloud rising into the heavens.
And only then did the force of the explosion spread out!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ground let out a muffled roar, and the earth beneath their feet trembled violently.
The mushroom cloud was a mix of black and red—black from the billowing smoke and molten debris, red from the glowing magma and the energy and flames of the explosion.
A shockwave swept out from the epicenter, rolling across the entire battlefield.
The sounds of gunfire and clashing swords vanished.
Terror filled the faces of the low-ranking soldiers.
Then, the screams began. The shockwave swept over them, engulfing the closest soldiers. In the blink of an eye, they were turned to ash.
"Aaargh!"
The shockwave, or rather, the energy wave from the explosion, continued to expand. The stronger fighters shielded themselves with their arms, their bodies pushed back relentlessly.
Wilder, positioned at the very edge of the battlefield, watched with a grave expression as the tsunami-like energy ring rushed toward him, a cold sweat breaking out on his face.
"This is… Big Mom's power!" Only now did everyone truly comprehend the terror of Big Mom's Devil Fruit ability.
No one was calm anymore. Pirates, Marines, and the soldiers of Morass all turned and fled toward the outer perimeter.
Vice had already dealt with his opponent, Daifuku. Of course, he hadn't been able to finish him off, but he had left him unable to fight.
Vice and Claire reached Wilder's side at the same time, followed by the other members from Morass.
"Boss." They all looked at Wilder, their faces serious and filled with lingering fear.
Wilder nodded expressionlessly. "Let's go. This fight is over. What happens next is none of our business."
As soon as Wilder spoke, someone brought over a stretcher. Claire helped him onto it, and Wilder settled in, content to play the part of an injured man—by lying down.
The members of Morass began to retreat. Fortunately, by the time the shockwave reached the outer edges, its power had mostly dissipated. Although the strong winds forced everyone to squint, it didn't hinder their retreat.
Once they were aboard the ship from Morass, they couldn't help but look back at the battlefield, wanting to see the final result.
Wilder did the same. He knew that there was no logic to a battle between monsters, and killing one of them was no simple task.
He didn't believe for a second that the explosion would kill Akainu. If for no other reason, the fact that he was a Logia user was enough.
But he probably didn't escape unscathed.
Big Mom wouldn't have fared well either.
The massive explosion was caused by the collision of the powerful lightning Big Mom had summoned and Akainu's magma. But the magma was only one factor. Even without it, the explosion likely would have happened anyway. In that instant, Wilder had felt a tremor of fear in his heart. That lightning bolt was too terrifying! It was as if it had a life of its own, condensing in the instant it fell, from a hundred to one, before finally unleashing its power.
In that moment, Wilder finally understood why the Four Emperors were the Four Emperors.
The rolling mushroom cloud lingered for a while before finally dissipating. The plaza of the Marine fortress was unrecognizable, its stone slabs torn up, smoke curling into the air.
Two figures slowly emerged from the dispersing smoke. They stood opposite each other, motionless, like two statues.
Wilder's pupils shrank. In that instant, a thought surfaced in his mind, unbidden: The strongest are defined by their physical power!
Yes!
If abilities are the foundation of a powerhouse, the force that makes others fear them, then a body that you can't break no matter how hard you hit it is their true source of confidence!
Big Mom, Akainu… all of them… they seem to be like this. No matter what kind of attack they suffer—attacks that would be fatal to anyone else—they can keep standing and fighting. The term 'unkillable cockroach' is the most fitting description!
Is this the gap…
The gap between the top tier and the powerhouses below them.
The Four Emperors. Why can Shanks, who doesn't even have a Devil Fruit ability, become one of them?
The most likely reason, besides having combat power to match, is a monstrously durable body. A body you can't kill no matter how you hit it! That is the capital that supports them as the strongest!
And Luffy! The future Pirate King also possesses a similarly exaggerated, monstrous body, though he hasn't reached the level of Akainu and the others yet!
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit is powerful, isn't it?
Why did its user lose?
Because his body was too weak! Because his opponent was an unkillable cockroach! A body that could get back up and fight no matter how many times it was knocked down.
Wilder's eyes showed a hint of shock. He looked down at his own bandaged hand and gently clenched it.
I need a body like that.
Wilder knew that if he wanted to reach that level, to become that kind of powerhouse, this was essential.
Wilder's gaze returned to the battlefield. He waved a hand behind him. "Set sail. This battle is over."
The others looked at him, stunned. "It's… it's over? How does the boss know…"
"Shut up. The boss says it's over, so it's over." Claire shot the crewman a merciless glare that said, 'Sail the ship and stop talking nonsense.'
"Uh… yes, ma'am!" The crewmen scrambled into action.
Claire walked to Wilder's side, looking doubtfully at the two motionless figures on the battlefield. "Boss, how do you know the fight is over? What if they're going to keep going?"
Wilder withdrew his gaze and grinned. "Because Big Mom has more or less achieved her goal. If she wants to leave now, no one can stop her. Akainu might be able to if he's determined, but… if he plans to give chase by ship, that's when it becomes Big Mom's home turf. The sea…"
Wilder trailed off, not wanting to continue. It would be too easy to leave them with the impression of being afraid before a fight had even begun.
But Claire was incredibly curious, the feeling making her want to scratch her head in frustration. "What about the sea?"
Wilder smiled, turned, and ruffled Claire's hair until it was as messy as a bird's nest. "It's nothing. You just need to remember never to fight Big Mom on the open sea."
Just then, a crewman walked to the edge of the deck, casually performing a ship inspection. When his eyes fell on the outer hull below the railing, his expression changed. "What is this?"