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~ 19 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon
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"Brûlée."
Katakuri turned in disbelief, looking at his most beloved younger sister.
"What a shame. Your combat power is an unstable factor. So, you can leave the stage first." Brûlée gave a smile that did not belong to her.
Since it was war, of course, one should use the smallest cost to achieve the greatest results.
War is about using all means at your disposal.
"YOU'RE NOT BRÛLÉE!!!"
Seeing this smile, completely different from Brûlée usual one, Katakuri reacted instantly. A sword flash pierced through Brûlée's body, but not a single drop of blood was spilled. Inside, there was nothing but strings.
"This ability is—"
Seeing the puppet, its Human-Human ability dispelled, revealing the strings within after being damaged, someone immediately realized.
"The String-String Fruit's... STRING PUPPETS!"
Kizaru's forehead was beaded with cold sweat.
'Dammit! I knew something was wrong!'
To think that the string puppets of the String-String Fruit could be made to change their appearance so perfectly. Their auras and emotions had been flawless. Not even Observation Haki could discern their true identity.
Was it a special Devil Fruit?? One that their Navy's intelligence network had no record of??
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"Why are you in such a hurry?" Rowen smiled.
"BASTARD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO PAGE ONE AND THE OTHERS!"
Kaido, at this moment, was utterly furious. He blasted a searing dragon's breath towards Rowen.
"The power of flame..." Rowen just waved his hand slightly.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
His own fire, a combination of the Flare-Flare and Heat-Heat Fruits, easily swallowed Kaido's Dragon Breath whole.
"Don't show off your Devil Fruit abilities in front of me again, Kaido," Rowen's words made Kaido's eyes turn blood-red.
But he couldn't refute it at all...
The Azure Dragon Fruit granted him control over natural elements—hurricanes, flames, lightning. But these elements were a tier below Rowen's own awakened Logias.
Not to mention Rowen could use other Devil Fruit abilities to enhance the power of his Rumble-Rumble and Flare-Flare Fruits. He could easily overwhelm the natural elements Kaido controlled.
Even Kaido had to admit, in terms of Devil Fruits, no one on these seas was stronger than the man before him.
To use a Devil Fruit ability to create such a huge trap. To use string puppets to change their appearance and aura, to infiltrate their Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates...
Though Kaido didn't yet understand all the details, one thing was certain: the current situation had been orchestrated, step by step, by this brat, Rowen.
Including the Navy's crazy assault on Big Mom.
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"Brat, your appetite... isn't it a bit too big?" Kaido looked at Rowen.
"I don't have time to go through you one by one. Better to deal with you all here once and for all," Rowen glanced around and smiled.
Two Emperors, three Admirals, plus three Seraphim. Over fifty warships, and the core officers of two Emperor crews.
Wipe them all out in one fell swoop, and the seas would be much cleaner, allowing him to prepare for the final battle.
"Aren't you afraid of choking to death! And you think a mere Ice-Ice Fruit can really stop us?" Kaido's gaze was grim.
Both his and Big Mom's abilities could easily destroy the ice on a massive scale. Plus the Navy's combat power, it was very easy to create a passage.
"The power of the Ice-Ice Fruit alone is indeed not enough. But—" Rowen's palm suddenly began to open and close. In his hand, strings were densely packed.
WHOOSH!
The strings in Rowen's hand shot towards the sky!
And the next moment—
WHOOSH!
All the string puppets on the battlefield dissolved, their bodies turning into countless threads that also shot towards the sky.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
After these threads erupted into the sky, they fell like a meteor shower, violently piercing the solid ice below, forming a hemispherical cage of strings that trapped every ship and every person within.
"Birdcage——"
Rowen's eyes flashed with an astonishing crimson-black light.
The ultimate ability of the String-String Fruit—the Birdcage. Inside it, all contact with the outside world was severed. Escape was impossible.
Its weakness was simple: as long as the user was defeated, the ability would naturally be dispelled. By using this ability, the user made himself the target of everyone trapped inside.
"Doflamingo's Birdcage? You've got some nerve. Now you've made yourself the enemy of all," Kaido's gaze was icy.
The Birdcage was unbreakable—that was a fundamental mechanic of the Devil Fruit. The only way to break it was to take down the user. The moment this ability was activated, the user became the primary target of everyone inside.
Kaido knew of this ability, but he had never imagined Sky Sovereign would dare to use it here.
Before, Rowen could have played the different factions against each other. After all, the pirates and the Navy would never truly cooperate.
But now, with the Birdcage activated, whether they wanted to or not, they all had to defeat Rowen.
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Kaido's gaze was icy cold.
Big Mom picked up Napoleon.
"I suppose you've made the decision for us, Sky Sovereign," Kizaru, Fujitora, Ryokugyu, and S-Hawk all looked at Rowen.
In this moment, they didn't need to discuss the situation or their allegiances. They had only one objective: KILL ROWEN AND DISPEL THE BIRDCAGE.
"Do you have enough stamina and Haki left?" Rowen smiled.
"Enough to finish you!" Kaido and the others snorted coldly.
Their stamina and Haki had indeed been consumed a lot, but six of them against one Rowen was more than enough.
"Hey, hey... did you all forget? I am..." Rowen's eyes flashed with crimson-black light.
The next moment, he waved his hand.
WHOOSH! CRACK!!
Countless Air Doors ripped open.
"—AN EMPEROR." Rowen revealed an extremely 'villainous' expression.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Figures radiating powerful auras leaped out from the Air Doors.
TAP! TAP! TAP!
The sound of footsteps on the solid ice echoed continuously. These figures slowly gathered behind Rowen.
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"Straw Hat, Pirate Hunter, Black Leg, Desert Princess,"
"The Sky Sovereign's four closest commanders... THEY'RE ALL HERE!" Vice Admiral Pomsky was drenched in cold sweat.
"How... how are they so strong?? What a powerful aura!" Vice Admiral Hound's eyes shook.
"The Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet's 1st Division Commander, Marco! 2nd Division Commander, Fire Fist Ace! 3rd Division Commander, Diamond Jozu! 5th Division Commander, Flower Sword Vista... The commanders are all here!"
"The former Warlord. Knight of the Sea Jinbe—and the captain of the Kuja Pirates, the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock!"
Shark-Cutter Bastille was sweating profusely.
"Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet, Straw Hat Pirates, Kuja Pirates, Jinbe... Sky Sovereign, you've brought all your combatants," Kaido snorted coldly.
Among them, the only one who could affect their battle here was Straw Hat. But, they had six Admiral-level or higher combatants here. One Straw Hat wouldn't change anything.
"Do you take us for fools??"
Kaido and Big Mom glared at Rowen.
TAP! TAP! TAP!
The Big Mom Pirates, the Beasts Pirates, all stepped on the solid ice, gathering not far behind Big Mom and Kaido.
Their eyes were all extremely grim.
They Would Have Their Revenge!
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"While the Navy and pirates shouldn't cooperate, with this Birdcage, we have no choice but to take you down first," Kizaru spread his hands.
TAP! TAP! TAP!
All the remaining Marine combat forces disembarked from the warships, gathering here.
"ATTACK! FINISH THEM!" Kaido roared.
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The remaining combatants of the Beasts Pirates all transformed.
The core officers of the Beasts Pirates were all powerful Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit users—under them, the combatants also had many Zoan Devil Fruits, as well as artificial Zoan Devil Fruit users.
When transformed, the scene was extremely spectacular.
"REVENGE! KILL THEM!" Big Mom also roared.
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The remaining members of the Big Mom Pirates also roared.
"Mission temporarily changed! Besiege... the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet!" Kizaru issued the order.
"KILL!" The Marines raised their weapons and roared.
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"Go," Rowen waved his hand.
This fodder wasn't worth him consuming Haki and stamina. The most threatening Yonko Commanders had already been dealt with.
Becoming an Emperor, developing his own forces, was precisely to avoid such wars of attrition, to avoid consuming unnecessary stamina and Haki.
"FINISH THEM!"
Marco and the others roared, unleashing various Devil Fruit abilities and Haki, charging towards the enemy.
"There are still quite a few of them," Sanji's eyes flashed with crimson-black light.
A terrifying aura exploded from Sanji's entire body.
Instantly, many of the Big Mom Pirates and Beasts Pirates' combatants who were swept by it, and a large number of Marines, all went white-eyed and fainted.
"Hmph! MY TURN!" Vivi's eyes also flashed with crimson-black light.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Another wave of horrifying aura washed over the battlefield, and even more bodies hit the ice.
"CONQUEROR'S HAKI!" Kizaru's eye twitched.
"BASTARDS," Kaido's gaze was cold.
Everyone was stunned. It was no secret that Straw Hat and Pirate Hunter had Conqueror's Haki. But now, the other two, Black Leg and the Desert Princess... HAD IT TOO?
The Big Mom pirates only had Big Mom and Katakuri. The Beasts Pirates, with Yamato imprisoned, only had Kaido.
But the four main combatants closest to Sky Sovereign Rowen were all users of Conqueror's Haki.
HOW ASTONISHING!
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"We Can't Let Them Grow Any Stronger! KILL THEM!" Kaido roared.
"The Beasts Pirates! So many Devil Fruit users!" a cheerful voice laughed.
VMM!
A giant, frightening figure shot up from the ground.
"A-A giant reindeer??" The Beasts Pirates' members stared in terror at this figure.
"It's a Zoan Devil Fruit user! And he's Awakened!"
Who's-Who, a Tobiroppo with the Cat-Cat Fruit, Ancient Zoan, Model: Saber-Toothed Tiger, grimaced. The black, flaming sash was the sign of an awakened Zoan.
"Ship's Doctor, TONY TONY CHOPPER! AT YOUR SERVICE!"
Chopper roared coolly.
Chopper had always been resentful of his bounty—and he wasn't a pet. He was a doctor! He would use this war to prove himself. During this period of training, with Rowen's help, his Human-Human Fruit had also Awakened!
"HMPH!!!" Chopper roared, charging into the Beasts Pirates' formation.
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"Are the core officers not able to be dealt with directly by Conqueror's Haki?" Vivi faced the Big Mom Pirates.
VMM!
A strange fluctuation radiated from Vivi's entire body!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A terrifying sandstorm instantly formed around her. Countless massive sand tornadoes appeared at Vivi's side.
"BE CAREFUL! HER DEVIL FRUIT IS AWAKENED!!" Charlotte Opera, user of the Cream-Cream Fruit, screamed.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The sandstorm climate immediately let the Big Mom Pirates' members know what a Logia was, what a natural disaster was!
Though an awakened Sand-Sand Fruit's offensive power wasn't on the level of the Rumble-Rumble or Flare-Flare Fruits, its performance in a large-scale battle was still worthy of the name "natural disaster."
Many Big Mom Pirate officers wailed in the desert climate.
"YOHOHOHO!"
A demonic laugh sounded, and a skeleton soul directly appeared.
CRACKLE!
An ice completely different from the Ice-Ice Fruit, the ice from the underworld made the Marines scream in agony.
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"How... how are they so strong?" Kizaru's face grew dark as he watched the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet and the Straw Hat Pirates' in action.
How had they all improved so much, so fast?!
AND!
"Are you ready for battle??"
Rowen's eyes flashed with an astonishing crimson-black light.
"Hmph!" Four figures beside Rowen struck their signature poses.
Luffy, Zoro, Ace!
And, lifting her long leg, Hancock.
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~ 19 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
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