Boom!
A fierce punch slammed into Konpira, shaking Gion and forcing her to take several steps back.
With a sharp crack, Gion suddenly stomped down on the ground, bracing herself, then lifted her head coldly to face the tall, powerfully built bald woman before her—her face marked by a savage scar.
—"Plague" Sena, with a bounty of 950 million Berries.
By now, the entire ice floe and the fortress plaza behind it had become a chaotic battlefield. Marine officers stepped forward one after another to block the surging pirate officer on the icy marsh.
Akainu roared continuously, his arm transforming into scorching magma as he battled "Famine" Arno, the second-in-command of the Beasts Pirates, in a chaotic frenzy.
Aokiji, surrounded by cold air, had a blank expression on his face as he steadily suppressed the old pirate captain, "One-Eyed Ryuuga," who had a bounty of 900 million Berries but was now well past his prime.
The other Headquarters Vice Admirals were also engaged in fierce clashes with their own troublesome opponents, each with a bounty of at least three to four hundred million Berries.
This was a clash of kings against kings, and generals against generals.
It was the last semblance of order in this all-out war!
And because Nao Natsuya's reputation was already well-known, it was no surprise that Gion had been targeted from the very start by one of the Calamity—Plague Sena.
"Are you Natsuya Nao?"
Looking down at "Nao," who only reached her waist, Sena slammed her fists together on her chest and grinned menacingly.
"You defeated that good-for-nothing Dugalio and are rumored to have taken down even that old lion. I thought you'd be something else…"
"But it looks like you're nothing special!"
She roared and unleashed a barrage of punches, her fists wrapped in jet-black Armament Haki, the howling force splitting the air, making it hum and buzz with each strike.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Fists and a sword clashed, sending sparks flying and creating a series of ear-piercing metallic sounds. The terrifying force made Gion inwardly shocked.
However, her movements didn't slow down. As she took every punch head-on, she gradually adapted to Nao's body's toughness and the rhythm of her opponent's attacks.
She then slowly began to switch from defense to offense, swinging Konpira to unleash sword slashes and launching wave after wave of counterattacks.
For a time, neither of them seemed to have the upper hand, and the situation became a stalemate.
"As expected of Vice Admiral Nao…"
Some of the uninformed Marine soldiers fighting nearby secretly marveled when they saw this. "Not even a great pirate with a bounty close to a billion Berries can do anything to him…"
This caused the initially disdainful bald Sena to become more and more serious.
She realized that against this man, neither her prideful strength nor her punching speed gave her an advantage.
Finally, the bald Sena could no longer tolerate it. Her fighting spirit was completely ignited, and she roared, suddenly transforming into a gigantic triceratops, twenty to thirty meters long. She stomped on the thick ice and charged toward Gion.
In an instant, the pressure on Gion's shoulders doubled.
"Once she went all out, I can only barely hold her off now."
The strength of her Armament Haki was starting to feel insufficient. She used all her strength just to maintain her ground against the furious charges of the female dinosaur.
She was sent flying a few times and suffered some minor cuts and bruises. Fortunately, Nao's body had inhuman regenerative abilities, so even though the Triceratops was in a state of rage and using all of her moves, she still couldn't do anything to her for the time being.
"This is insane!"
Gion couldn't help but curse inwardly, unsure if she was talking about herself or Nao.
At the same time, a helpless thought crossed her mind.
"If we hadn't switched bodies and that bastard was fighting her himself, he probably would have had the upper hand from the start and might have even finished her off by now..."
...
"She's holding her own."
In the distance, Nao, who was also in a battle, would occasionally glance at Gion. Seeing her holding on, his eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.
He had originally thought that facing the third-in-command of the Beasts Pirates, Gion, even if she didn't lose quickly, would most likely be completely suppressed and overwhelmed.
But he didn't expect this.
The two were fighting back and forth, and now, even with the female dinosaur going berserk, little rabbit was only at a slight disadvantage.
What could he say...
Tsk, was his body just too abnormal?
"You despicable woman..."
While he was lost in thought, the two pirates who had been ganging up on him for a long time were filled with anger. They roared in unison, "How dare you lose focus while fighting us, the Lion-Tiger Twins!"
"Ah, my apologies."
Nao quickly apologized sincerely, turning his attention back to his own battle. He swung his two swords, one for each of the identical twin brutes, who screamed in pain.
He could only do as much as his current abilities allowed.
Since he was participating in the war with Gion's body, Nao never planned on fighting a Calamity, or that old pirate captain Ryuuga. He only intended to deal with the mid-to-high-level officers with bounties of two to three hundred million Berries.
Just like the twins in front of him.
Both were Zoan-type Devil Fruit users, one a lion and the other a tiger. They specialized in joint attacks, and most Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals would have a hard time against them.
But in Nao's hands...
They were like two buns made of dough, only fit to be kneaded and bullied at will.
Although Nao was trapped in Gion's body and couldn't use his full strength due to the limitations of his base stats.
His top tier swordsmanship, which was the pride of the Marine Headquarters, and his extensive combat experience were no joke and were still with him.
Even if it were Gion herself, who could perfectly control her own body, she wouldn't be able to handle the twin brothers with such ease and grace as he was.
Before long—
After more than ten minutes of fierce fighting, the lion and the tiger were completely defeated by the now-serious Nao. They turned back into their human forms and fell unconscious on the ground.
Nao skillfully slit their throats, then stood up with his sword. He happened to see a giant cockroach charging through the crowd to the north. His eyes immediately turned cold, and he charged at it.
This pirate officer's bounty seemed to be nearly four hundred million Berries. He was a little stronger than the Lion-Tiger Twins and would be a bit of a hassle to deal with.
However, Nao could still easily restrain him and prevent him from charging at the surrounding Marine soldiers. While fighting with him, he spared some of his energy to look around and observe the current situation of the battle.
He found that the situation was much better than he had expected.
Whether it was the battle between the ordinary Marine soldiers and pirates or the clash between the top fighters on both sides.
The Marine Headquarters side currently had the advantage.
A clear advantage!
There was no need to say much about Akainu and Aokiji. As the battle became more heated, their control became more and more obvious, and it seemed they were about to completely defeat their opponents.
And Sengoku, who was only in his fifties, was in his physical prime. His fighting power was clearly higher than that of the gray-haired old man from the Paramount War.
Buzz!
The Golden Buddha glared fiercely, and with every move he made, a flash of golden light shone, forcing the beast-form Kaido to roar and retreat, giving Sengoku the clear upper hand.
However
As an Emperor of the New World, Kaido's greatest pride was his ultimate "undying body."
Even though he was currently suppressed and on the defensive, he had hardly suffered any decent injuries, and his energy was still incredibly abundant
It was clear..
If the two of them were to continue their one-on-one battle, it would probably take several days and nights before a winner could be decided.
"What a shame, this is a war, not a one-on-one duel…"
Nao swung his sword and cut off several giant tentacles that were attacking him from behind. He turned his head and looked at the giant Buddha that was shining with golden light, his eyes flashing.
"Once Akainu and Aokiji are free and they gang up on him, Kaido won't be able to handle it…"
And by then, the Beasts Pirates, without the support of their top fighter, would be completely defeated and scattered.
Therefore, in his opinion.
This world-shattering war that had broken out at the G-1 Branch would be declared over with a complete Marine victory by tomorrow morning at the latest.
Kaido's defeat was already inevitable!
…
Neither the Marines nor the pirates.
At this very moment, no one had noticed.
High up in the sky, ten thousand meters above, deep within the thick clouds, a medium-sized sky island had just floated to this location.
And a plump figure was standing on the edge of the sky island, looking down with a blank expression.
"Ma-Mama…"
The several figures following behind her looked at each other, gulping and not daring to speak. Finally, the eldest son, Perospero, stepped forward and whispered,
"This, this is ten thousand meters high, after all… Shouldn't, shouldn't you reconsider?"
"Hmm?"
Big Mom turned around and gave him a cold look. The eldest son of the Charlotte family immediately shrank his neck and said tremblingly:
"I, what I mean is… we could just have Zeus carry you down, like how we got up here. There's no need to take this kind of risk…"
"Ma-ma-ma-ma~! How could that be! My good son!"
Big Mom first narrowed her eyes, then burst into laughter. "I finally found this sky island that passes through this area. If I don't make a grand entrance, how can I justify all the trouble I've gone through for the past few days?"
"Besides, if I'm lucky, I might even be able to crush Kaido and that brat Nao together…"
The fat on her face trembled uncontrollably as she laughed. Then, she suddenly grabbed Perospero by the neck, and as her eldest son let out a terrified shriek, she laughed and leaped from the edge of the sky island with him!
"So! Now, join me in this grand banquet, Perospero!"
Behind them, following Big Mom to this sky island were the two Sweet Commanders, Smoothie and Cracker. Their eyes twitched. They came to the edge and watched the two black dots below get smaller and smaller…
"This is so reckless. Mama… she really jumped."
"There's nothing we can do. Without Brother Katakuri here, there's no one who can persuade her…"
The two of them looked at each other, then both sighed. They stepped onto Zeus, which was floating nearby, and hurried to follow her down.