Facing Kenji, who was surging with Conqueror's Haki, Charlotte's eyes held many emotions, but fear was conspicuously absent.
At this moment, she displayed the powerful aura of a renowned pirate.
Her aura, directly confronting Kenji's, made him understand why she was qualified to contend for the Pirate King's throne.
"Didn't I already say it?" Charlotte let out a terrifying, rage-filled laugh.
"You are the man I've chosen!"
"Wherever you go, I will surely follow!"
As Charlotte spoke, the power within her body continuously surged forth, instantly stirring up the situation.
Clearly, she wasn't just talking or joking, she had come prepared.
Rumble! Rumble!
The next moment, as Charlotte used her Soul-Soul Fruit ability, not only were her three major Homies summoned, but she also waved her hand, releasing a large surge of "soul shards," seemingly intending to create new, powerful Homies again.
However, what struck the Marine personnel present as somewhat strange was that the target of Charlotte's Soul-Soul Fruit ability was not just any object on the warship, but the warship itself.
"What is she trying to do to the warship?"
"No good, she wants to use her Devil Fruit ability to control the warship! Stop her quickly!"
"Damn it, it's too late!"
Sakazuki and Magellan, along with other more experienced officers, realized something was wrong and tried to stop her, but it was already too late.
As large surges of soul shards poured in, the warship beneath Charlotte's feet, as well as two other nearby warships, were quickly brought under control.
The warships, which originally only obeyed the commander's orders, now broke free from the helmsman's control and gained their own consciousness.
Or rather, they suddenly came to life, transforming from inanimate objects into special living entities, Homies.
"Whoa!"
The Marine personnel on the warships cried out in alarm.
The warships, which were supposed to be their home ground, suddenly reversed the situation, becoming puppets of the enemy.
Charlotte didn't even speak. With just a glance, the three newly transformed warship Homies immediately took action.
One by one, the ropes that existed to secure the masts and sails now seemed like tentacles of the warship Homies.
Countless ropes whipped towards the Marine personnel, binding soldiers one by one.
At the same time, a grating "creak" echoed across the deck.
The heavy cannons, positioned outwards, were slowly turning their muzzles, clearly intending to fire upon the Marines present.
"The warships have betrayed us!"
Most soldiers had never imagined a day when their own warships would point cannons at them.
The Marine side instantly fell into chaos. The situation reversed, and the Marine found itself surrounded by countless rope-like tentacles and weapons like cannons.
However, Charlotte's ability was still being unleashed, with soul shards continuously flowing.
"Stop her quickly! At least destroy that soul shards!" Sakazuki and Magellan each took action, rising and charging forward.
But this time, Charlotte threw the soul shards towards a place no one present had anticipated.
Large surges of soul shards, like a tide, surged towards the ocean.
That's right, the direction in which the torrents of soul shards rushed was precisely the sea surface beneath the warships.
"What is she doing?"
Sakazuki's expression was grim. Although he couldn't understand Charlotte 's actions, he vaguely felt something was very wrong.
If their superior couldn't understand, the officers and soldiers present were even more bewildered.
Just as everyone was staring at each other, utterly confused, with a "plop," water splashed, and Kuzan suddenly surfaced from the sea.
"Oh dear, I almost got sunk to the bottom of the sea, that was close, that was close… huh?"
Kuzan had just wiped the seawater from his face and hadn't had time to brag to his Marine colleagues about his "legendary" experience of bravely swimming back from the seabed when he suddenly saw an overwhelming surge of soul shards flying overhead.
"What are these things?"
"Hmm… they don't seem to pose any threat to me."
Kuzan released his Haki, but the soul shards overhead passed directly over him and fell into the seawater.
Just as Kuzan was feeling proud of having withstood Charlotte's attack completely unharmed, he noticed the gazes of the surrounding Marine officers and soldiers gradually turning to horror.
"What's happening… Whoa!" Kuzan was about to ask when he suddenly sensed something was wrong beneath him.
The previously calm sea surface, without warning, began to surge with waves, and these were no ordinary waves.
As the waves continuously increased in height, Kuzan's vision rapidly elevated. At this moment, he realized that this was a giant tidal wave.
"Whoa, what is that?"
Kuzan instinctively looked back and met a pair of mischievous, large eyes, eyes growing on the giant wave, which was very bizarre.
"Is that Charlotte's Homie?"
"Is she… using seawater to create new Homies?"
Kuzan didn't have time to think much. The giant wave beneath him was already extremely violent. He struggled hard and finally managed to distance himself, avoiding being continuously swept into the tide.
However, the main target of the giant wave was not him, but the Marine on the three warships.
The Sea Homie manipulated the waves, raising them to a height of over a hundred meters, obscuring the sky above the Marine personnel, leaving no sunlight to fall.
The area suddenly went dark, and looking up, one could only see the despair-inducing, towering giant waves.
"What exactly is that? A wave?"
"Hmm, it's a wave, but I've never seen a giant wave like this…"
"Damn it! Devil Fruit users are supposed to be hated by the sea! Why can she control the sea?"
"Now, besides Charlotte, we also have to fight the sea."
Led by their officers, the soldiers raised their weapons, preparing to face the giant waves from the sea above.
At the same time, they were also puzzled. Charlotte was clearly a Devil Fruit user, so why could she influence or even control seawater?
"As expected, it appeared… the Tidal Homie." Kenji looked up at the giant wave descending like the maw of a beast but showed no surprise.
"Devil Fruit users are said to be rejected by the sea, becoming 'landlubbers,' but in reality, it's just that they find it difficult to exert strength when touching seawater or Sea Stone."
"For strong individuals, the sea's restraining effect is relatively limited."
Kenji recalled the powerful Devil Fruit users' reactions to seawater, for example, Kuzan. When he encountered the Straw Hats during his time as an Admiral, he reached his hand into the seawater in front of Luffy and others, then used his Ice-Ice Fruit ability, instantly freezing a large area of the sea.
In fact, with his power at the time, even without touching the seawater, he could have frozen a vast area of the sea from a distance.
Other than showing off, Kenji couldn't think of any other reason why he would do that.
(End of Chapter)
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