Just as Seijuro Meow pinned Cracker down and beat him mercilessly, Charlotte Daifuku and Charlotte Oven were likewise trapped in a bitter struggle.
In terms of Devil Fruit abilities, whether it was the Lamp Genie summoned by Daifuku or Oven power to generate extreme heat in objects, both were considered relatively powerful abilities among the Paramecia-type.
However, when faced with the Dodo Bear summoned by Klee Meow, their abilities were completely ineffective.
Daifuku Lamp Genie was composed of a mass of smoke. Aside from the drawback that it could not stray too far from its summoner, it could basically be regarded as a weakened version of Smoker…
Well, at this point in time, it should actually be considered an enhanced version of Smoker.
Unfortunately, just as Smoker Smoke-Smoke Fruit was firmly suppressed by Ace Flame-Flame Fruit, Daifuku Lamp Genie was also utterly helpless against the Dodo Bear made of flames.
Although the Lamp Genie slashing attacks were powerful, the great blade in its hands could not inflict the slightest damage when it struck the Dodo Bear, while the flames of the Dodo Bear were able to burn even the smoke-formed Lamp Genie.
And the most crucial point was that Daifuku himself could not move too far away from the Lamp Genie.
The Dodo Bear could completely ignore the Lamp Genie attacks and directly chase down and attack him, the summoner…
So no matter how one looked at it, the Dodo Bear was far stronger than the Lamp Genie.
As for Charlotte Oven Devil Fruit ability, it was even more useless…
When have you ever seen flames extinguished because the temperature was too high?
The only slightly better point for him compared to Daifuku was that the Heat-Heat Fruit granted him immunity to high temperatures, so the flames covering the Dodo Bear posed no real threat to Oven either.
So at the beginning, it was actually the Charlotte brother side that held a slight advantage.
Oven, who was not afraid of flames, kept the Dodo Bear tied down, while Daifuku repeatedly tried to seize the opportunity to break through the defensive line.
If Klee Meow had not promptly summoned a second Dodo Bear, they would have nearly succeeded.
Even so, the situation merely turned into a stalemate where neither side could do anything to the other.
Although Klee Meow could continue summoning more Dodo Bears and use Daifuku as a breakthrough point to take one of them down first, Oven still could not be dealt with.
And if there were too many Dodo Bears, Klee Meow little head simply could not handle controlling them all.
But this was no problem at all for the clever Spark Knight!
If flames didn't work, then just use bombs directly!
Even if Oven could ignore the high temperatures produced when the ignition sparks detonated, the shockwaves generated by the explosions were something he could not be immune to.
"Roar!"
The Dodo Bear roared as it smashed a punch toward Oven, and at the instant he blocked it, the bear paw exploded.
"Boom—!"
Completely unprepared, Oven was instantly blasted away.
And with no one left to block the front, facing two Dodo Bears capable of using "Sea Bear Explosive Punch," Charlotte Daifuku quickly followed in Oven footsteps.
"Boom—!"
Oven, who had been blasted away, had just climbed up from the ground and was still a little dizzy when Daifuku followed right after, crashing down beside him.
Fortunately, Klee Meow hadn't stuffed any explosive materials inside the Dodo Bear, so the blast power was limited.
Combined with Daifuku and Oven own strength, they weren't taken out immediately.
Even so, their situation deteriorated sharply in an instant. Daifuku, who already couldn't withstand the Dodo Bear, didn't need further mention.
As for Oven, who had previously been able to rely on flame immunity to entangle with the Dodo Bear, he now had no choice but to respond with extreme caution.
They also tried to shake off the Dodo Bear with speed, but despite its foolish, chubby appearance, the Dodo Bear was essentially a mass of flames created by Klee Meow.
When necessary, it could even transform into the same kind of flame beam form used by the explosive sparks, "launching" itself forward. As a result, the Dodo Bear was not slow at all.
Facing an opponent they couldn't outrun, couldn't overpower, and that occasionally blew up right in their faces, Daifuku and Oven quickly became covered in wounds.
Just as Klee Meow was about to look for an opportunity to have the Dodo Bear hug the two of them and then explode together, more than a dozen pitch-black mochi fists suddenly flew in from afar, smashing the two Dodo Bears that were chasing Daifuku and Oven and sending them flying.
"Katakuri-niisan!" ×2
Thinking that their brother had already dealt with his opponent, the two had just cried out in surprise when the ground beneath their feet rapidly turned into mochi, wrapping them up and carrying them away as it retreated into the distance.
At the same time, the two Dodo Bears that had been knocked away were likewise wrapped up in mochi.
Although they quickly broke free, it was already too late to stop Daifuku and Oven from escaping.
"Mmm… they got away, meow."
(=ˇˇ=)
The little doll staying by Robin side twitched its ears. In the end, it still felt that protecting Sister Robin was the most important thing, so it didn't continue the pursuit and instead dismissed both Dodo Bears.
Besides, there were already other cats chasing after the enemy…
…
"She just a little punk girl, always firing her guns nonstop. She is the strongest~ … Wah! Which bastard is sneak-attacking me, meow?!"
Jinx was singing as she happily sprayed gunfire at the pirates of the Big Mom Pirates when she spotted a pitch-black fist flying toward her from far away. She immediately hopped backward to dodge the attack, then cursed angrily.
"I'm the only one who gets to sneak-attack others! Whoever you are, you've pissed off Lady Jinx, meow!"
(=◣皿◢=)
The little mad cat cursed as she pulled out Fishbones, already reloaded long ago, and fired a Death Rocket at the pirates who had been suppressed by her firepower the entire time.
She could have taken care of that group long ago, but since all the other enemies already had opponents, if she wiped them out too early she wouldn't have anything left to play with. That was why she hadn't used Fishbones until now.
But now…
Lady Jinx was going to settle accounts with the bastard who had just sneak-attacked her, so there was no need to keep these "temporary toys" around anymore!
What made the little mad cat even angrier was that the mochi bastard who sneak-attacked her had even taken a few of her "temporary toys" along while trying to escape…
"6, 25, 11—fire, meow!"
Jinx hoisted Fishbones onto her shoulder and unloaded all the remaining Death Rockets in one go at those mochi lumps that had gathered together and were fleeing outward.
…
Just as Katakuri used his utmost effort to save his younger brothers, Sherwin was already right before him.
Although Katakuri had foreseen this killing move through Observation Haki and had activated pseudo-elementalization in advance to evade, he still underestimated the speed Sherwin could unleash under Link Time.
Or rather, in order to save his younger brothers, Katakuri had already chosen to bear such consequences before making his move…
"Shk—"
The sound of a blade cutting into flesh rang out. Katakuri, who had turned his body into a mass of mochi, sprayed out a large amount of blood under the Armament Haki-infused strike.
After returning to his human form, a deep wound appeared across Katakuri abdomen.
If he had not made an evasive move as early as possible, he would have been cut cleanly in half at the waist by Sherwin just now.
After being struck, Katakuri had no intention of continuing the fight. Covering his heavily bleeding abdomen,
he wrapped himself in mochi once more and fled rapidly toward the outside of the island together with the brothers he had saved, not even bothering to pick up the weapon he had dropped on the ground.
"You sneak-attack me and think you can just run away? It won't be that easy, meow!"
Along with Jinx shouting, more than a dozen Reaper Missiles shot toward the retreating Katakuri and the others.
Having foreseen this long ago, Katakuri had already gathered all the mochi masses together and continuously absorbed even more mochi from the surrounding ground to form a defensive barrier.
"Pff—!"
However, already severely injured, Katakuri was still unable to avoid spitting out a mouthful of blood under the bombardment of the Reaper Missiles, instantly staining his scarf red.
"Brother Katakuri!"
Cracker and the others he had saved cried out in alarm.
"I'm fine. Go, now!"
Katakuri forcibly endured his injuries and continued to lead his younger brothers in their escape outward.
As for the members of the affiliated pirate crews who had also been blasted by Jinx Reaper Missiles, he no longer had the leisure to worry about them.
"Jinx, go back to Robin first! Seijuro Meow, Huamei, you two go as well—something not right!"
Jinx had originally wanted to keep chasing, but Sherwin called her back, bringing along the other two cats who had likewise lost their opponents.
Katakuri actions were far too strange. There was absolutely no need for him to pay such a heavy price just to take a few of his younger brothers away.
Had he foreseen something even more dangerous that was about to happen?
After glancing at Jack, who was still being led around in circles by Suika Meow, and at Who-Who, whose face had been smashed bloody by Link Meow, Sherwin quickly turned his gaze toward Vergo, who had been standing off to the side watching the spectacle for quite some time.
After thinking it over, only this "local snake" seemed likely to make a move.