"Boom—!"
Under Garp iron fist, the enormous flaming slash was blown apart in an instant. Garp himself, who had taken the attack head-on, staggered back several steps before finally steadying his footing.
"I have to admit, I really am getting old…"
Garp supported his right shoulder and rolled his arm a couple of times, putting on a calm, understated show as he said, "Even blocking an attack of this level is starting to feel strenuous."
Then he continued his appraisal. "Sure enough, compared to an Emperor of the Sea, Sherwin current strength is still lacking. What a waste of Klee Meow coordination."
"Mamamamama… I didn't expect even you to show up, Garp! So this time, is the Navy here to take my head?"
When it came to "Iron Fist" Garp, Charlotte Linlin was naturally no stranger. This Navy hero who once chased Roger all over the seas, and who was said to have defeated Rocks at God Valley—she herself had lived through that era. She wasn't particularly afraid of him, but she certainly wouldn't underestimate him either.
"You're a pirate, I'm a marine. Is that even a question?"
Garp pounded his fists together and grinned broadly.
As he spoke, another group of marines appeared around the Big Mom Pirates. The lowest rank among them was rear admiral, and all of them had been transferred from Marineford and the G-series branches. Even Vergo, who had once been sent flying by Kaido with a single swing, was among them.
Right after that, Akainu, who had previously unleashed a Meteor Volcano, also arrived at the scene.
"With just this handful of people, you think you can deal with me?!"
Facing such a lineup, Charlotte Linlin showed no fear at all—if anything, she let out a cold, angry laugh.
Because she felt she had been underestimated.
In order not to alert Big Mom, aside from tossing out the "Seven Warlords of the Sea" as a smokescreen on Obesant Island, the Navy had also split off part of their forces to make arrangements elsewhere.
On top of that, Marineford, which was primarily responsible for guarding the Celestial Dragons, had to retain a portion of its combat power.
As a result, although the marines lying in ambush here were carefully selected and posed no issue in terms of individual strength, their numbers were not particularly large…
It was even fewer than the numbers of the BIG MOM Pirates.
And among this group, only Akainu and Garp were barely worth Charlotte Linlin notice. As for the rest, it wasn't that she completely disregarded them—she simply didn't believe her children would lose to these Marines.
However, not long after she finished speaking, she sensed that her Homies pirate ship—the Queen Mama Chanter—and the Homies soldiers stationed aboard it had suddenly all lost contact.
Charlotte Linlin swiftly turned around. In the direction where they had landed, a faint white mist was rising.
"Aokiji!"
What had happened over there wasn't hard to guess, and their purpose was obvious as well—to prevent the BIG MOM Pirates from withdrawing easily.
But even with the Marines laying their cards on the table, Charlotte Linlin had no intention of backing down.
It was nothing more than one additional Admiral. Even if all three Admirals were present, she was confident she could deal with them.
And most importantly…
The rage boiling in her heart had yet to be vented. How could she possibly slink away just like that?
Of course, fearless as she was, Charlotte Linlin wasn't foolish enough to stand around waiting obediently for Aokiji to arrive and link up with Garp and the others. Taking advantage of the fact that he hadn't reached them yet, she launched her attack first.
"Tenman Daijizai Tenjin!"
In a short time, it was clearly unrealistic to take down Garp and Akainu, so Charlotte Linlin directly shifted her target to the other Marines.
Violent yet self-aware lightning burst forth from Zeus body, striking with precision at every Marine present. After unleashing this sweeping AOE attack, Charlotte Linlin immediately swung Napoleon toward Akainu and Garp, forcing them to focus on her and leaving them no chance to aid their comrades.
At the same time, Katakuri and the others also coordinated their attacks against the group of Marines.
Naturally, the Marines were not about to sit still and wait for death. While dealing with the lightning striking down at them, they launched counterattacks against the members of the BIG MOM Pirates.
In terms of average strength, the Marines held the advantage, while the BIG MOM Pirates had superiority in numbers. Moreover, they had someone like Cracker, who could continuously create biscuit soldiers to replenish their forces. As a result, it didn't take long before the BIG MOM Pirates gained the upper hand.
"Hahahahaha! Just a bunch of Marines! You think you can defeat our BIG MOM Pirates?!"
Cracker kept producing biscuit soldiers, tying down one formidable Marine after another as he laughed loudly.
After being suppressed in every possible way by Sherwin and his cats earlier, he was finally able to unleash his true strength!
At the same time, Cracker also realized what he was truly good at…
That right! One-on-one fights, where it easy to get injured, simply aren't suited for me. Large-scale battles are where I really shine!
Next would be my moment in the spotlight!
Just as Cracker was indulging in fantasies of using this battle to make BIG MOM value him again and restore his status as one of the Sweet Commanders, a gigantic ice bird suddenly appeared overhead.
"Sakazuki!"
Aokiji, who had rushed over in haste, released Ice Bird from the sky and shouted Akainu name at the top of his lungs.
Hearing his voice, Akainu used Garp cover to briefly disengage from his fight with Charlotte Linlin, then hurled a magma fist toward the ice bird in the sky.
"Great Eruption!"
The magma fist detonated before it could collide with the ice bird, turning into countless blazing projectiles that slammed into it.
The ice bird, melted by the flames, instantly turned into a torrential downpour, crashing down from the sky and drenching both the biscuit soldiers and Cracker to the bone…
He never imagined that his moment in the spotlight would be so short-lived.
However, this was actually only to be expected.
In order to ambush the Big Mom Pirates, the Marines and CP had planned for a very long time. Already short on manpower, there was no way they would overlook Cracker, a figure capable of creating an entire army of biscuits.
Cracker Devil Fruit ability and its weakness had long since been exposed by Sherwin, so targeting him was simply too easy.
If not for the fact that this operation hadn't diverted that many personnel, the Marines could have dealt with Cracker by equipping ordinary soldiers with water guns alone—there would have been no need for two Admirals to take action.
However, this "artificial rainfall" didn't last long. After being frustrated for a brief moment, Cracker quickly pulled himself together and tried to create biscuit soldiers once more…
Even if Akainu and Aokiji carried out another round of "artificial rainfall," preventing his ability from supporting others, tying down the attention of two Admirals was still an acceptable outcome for the Big Mom Pirates.
But just as he summoned a new biscuit soldier, a biting cold instantly froze it into an ice sculpture, and the frost rapidly spread toward Cracker himself.
"Grilled Mochi!"
Katakuri appeared in time, blocking Aokiji freezing chill.
Aokiji, however, refused to let up, continuing to press his attack on Katakuri and Cracker behind him, while still having the leisure to assist other Marines who had fallen into unfavorable situations.
With Aokiji joining the fight, the Marines—who had been at a disadvantage—quickly turned the tide. Even so, the members of the Big Mom Pirates were no pushovers, and they were still able to fight the Marines to a rough stalemate.
As for the top-tier combat power, Charlotte Linlin was able to fight two opponents alone without falling into a disadvantage.
Over here, Aokiji had no intention of truly joining that battle either. Aside from occasionally lending a hand, his main focus remained on restraining the other members of the BIG MOM Pirates.
"Something not right, Katakuri," Perospero, who had also been dragged into the battle circle by Aokiji, asked with a dark expression. "They don't seem eager to defeat us. It feels like they're deliberately stalling for time… Do you see anything?"
Katakuri shook his head helplessly. His Observation Haki could only allow him to glimpse a short stretch of the future anything further than that was beyond his sight. If his Observation Haki were truly that powerful, he would have sensed the Navy trap before they even landed on the island.
But the situation now was that by the time he could see the Navy hidden move, it would most likely already be too late… just like how he had previously been unable to stop BIG MOM from going berserk.
Perospero and Katakuri tried several times to break the deadlock, but each attempt was thwarted by Aokiji. On Charlotte Linlin side as well, she was firmly tied down by Garp and Akainu, unable to free herself at all.
Garp might be old, but his tenacity was still formidable. As for Akainu, there was even less to say—just a few years later, he would be able to fight Aokiji for ten days and ten nights straight, his endurance no less impressive.
As the saying goes, misfortune never comes alone. With anxiety welling up in his heart, Katakuri suddenly looked up into the sky.
"They're coming! The Navy reinforcements!"
However, just as he had expected, even though a warning had already been issued, they were completely powerless to change anything.
All they could do was watch helplessly as a warship that looked extremely similar to the dodo Sky Comet Dragon flew in from the distant sky, then smashed straight into the center of the battlefield without slowing down at all…