Katakuri's Observation Haki, honed relentlessly over decades, was unquestionably among the very best. It had saved him from countless deadly situations.
Yet now, it had become his burden.
Sometimes, being too perceptive is not a blessing.
The moment Katakuri used Observation Haki, he could hear how many Charlotte family members were screaming, begging for mercy—
and how many of their life signatures had already vanished.
To constantly be made aware of the suffering of his kin was a cruelty no one could endure.
But Katakuri could not, as he once did, rush to help them. Before him stood two extremely troublesome opponents:
"Desert King" Crocodile, former Warlord and now Davy Jones' right-hand man,
and
Marco the Phoenix, veteran of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Their strength was undeniable.
To fight both at once required his full attention. He could not afford to be distracted by the cries of his trapped family members.
Fortunately, Katakuri was not fighting alone.
Smoothie, with her long legs and towering presence, grabbed a nearby ordinary crew member of the Davy Jones Pirates and twisted him like a soaked towel.
Water gushed out with the pirate's shriek; she tossed aside the dried corpse only after draining him.
"Katakuri," Smoothie said, aware of his inner turmoil, "don't doubt yourself, don't worry. Mama will defeat Davy Jones and come to support us. When that happens, we can avenge every family member."
"I know."
Katakuri gripped the layered scarf at his neck and yanked it off, tossing it aside—revealing the massive mouth that nearly split to his ears.
It was his hidden secret, rarely shown even before his siblings. But when a battle had to be won, he cast aside all hesitation.
And now, the battle simply had to be won.
As if mirroring Smoothie's "squeezing," Crocodile made a similar gesture.
He swept his arm, and waves of sand surged out, engulfing several members of Big Mom's crew, draining their moisture and leaving them as shriveled corpses.
Marco, half-transformed with wings of blue flame spread wide, seemed more curious about another matter.
"Crocodile, when we were fighting Katakuri and Smoothie earlier, they hit you with Armament Haki, right? But I can't see any injury anymore."
Marco tilted his horse-like face thoughtfully.
Even Logia users could not recover from "true damage" caused by Armament or Conqueror's Haki.
For instance, during the battle on Punk Hazard—
If Akainu shattered one of Aokiji's legs, and Aokiji sliced off one of Akainu's ears—
neither injury could truly regenerate.
(Though Akainu could forge a magma ear, and Aokiji could freeze himself a new leg.)
Crocodile's case was different. His recovery was almost like Marco's own phoenix regeneration.
"There's no need to state the obvious."
Crocodile bit down on his cigar, unconcerned, swiping his golden hook and smashing apart a rising "mochi mass."
This was Katakuri's awakened power—turning the environment around him into his Mochi Realm.
But Crocodile, as a Sand-Sand Fruit user, was capable of something similar.
The ground beneath him rapidly "desertified," clashing directly with Katakuri's mochi transformation.
The two appeared stationary, but beneath their feet the battlefield churned like opposing tides—each fighting for territorial dominance.
"Yeah, obvious enough."
Marco's comment carried a double meaning.
He dove sharply, phoenix talons aiming at Smoothie as she suddenly appeared near Crocodile.
Caught off guard, Smoothie raised her longsword, blocking the blow. Even so, the impact made her arm tremble, forcing her to backflip away to regain distance.
Crocodile never once glanced in their direction. As long as Marco was present, even a look would be conceding advantage.
Along a jagged dividing line, sand and mochi tore apart the patterned Mirror World floor, breaking, splitting, colliding.
Crocodile finally moved—his body dissolving into a sandstorm that whipped toward Katakuri.
Katakuri, trying desperately to ignore the dying screams of his family, followed Crocodile with his eyes and fired off hardened mochi jellybeans!
Coated in Armament Haki, they were like custom bullets—Crocodile had been injured by them before.
But the same trick would not work twice.
Crocodile twisted away, then lunged forward.
Katakuri, simultaneously listening to his family's last breaths and predicting Crocodile's next strike, thrust his trident, Mogura, forward!
Clang!
Armament Haki clashed as the two engaged in brutal close combat.
The entire battlefield warped around them—shifting between sand and mochi in chaotic waves.
At that moment, Katakuri sensed the life signatures vanish—
first Mont-Dor,
then Amande,
Galette,
Opera…
even his own younger brothers Daifuku and Oven.
All gone.
A vanishing life signature usually signified death.
And all of these deaths happened within less than ten seconds.
In less than a single minute, Katakuri had sensed the fall of nearly the entire main force of the Charlotte family.
Finally—even Smoothie's presence disappeared.
Each loss struck him like a hammer blow to the heart, tearing him apart from the inside.
The only small mercy was that he could still detect Brûlée's faint presence—kept alive because the Davy Jones Pirates still needed her.
From Snack,
to Cracker,
and now Smoothie—
how many had their family lost in this war?
The battle they once believed was certain victory—
When had it spiraled into this disaster?
We cannot withstand the core strength of the Davy Jones Pirates…
I couldn't stop Davy Jones himself…
Cracker's sneak attack failed…
Our fleet was ambushed at sea…
We were too reckless, too arrogant…
We didn't rest our troops.
We didn't gather proper intel.
We didn't equip our soldiers.
Instead we brought ship after ship of desserts—
as if we were going on a picnic.
Katakuri knew the tide had irrevocably turned.
He deeply regretted not supporting Perospero in persuading Mama to prepare thoroughly before attacking the "Demon King of the Deep."
After all—he was another Yonko.
Though newly risen, this Yonko possessed frightening resources and preparation.
Katakuri couldn't help but think—
perhaps Snack's death was orchestrated by Davy Jones, deliberately provoking this "war between old and new Emperors."
It was simple—the moment Davy Jones entered the New World, his gaze had already fixed on the remaining three Yonko.
Why didn't I realize something so obvious?
Crocodile's golden hook slashed across.
Katakuri, overwhelmed by too many simultaneous thoughts, finally paid the price—
a deep gash opened across his face.
Venom seeped rapidly into his bloodstream, coursing through his entire body.
Even with his resilience, Katakuri felt his limbs numb.
Marco flew in at that moment—holding a severed head.
He tossed it toward Katakuri.
Instinctively, Katakuri caught it—
—and found himself staring into Smoothie's lifeless eyes.
Even the coldest person could not endure this.
Let alone him—stern-faced, but warm-hearted, who loved his family more than anything.
With a furious roar, his Conqueror's Haki detonated outward as he leveled his trident and charged Crocodile and Marco recklessly.
But Crocodile and Marco remained calm within his Conqueror's burst.
They had faced far more terrifying Conqueror's Haki—
from Whitebeard,
from Red-Hair,
and from Davy Jones himself.
Compared to those monsters, Katakuri's Conqueror's Haki was merely a harmless flower.
And his awakened mochi powers could only fight Crocodile's desertification to a draw.
His Armament Haki, physical strength, aerial control, and numbers were all inferior.
The only advantage he held—Observation Haki—did nothing but show him how he was about to die.
The poison flooded his heart. His body shuddered and slowed—
—and then he saw it, just as his future vision had shown:
Marco's phoenix-flame-coated leg struck him down.
Crocodile's sand wave surged forward with no pause, instantly draining one of Katakuri's arms dry.
Sand poured into his nostrils.
Marco's phoenix talons pinned him by the back, scorching his body.
It was all over.
So thought Katakuri—referring both to his life, and to this hellish war.
At least he no longer had to hear his family screaming.
Katakuri closed his eyes and let life fade away.
The death of the first of the Sweet Commanders carried immense significance.
When Crocodile carried Katakuri's severed head on the tip of his trident and appeared before the Mirror leading to the Totto Land archipelago—
—the remaining members of Big Mom's crew, still resisting desperately, collapsed entirely.
Their will to fight shattered.
They scattered and fell—killed or captured—
and their crushing defeat within the Mirror World became an undeniable fact.
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