At the port of Long Ring Long Land, Katakuri's pirate ship had been destroyed. A huge Marine warship was docked there, with a large number of Marines escorting Katakuri's subordinates.
Onboard the warship, Zephyr was looking up at the gigantic sphere of earth and rock floating over the island, his expression one of surprise.
Standing beside Zephyr was a beautiful woman, CP9 Chief Stussy. Her eyes were wide, and she stared blankly at the floating sphere. She had just watched the famous Charlotte Katakuri, a legend in the New World, get sealed inside that sphere piece by piece.
It brought back memories of her fight with the unknown Marine Rear Admiral, Diarmuid, at the Orphanage a while ago. She had felt then that Diarmuid was holding back, but now she understood just how much power he had been hiding.
When she first received the World Government's order to cooperate with Diarmuid to capture Katakuri, Stussy was annoyed. After all, she had just been humiliated by him, so how could she be in a good mood?
But now, she felt nothing but relief. It was a good thing she didn't refuse. She would hate to be an enemy of a monster like this, even if they were in different organizations.
"A Marine Admiral…?" Stussy whispered, as if a thought had just occurred to her. She vaguely remembered Diarmuid's invitation to her as he left the orphanage. She had scoffed at the idea, saying he might be worthy of inviting her when he became an Admiral. But looking at the current situation, if this guy didn't die young, becoming an Admiral didn't seem so impossible or ridiculous after all.
"He's not at the Admiral level just yet," Zephyr said, hearing Stussy's whisper and turning his attention away from the fight.
"However," he continued, "I think we all, including the boy himself, severely underestimated his strength. You don't know until you test it, and now I'm shocked. I thought he was on a par with a Vice Admiral, but still a little bit behind Kuzan, Sakazaki, and Borsalino. But it seems I underestimated him. Diarmuid… he has already become one of the true pillars of the Marines. He is in no way inferior to those three little monsters!"
After a pause, Zephyr glanced at Stussy and smiled. "Perhaps, with a few more years, he really could become an Admiral-level fighter."
Diarmuid was only 22, and Zephyr was now completely convinced that he would be among the world's most elite fighters before he turned 30.
He felt both emotional and grateful that he had decided to bring this young man back from the 103rd Marine Branch in North Blue to be trained in Marineford. It was the correct decision.
He was so lucky that he sent him along with Sengoku to the Edd War Sea. Thanks to a series of coincidences, the Marines had gained an extremely important asset.
"I believe your judgment now, Admiral," Stussy said, nodding in agreement. She paused and asked, "Admiral Zephyr, is it over? Should we go ashore now?"
Zephyr smiled and shook his head. "Over? Not yet. Katakuri is not an opponent who would be so easily defeated. If he were, his reputation would be baseless. He must have a few more tricks up his sleeve that he hasn't used yet."
Meanwhile, Diarmuid looked at the giant rock sphere in the sky, his mind at ease. He checked his injuries. They weren't light, but they weren't too serious either. He had almost no external wounds, only some internal damage from taking Katakuri's Baked Mochi head-on. If he could win and capture Katakuri with just this much sacrifice, it would be a very profitable exchange.
As Diarmuid was thinking this, he suddenly felt a jolt of alarm. He frowned and looked up at the giant sphere. It still looked the same, but he felt that something was wrong. Before he could figure it out, the sphere of earth and rock slowly softened, as if it had become mochi.
"This is…," Diarmuid gasped, a look of shock in his eyes. "Devil Fruit Awakening?!"
He remembered that Katakuri's Devil Fruit had indeed awakened, but that was supposed to happen over 20 years from now!
During their fight, Katakuri hadn't used any Awakened powers, so Diarmuid naturally assumed he hadn't awakened his fruit yet. After all, there was no information about this in his intelligence reports.
Before Diarmuid could think any further, the massive sphere of earth and rock exploded, raining mochi down like a storm. He instantly activated his Observation Haki. A glint flashed in his eyes as he swung his Nagasone Kotetsu.
The next second, an arm covered in Armament Haki shot out from a mochi glob falling above him, blocking the slash.
At the same time, Diarmuid quickly backed away, dodging the falling mochi. The mochi landed and began to writhe on the ground, and a tall figure slowly took shape. It was Katakuri!
Katakuri's face was grim. His aura was slightly unstable, and his scarf had vanished, fully exposing his ferocious, fanged mouth, where a streak of blood was visible. It was obvious that he was badly hurt from being squeezed inside Diarmuid's Planetary Devastation.
"Three months ago, I awakened my Devil Fruit, but I've never had to show this power before," Katakuri said, his tone serious and solemn. "I've never met an opponent worthy of me using this power. Rodriguez Diarmuid, I never expected the first time I used this power would be against a mere Marine Rear Admiral like you. But I must admit, you are a monster whose strength cannot be contained by the rank of a Rear Admiral. Though I have never fought Borsalino, Sakazaki, or Kuzan, the three monster rookies of the Marines, I believe you are in no way inferior to them…"
Diarmuid stood in the distance with his Nagasone Kotetsu, his expression turning serious. He softly replied, "Thank you for the compliment."
"In the name of Katakuri, I acknowledge you, Diarmuid. You are an opponent worthy of my full effort. No matter who wins or loses this fight, you will have my respect," Katakuri declared gravely.
Diarmuid was stunned for a moment, then spoke, "Though you are a wicked pirate, I have the utmost respect for you as an opponent in this pure battle. Be proud, Katakuri. You are also an opponent worthy of my full effort, Rodriguez Diarmuid's. In the future, this battle will be remembered forever!"
"Now, open up! Mochi Feast!" Katakuri roared. The power of his Devil Fruit quickly spread from his feet, turning everything it touched into the substance of mochi.
This was a classic sign of a Paramecia Devil Fruit's Awakening—the ability to turn a surrounding area into one's own substance.
Without hesitation, Katakuri bent down and placed his hand on the ground. The liquid mochi turned into a series of columns, shooting towards Diarmuid.
Katakuri knew his Awakened power was still new, and he hadn't fully mastered it. Furthermore, it drained his stamina quickly, so he couldn't maintain it for long. That's why he rarely used this power, and he now planned to defeat Diarmuid as quickly as possible!
"Gravity Blade: Tiger's Bite!" Diarmuid roared, swinging his sword at the oncoming mochi torrent. The savage force of gravity instantly shattered the mochi, but an Awakened Devil Fruit power was not so easily countered. In a few moments, the ground around him had been transformed into mochi.
"Gravity Blade: Hell's Journey!" Diarmuid swung his sword down at the ground in front of him. The ground not yet assimilated by Katakuri crumbled into pieces, but the mochi ground simply sank for a moment before quickly returning to its original state. The ground then began to rise, forming a mochi tsunami that headed straight for Diarmuid.
Diarmuid spun his blade in the air, his body's Devil Fruit power surging. He made a chunk of untransformed earth break off and quickly lift himself up into the air.
The mochi tsunami surged past where he had just been standing. Before he could react, the mochi pool on the ground collapsed, and a mass of mochi shot up into the air like a storm of arrows.
Diarmuid didn't dare to be careless. He moved his ability, and an invisible gravity instantly spread, enveloping the flying mochi. Under the pressure of his gravity, the dense mochi was all stopped right below him.
At that moment, a small, unremarkable piece of mochi nearest to Diarmuid suddenly changed. Katakuri's body emerged from the mochi in a bizarre stance.
The change was so sudden that Diarmuid couldn't react. Katakuri had broken through the gravity field and was now right in front of him, his arm ready to strike Diarmuid's neck.
"Raikiri?!" Diarmuid thought in shock.
The next second, a powerful force erupted from Katakuri's arm, sending Diarmuid plummeting from the sky. He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. Just before he fell into the mochi pool below, Diarmuid used his gravity to stop himself, creating a moment of weightlessness.
He then used Geppo to stabilize himself in mid-air, avoiding the mochi on the ground. But in the next moment, two giant mochi hands shot out of the ground, one from the left and one from the right, and clapped together like they were swatting a fly, trapping Diarmuid between them.
"Mochi Slap!" Katakuri said grimly.
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