"Mom, I'm here!"
A white thundercloud with golden curly hair hurriedly rushed over, allowing BIGMOM to step onto it as it carried her rapidly into the sky.
Why Hera...?
Because Zeus had mysteriously vanished without a trace during the last Tea Party.
No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like the doing of that sneaky little apprentice from the Roger Pirates.
Unfortunately, even after dragging him out of the Book Prison and beating him half to death, no useful information could be extracted.
Mamamamama!
No matter!
Just a mere Homie—with the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit, no matter how many were lost, she could always create more!
"Weggu!"
BIGMOM roared furiously, and the Hera beneath her feet instantly transformed into a dark purple-black, erupting with dazzling lightning.
Crack!
Countless electric serpents writhed through the clouds, spreading wildly across the sea.
The cannonballs that had been deflected back could no longer advance an inch within this thunderstorm domain, exploding one after another with thunderous roars, transforming into countless burning meteors that plummeted into the sea.
"At this level, you can't threaten my fleet at all!"
BIGMOM laughed maniacally, spreading her arms wide. She didn't even need to lift a finger—just the Homies born from her own soul were enough to handle this easily!
"Napoleon!"
"Prometheus!"
"We're here, Mom!"
The exaggeratedly styled Captain's hat leaped from BIGMOM's head, swiftly transforming into a sharp longsword in her hand.
At the same time.
A blazing sun rose from her shoulder, cackling eerily as it expanded, merging with BIGMOM's hair like rising flames!
The thundercloud laughed, the flames laughed, the sword laughed, and BIGMOM laughed heartily!
"Mamamamama, so you're stepping forward so eagerly to reclaim your daughter, is that it, Kuma?! Remember this well—once I've set my sights on something, no one can take it from me!!!!!"
On the Sunset.
"Damn fat hag," Zoro gritted his teeth, covering his ears. "Screaming like a slaughtered pig the moment she appears—she deserves to die."
"She's the strongest woman in the world, after all. She's earned the right to laugh like that."
Beside him, Sanji lit a cigarette, glancing sideways. "If it's grating on your ears, why not charge over and shut her up with your swords? What's the point of covering your own ears?"
Who?
Me?
Me fight BIGMOM?
Zoro pointed at himself, stunned for a moment before veins bulged on his forehead.
What a joke!
He wasn't like that Jack—he still had some self-awareness.
Compared to that, you damn curly-brow...
Hm?!
Zoro's expression suddenly changed as he jerked his head up, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.
As a swordsman, his sharp instincts told him that an overwhelmingly terrifying sword intent was gathering above the sea.
"That old hag... is she a Master Swordsman too...?"
Almost the instant this thought arose.
An even more violent, frenzied scream erupted from atop the dark purple thundercloud, echoing across the entire sea:
"I'm asking you! Why won't you answer me, Kuma?! If you dare ignore me, then try blocking this with your powers!!!"
BIGMOM grinned ferociously as she raised her sword high, thunder and flames roaring violently behind her.
At this moment.
She seemed like... no, she was the very incarnation of greed and tyranny in the mortal realm!
The atmosphere over the sea seemed to freeze solid in that instant.
Whether it was the fleet of the Charlotte Family or the approaching Curtain Closer ships, everyone looked up at the colossal figure hovering in the sky, overwhelmed by that crushing aura.
"Long live Mama!"
"Crush that Kuma, destroy them all!"
After a brief silence, the pirates on dozens of Tart ships erupted into frenzied cheers, their morale soaring to its peak.
However—
"Heh."
A soft chuckle suddenly came from the flagship of the Curtain Closers.
Light and casual, yet it eerily pierced through all the noise, reaching everyone's ears clearly. For some reason, the pirates under Charlotte's banner stiffened involuntarily, a shiver running down their spines.
The thunderous cheers came to an abrupt halt.
"Charlotte Linlin."
Xiano had somehow already stepped onto the figurehead of the ship, walking slowly toward the very front. Behind him, his black cloak fluttered wildly in the sea breeze.
He gazed at BIGMOM in the sky and spoke calmly:
"As a Sea Emperor, is shouting at my subordinates all you're capable of? Shouldn't your opponent be me?"
"Five minutes."
Xiano raised his slender yet powerful right hand, his voice icy. "This is the final ultimatum. You have five minutes to hand over Bonney. Otherwise..."
"Totto Land will cease to exist upon these seas."
A voice so calm and devoid of emotion it sent chills down the spine...
Yet carrying an undeniable, overwhelming authority!
The Charlotte pirates gasped for breath, their faces pale, utterly unable to muster the will to refute his words.
As for the Curtain Closers' side.
Including Zoro, Sanji, Tashigi, and countless others, their already reverent gazes burned with even greater fervor, all fixed upon Xiano's back.
Totto Land...
Will cease to exist upon these seas!!!
Such arrogance, such sheer dominance!
Anyone could talk big, but it all depended on the occasion and the opponent!
Standing before them now was none other than the Sea Emperor who had dominated the seas for decades—BIGMOM!
Above the dark purple thunderclouds.
"Mamamamama!!!"
BIGMOM laughed in fury, her massive body trembling violently with rage. Prometheus, sensing its master's emotions, burned even more fiercely behind her head.
"Enough with the posturing!!!"
BIGMOM pointed Napoleon's massive sword directly at Xiano, her expression darkening abruptly:
"I've been too lenient with you before, just to win you over!"
"But in the end, you're just some upstart brat! Xiano! Just because you killed a few Celestial Dragons and got a big reputation, you think you can act high and mighty in front of me? Do you even know who you're talking to?!"
Destroy the Totto Land she had painstakingly built?
Even if Roger himself were resurrected and dared to say such a thing, she would make him pay dearly!
"Posturing?"
Xiano ignored BIGMOM's fury entirely, chuckling softly as his right hand slowly reached for the Authentic Blade on his back.
"If you don't believe me, why not test it out?"
Hum!
Almost the moment he drew his sword, an invisible shockwave erupted from him, spreading violently in all directions.
CRACK!!!
A thunderbolt more terrifying than the one Hera had unleashed earlier appeared.
The clouds in the sky twisted as if stirred by an invisible hand, spinning wildly;
The sea roared with gales, waves churning like boiling water, surging toward the Charlotte Family fleet in towering hundred-meter walls!
Conqueror's Haki!
And not just any...
"The strongest, most terrifying level of Conqueror's Haki in the world!!!"
Katakuri's eyes flashed crimson before his expression twisted in alarm. Instinctively, he drew his Trident Earth Dragon and turned to bark orders:
"All those lacking strength, get inside the cabins now! Block out all your senses! The rest of you, give it a hundred—no, a hundred and twenty percent focus! Steel your minds and resist with everything you've got!!!"
This was no joke!
For Conqueror's Haki to trigger such terrifying atmospheric anomalies upon release...
This level!
This level was something even he, who had spent his childhood on Rocks' ship, had never witnessed before!
If they didn't resist with everything they had...
Just the residual waves of this Haki could render over half the Charlotte army completely incapacitated!!!
His response was swift.
But ultimately, a fraction too late.
The warning had barely left his lips when the terrifying shockwave of Conqueror's Haki crashed over them like a raging tide.
"You damn brat!"
BIGMOM bellowed in fury. Hera beneath her feet instantly ascended, carrying her higher into the sky as she roared and unleashed her own torrent of Conqueror's Haki in retaliation.
Zzzzt—CRACK!
Countless thick black-red lightning bolts clashed violently, but whether in aura or sheer intensity, one side was clearly half a step behind.
Xiano's overwhelming Conqueror's Haki, though largely blocked and neutralized, still retained its momentum, mercilessly sweeping over the Charlotte Family fleet.
"Guh—!"
"Mama... help...!"
As if struck by an invisible hammer, pirates across the fleet collapsed in waves, including many mid-tier fighters with bounties exceeding tens of millions of Berries.
As for the weakest, bottom-tier grunts, they didn't even have time to scream before their eyes rolled back, foam spilling from their mouths as they crumpled to the deck.
Even some officers with bounties nearing a hundred million paled, their legs buckling as they dropped to their knees, barely managing to stay conscious by propping themselves up with trembling arms.
A super fleet of over thirty-five thousand...
Now, from a distant vantage point, only about ten thousand remained standing—if counting those barely clinging to consciousness on their knees.
Against the Curtain Closer's four thousand, they still held a significant numerical advantage.
But the impact of this clash went far beyond numbers. Many pirates simultaneously realized a far more critical truth—
In the clash of Conqueror's Haki... Xiano had won!
Mama's Conqueror's Haki... was actually inferior?!
In that single exchange, the Big Mom Pirates had suffered a dual blow—both in combat strength and morale!
"Mamamamama!"
BIGMOM's smile twisted into a ferocious snarl, her eyes streaked with crimson veins. Her Conqueror's Haki had actually been suppressed by some mere brat?
Such a thing...
Should not exist!
And was absolutely unacceptable!!!
"Mama!"
Hera beneath her feet let out a startled cry as the thunderclouds churned violently, purple-black lightning uncontrollably spilling outward—a manifestation of her furious rage.
Yet, at this very moment, Xiano's indifferent voice rang out once more:
"You're getting on in years, Linlin. Don't get too worked up. If you can't manage, I can help cool you down a little."
The next instant—
Clang!!!
The Authentic Blade, previously only half-drawn, was fully unsheathed. A black-red slash spanning the heavens and earth cleaved down abruptly, as if to tear the entire sea asunder!
"Divine Departure!"
The sky, which had just regained its calm from the Conqueror's Haki clash, was instantly split in two.
The clouds were shredded like tattered cloth, while the sea bore a bottomless chasm, its waters parted by an invisible force that refused to close for a long time!
"Emperor Sword·Break-Break Blade!!!"
BIGMOM roared, swinging Napoleon wreathed in blinding, sun-like flames, unleashing an enormous orange-red Sword Aura of her own.
The two forces shot toward each other, colliding mid-air with a thunderous—
BOOM!!!!!!
In the deafening explosion, a terrifying hemispherical Shockwave rippled outward layer by layer. The sea within a radius of several kilometers instantly caved in, forming a massive bowl-shaped abyss.
"Ahhh!!!"
The nearest Tart ships were capsized outright, while Pirates on the remaining vessels were flung into the air as if on trampolines, shrieking in panic.
Even the colossal Queen Mama Chanter rocked violently, its figurehead wailing in agony.
The Charlotte siblings gathered on the deck had to cling to fixed objects like masts just to stay upright.
The Curtain Closer's ship also swayed but fared considerably better.
The root cause...
Was that the Captain's "Divine Departure" had ultimately proven superior, seizing the initiative in this clash compared to BIGMOM's Emperor Sword!
Bang!
The black-red slash finally dissipated. BIGMOM grunted, retreating over a hundred meters atop Hera before steadying herself on the sea's surface.
"Hey, brat! When you fought that runt Kaido before, I never saw you use this move!"
She narrowed her eyes, glaring fixedly at Xiano. The earlier frenzy in her gaze had indeed faded somewhat. "No wonder they call you the World's Greatest Swordsman. That slash... it looks familiar. To think it's terrifying to this degree..."
It seemed she'd seen something like it long ago, but couldn't quite recall...
No matter!
"Mamamama! Now that's more like it, brat! Looks like I'll get to stretch my bones properly today!"
BIGMOM grinned widely. The Conqueror's Haki clash had cost her face, igniting her fury, but she cared little about losing ground in this sword exchange.
After all, the other bore that title. Being slightly outmatched in swordsmanship...
Meant nothing! None of it mattered!
The real battle hadn't even begun yet!
This Soul-Soul Fruit ability honed to its limits, this body hailed as the world's greatest natural gift—these were her true pillars standing atop the world's summit!
Close-quarters combat was her true forte!
This much was evident just from her towering height!
A terrifying stature of eight meters and eighty centimeters—not just in the present, but throughout the entire Ocean Era Calendar, she stood unchallenged as the tallest pure-blooded human!
"My sons, my daughters... all who bear the name Charlotte!"
With a fierce wave of her hand, she bared her teeth and roared with laughter:
"Full-scale assault! That brat Xiano is mine—stay the hell out of my way! Your mission is to make these ignorant fools who don't know their place witness the terror of Totto Land!!!"
Even among Emperor Crews, there were differences in depth and power!
"OOOOOOOH—!!!"
Her command finally reignited the morale of the Charlotte fleet.
Deafening war cries erupted across the sea as every Tart ship raised its sails, charging at full speed toward the Curtain Closer's fleet under the lead of the Queen Mama Chanter!
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