Trigger stood atop a frozen branch, the wind tugging at his white coat as his eyes narrowed. Below him, the battlefield trembled under the weight of the legend.
"He is the biggest problem currently," Trigger murmured, his voice low and precise. He tilted his head slightly, eyes locking onto the broad-shouldered man laughing amidst chaos.
"The Left Hand of the Pirate King is no myth."
The Iron Vanguard stepped forward, his massive frame casting a shadow across the snow. Each step crushed the permafrost beneath his boots, leaving deep, spiderwebbed cracks behind.
"Then we end this quickly," he said, voice metallic and calm. "Finish the target."
Arachne's six-eyed mask tilted slowly.
A soft, delighted giggle slipped from her throat.
"So early?" she hummed, fingers twitching as if already feeling warm blood between them. "I wanted to savor this hunt a little longer."
Her tongue slid along her lips beneath the mask.
"The blood of a legend… I wonder if a Pirate King's subordinate tastes like gold."
Gaban threw his head back and laughed.
The sound was thunderous—wild, fearless, alive.
"Taste my blood?" he barked, spinning his black-lightning-coated axes once before letting them rest casually on his shoulders. "Little girl, you'd choke on it before you could swallow!"
His grin widened, eyes sharp as blades.
"You CP0 brats think white suits make you gods? I've buried 'gods' deeper than these roots you're standing on!"
The world erupted.
Arachne moved first—her fingers danced through the air, weaving invisible, iron-strong Nerve-Threads in complex patterns. They slithered toward Gaban like living things, silent and precise, seeking nerves, blood, control.
At the same time, the Iron Vanguard charged.
He moved like an avalanche.
His Tekkai hardened further with every step, metal plates grinding beneath his skin as he swung a fist the size of a boulder straight toward Gaban's chest.
Gaban vanished.
Not by speed alone—but by instinct honed through decades of battle.
He slipped between Vanguard's strike, his axes flashing.
CRAAASH!
A glowing gash split Vanguard's "unbreakable" chest, sparks and molten fragments spraying into the snow. The Iron Vanguard staggered back half a step—only half—but that alone was unthinkable.
Vanguard's breath hitched—just once—before he forced his body back into position.
Arachne clicked her tongue in irritation.
Her threads shot forward again,faster now, sharper. One grazed Gaban's arm—
And disintegrated.
A wave of Conqueror's Haki exploded outward from Gaban's body, raw and suffocating. The air screamed as the threads were blown apart before they could even touch his skin.
Gaban laughed again, spinning like a storm.
"You'll have to do better than that!"
He ducked beneath another volley of threads, his axes carving arcs of destruction that forced Arachne to retreat mid-air. Vanguard swung again—Gaban caught the blow with crossed axes, lightning cracking violently between them.
The ground collapsed beneath their feet.
"Monster…" Vanguard muttered.
"No," Gaban corrected, driving him back with a brutal knee.
"I'm what's left."
---
Meanwhile, Trigger turned his back on the clash of legends.
And began walking toward me.
I was still on the ground, my breath uneven, snow melting beneath the residual heat of my body.
"Pandora…" I hissed, glancing at my trembling hand. "What did you do to my hand?"
"Lizard, this is not the time for explanations!" Pandora snapped, her voice sharp and frantic.
"Give me your lunarian flames—I'm hungry!"
Her fiery body flickered, shrinking unnaturally. Worse—the glow in my right arm began to fade.
Panic clawed at my chest.
I clenched my jaw and focused inward—past the pain, past the cold—deep into my bones.
The Lunarian lineage factor answered.
Ignite.
White-hot fire roared back to life around my right arm.
A small, confident smile crept onto my face.
"I've got you," I muttered.
I extended my hand. Pandora eagerly devoured the flames, her body swelling back to full strength.
Then—
CRACK!
Something slammed into my cheek.
It didn't pierce.
The bullet shattered into glass, exploding into glittering shards that scraped my skin, leaving only a shallow scratch.
I looked up.
Trigger was hovering in mid-air, his legs bent slightly as he used Geppo, eyes cold and focused—like a predator studying wounded prey.
"You are one of the few who have forced me to utilize my full capability," Trigger said calmly.
"Your biological resilience is remarkable."
Another glass-coated round formed between his fingers.
"Even with reinforced ammunition, you suffer only minor abrasions."
His gaze sharpened.
"Dr. Vegapunk is indeed a genius. He has engineered the pinnacle of Lunarian hybridization."
I exhaled slowly and met his stare.
"Is that so?" I said, my voice steady.
"You're bold when facing crewmates. Now face their captain."
I planted my feet.
Pulled my arm back.
The air around my fist screamed as oxygen was dragged into the heat.
"HIKEN!"
I launched forward.
A massive, roaring column of dull orange fire erupted from my fist, swallowing the sky. Snow for fifty yards didn't melt—it vanished. Trees curled and blackened into ash under the sheer pressure.
"Die!" I roared.
The inferno devoured Trigger's position entirely.
Then—
It stopped.
As the smoke cleared, Trigger stood there—unchanged.
His body shimmered, translucent and jagged, refracting light like a shattered star.
"Not only your defense," Trigger said, his voice echoing unnaturally through his crystalline form,
"but your offensive output is also top tier."
Suddenly—
My chest tightened.
A sharp, crystalline itch tore through my lungs.
I gasped.
Collapsed to my knees.
Breathing felt like inhaling needles.
Pandora froze mid-air, her flames flickering violently.
"Lizard…?" she whispered.
Her eyes widened as she saw it.
The veins in my neck were turning silver—hardening.
Crystallizing.
I couldn't breathe.
I was being turned into glass—
from the inside out.