A sizzling sound echoed with unnerving clarity in everyone's ears. The smiles on the faces of those who had just been jeering froze. Everyone instinctively stopped what they were doing, turning stiffly to look at the mass of mochi.
Sizzle... Sizzle...!
Wisps of white smoke began to rise from its surface.
At the same time, Wilder's low voice, seemingly suppressing a great deal of excitement, reached every ear. "Really... thank you all for your concern. I'm not dead, you know."
What?!
Everyone's pupils dilated at the sound of his voice.
Hiss... Hiss...
More and more smoke billowed from the mochi. Katakuri seemed to sense something, and his expression turned incredibly ugly. His arms, which were still connected to the mochi, began to twitch. BANG! A large hole suddenly blasted open in the mass of mochi. Wilder's tall figure stood straight and proud within it. His eyes slowly swept over the surroundings, an intense smile on his face that he couldn't hide.
This is...!
Everyone now saw that the mochi surrounding Wilder was sizzling audibly, visibly "rotting" away. The white smoke was a byproduct of this decay.
Seeing this, Katakuri's face grew incredibly grim, his brows knitted tightly as he stared intently at Wilder.
Wilder took a deep breath, a look of pure pleasure on his face as if he were breathing fresh air for the first time. He unconsciously spread his arms wide, feeling a brand-new power flowing through him. A wonderful sensation bloomed in his heart.
Not only that, but Wilder also discovered that as he mastered this new characteristic, his body seemed to have undergone another transformation. His strength, physique, speed, reflexes, observation, Haki—everything had been enhanced once again.
"This feeling..." Wilder's open hands suddenly clenched into fists. A surging power flowed through his palms, giving him an unprecedented sense of fullness and strength, as if everything was within his grasp, as if he could control it all.
When he opened his eyes again, the excitement and thrill were impossible to conceal. His shoulders trembled slightly with excitement, and a low, suppressed laugh escaped his lips.
Although Katakuri and Smoothie were momentarily shaken by Wilder's transformation, they quickly suppressed their unease. The mochi around Wilder began to surge again. Katakuri took a step forward, his entire being exuding a domineering and cold aura. He looked at Wilder and said, "It seems something interesting is happening today. But as for who lives and who dies, that was decided from the very beginning."
As his words fell, Smoothie also took a step forward, her face impassive as she raised her longsword. The next moment, both of them vanished, and at the same time, the mochi surrounding Wilder rapidly converged on him.
Wilder looked up, his eyes scanning the surrounding mochi, and let out a soft chuckle.
BOOM!
A massive amount of swamp, carrying a pungent odor, erupted from around his body, slamming into the encroaching mochi.
The moment the two substances met, it was as if a chemical reaction had occurred. The swamp crashed into the mochi with devastating force. Hiss... Hiss... The sound was incessant as the mochi melted away at a visible rate.
Upon contact with the swamp, the mochi was like ice meeting fire, rapidly melting and corroding. In the blink of an eye, a large open space was cleared around Wilder. The corroded mochi turned a sickly yellow, then melted, finally falling to the ground like water before dissolving and evaporating.
What?!
Katakuri, who was in mid-charge, and everyone else watching, felt a chill run down their spines, their eyes widening in horror.
It wasn't that they were overreacting; the scene was simply too bizarre. The swamp seemed to possess a corrosive power, instantly dissolving the mochi on contact. This was something no one could have imagined a swamp being able to do.
If the swamp itself had some corrosive properties, that would be understandable. After all, swamps are filled with bacteria and filth, and anything submerged in them would gradually corrode over time. But that would, at most, only speed up the process of decay. This was different. The speed of this corrosion was anything but normal.
A mere touch was enough to melt the mochi. Just watching from a distance made everyone's heart pound with fear. If that stuff were to land on someone's body, the consequences... were simply unthinkable.
Wilder didn't care what anyone else was thinking. All he felt was the surging power within him, a power he no longer had to suppress.
Coming to Big Mom's territory had been the absolute right decision. The first time, his body and combat abilities had been enhanced across the board. Although he had been holding back due to the two-on-one situation, the inferiority of his swamp, and the need to conserve stamina, it had still been a major improvement. The second time, he had directly unlocked the corrosion characteristic, and with it, his body had been strengthened once again. With these two power-ups stacked, Wilder couldn't hold back even if he wanted to.
He felt only one thing: a power that had nowhere to go. The energy within him was raging, as if it would burst out of his body at any moment. The feeling was both agonizing and ecstatic.
Katakuri, who was still charging at high speed, was also stunned by the scene. His mind reeled from the shock. Gritting his teeth, he didn't stop, continuing his charge towards Wilder.
No matter what that swamp is, all I have to do is eliminate the source—Wilder!
Katakuri and Smoothie both came to the same conclusion. Their speed increased, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at Wilder's side, one in front and one behind.
From behind, a large amount of mochi erupted from Katakuri's hand. Coated in Armament Haki, it transformed, the black mochi twisting and solidifying into a thick, massive javelin connected to his arm, which he thrust down at Wilder.
Smoothie appeared above and in front of Wilder, her sword descending from on high. The blade radiated a chilling aura, incomparably sharp. With a flash of light, the sword fell with deadly intent.
Too slow...
Too slow!
But now, in Wilder's eyes, both Smoothie above him and Katakuri behind him were moving far too slowly. From the moment they appeared to the movements of their hands, the entire process seemed to unfold in slow motion to his perception.
Faced with the descending greatsword, Wilder didn't move. To Smoothie, it looked as if he hadn't reacted. A cold smirk appeared on her face, and she brought her sword down without hesitation.
"Die, Wilder!"
Time seemed to stretch. As the blade drew closer and closer to Wilder's head, less than ten centimeters away, the smile on Smoothie's face grew wider. She could almost see Wilder's head being split apart by her attack, and she couldn't suppress the excitement in her heart.
Once he's dealt with, the outcome of this battle is set!
But just then, Wilder moved. With a single step, his body shifted slightly to the side. To Wilder, the movement felt effortless. But to Smoothie, it happened far too quickly. As he sidestepped, she could have sworn she still saw him standing in the original spot, as if a second Wilder had appeared beside the first.
Her longsword struck the Wilder that remained in her vision. The next moment, the figure she hit blurred and vanished. In that instant, Smoothie's expression changed drastically. Alarm bells screamed in her mind, and a fatal sense of crisis shot up her spine, plunging her into an icy abyss. A cold sweat instantly drenched her body.
What?!
The entire process seemed to take an eternity, but it all happened in a flash. It wasn't until her greatsword had already swung down that Smoothie finally reacted, her mind in turmoil. A flash of panic crossed her face. She felt an extreme sense of danger and tried to pull back, but it was too late.
A powerful hand clamped down on her wrist. A cruel smile was on Wilder's face as he bent his body and swung his leg.
The next second, Smoothie's eyes bulged. An intense pain erupted from her abdomen, as if she had been struck by a sharp, spiraling weapon. For a moment, she thought her insides had been scrambled, and the pain was so intense it felt like it was on fire.
"Gah!" Her mouth flew open uncontrollably as she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her bulging eyes were instantly filled with bloodshot veins. Saliva, stomach acid, and blood trickled down her neck to her chest.
But it wasn't over. Just as she felt her body about to be sent flying by the kick, she suddenly felt a sharp, pulling pain in her wrist. She heard the sound of ligaments and bones being torn and broken. The next moment, her body, which had been about to fly backwards, was brutally yanked back.
An iron fist, thick with Armament Haki, mercilessly slammed into her abdomen.
"Gah!" Smoothie's entire body arched, her eyes wide open, her pupils trembling uncontrollably. Her mouth was open, but no sound came out. The agonizing pain in her abdomen made her vision flicker between focus and darkness.
Just then, Wilder felt a gust of wind from behind. The corner of his mouth drooped slightly, but he didn't move. He simply raised his fist and struck Smoothie's abdomen again.
"WILDER!" Katakuri's furious voice came from behind. At the same time, with a boom, the weapon his arm had transformed into finally came crashing down, about to strike Wilder's head in the blink of an eye. In that moment, Katakuri's eyes were bloodshot. He had finally gotten a clear look at Smoothie's miserable state. His concern for his family was paramount, and his face was now filled with rage, his body radiating an icy aura.
He put all of his strength into this attack.
Wilder stood straight and still, his expression impassive, still holding Smoothie, his fists landing on her abdomen again and again with rapid succession.
In the blink of an eye, Katakuri's attack was upon him, just a hair's breadth from taking Wilder's head.
BOOM!
A curtain of swamp snaked out from in front of Wilder, appearing behind him just in time to collide with Katakuri's attack.
What?!
With a clang, Katakuri's expression changed. The sharp weapon his arm had transformed into had been blocked by the curtain.
BOOM!
And that wasn't all. Just as Katakuri's face turned ugly, the curtain that had blocked his attack suddenly spewed out a large amount of swamp, instantly entangling the arm he had struck it with. A massive suction force came from the swamp, pulling Katakuri's arm deeper and deeper into it.
Startled, Katakuri tried to pull his arm back, but he found that the swamp entangling him was now exerting a terrifying crushing force, holding him fast. At the same time, the swamp seemed to change. A sizzling smoke began to rise from where Katakuri's arm was trapped.
"Aaargh!"
Katakuri couldn't suppress a pained scream. His face contorted and turned pale with pain, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. A pain more intense than burning shot through his arm. What horrified him even more was the feeling that his hand was being eroded and corroded within the swamp.
It all happened too fast. Everyone watching was stunned.
"Lord Katakuri!" one of the ministers shouted anxiously from a distance.
In stark contrast, everyone on Morass's side was now smiling.
Vice looked away from the scene and back at the shocked and disbelieving Oven, letting out a loud laugh as he charged forward, throwing a punch.
BANG! Oven failed to react in time and was struck squarely in the face, crashing into a pile of wooden crates.
"ROAR!" Vice let out an excited roar, his body rapidly transforming. Hard, black scales emerged and grew on his skin, and his body began to expand. When the transformation was complete, Vice exuded a ferocious aura. His muscles bulged, and his body now stood ten meters tall, covered in hard scales. His fingers had become powerful, thick claws, and a long, thick, armored tail had grown from his back. His aura was fierce and heavy. He was now a half-man, half-beast.
With the transformation, all of Vice's stats had been enhanced. The ancient crocodile form gave him terrifying physical strength and power. With a burst of explosive force, the ground beneath his feet cracked, and his body vanished, charging into the pile of wooden crates.
BOOM!
The next moment, the two figures of vastly different sizes clashed.
On all the other battlefields, the people of Morass fought as if they had been injected with adrenaline, their attacks becoming more and more fierce. In contrast, the people on Big Mom's side were no longer smug, their faces ugly.
The fact that Smoothie and Katakuri's pincer attack had not only failed to kill Wilder but had resulted in them being put at a disadvantage was something they simply couldn't believe.
Within the Charlotte family, the Sweet Commanders were their idols, objects of worship. Although Big Mom was the head of the family and the strongest, in this regard, it was the Sweet Commanders who influenced the rest of the family.
Now, their faith was showing signs of collapse. Everyone was unsettled. In an instant, the people of Morass, who had been at a disadvantage, had now gained the upper hand.
Back on Wilder's battlefield, Katakuri, seeing that he couldn't break free and knowing that his arm would be ruined if this continued, forced himself to calm down. Mochi continuously poured from his arm, and in an instant, the swamp that had been enveloping his arm was pushed back. Seizing the opportunity, Katakuri successfully pulled his arm free. He retreated continuously, leaping to a safe distance before stopping, drenched in a cold sweat, his eyes filled with dread as he looked at Wilder.
On Wilder's left hand, which was holding Smoothie, the swamp gradually crept up, spreading over her entire body. He turned slightly to look at Katakuri, a truly evil smile on his face.
Katakuri's pupils dilated, and a chill ran through his entire body.
A low, cold, and mocking voice reached Katakuri's ears. "Are you planning on abandoning your sister? Or how about this: trade your life for hers?"