The instant the laser struck its target, it let out a piercing shriek like a drill spinning at high speed and boring through solid rock. The sound seemed to stab straight into the depths of the soul, making everyone's skin crawl.
Big Mom had been wrapped in an indestructible suit of dragon-scale armor, like a god of war descending into the mortal world.
But now, under the impact of that overwhelming laser, the once-brilliant scales covering her body began peeling away in large patches.
Each fallen scale looked like a shield fragment that had lost its life, drifting helplessly through the air.
Behind her, the solemn and sacred golden Buddha light that had once shone with boundless radiance was now covered in fine, fragile cracks like a spiderweb.
Those cracks spread like symbols of disaster, warning that her defense was on the verge of collapse.
At the same time, a thread of crimson blood slowly seeped from the corner of her mouth.
The blood was bright and vivid, carrying a tragic beauty.
Yet before that drop could even fall, the laser's extreme heat instantly vaporized it into a faint mist of blood.
The mist rose slowly in the scorching light, like a symbol that her life was being worn away bit by bit, painting a heartbreaking scene across the brutal battlefield.
"The fifth!"
This laser was as thick as a mountain, and its form was completely different from the previous four.
Within that pitch-black beam churned terrifying destructive energy, like a call from the abyss or an omen of the end.
Big Mom's pupils suddenly shrank.
She knew very well how powerful this laser was, and she did not dare be careless in the slightest.
Her triple-layered defense erupted at full strength, trying to block the tide of destruction rushing toward her.
This time, however, she was completely swallowed by the pillar of light.
All anyone could hear was the crisp shattering of dragon scales and the thunderous collapse of Buddha light, the sound deafening enough to make it feel as if heaven and earth were being shaken.
When the light finally faded, Big Mom's scorched-black body fell like a meteor and crashed heavily onto Pluton's deck, smashing out a crater ten meters wide.
Along the edge of the crater, melted dragon-scale residue still flowed, giving off a sharp burnt smell.
From within the pit came a hoarse laugh.
A charred hand grabbed the edge of the crater, and Big Mom struggled to sit up.
"That… actually hurt a little…"
Big Mom's voice was raspy, and black blood still clung to the corner of her mouth.
She spat out a puff of black smoke crackling with tiny sparks, looking more than a little battered.
"Ron, boy, I'm taking a break first."
She wiped the soot from her face and gave a helpless, bitter laugh.
"That thing's a machine. It doesn't know how to get tired!"
Ron chuckled and nodded.
"Fine. Go heal up first."
A trace of concern showed in his eyes, and he immediately turned to arrange rescue and treatment.
He knew Big Mom was absurdly tough, but even she could not avoid being injured before a destructive laser like that. She needed treatment and support as soon as possible to recover her fighting strength.
Under the oppressive sky filled with tension, Ron raised his head slightly, his deep gaze moving slowly beyond the layers of clouds.
There, the main body of Uranus could be faintly seen, like some mysterious giant beast lurking within them.
Looking closely, it seemed to be an unimaginably grand floating mechanical fortress. Its outline appeared and disappeared among the clouds, giving off a feeling that was both unreal and frighteningly real.
For now, because of its frequent and violent attacks, it had fallen temporarily silent.
The countless energy conduits surrounding it flickered through the clouds like living bands of light, bright one moment and dim the next, as though quietly gathering some even more terrifying and destructive power.
The faint pressure spreading from it made even the surrounding air feel frozen.
In that suffocating silence, Ron had already prepared for battle.
A brilliant light slowly began gathering at his fingertips, the sign of a mighty power about to erupt.
But at that critical moment, a loud and confident voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Ron! Let me handle it!"
The voice was like a thunderclap, breaking the stillness.
Everyone turned toward the sound and saw Jozu striding forward with firm, powerful steps.
His unique diamond body refracted dazzling light beneath the gloomy sky, as if the stars of the entire universe had been set into him.
Every step he took carried unmatched force.
After stopping in place, Jozu took a deep breath, his chest rising high.
In an instant, a mysterious power surged from deep within his body, and his entire form transformed into flawless diamond crystal.
The surface of that crystal was smooth as a mirror, without even the slightest imperfection. Every facet precisely reflected the surrounding light.
At that moment, warm sunlight pierced through the heavy clouds and fell upon him.
Passing through his clear, crystalline body, it projected brilliant, colorful patches of light onto the deck, like a dreamlike painting slowly unfolding before everyone's eyes.
But that was far from the end.
An even more astonishing change was quietly taking place inside him.
Deep within his body, countless microscopic diamond prisms began automatically arranging themselves according to extremely precise physical laws.
Those prisms worked like well-trained soldiers, each performing its task in perfect order, gradually forming an optical matrix that could almost be called flawless.
That matrix contained endless mystery and immense energy, like a sleeping giant waiting to be awakened.
"Glint-Glint Fruit!"
Jozu suddenly let out a low roar, his voice full of power and determination.
With that roar, his eyes burst with blazing light as hot and dazzling as the sun, as though they could pierce through all darkness.
Then beams of golden light began refracting wildly inside his diamond-like body.
Every refraction was like another layer of energy being added and refined.
The beams became more concentrated and purer, as if they meant to drive away every trace of darkness in the world.
A group of ferocious pirates stared with wide, terrified eyes at the spine-chilling scene before them.
Jozu's body seemed to be controlled by some mysterious and mighty force, gradually turning into an enormous furnace of light.
The dazzling radiance churned inside him like boiling magma.
Countless brilliant rays of light danced within, colliding and merging with one another, bursting into sparkling flashes like a grand, frenzied feast of light and shadow.
"What the hell is that?!"
...