Karl, who had retreated several hundred meters away, finally let out a breath.
Big Mom was terrifyingly strong.
That single ear-splitting scream alone was enough to instantly wipe out eighty percent of the pirates on the sea.
Now that Big Mom had been completely triggered, she was definitely going to go for the kill next.
"Heh heh—time to enjoy the show!"
The ever-gleeful Karl happily found a prime vantage point with excellent feng shui, perfect for spectating.
This kind of mission was both easy and fun. The only troublesome part was the traveling—but it was absolutely worth it.
As a Marine, pirates smashing each other's brains out had nothing to do with him. If anything, he should applaud—and he'd be happiest if they fought every single day.
After some time, Big Mom's scream finally stopped.
Her eyes turned bloodshot, and a horrifying aura radiated from her entire body.
"Shanks! I'm going to kill you!!!"
With a powerful leap, she launched herself at Shanks, unleashing a relentless barrage of attacks.
Shanks was suffering in silence.
That guy earlier clearly wasn't one of his crew—he'd been framed!
Who the hell did this?
Your conscience is seriously rotten!
"Hey, Big Mom—listen to me—!"
"I'll kill you!"
"Wait—calm down!"
"I'll kill you!"
"Damn it! You really think I'm some soft target?!"
Seeing that Big Mom had completely lost her sanity and was impossible to reason with, Shanks' legendary 'Face Fruit' negotiation ability officially failed.
That left only one option.
Fight.
Slash—slash—slash!
The clash between the two was nothing short of terrifying—sword auras crisscrossed the air, violent collisions echoed again and again, and shockwaves rolled outward like tidal waves. Even the ground itself trembled.
Karl stared in awe.
So this is what a true clash between top-tier monsters looks like… absolutely insane.
Shanks was relatively "normal." His raw power was far inferior to Big Mom's, but his agility was extreme. That was the only reason he could keep up with her.
Big Mom, on the other hand—
Karl had only two words to describe her.
A monster.
Every move she made was pure talent. And yet, these crude, overwhelmingly powerful attacks—with no finesse at all—were precisely what made her so hard for Shanks to handle. All he could do was avoid the brunt of them.
"These two can keep fighting each other. I'm not getting involved," Karl muttered.
"But as for the others… hehehe."
On the other side of the battlefield, Perospero, Charlotte Katakuri, Charlotte Daifuku, and other core BIG MOM Pirates officers were locked in fierce combat with Benn Beckman, Yasopp, and the Red-Haired Pirates.
Overall, the BIG MOM Pirates had the upper hand.
They had numbers—and coordination.
Following his personal creed of helping the strong, not the weak, Karl quietly began buffing Katakuri and the others.
Bang!
Beckman fired a shot straight at Katakuri's head.
Unfortunately, Katakuri had predicted it in advance and "elementalized" to avoid the hit. Beckman reacted instantly, his arm turning jet-black as he followed up with a heavy punch.
Katakuri staggered backward, nearly falling. He quickly spun his trident and jammed it into the ground, stabilizing himself.
"As expected of Shanks' right-hand man," Katakuri said grimly. "You're impressive."
"Hahaha! You're not bad yourself," Beckman replied.
"The Charlotte Family's greatest masterpiece!"
Katakuri snorted—but suddenly felt something strange.
Warmth.
A gentle, comforting warmth spread through his body. The minor wounds he'd taken moments earlier healed instantly, and his strength surged noticeably.
"T-This is…?"
Katakuri scanned his surroundings.
Only his siblings were nearby—and he knew their abilities better than anyone. As for the Red-Haired Pirates, that kind of sneaky support wasn't their style.
So who was helping him?
…Forget it.
I'll think about it after I knock this guy down.
Mochi Cut · Severing Pound!
Katakuri transformed his arm into mochi, expanding and hardening it into a massive spiked club. Coated in Armament Haki, he spun it at high speed and swung it like a meteor hammer toward Beckman.
It was blisteringly fast—almost instantaneous.
Beckman barely had time to reinforce himself with Armament Haki and protect his vitals.
Even so, the impact sent him flying, smashing through several buildings before coming to a stop.
"How is this possible… his strength—it's increased?"
Something was clearly wrong.
But no matter how hard Beckman thought, he could never imagine that Karl was the one pulling strings behind the scenes.
And it wasn't just Katakuri.
Perospero, Charlotte Smoothie, and the others were all receiving Karl's secret support, each one fighting like an unstoppable war god.
The Red-Haired Pirates—who had barely been holding on—immediately fell into a losing position. Casualties began to mount.
Watching comrades fall one after another, Beckman's face grew grim.
He'd been confident he could hold the line until Shanks and Big Mom decided a winner.
But suddenly, these enemies had all grown stronger. Their wounds healed faster, their stamina surged, and they simply wouldn't go down. He couldn't outlast them—let alone kill them.
Even if he could fight two at once…
What about everyone else?
In contrast, the Charlotte siblings fought more smoothly by the second. With that mysterious warmth supporting them, injuries no longer mattered.
Before long, the Red-Haired Pirates' lower ranks were wiped out, leaving only a handful of troublesome elite officers still standing.
"Shanks! There are too many of them!"
"We can't hold on much longer—retreat!!!"
Shanks instinctively tried to look toward Beckman—
—but in the next instant, Big Mom's attack was already upon him. He had no choice but to focus and meet it head-on.
"Mama-mama-mama~" Big Mom laughed.
"Red-Haired boy, your crew's about to collapse! Join BIG MOM, and I'll pretend none of this ever happened!"
Shanks' face darkened. He said nothing—only slowly raised Gryphon, pointing it straight at Big Mom.
"Hmph. Then die here today."
Blazing Blade of the Matriarch!
Napoleon, drenched in raging flames, came crashing down like a falling meteor.
Shanks didn't retreat.
He released his Conqueror's Haki without restraint, coating it directly onto Gryphon.
"Conqueror's coating? A cheap trick—who can't do that?!"
Boom!
Big Mom's Conqueror's Haki erupted as well.
Their wills collided head-on—neither yielding an inch.
CLANG!
Gryphon and Napoleon met—one horizontal, one vertical.
A catastrophic shockwave exploded outward, black-and-red lightning tearing across the sky and engulfing the entirety of Whole Cake Island.
"UAAAAH—DIE!!! RED-HAIRED BOY!!!"
Veins bulged along Shanks' neck. His entire body tensed like a drawn bowstring, his expression strained to the extreme—like a constipated man finally about to break through.
The earth shook violently.
Spiderweb-like cracks spread rapidly across the ground.
The fighters on the other side of the battlefield were drawn in by the clash, all turning to watch.
"Mama will win!" / "Shanks will win!"
After ten seconds of deadlock—
BOOM!!!
An unprecedented shockwave erupted, sweeping across the entire island. No building escaped unscathed.
Even Karl—watching from the sidelines—had to release his Armament Haki outward, forming a protective barrier to block the blast.
"Two monsters…"
Shaking debris off his body, Karl drew Raven and began walking toward the center of the battlefield.
This fight—
wasn't allowed to end just yet.
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