While the Nyaban Brothers cooperated with Robin to take down Van Augur, fierce battles were unfolding in several other locations.
East of the square, inside Spring Forest Park.
A massive lake sat like a blue sapphire, surrounded by lush, vibrant trees. Egrets glided across the water's surface, leaving gentle ripples in their wake.
A gentle breeze swept over the verdant grass, carrying a fresh, fragrant scent. Just stepping into the tranquil park was enough to make one feel unconsciously relaxed and refreshed.
However, the commotion of battle now untimely shattered this peace.
Within the lush forest, Laffitte sprouted a pair of white wings from his back, nimbly weaving through the trees.
Behind him, the Teru Teru Bozu had assumed his complete form, his white robes fluttering as he gave chase at high speed.
Nami clung to the Teru Teru Bozu's back, poking her head over his shoulder. Her eyes locked onto Laffitte ahead as she quickly shouted,
"Little Qing! Can your Weather Domain reach him?"
"Piece of cake!"
The Teru Teru Bozu replied in a relaxed tone. Immediately, a transparent wave of energy radiated from his body, rapidly expanding outward with him at the center.
Soon, the Weather Domain enveloped a hundred-meter radius, swallowing up Laffitte, who was fifty meters away.
"Done, Nami! What's next?"
The Teru Teru Bozu turned his head and asked with keen interest.
Nami pondered for a moment before asking, "Can you create a blizzard?"
"Of course I can."
"Can you control the wind direction or the temperature?"
"Definitely! This is my domain. As long as it's related to the weather, I can change it however I want."
The Teru Teru Bozu nodded again to confirm, a hint of pride in his voice.
Nami found it somewhat unbelievable.
Although she had briefly tested his abilities during the fight with Kid's crew, the battle had ended so abruptly that she hadn't even had time to read half of the instruction manual Vegapunk had provided.
But hearing the Teru Teru Bozu's confident words, Nami chose to trust him. She immediately ordered,
"Create a blizzard, then generate a hurricane that covers the entire domain, using us as the eye of the storm."
"Hehe, got it!"
The Teru Teru Bozu giggled and nodded, treating the whole thing like a fun game.
Following that, without him making any visible movements, the surrounding temperature began to plummet. A massive amount of snow started falling from thin air above the forest.
At the same time, the air currents at the edges of the entire domain shifted. The wind speed suddenly intensified, swirling in a clockwise direction.
*'A snow tornado?'*
Looking at the wall of wildly dancing snow ahead, Laffitte frowned slightly mid-flight. It went without saying that Nami was behind this.
He flapped his wings hard, intending to dash out before the hurricane fully formed. However, after flying for two seconds, he realized the distance hadn't shortened in the slightest.
*'Is it moving with them?'*
As a navigator, Laffitte quickly realized the anomaly and couldn't help but glance back at the Teru Teru Bozu and Nami.
*'I see. The hurricane's most powerful area is its outer edge, while the eye of the storm remains relatively unaffected. Are they trying to use this to compress my flying space?'*
Laffitte thought to himself.
Sure enough, the hurricane quickly took shape. The bone-chilling snow mixed within the gale whipped against his skin, stinging painfully.
Seeing the hurricane fully formed, Nami immediately told the Teru Teru Bozu to stop. The blizzard tornado, which had been advancing along with the domain, also ceased its movement.
Laffitte's expression shifted in alarm. He nearly crashed headfirst into the freezing hurricane ring and hastily flapped his wings to halt his momentum.
"Little Qing! Shrink the wind ring!"
"Okay!"
The Teru Teru Bozu laughed. With a mere thought, the blizzard tornado contracted sharply.
The wall of wind and snow rapidly closed in. The fierce gale and swirling snow battered violently against his flapping wings. Laffitte raised an arm to shield his face, his body teetering precariously in the air.
*'To think they could push it to this extent.'*
Feeling the bone-piercing chill of the blizzard, Laffitte couldn't help but reveal a grave look in his eyes.
Although it only covered a hundred-meter radius, the intensity of this snow tornado had absolutely reached a disaster level. It was simply not a force he could contend with.
*'If it comes to close-quarters combat...'*
Laffitte looked back at Nami, then shifted his gaze to the Teru Teru Bozu beneath her.
It wasn't that he hadn't tried. At the very beginning, he had opted to close the distance directly, thinking he could easily capture the woman as a hostage.
But as a result, that bizarre cloth doll had opened its mouth and blasted out a bolt of lightning, nearly striking him dead on the spot. That was what led to this scene of him fleeing frantically.
Obviously, the blizzard before him was likely also the handiwork of that cloth doll.
Laffitte even suspected that the only reason the chase had lasted this long was simply because the other party wanted to toy with him a little longer.
On one side was an ever-shrinking, ultra-powerful blizzard tornado; on the other was a pursuer capable of unleashing lightning...
"Forget it. I clearly can't win."
Laffitte suddenly smiled, the grin looking somewhat eerie on his pale face. He raised both hands toward Nami.
"I surrender. Hurry up and stop the tornado."
"Eh? Surrender?"
Nami couldn't help but freeze for a moment. He was surrendering just like that? Without even putting up a fight? She still had so many moves she hadn't tried yet.
Whatever. She had no intention of accepting it anyway.
"I'd never believe a word from despicable guys like you."
Nami's eyes turned cold as she pointed her finger and ordered,
"Little Qing, unleash your lightning at full power! Knock him into the blizzard tornado!"
"Eh? Full power? Alright then!"
The Teru Teru Bozu took a deep breath, puffing out his cheeks. Faint blue lightning patterns began to surface on his pure white robes.
Under Laffitte's terrified gaze, the Teru Teru Bozu opened his mouth and spewed out a dense, violent barrage of lightning!
RUMBLE!!!
Countless bolts of lightning filled the entire space in an instant like slithering snakes. Laffitte couldn't see a single avenue of escape, nor did he have any time to react. In the blink of an eye, he was completely submerged in the sky-filling furious thunder!
The blinding electrical light erupted so intensely that even the sky seemed to pale in comparison.
A breath later, the intense light dimmed. Laffitte, his entire body charred black and smoking, his eyes rolled back in his head, went into a freefall and crashed into the ground.
On the Teru Teru Bozu's back, Nami blinked blankly. Staring at the blizzard tornado that had been completely blown away by the thunderbolts, she was utterly dumbfounded.
"Wait a minute. Is your lightning really that strong?"
"Huh? Didn't you say to unleash it at full power, Nami?"
The Teru Teru Bozu was also taken aback, looking back at her with a face full of confusion.
The two stared at each other.
Nami furrowed her brow, narrowing her eyes slightly as she asked again,
"So you're saying you could have just defeated him right from the start?"
"Of course! That guy was so weak, after all."
The Teru Teru Bozu giggled matter-of-factly, not feeling that there was anything strange about this at all.
Hearing this, Nami couldn't help but fall deep into thought.
After experimenting for half the day, the only thing she was certain of was that she had absolutely no idea where the Teru Teru Bozu's limits lay.
Nami couldn't resist asking another question.
"Little Qing, how large of an area can your domain cover?"
"Uh... really, really big, I guess."
The Teru Teru Bozu replied uncertainly.
Nami: "..."
*'How big is "really, really big"?'*
Nami thought for a moment and tried asking in a different way.
"Can the range cover this park?"
"Yep! It can go about as far as two parks."
"Then can it cover this entire island?"
"Eh, that won't work, Nami."
The Teru Teru Bozu shook his head, then added,
"To control the weather over such a massive area, I have to use 'Wish'."
"I see. Two parks would be over a thousand meters in diameter. That range is already ridiculous."
Nami remarked with a sigh. Suddenly, she realized something and stared blankly at the Teru Teru Bozu.
"You can control an entire island's weather through a Wish? Wait a minute, if you're this strong, how come you still can't beat Allen?"
"Uh... that's different, Nami. I can easily destroy a town, but in a real fight, I can't compare to the boss at all."
The Teru Teru Bozu said, tilting his head.
In terms of destructive range, he was definitely stronger. But houses didn't run away, and they didn't fight back. Allen, on the other hand, would charge right up with his fists and beat him to a pulp.
He couldn't win in a fight, and he couldn't outrun him either.
He simply couldn't afford to provoke him.