"Candy—Wave!"
Perospero conjured a wall of candy, using it as a barrier to block the incoming cannon fire from afar. At the same time, he turned his gaze toward Katakuri.
This younger brother of his was still fighting valiantly even while Perospero himself was struggling against his own enemies. It filled him with both envy and pride.
Truly the greatest masterpiece of the Charlotte Family!
That title was already beginning to take root in this era.
And it was a fact—Katakuri's talent was beyond reproach. Though he didn't stand out as much under Big Mom's overwhelming shadow, he actually possessed the potential to reach the level of a Yonko.
However, perhaps because he had been born into the Big Mom Pirates, he had never experienced the tempering of truly life-threatening battles, so his growth hadn't been particularly rapid. And he wasn't exactly an ambitious person either.
Crack!
Just as Perospero's attention drifted for a moment, cracks suddenly appeared across the candy wall before him. The sound of splintering was piercing even amid the deafening cannon fire.
Perospero quickly snapped back to attention. He watched as the cracks in the wall before him multiplied. Though it was a wall made of candy, without Haki, it was actually quite difficult to shatter.
Unfortunately, in this New World, Armament Haki was hardly a rarity.
Crack!
"Die!"
The unnamed pirate before him kept hammering his steel gauntlets against the wall, and the cracks grew wider and wider, making it impossible for Perospero to hold.
"No good, I can't hold it! Candy Armor!"
BOOM!
Just as Perospero sensed the danger and encased himself in candy armor, those iron fists finally shattered the wall and struck his lean body squarely, sending him flying.
Katakuri had seen this coming from a distance, but precisely because of that, he hadn't rushed to assist. He could see that Perospero wasn't seriously hurt.
But if things kept going like this...
"What should we do?" He gripped his trident with both hands, continuously driving back the enemies and ruins guardians that attacked him. Through research, the weakness of these machines had gradually become clear.
It was the glowing core at the center of their torsos.
The problem was, once that core was struck, the ruins guardian would immediately detonate.
Katakuri wasn't worried about that, though. He was a special Paramecia-type ability user—while technically a Paramecia, he could achieve something akin to elemental transformation like a Logia. The blast's shockwave couldn't harm him, though the intense heat was somewhat uncomfortable.
Fortunately, his Armament Haki was more than adequate.
At that moment, he noticed Perospero's situation was looking increasingly dire. The pirate fighting him had an unremarkable face, but his strength was genuinely formidable.
With the battlefield in such chaos, Katakuri had no idea which faction that man belonged to.
"Hold on, Perospero! Mama's almost here!" Katakuri craned his neck and shouted. His Observation Haki was powerful enough to glimpse the future.
Driven by his fierce desire to protect his younger siblings, his powerful will had made his Observation Haki even more exceptional!
He had already seen that Mama would arrive shortly. Once she did, they'd finally have a pillar of strength to rally around!
"I know!" Perospero gritted his teeth. As the older brother, he wasn't about to let his younger sibling babysit him. "Candy, Sea Cow!"
"Rain of Termination!"
A dense barrage of candy arrows was unleashed. These arrows carried tremendous power—capable of piercing even iron shields. The concentrated rain of arrows quickly punched through an entire formation of ruins guardians on the enemy's side.
Of course, the accuracy left much to be desired. Almost no arrows struck the cores; most embedded themselves in the sides of the torsos. But that alone couldn't stop these lifeless constructs from advancing.
Fortunately, they had plenty of ruins guardians on their side as well, giving them an advantage in that regard.
That pirate who had been knocked away, however, had taken quite a beating—several arrows had pierced his shoulder and chest. Those arrows should have gone straight through his heart, but Perospero's aim definitely needed improvement.
After all that exertion, Perospero's stamina had taken a significant hit.
Just then, a rumble of thunder suddenly echoed from the sky.
"What, is that lightning guy here?" Shiki felt like he was developing PTSD from thunder. Just hearing it made him tense up.
But when he looked up, he only saw a pink silhouette atop the dark thunderclouds.
Shiki: ???
Since when did that lightning woman get so girly—wearing pink clothes now?
Before Shiki could get a clear look at the newcomer, a powerful slash of sword energy came flying from that direction!
A purplish-black slash bore down on Shiki mercilessly.
"Ikoku!"
"Zanpa!"
Shiki reacted instantly, deflecting the incoming slash with a swing of his swords, then bellowed, "Linlin, are you going to stand against me too?"
He might not have paid much attention to Wang Zhi and Silver Axe, but Charlotte Linlin, who could fly atop thunderclouds, demanded far more respect. Even though Big Mom's Zeus wasn't as agile as Shiki's own flight, it was enough to threaten him directly.
If she could pin him down at low altitude, only then would Shiki truly find himself caught between a rock and a hard place.
This sudden war ground to a stalemate with Big Mom's arrival. The various factions, seeing their heavy hitters all call a truce, gradually ceased fighting as well, settling into a state of mutual vigilance.
Upon spotting Big Mom's figure, Kaido hid himself even deeper. He was like a deadbeat dad, constantly dodging the women who came looking for him.
"What's wrong, do you owe her money?" Ren asked him quietly.
"It's complicated..." Kaido replied.
"I heard Charlotte Linling loves collecting different husbands to bear children of various races. You must be from a special race too, right? Has she never asked you to father a child for her?" Ren's gaze lingered on the oni horns hidden beneath Kaido's concealing headpiece.
Kaido's appearance strongly resembled the legendary Oni tribe.
The horns on his head weren't the result of a Devil Fruit ability. In fact, his daughter—along with Black Maria and Ulti—all bore oni horns as well. It was highly likely they all belonged to a distinct race.
Kaido offered no response to that observation.
But Ren figured Yamato at least probably wasn't Big Mom's daughter. The hair color didn't match.
Kaido had black hair and Big Mom had pink hair. How could they possibly produce a white-haired child whose ends looked like an onion...
So, who exactly was Yamato's mother?
Yamato: I was born from my mama.
[
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