"Damn it."
Blood spurted almost the instant Ozz called a name. Everyone he tagged bloomed red, no exceptions.
Kaido took it worst. Still just an intern under Rocks, the youngster ate a bullet wrapped in Conqueror's Haki head on and crumpled in a heartbeat, blood pouring from his mouth and nose. If not for that thick foundation and tough Oni blood, that shot would have finished him.
Forget a glass cannon like the Golden Lion.
Even Charlotte Linlin, born a living iron balloon, had her defense cracked at once under the double bite of Conqueror's coating and warped space. Blood ran in streams down Napoleon's blade, dripping until it pooled on the deck.
"Mama."
"Mama."
Her Homies swarmed around her, their humanlike faces drawn tight with panic as they stared at the single bullet wound that had felled Big Mom.
"Hey, who the hell are you."
"You plan to help Roger and pick a fight with the Rocks Pirates."
Her pretty features hardened. Big Mom was still Big Mom. In raw physique she could stand beside Ozz, and she had not lost the ability to fight. One hand pressed to the ragged hole in her side, she glared up at Ozz flicking ash from the lookout.
All she got back was a cool look.
What kind of eyes were those.
Detached from everything, those scarlet pupils did not ripple in the face of the world's top pirate crews. They simply looked down on the enemy captains from on high.
Tch.
Linlin ground her teeth and met that red gaze head on. She blinked and the eyes were suddenly right in front of her, staring straight through her. A chill ran across her skin.
"Figures. You are beautiful."
The sudden nearness of those crimson irises made young Big Mom take an involuntary step back. She stopped herself at once.
She was the woman who would be king of the world.
How could she flinch before some cocky upstart.
"I do not care who you are. Get ready to die."
Pink hair streaming, black and red lightning crawled over Linlin's frame. Napoleon was in her hands, Prometheus had become flame and wrapped the blade. With that towering build she really did look every inch a sea emperor.
The swing came out of Elbaf. A giant's cut.
She cleaved down with a strike wrapped in Conqueror's and fire, a blow far heavier than most could ever muster, straight for Ozz's skull.
"Emperor Sword, Riftbreaker."
Clang.
The blast that followed erupted like a volcano and hurled every deckhand around her across the ship.
Ozz met it with his forearm, Haki sheathing his skin. The force was huge, but not enough to break through. Linlin was still young, her Conqueror's far from its apex. With a twist of his arm he threw off the stroke and the self-proclaimed queen of brute strength stumbled. Ozz followed through.
One Demon King Tempest Kick sent young Big Mom flying.
Whitebeard, the Golden Lion, and others, all wounded, leapt from their own ships toward hers to intervene. Not out of kindness. There was no such thing aboard Rocks' fleet, only schemes and leverage. They came because of that gunshot, because each of them wanted to weigh this stranger's mettle.
"Ozz, watch it."
Roger called out, Ace in his grip, his Conqueror's beginning to leak. He crouched to spring and Rayleigh snagged him by the arm.
"Hold it, Roger."
"What are you doing, Rayleigh."
Rayleigh pushed his glasses up and watched the faintly excited Ozz with a small smile.
"Do you really think Ozz cannot handle Newgate and the rest. Think about his ability."
"Well."
Roger scratched his head. He remembered that ghostlike power and the thrashing the Roger Pirates had just taken. Now it was Rocks' turn.
Good.
He glanced at the layers of bandage wrapped around him and a mischievous grin tugged at his mouth.
"Fine, fine. If Ozz needs it, we back him up. He is my son, after all. Hahahaha."
Ozz, blissfully unaware he had been adopted, sat comfortably on Charlotte Linlin's lower back. One hand pinned her wrist. Iron balloon or not, monster physique or not, against the world's strongest raw strength there was only the indignity of being locked to the floor.
"Already had a handful of kids and you still kept the figure, huh."
There was no heat in his tone. Ozz had seen too much to be fazed. He was only a little wistful. The dazzling figure he had stared at in the papers at eight or nine years old was now held down under his palm. Time did strange things.
Linlin ground her teeth and glared up at him. She wanted to strike back, but the only attack she could still muster, her Homies, had already caught a boot each and now flinched at the thought of him.
The deckhands kept their distance. They had seen that eerie ability and that overwhelming power. No one wanted to be the first corpse.
Then a figure stepped forward.
Two swords in hand. A solemn gaze. And the pride of a Rocks Pirate burning behind it.
If no one else dared challenge Ozz, he would.
"What the."
"Who is that. Ballsy."
"I know him. A fighter on the crew, Dotor Gick."
"How can he dare this. Do not tell me I riled him up earlier and the idiot got hot blooded."
Tap.
Gick stopped before Ozz. He felt he had no chance to win and still he did not flinch.
If you are scared to die, do not be a pirate.
He had never feared Roger, had cursed him to his face. This stranger was only an arrogant madman.
"…"
Ozz's mouth twitched despite himself.
Old man, were you this bold when you were young.
How did you live through God Valley.
Pure dumb luck.
There was nothing else for it. Ozz was the sort who made others give way, but before a few people he gave way himself. The old man. Captain Roger. Buggy. A very small list.
He would give Gick face.
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