Chapter 263: Ajay, You're Too Impulsive
"Understood!" Bepo said, quickly flipping through his stack of wanted posters. "Over there! Charlotte Brownie, the 32nd son, bounty 75,500,000 Belly!"
"Good," Law said, and vanished. He reappeared in front of a purple-haired man with a chest full of thick, curly hair. The man stared in shock as the blue dome of the ROOM enveloped him, and his body was sliced into several pieces.
"Huh?! What's happening?!" the man's head shrieked as it rolled across the ice. "Where's my head?! Is my head still there?!"
"Next, Bepo," Law said, ignoring him.
And so, he swept across the left flank of the battlefield, a surgeon of death, harvesting the lower-ranking officers of the Charlotte family, with Bepo providing intel support. One by one, the officers with bounties under 100 million fell before the power of the Op-Op Fruit...
Meanwhile, in the center of the battlefield, Katakuri had his eyes locked on a distant, ponytailed figure. 'Wind Erosion' Kuina. Of all the 'Four Calamities,' she was the only one worthy of being his opponent. He was sure she was looking for him, too...
BOOM!!
A giant figure landed in front of him, shattering the ice.
"Hey, hey, where do you think you're going?" Jack's voice boomed. He slung his two giant sickles over his shoulder and grinned, his sharp teeth bared. "Don't get it twisted. Your opponent... is me!"
"?" Katakuri stared, a flicker of annoyance in his eyes. "Jack, you brat. Who gave you the courage to stand in my way? Get lost!" This kid's bounty had barely been 500 million at the last Tea Party. He hadn't even given him a second thought. And now, just because he had a billion-Belly bounty, he thought he was on his level? This was an insult.
"What's with the attitude?" Jack said, tilting his head. "You're mine. And stop with the 'brat' stuff. You don't look any older than me!"
"I don't have time for this," Katakuri said, his voice cold. He raised his trident, Mogura, and pointed it at Jack's throat. "If you're in such a hurry to die, then I'll be happy to oblige."
"Puhahaha! Big words!" Jack slammed his sickles together, sending a shower of sparks into the air. "Let me show you what real power is!" He charged, his twin sickles a blur as they sliced toward Katakuri.
SWISH!
Katakuri's eyes flashed red, and he sidestepped the attack with an impossible grace, his trident lancing out and tearing a bloody gash in Jack's side. "Too slow," he sneered.
"Is that all you've got?" Jack laughed, ignoring the wound. "That barely even tickles!" He let out a roar, and his body began to swell, his muscles bulging, two massive tusks sprouting from his mouth, his skin hardening into a thick, reddish-brown hide. He grew to a height of twelve meters, his presence suffocating. The Mammoth-Mammoth Fruit, Man-Beast form.
"A little better," Katakuri said, and his body seemed to flow like liquid, slipping between Jack's sickles and driving his trident into Jack's neck. "But... still not enough!"
Blood sprayed from the wound, but Jack just laughed, a wild, insane sound. He ignored the trident buried in his neck and slammed his forehead into Katakuri's face.
CRACK!
Katakuri stumbled back, his nose broken, a look of shock on his face. He hadn't seen it coming. Any normal person would have tried to pull back, to dislodge the weapon. But this kid... this was their first exchange, and he was already fighting like a cornered beast, trading wounds, trading his life.
"Puhahaha! Now that's what I call a fight!" Jack roared, ripping the trident from his neck and tossing it back to Katakuri. "What are you waiting for, Katakuri?! Come on! Show me what you've got!"
"So that's your strategy," Katakuri said, catching his trident. The annoyance was gone from his eyes, replaced by a quiet respect. "You know you can't match my speed, so you've chosen to fight like this... In that case... your power, your spirit... they have earned my respect. I will not use my future sight. But don't misunderstand me. This is not mercy. I will face you head-on. I will crush you in the area you are most proud of: your strength and your Devil Fruit!" He would leave Kuina to his siblings. This hot-blooded fool... had earned a proper fight.
"So you're finally going to stop dodging?!" Jack roared with laughter. "That's what I'm talking about! This is how men should fight!!!" But hidden from Katakuri's view, a sly, cunning grin spread across his face. Hehe... the old man... finally took the bait.
On the northeast flank, Smoothie was standing over the desiccated corpses of a dozen of her own men. "Sorry," she said to the one survivor, "I was a little hungover. I needed a drink." She had used her Squeeze-Squeeze Fruit to drain their bodies of all their fluids, which she then drank to restore her own strength. "Now, get back to the fight and be useful."
"Yes, Lady Smoothie!" the terrified pirate whimpered, and fled.
"Alright, you can come out now," she said, looking up at the mast. "I know you're up there."
"I never intended to hide," Kuina's voice came from above. She leaped down to the deck, her hand on her sword.
"So it's you," Smoothie said with a smirk. "I was hoping for a chance to get to know you better at the Tea Party."
"There's nothing to know," Kuina said, her eyes sweeping over the dried-up corpses with disgust. "A monster who preys on her own comrades... there is no 'getting to know' between us. Only life and death."
"Comrades?" Smoothie laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. I am one of Mama's most beloved daughters. These are just common pirates. But what I'm more interested in... is you. You've had it out for me since the first time we met, haven't you? Why is that, hm?"
"Don't flatter yourself!" Kuina snapped, and in a flash, her blade was at Smoothie's throat. "The only one of the Sweet Commanders I've ever given a second thought to is Katakuri! A second-rate swordswoman like you... has never even been on my radar!"
CLANG!
Smoothie blocked the attack, but the force of it sent her skidding back. "Such anger, just for a few words," she said with a grin. "I must have hit a nerve. Are you... jealous of me?"
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