Chapter 271: Why Don't the Marines Attack?
The life-or-death battle between the two Emperors of the Sea began in the afternoon and concluded at dawn the following day. It lasted exactly fifteen hours.
Slightly before its conclusion, however, the tide of the war on the glacial battlefield had already become clear.
THUD!
In the northwest corner, two swordswomen broke apart, each falling towards the ice below.
Kuina landed on one knee, her sword plunged deep into the ice, sliding for more than ten meters before she finally managed to stop. The wind whipped through her hair as she wiped a trickle of blood from her lip and looked up, her expression unreadable.
Across from her, Smoothie was also on one knee. But compared to Kuina, her condition was far, far worse. She was covered in blood and riddled with wounds, using her longsword to prop herself up. Her breathing was ragged and chaotic. When she met Kuina's gaze, she had to gasp for several breaths before she could speak.
"Hey, you bastard…" Smoothie gritted her teeth, glaring at Kuina, who was crackling with black-and-red lightning. "So you awakened Conqueror's Haki. So what? You think you're hot stuff? What's the deal with keeping it active like this?"
Awakened Conqueror's Haki…
Alright, she had to admit, it was a big deal. And just as Kuina had said, she couldn't hide her jealousy. But… so what? Until you mastered the advanced technique of infusion, it was only good for clearing out small fry.
And was she, Smoothie, small fry? Of course not!
Perhaps the awakening of Conqueror's Haki had raised this swordswoman's potential, but that was a matter for the distant future. It would have no impact on today's battle! What was the point of flaunting it like this?
"This…?" Kuina looked down at the Conqueror's Haki swirling around her. "I can't help it. I can't control it yet."
Not everyone could master Conqueror's Haki the moment they awakened it, controlling it as if it were an extension of their own body, like Captain Shane.
"But as it turns out, it's not a bad thing, is it?" Kuina said coldly. "At the very least, it's making you lose your composure even faster. You were never my match to begin with. Factoring this in, you'll only lose sooner."
Ten moves.
At most, she was confident she could defeat her within ten moves!
"What a joke!" Smoothie roared in frustration. "Lose my composure? Stop trying to read my mind! You think that's enough to beat me?! You're dreaming! I am Mama's most trusted daughter!"
And the woman who had almost become this little girl's sister-in-law!
She raised her longsword high, and it began to glow with a blinding blue light.
VWOOM!
"Squeeze-Squeeze Transformation: Obelisk the Tormentor!"
In a single instant, she pushed her Squeeze-Squeeze Fruit to its absolute limit. Her muscles bulged and her body swelled, growing to a towering height of over fifteen meters! In this state, her strength and stamina broke through the limits of her own race, reaching a level comparable to that of a giant!
"It's useless!" Kuina sneered, her fighting spirit flaring even brighter. She gripped her sword with her right hand and gently wiped the blade with her left. "Wind Control: Six Paths Cyclone Slash!"
She had long since mastered the Wind Sword manual, combining its teachings with her own training at the dojo to develop a host of new techniques. And this one… was perfect for dealing with oversized opponents!
HISS!
Her figure transformed into a streak of azure light, man and wind becoming one. She weaved and flashed around Smoothie's colossal frame. The blade shrieked as it cut through the air, each slash leaving a bloody gash on Smoothie's body—on her arm, her abdomen, her neck.
"Annoying fly!" Smoothie roared, swinging her giant sword, trying to catch Kuina's figure. But she was too fast, her presence blending with the sea wind, making it nearly impossible to lock onto her with Observation Haki. In her peak condition, she might have been able to keep up through sheer instinct, but in her current state, it was impossible. Nearly all of her attacks missed, and the few that did connect were parried by Kuina's blade.
"You're out of breath. Is it because your stamina drains faster in your giant form?" Kuina's voice suddenly whispered in Smoothie's ear. Smoothie's pupils shrank. She spun around, but Kuina was nowhere to be seen. Instead, to her astonishment, a massive, azure-blue tornado had formed on the ice, and it was roaring straight towards her!
What is that thing?!
The tornado moved with incredible speed. Before she could dodge, she was swept up into it. Her giant body was lifted high into the air, tossed about and torn apart like a rag doll. She fought desperately to break free, but the sword qi and raw Haki mixed into the wind were like a thousand blades, carving wound after wound into her body.
"It's over! The final move!" Kuina's ice-cold voice followed. "Wind Style… Last Breath!"
Smoothie's vision went black. A figure appeared before her, and the azure tornado dissipated. In its place were countless, impossibly sharp sword slashes, coming at her from all directions at once!
"PUAH—"
Blood gushed like a fountain as deep, bone-exposing wounds appeared all over Smoothie's massive body. She could no longer hold on. Her colossal frame crashed to the ground, sending up a cloud of ice shards.
"Is it… not even dawn yet?" Smoothie tried to get up but couldn't. She stared blankly at the sky and managed a self-deprecating smile. "We've only been fighting for a few hours, and I'm… I must be the first Sweet Commander to fall, right? How embarrassing…"
"There's no shame in losing to me," Kuina said, walking over slowly. With a flick of her wrist, she shook the blood from her blade. "But you're wrong about that last part."
Huh? "What do you mean?" Smoothie frowned, looking at her.
"You are, after all, the second-strongest of the Four Sweet Commanders," Kuina said, glancing at her. "Even going all out, it wasn't easy to take you down. But in the other top-tier fights, the power gaps are much wider."
She means…
Smoothie followed Kuina's gaze and was shocked. On a glacier in the distance, amidst a mountain of cracker crumbs, a man with a purple topknot lay motionless, covered in blood.
"Unlike you, as the first mate, I have to keep track of the entire battle," Kuina stated calmly. "Twenty minutes ago, that brother of yours was defeated by an enraged father. The reasons and motivations for fighting in this war are on completely different levels…"
"The power one unleashes to save their daughter is not something a coward who's used to hiding can compare to."
"It's Cracker, you idiot!" Smoothie corrected irritably, but her anger quickly faded into despair. "You're right… it's been so long since I've seen him fight with his real body. Once his biscuit armor is broken, he easily becomes the weakest link…"
"..."
Kuina raised an eyebrow, a little surprised. "Why the sudden tone of resignation?"
"You've already won, haven't you?" Smoothie managed to roll onto her back and let out a bitter sigh. "I never had much faith in Mama's chances. Cracker lost so quickly, and it looks like Katakuri and Perospero are tied up with your people and can't break free…"
"And now I've fallen too. Two of the Four Sweet Commanders are down. Is there really any doubt about the outcome of this war?"
BOOM!
As if in response to her words, a loud crash echoed from above. Smoothie painfully turned her head to see a tall, muscular figure slam into the ice nearby like a meteor. When the dust settled, she saw the face of the man who had been beaten black and blue and knocked unconscious. It was the last of the Four Sweet Commanders—
"Snack?!" Smoothie's jaw dropped. Who had taken him down?
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
In the main conference room at the top of the fortress, a number of high-ranking officers, including Fleet Admiral Sengoku, were gathered. Several staff officers bustled around a whiteboard, occasionally updating it with the latest intel from the front lines and projecting photos for the senior officers to see. It was standard procedure. Whenever the Yonko went to war, or even had a minor skirmish, the Marines would dispatch surveillance ships to observe and analyze the situation. This time was no different.
"Any progress from Greenbull?" Sengoku, who had been up all night, asked in a deep voice as he poured himself a cup of bitter coffee. "It's almost dawn. What's the latest?"
"Reporting, Fleet Admiral! We only have one surveillance ship near the Curtain Call's home base. The last report came in an hour ago," a staff officer with glasses replied, standing at attention. "It seems Mr. Aramaki is still locked in a fierce battle with 'Starfall' and has been completely blocked from entering the Galaxy Sea."
Still a stalemate?
Sengoku rubbed his temples wearily. That Issho is as troublesome as I thought… Still, he couldn't blame Greenbull for the failure of his infiltration mission. No one at Headquarters could have predicted that the Curtain Call Adventurers would have the luxury of leaving their second-strongest fighter at home while launching a full-scale invasion of Whole Cake Island.
"Red-Hair has also been intercepted by Kaido," Tsuru said calmly, tossing a file onto the table. "This means the all-out war in Whole Cake Island will be fought to the bitter end, with no outside interference."
The Charlotte Pirates versus the Curtain Call Adventurers. No matter who won or lost, the balance of power in the New World would be shaken to its core!
"Are we so sure about that?" a newly promoted Vice Admiral with a scarred face asked coldly. "Since the pirates are all busy fighting each other, I don't understand. With such a golden opportunity, why doesn't Headquarters make a move and reap the rewards?"
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