Chapter 452: A Frustrated Charlotte Linlin!
Powerful.
So powerful that there was no need to even consider what level he stood at.
Simply by releasing his strength at will, he could crush and devastate his enemies with overwhelming force.
That was the truth Ren felt after destroying the sixth island.
The hundredfold amplification of the More-More Fruit could not transform the nature of energy. It could only expand its scale a hundredfold out of nothing.
Yet that single effect, when linked with his other abilities, formed an unimaginably terrifying qualitative change.
Main cannon energy. The More-More Fruit's hundredfold amplification. Meteor Burst converted into energy as the machine body's power source.
Magnetic-Field Restraint increased the stability of the machine body, thereby expanding its energy capacity.
Heavenly Might assisted the release process, making it even easier to control.
And finally, the enhancement of dual-color Haki coating.
Although the conversion efficiency could not reach anything like a hundredfold, it was still a multiplicative qualitative transformation.
The S-rank level no longer seemed capable of truly describing him.
At least in Ren's own assessment, all three of his core attributes had reached the level of S++. Even without using any special abilities, the simplest motion of his hands and feet could produce effects akin to natural disasters.
Just like… now!
His six wings vibrated, granting him extreme speed as Ren stepped on the atmosphere and plummeted straight down.
Beneath the falling meteor, a dazzling radiance suddenly erupted.
"Elbaf Spear: Ikoku!"
Charlotte Linlin, battered and wretched, violently swung out with her sword. A massive sword-energy shockwave rose from the ground.
Its range alone covered a third of the island at minimum, while its speed and power were both absolutely top-tier.
Ren did not dodge or evade. As he plunged downward, he abruptly raised his hand, clenched his fist—and hammered down!
Daytime: Scorching Light!
A high-energy burst of light and heat, even wilder and more tyrannical than the sword-energy wave, erupted. The so-called Ikoku only lasted a few seconds before it was easily crushed apart.
An attack capable of effortlessly dealing with a first-rate powerhouse was as fragile as glass before him.
The shockwave immediately burst outward, whipping up surging gales.
At that moment, a fireball shot up from the ground, rushing straight toward the falling meteor.
Prometheus, transformed into a crimson-flame "sun," came charging in fury. The instant it collided with the meteor, a massive explosion erupted.
Heavenly Fire!
However, this same scene had already occurred many times on the previous six islands that had been sunk.
The six wings linked together, forming an energy dome like a barrier. Then the dome expanded, isolating all the flames and pushing them outward.
The meteor grew another size larger and continued falling at extreme speed.
"Bastard!"
Charlotte Linlin gripped Zeus in her hand and struck out in shock and rage.
Tenjin!
A dazzling bolt of lightning shot straight into the sky, its thick diameter reaching several hundred meters. If that raging lightning energy had been aimed at the island, it would surely have pierced through and torn it apart.
"You're playing with lightning in front of me?"
The outer barrier wrapping the meteor collapsed. Ren activated his electromagnetic ability, forming a wide-area magnetic-field restraint.
He reached out, spreading his five fingers toward the Tenjin unleashed by Charlotte Linlin, and seized it.
That incomparably violent lightning energy seemed to be tamed. It surged toward his hand, was assimilated by Heavenly Might, compressed, refined, and finally transformed into a terrifying ball of lightning energy wrapped around his fist.
"Showing off your slight skill before an expert!"
Ren threw a punch downward from midair. A thick beam of lightning erupted from his fist, expanding the instant it shot forth like a solar prominence.
Radiant Thunder: Thunder Prison!
Brilliant lightning illuminated Charlotte Linlin's stunned eyes, accompanied by rolling thunder.
Within that terrifying thunderous might, countless violent bolts several hundred meters thick indiscriminately covered the entire island!
"Mama! Run!"
Prometheus, having failed with its attack, returned at extreme speed, carrying Mama away in a desperate escape.
Yet those giant bolts of lightning seemed alive, chasing after them.
One silver serpent and raging python after another pursued Charlotte Linlin, lashing at her. Even when blocked or deflected, their terrifying power could still tear the island's land apart.
That island, which looked like a biscuit, wailed beneath the endless thunderous might as it split apart in all directions.
"Zeus! Can't you control it?!"
Prometheus could not help roaring.
"I can't control it! If I get any closer to that winged guy, even I'll be controlled!"
Zeus shouted with an aggrieved expression.
As a cloud, especially a top-tier Homie capable of turning into a thundercloud, this was the first time he had ever encountered a situation where he was completely dominated.
Forget fighting for control of the lightning. If he even got a little closer, there was a chance the enemy would control him instead.
It was practically like… a lower-grade fruit meeting an upper-grade fruit!
"Shut up!"
Charlotte Linlin's roar silenced both Homies. Their movement speed instantly increased by a large margin.
But she could not avoid them. She still could not avoid those lightning bolts chasing after her!
Biscuit Island wailed. Dense cracks and abyssal fissures spread from the center toward the sides, nearly pushing the island into a state of complete disintegration.
"Don't go too far, brat!"
Charlotte Linlin swung Emperor Sword: Broken Blade, with dual-color Haki coiling around it, cleaving apart the giant bolts of lightning that kept coming at her.
Beneath her feet, Zeus repeatedly opened his mouth and devoured the scattered lightning energy, doing his utmost to help Mama ease the pressure.
Frustrated.
Utterly frustrated!
That was what Charlotte Linlin felt at this moment.
Even though she had already had some premonition, once they truly fought, the strength of her opponent still exceeded her imagination!
The meteor's tail flames suddenly blazed brighter.
Charlotte Linlin's expression changed as she raised her blade. In the next instant, a fist heavy as light smashed into Broken Blade.
"That hurts!"
Napoleon let out a wail. A tiny chip had shockingly appeared on the blade wrapped in dual-color Haki.
Then, brutal energy erupted alongside a massive explosion. It and its master were punched into the earth to unknown depths.
Amid the roaring impact, the island's slanted-left region was violently carved open, forming a gigantic abyss.
Ren stood in the sky and coldly removed his purple calabash earring.
With a flick of his hand, he threw it. As the purple calabash fell, it released the surging, violent lightning energy within.
Sumeru: Divine Thunder!
Endless lightning surged within the internal space of the Sumeru Gourd. Through continuous refinement, it formed a condensed bolt of lightning radiance!
A straight pillar of thunder gushed forth, as if it would fill the sky itself.
Seen from afar, it looked like a thunder spear stabbed down by a heavenly god, releasing the destructive majesty of lightning upon the earth!
Bzzzz—!
Light arrived before sound.
The descending thunder punishment was so dazzling that blinding radiance surged out from the earth's abyss, increasing the brightness of the island by several levels.
It was as though a second sun had fallen upon this place.
Immediately afterward, violent energy tore through the abyss. Everything the raging energy touched melted or even vaporized under the sharply rising temperature caused by electrothermal conversion!
The earth trembled. The land heaved like a turning dragon.
Hundreds of thousands of tons of magma erupted and were hurled into the sky, pushing this Biscuit Island toward its end in a short span of time.
A surging tsunami instantly rose. Amid its wails, the island headed toward total fragmentation.
Within that disaster-like commotion, Big Mom, covered in blood, appeared at the coast while panting heavily.
She did not even dare look back. She had Zeus carry her away at extreme speed, cutting such a sorry figure that she looked like a defeated dog fleeing with its tail between its legs.
"Still planning to buy time? What a boring move."
Ren swept his gaze over her indifferently, then looked down at his feet. As the purple calabash flew back, he also examined the results of the battle.
The number recorded in his heart changed from six islands to seven.
This was the result of his pursuit of Charlotte Linlin all along the way. At first, she had been fairly clever and had not gone to territories where her people were.
Instead, she had intended to find uninhabited places, obtain a foothold, and fight him there.
However… Charlotte Linlin had probably never imagined that one day, in battle, she would be the one crushed by someone else.
The sinking of seven islands in succession was probably what finally made her understand the strength of her opponent.
Based on the current development of the situation, it would most likely shift toward a group assault and war of attrition.
"Let's continue."
His six wings vibrated. The dazzling "sun" streaked across the sky, chasing in Big Mom's direction.
He was not in a hurry to end the battle. Besieging the point to strike reinforcements was the best method.
In fact, things indeed developed exactly as he expected.
Even though Charlotte Linlin, who had escaped, felt unwilling in her heart, she had no choice but to admit that Ren's strength had exceeded her imagination.
Alone, even with three top-tier Homies in hand, she could not gain the slightest advantage.
However, she was not the kind of person who placed supremacy solely on individual strength. The greatest reason she pursued a military system was because she believed armies had meaning.
As she sped away, she dialed a Den Den Mushi.
The Big Mom Pirates finally sounded the war horn to resist the invader.
Thousands of ships, tens of thousands of members and Homies soldiers, all began converging on the battlefield from every direction.
Naturally, none of this escaped Premonition Perception's detection across a range of one hundred kilometers.
Ren was happy to see it happen. While pursuing Big Mom, he also purged the enemies he encountered along the way.
Sometimes, he raised a hand and punched, releasing endless light and heat to burn his enemies to nothing.
Sometimes, he summoned lightning across the sky, unleashing the Thunder God's wrath and burying everything beneath thunderbolts.
Other times, he casually shaped an energy sphere wrapped in dual-color Haki and threw it down, creating a massive flaming mushroom cloud.
The forces of the Big Mom Pirates were shrinking at an astonishing speed.
Of course, Ren did not encounter all of them.
Even more had already gathered on the island designated by Big Mom.
Cacao Island.
This island, themed around chocolate, was extremely vast. It had several mountains and a prosperous town.
However, because of the arrival of war, the local residents had been urgently evacuated by one of the Big Mom Pirates' officers—Baron Tamago.
Taking their place were tens of thousands of Homies soldiers and the elite core members of the Big Mom Pirates.
Aside from the unlucky ones on Whole Cake Island, it could be said that the Big Mom Pirates' main force had all gathered here.
Charlotte Linlin, who had fled to this island, finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the scene.
No matter how strong that bastard was, one thing would not change.
Before an army with sufficient numbers and quality, even Whitebeard had the possibility of being exhausted to death!
There was no need to exhaust him to death, even. As long as they wore him down to a certain degree, she was confident she could personally take back her face and dignity tenfold, a hundredfold!
"Mama!"
When Big Mom arrived, Brûlée led a group of officers to receive her.
This woman with an ugly face, looking almost like a witch, wore an extremely worried expression.
"What's happening now? Was that enemy dealt with? Or…"
"Don't say or ask anything unnecessary!"
Big Mom interrupted her with a gloomy face, her tone cold beneath the pressure she was holding back.
What did she mean by "dealt with"? If he had been dealt with, would she still be in such a miserable state?!
(End of Chapter)