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Burururu! Burururu!
The Den Den Mushi in Charlotte Snack’s shirt pocket rang impatiently.
Snack knew that it was Big Mom’s Den Den Mushi, and only hers was worthy of being carried by him.
In the past, to avoid angering his mother, Snack would have answered the call immediately.
But now…
“He’s run away?”
Ignoring the Den Den Mushi, he gripped his great katana tightly.
“No.”
Though Zishu’s sudden disappearance might seem like an escape at first glance, Snack knew better.
“That man wouldn’t run.”
He recalled the words Zishu had spoken just before vanishing.
‘In such a short time, he’s already grasped my ability.’
Snack remained incredulous.
His “Mark Devil Fruit” ability was exceptionally powerful, especially against first-time opponents. By marking targets through line of sight and executing long-range slashing attacks, he could leave most enemies bewildered and helpless in the initial moments of engagement.
Having deeply developed this Devil Fruit, Snack had mastered the ability to create two marked points. In combat, he designated one point as his “Defense Point” for defense and the other as his “Cut Point” for offense.
Theoretically, as long as his ability remained undetected, most opponents would perish without ever understanding how they were defeated. His ability to transfer damage would further mislead foes into believing his defensive capabilities were extraordinary, which served as the basis for his self-proclaimed title of “Strongest Shield.”
But the truth was…
Snack knew his ability had weaknesses.
‘I can sense that he’s already erased the marked point I placed on him. Could he be searching for my Defense Point now?’
A sudden fear gripped Snack’s heart.
If his Defense Point were erased again, he would be left powerless within ten minutes, unable to use his abilities.
Faced with Zishu’s omnipresent slashes, he would surely die.
This made him desperately want to check the safety of his Defense Point immediately.
But he dared not.
He feared Zishu might still be lurking nearby. Actively checking his Defense Point would be like inviting a wolf into his lair.
‘My Defense Point is well-hidden, near the southern furnace. He couldn’t possibly find it in such a short time. One minute left… just one more minute until I can relocate the Defense Point. Then I’ll be safe.’ He muttered to himself, gripping his great katana tightly, every muscle in his body tensed to its limit. He scrutinized every rustle of leaves, every whisper of wind, his senses stretched taut.
Even the faint sunlight filtering through the clouds felt irritatingly harsh.
Fortunately, the distant shadows soon began to obscure part of the sunlight, bringing him a measure of relief.
‘Hmm?’
The thought struck Snack suddenly, something was off.
He was on the top floor of the Royal Palace, the tallest structure in the KaraMiro Kingdom. Moreover, his earlier slash had sheared off the entire top of the building.
Exposed to the elements, how could the sunlight have vanished?
And what was that distant shadow obscuring the sun?
Instinctively, he looked up.
What he saw defied belief.
In the distance, beyond the Royal Palace’s outer walls, a colossal hand was emerging.
“A Giant Tribe member?!”
The massive hand instantly brought the term to Snack’s mind. As a member of the Big Mom Pirates, he had naturally encountered Giants before.
With a palm alone several meters across, it was undoubtedly the arm of a Giant.
But what truly mattered was the razor-sharp, blade-like light emanating from the hand.
“It’s Zishu’s ability… but how could it be so enormous?!”
The horrifying thought had barely formed in Snack’s mind when he realized: ‘It wasn’t just one hand.’
Whoosh!
Petals swirled as countless colossal arms erupted from every corner of the Royal Palace.
Each arm dwarfed even the largest human, their mere appearance and sweeping motions crushing the surrounding Homies into pulp.
Yet this wasn’t all. Had these been merely Giant Tribe-sized arms with bladed edges, Snack believed he might have been able to handle them.
But what truly terrified Snack was what happened next.
Buzz! Buzz!! Buzz!!!
As the countless gigantic arms emerged, they began to overlap and merge.
Blades fused with blades, arms coalesced with arms.
They grew larger and larger, until finally, at least a thousand Giant Tribe-sized hands had fused into:
A true behemoth!
The colossal arm dwarfed even the legendary Giants of ancient times, nearly blotting out the sky above the Royal Palace and casting a terrifying shadow.
Meanwhile, Zishu stood within Alternate Space, watching the scene unfolding beyond its boundaries.
A layer of ‘leather armor’ had already spread across his body, starting from his hands and enveloping him completely.
His form had also distinctly transformed into that of a full-fledged Giant.
Yes.
Just as Zishu had suspected, Chopper’s ‘Rumble Ball’ possessed the ability to control and adjust the wavelengths of Zoan Devil Fruit userform changes.
Through this special drug and rigorous training, Chopper could achieve nearly ten different enhanced transformations.
As expected, the Rumble Ball also worked on the Giant Soldier’s Hand, which was both a Devil Fruit User and capable of consuming food.
In fact,
“Massive doses of Rumble Balls not only induce Zoan Devil Fruit Users to transform, but also dramatically enhance their Zoan powers. The drawbacks are loss of control and a state of extreme, painful weakness.”
“But…”
Zishu glanced at the leather gauntlets surrounding him and said casually, “The Giant Soldier’s Hand is inherently just a pair of gloves. Weakness? Loss of control?”
As everyone knows, gloves feel no pain.
This was the origin of his current technique, which he called:
‘Void Slash: Thousand-Handed Giant Blade!’
“So that’s what he was planning?”
Outside the Alternate Space, Snack gritted his teeth as he watched the colossal figure looming in the sky.
Memories of past conversations with others flooded his mind.
“Snack, your abilities are formidable, but you’re not invincible.”
That was his older brother, Charlotte Katakuri, the strongest member of the Charlotte Family besides Big Mom, assessing him.
“Even I can think of at least three ways to defeat you,” Katakuri had said at the time. “First, find your weak spot, that goes without saying.”
“Second, even without finding your weak spot, a foe with exceptional stamina could exhaust you. When you can no longer maintain your ability, you’ll naturally fall.”
“If you face either of these types of enemies, it means their strength is roughly equal to yours. Though you might lose, you’d still have a chance to escape.”
Snack recalled that he hadn’t been angry at the time, but rather intrigued. “What’s the third method, Katakuri Nii Sama?”
“The third method…”
Upon hearing this, Katakuri turned to look at him.
Snack still remembered the warning in his elder brother’s eyes.
“Against top-tier Haki users or truly powerful Devil Fruit users, your abilities are meaningless. The former’s overwhelming Haki can suppress Devil Fruit powers, while the latter won’t even bother thinking about where your Cut Points are.”
“They’ll simply destroy everything.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Katakuri Nii Sama? Are you talking about yourself or Mom?”
“No, Snack. It’s not just me or Mom. I’m talking about the true, ”
As the memory reached its climax, Snack saw the colossal figure in the sky plummeting downward!
BOOM!
The mere force of the wind generated by its descent completely shattered the city walls of the Royal Palace.
CRACK!
The whistling slash sounded like a thunderclap, piercingly loud.
Trees were cleaved, clouds split in two, and even the birds in the sky cried out in anguish.
Finally, Snack understood what Katakuri had meant.
With an attack of this range and intensity, his teleportation mark was useless, even after teleporting, he would still be within the attack’s area of effect.
There was no escape.
Trembling, Snack slowly raised his hand and pulled the Den Den Mushi from his pocket.
As soon as the connection was established, a gloomy female voice echoed from the other end of the line.
“Too slow! Snack, why are you only answering now? What’s become of my ‘Rainbow Candies’?”
It was Big Mom’s voice.
But for the first time, Snack didn’t wait for his mother to finish speaking.
“Mom…” he whispered, his voice trembling as he stared up at the colossal figure descending from the heavens. “The Twelve Zodiac. Zishu.”
“This guy, he’s a true ‘Monster’.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
BOOM!
In the next instant, the Den Den Mushi, Snack’s body, and the entire Royal Palace were smashed into pieces by the colossal slash that descended from the heavens.
…
Meanwhile, in the New World…
Totto Land, the kingdom of Totto Land, Cake Island.
Click.
Smash!
The sound of the Den Den Mushi being hung up and the sound of it being crushed rang out almost simultaneously.
“Mama, mama, mama…”
In a charming little room adorned with pink lace, a colossal woman with a triangular hat let out her distinctive laugh.
But judging by her sinister expression, the laughter clearly lacked genuine warmth.
“Mama?”
Under that immense pressure, the three Top Level Homies beside and above her, Thunder Cloud ‘Zeus’, Sun ‘Prometheus’, and Tricorne Hat ‘Napoleon’, also wore tense expressions.
“Snack…”
“Ah, looks like he’s dead.”
Charlotte Linlin murmured, “Zishu… the new member of the Twelve Zodiac, mama mama… he really doesn’t hold back, does he?”
Bang!
As the words left her lips, an overwhelming surge of Haki and terrifying aura erupted.
The walls trembled, the surrounding decorations cracked silently, and her hair stirred without wind.
This was the natural manifestation of the aura of a Monster standing at the pinnacle of the world in a fit of rage.
“How dare they kill my son?! And even more importantly… steal my ‘Rainbow Candies’?!”
Her teeth ground together with a harsh, grinding kā kā sound. “You insignificant upstarts who crawled out of nowhere, don’t think you can commit such an act and escape unscathed!”
She clearly valued ‘Rainbow Candies’ far more than her own son, yet the three Homies beside her showed no surprise whatsoever.
This was simply Charlotte Linlin’s nature.
“Investigate! I want all the information on that organization. And…”
What truly alarmed the three Homies was that they noticed saliva was already dripping from Big Mom’s mouth as she spoke.
Sizzle!
The saliva hit the ground, its potent stomach acid corroding the surface into smoking fumes.
“M-Mama?”
The three Homies exchanged terrified glances, nearly trembling.
They recognized Big Mom’s current state: “Eating Disorder?”
“Rainbow~ Candied!”
“Quick! Notify Perospero immediately! Check the warehouse and see how many candied spares we have left! Ouch! Mama, don’t hit me! It’s me!”
(End Of This Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 15 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.p*treon.com/darkshadow6395