— — — — — — —
"Jihahahaha!"
A loud, bold laugh echoed through the battlefield.
Joey's smile remained unchanged. Slowly, he lifted his head.
Whoosh!
From the distant horizon, an enormous fleet rapidly approached.
At least a hundred ships sailed forward, carrying tens of thousands of men.
"Roar!"
"Charge!"
"Brothers, attack!"
One by one, these pirates screamed with excitement, their eyes burning with madness and bloodlust.
It was The Flying Pirates! Along with their captain, Shiki the Golden Lion.
A grin stretched across his face as he sneered, "Charlotte brat, we meet again! I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of surprise you have for me this time!"
Shiki's aura radiated pure terror.
Joey remained calm. "Golden Lion, it seems your last defeat left you quite dissatisfied."
Shiki scoffed, "Of course! I can accept defeat, but not a humiliating one like that. Today, I'll see for myself how strong you've truly become. Don't disappoint me, brat. Try your best to survive under my hands!"
"Jihahahaha!"
Shiki laughed maniacally, his voice filled with excitement.
"Painting Scroll: Blade Rain!"
Perospero's cold gaze fixed on Shiki's roaring laughter. With a swift motion, his massive paintbrush slashed downward.
Swish!
A barrage of swords materialized, raining down upon Shiki like a shower of blades. And all the swords were even coated in Armament Haki.
"Oh?"
Shiki's eyes flashed dangerously. "Brat, you dare attack me first? Interesting!"
"Lion's Threat: Earth Bind!"
With a mere flick of his hand, the clouds twisted and condensed into enormous roaring lion heads.
CRACK!
The lion heads tore through the rain of blades, shattering them instantly.
Shiki smirked. "Looks like this will be easier than I thought."
"Hmph!"
Perospero snorted, unfazed. It was just a test, not a serious attack.
After all…The current situation was dire.
Beasts Pirates + Flying Pirates.
Who would have expected these two mighty pirate crews to join forces?
---
[Shiki - The Golden Lion]
Title: Captain of the Flying Pirates
Strength: Silver Rank Level 4
Potential: Gold Rank Level 3
Devil Fruit: Paramecia - Float-Float Fruit
Description: One of the most fearsome monsters of this era. A true terror of the seas, possessing power that instills fear in anyone who faces him.
---
"Sigh…"
Joey let out a helpless sigh. "What a headache. Facing both of you at once is quite the hassle."
"Jihahahaha!"
"Worororo~~!!!"
Both Shiki and Kaido erupted into laughter, their savage grins filled with danger.
Joey remained calm. "Shiki, Kaido… are you really so sure of your victory?"
Shiki sneered. "Charlotte brat, I don't care what tricks you have up your sleeve. I won't give you the chance to talk your way out of this. No matter what, today I'm killing you! Let's see if you can survive!"
WHOOSH!
Shiki shot forward like a golden streak of light, charging straight at Joey.
"Slicing Wave!"
His twin blades swung down, unleashing a monstrous wave of sword energy.
Clang!
Thud!
Katakuri instantly intercepted, his trident Mogura clashing with Shiki's twin swords.
BOOM!
A shockwave burst from their clash.
In mere moments, they exchanged countless blows.
Shiki's dual blades moved like shooting stars, swift and deadly.
Katakuri's spear combined both speed and overwhelming force.
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion rang out.
Both fighters suddenly separated, landing on opposite sides.
Within that brief clash…No one could tell what had truly happened.
Katakuri took a deep breath, standing unharmed. His sharp gaze locked onto Shiki.
"Golden Lion, did you really think you could just attack my big brother so easily? You're getting ahead of yourself."
"Jihahahaha!"
Shiki's eyes shone with excitement. "Charlotte Katakuri! You're even stronger than before. Quite impressive for someone your age! But today… I'll teach you what it means to be a true veteran!"
"Lion's Threat: Imperial Sea Bind."
With a flick of his fingers, both the ocean and the sky twisted into a chaotic vortex.
From the swirling mass, massive lion heads formed, roaring as they charged toward Katakuri.
Despite the overwhelming attack…Katakuri remained eerily calm.
"Invincible Death."
He just muttered two simple words.
SWISH!
Everything vanished in an instant—like bubbles popping into thin air.
The sheer speed was unbelievable.
All traces of the attacking lion heads simply disappeared.
"Huh?"
Shiki's grin vanished.
A sharp gleam filled his eyes as he scanned the battlefield, his expression growing heavy.
"What the hell just happened?!"
Shiki sensed a fleeting, shadowy figure.
A chill ran down his spine.
"Could it be…?"
"A hidden powerhouse? Who the hell is that?! Just how strong is the Charlotte Family? This doesn't make sense!"
For the first time in a long while, Shiki felt uncertain.
Joey chuckled. "Golden Lion, it seems you won't be taking me down so easily. Katakuri's strength is quite reliable. Sorry to disappoint you."
His gaze then shifted…To Kaido.
"ROOOAR!"
With a deafening roar, Kaido transformed into his hybrid form.
"Painting Scroll: Hundred Fire Birds!"
"Pretzel Roll!"
"Genie Rage Split!"
"Heat Beating!"
Perospero, Cracker, Daifuku, and Oven attacked together.
Even then…Kaido's sheer power at Silver Rank Level 4 made him an unstoppable force.
Despite their combined efforts, they could only barely hold him back.
His power was simply too overwhelming.
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion echoed as Kaido's Wind and Thunder attack was blocked.
"Hmph!"
Kaido grinned viciously. "Is that all you've got? Looks like you guys aren't even worth my time. This is boring as hell. How about this—I'll kill the four of you first, then deal with those five little brats afterward!"
"But if they behave and kneel, I might just let them join the Beasts Pirates."
"Hah?!"
Cracker's expression twisted in disdain. "Kaido, are you serious? Did you hit your head or something?!"
"Hmph!"
"KILL!!!"
At that moment, warriors from all sides clashed.
Beasts Pirates. Flying Pirates. Charlotte Family's Biscuit Soldiers.
The battlefield was an all-out war.
The Biscuit Soldiers numbered just over ten thousand, but the enemy forces combined totaled nearly one hundred thousand. And these weren't just random lackeys—many of them were elite fighters.
However...Joey had anticipated this from the very beginning.
Calmly, he ordered, "Angel, release the Biscuit Soldiers."
"Book World!"
Angel nodded and raised her hand.
BOOM!!!
A massive floating book appeared in the sky.
"KILL!!!"
Suddenly, a monstrous army of Biscuit Soldiers appeared.
They were two hundred thousand!
In just three months, Cracker had created nearly nine hundred thousand Biscuit Soldiers, and now, he had unleashed a massive portion of them onto the battlefield.
These soldiers had been stored within the Book-Book Fruit's space, ready to deploy whenever necessary.
Joey had planned this move long before the battle even began.
"As long as I kill you..."
"Then this battle is over!"
With a chilling voice, King shot straight toward Joey like a black meteor.
Joey, however, simply smiled.
"You're welcome to try."
At the same time, Compote charged forward, blocking King's advance.
SWOOSH!
Two blades descended!
"CONQUERING NATION!"
"SUPREME NATION!"
Two devastating sword strikes slashed downward.
King's eyes narrowed, and he immediately retreated, unwilling to take the attack head-on.
Even though he possessed an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit, standing against this woman's sword techniques head-on was nothing short of suicide.
King locked eyes with Compote.
This battle wouldn't be easy.
Joey had brought only ten people with him on this mission.
Perospero, Cracker, Daifuku, and Oven were jointly facing Kaido.
Katakuri was fighting Shiki the Golden Lion one-on-one.
Compote was stationed at Joey's side, acting as his bodyguard.
Joey spoke softly, "Looks like reaching me isn't as easy as you thought."
"BASTARD! TRAITOR!!!"
A furious voice echoed.
It was Amaterasu, her face contorted in rage.
"King, you damn traitor! You're the worst kind of scum!"
King remained indifferent. "That's all meaningless to me. I only care about my ambitions."
With that, he ignored Amaterasu and refocused on Compote.
SWOOSH!
He moved in an instant attacking her.
— — —
Joey watched calmly.
The Biscuit Soldiers were starting to struggle.
Although they had the advantage in numbers, the enemy forces were elites.
Defeating these warriors wasn't easy.
Quantity was an advantage, but when it came to pure quality... It was a different story.
Narrowing his eyes, Joey muttered, "The Beasts Pirates and the Flying Pirates… backed by the World Government… their combined strength is something to take seriously."
"The future Four Emperors' forces are already beginning to take shape."
"The future looks interesting!"
.
.
.