Smoothie's face was dark, radiating a boundless, savage aura. She strode toward Number 5, her lip twitching as her greatsword, dripping with an unknown liquid, swung down in an executioner's strike.
Suddenly, a piercing sound split the air. A Shigan struck the flat of the greatsword, knocking it off course. The blade slammed into the ground, shattering the earth.
In the next instant, a figure appeared at Number 5's side, grabbed him, and prepared to flee.
"Number 2! You were almost too late! I was about to die!" Number 5 was overjoyed, having escaped death by a hair's breadth.
"Cut the crap."
"Do you think I'm just a decoration?" Smoothie roared in fury, lashing out with a massive kick.
Number 2 raised his hand, catching the giant foot with lightning speed, and managed to halt Smoothie's attack. Then, twisting at the waist, he countered with a kick of his own—a massive Rankyaku that shot out.
At such close range, Smoothie couldn't react. The Rankyaku struck her body, sending her flying.
Smoothie's giant frame flew back over ten meters. When her feet hit the ground, she skidded another ten meters. She looked down at her waist; her Armament Haki had been breached, and a deep gash had been cut into her side.
She snapped her head up, but Number 2 was already carrying Number 5, fleeing at high speed.
"You're not getting away!" Smoothie's legs exploded with power, and she shot off in pursuit. The CP agents were masters of Rokushiki, so their speed was also incredibly fast.
"Stop him!" Smoothie roared. The surrounding Big Mom officers and Homie soldiers quickly swarmed in, cutting off his escape route.
"No choice, then. We have to fight our way out." Number 2's expression was grim. He put Number 5 down. His armor shattered and fell away, revealing his true appearance: a plain face, droopy eyes, and very long hair.
His body swelled with muscle, and his hair began to grow wildly, whipping around him to a length of five or six meters. Every single strand shimmered with a faint, cold light.
"Number 5, escape the moment you see an opening. Find Number 1. He's at the port, fighting Charlotte Daifuku, the third son," Number 2 said in a low voice. Number 5's spatial ability was crucial to CP1; he could not be allowed to fall here.
"Understood." Number 5 struggled to his feet. He spat out bandages and other supplies from his mouth and began to bind his severed arm, quickly stopping the bleeding.
The surrounding pirate officers and Homie soldiers charged.
A sharp glint flashed in Number 2's droopy eyes. His flowing hair instantly retracted, coiling up on his head into a massive afro.
"Seimei Kikan: Lion's Thousand Needles - Heavy Rain!"
The moment the pirates and Homies reached him, his coiled hair shot out like countless long, steel needles. Every single officer and Homie was pierced through.
Only a handful of the officers sensed the danger and managed to twist their bodies at the last second, avoiding a fatal blow.
All the other pirates and Homies were killed instantly. As Number 2's hair retracted, they fell to the ground in heaps.
This CP1 agent, Number 2, was a master of Seimei Kikan and had trained every strand of his hair to be as hard as steel and as tough as a spider's silk. Each hair was a deadly weapon.
"Go!" Number 2 ordered.
"Be careful," Number 5 replied, and immediately fled.
Number 2's gaze instantly hardened. Smoothie was upon him.
Her giant sword came cleaving down. His hair shot out, strand after strand striking the blade, managing to stop its descent. More hair shot out, binding the sword.
Smoothie's expression tensed. With a powerful heave, she yanked her sword up, lifting Number 2 clear off the ground. He instantly released his hair and used Geppo to dash through the air toward her.
Suddenly, a slash cut through the air, speeding toward Number 2.
His expression changed. His hair instantly wrapped around his body, but the slash still struck him, sending him flying and severing a bundle of his hair.
He landed quickly, and the cut hair began to regrow at a rapid pace. He turned his head and saw a beautiful woman from the Snake-Neck Tribe walking toward him. She wore a large, flowery woman's hat, and her eyes were sharp as she held a slender sword.
"Sister Amande," Smoothie said.
This was Big Mom's third daughter, Charlotte Amande, a master swordswoman. The slender blade in her hand was the Meito, "Shirauo."
Amande nodded, her voice grim. "Let's take him down together."
"Right." Smoothie nodded. She plunged her longsword into the body of a dead pirate. The corpse instantly shriveled as countless drops of liquid flowed up the blade and into her body. Her form swelled rapidly, growing to the size of a small mountain.
Her immense size was incredibly intimidating.
At that moment, Amande attacked. The blade of "Shirauo" whistled through the air, launching a massive, razor-sharp slash at Number 2.
"Kami-Shigan!" His hair shot out, striking the slash and shattering it.
"Take this!" Smoothie roared, swinging her giant sword down. An immense slash of compressed air flew from the blade, aimed right at Number 2.
Number 2 was horrified. He used Soru to dodge. The slash struck the ground, carving a trench over ten meters deep. The terrifying force continued outward, slicing through the buildings in its path and leaving a scar one hundred meters long.
...
Fighting was now breaking out in several places on Whole Cake Island, and for the moment, CP1 seemed to have the upper hand.
...
Meanwhile, in Bege's territory, a high-speed ship was racing through the sea, heading for Dragon Fruit Island.
The Sea Beast pulling the ship suddenly began to tremble and came to a stop. A giant shadow appeared on the water's surface. A Sea Patroller erupted from the depths, its massive jaws opening to swallow the ship whole.
On the deck stood seven or eight people of varying heights, all with grim expressions. One of them, a giant standing six meters tall, leaped directly into the sea. A few moments later, the sea began to churn violently, and a massive amount of blood plumed to the surface. The giant Sea Patroller floated up, dead. The man leaped from its carcass back onto the ship.
He shook the seawater from his body and looked at the man in the center, who stood only three meters tall.
"That's the third Sea Patroller that's attacked us. Are we still going to Dragon Fruit Island?"
Before leaving for the war, Bege had given the order to lock down his territory and forbid all sea travel. Any ship sailing in his waters during this time would be attacked by Sea Patrollers. It was a measure to prevent anyone from taking advantage of his absence to attack his domain.
"We go. We must. Our mission is crucial to the final outcome of the battle at Mid-Chain Supply Island. The Gorosei's orders must be completed," the three-meter-tall man said in a low voice.
"The strongest officer the Fire Tank Pirates left behind is Moria. With the combat power of us, CP0, we don't even need to bother with infiltration. If we're discovered, we'll just force our way onto Dragon Fruit Island." The man was supremely confident, as were the six others with him.
They were CP0, the World Government's strongest intelligence organization.
This team consisted of the CP0 leader, the vice-leader, and five elite agents. Their mission: force the Fire Tank Pirates to withdraw from the war at Mid-Chain Supply Island.
"The Gorosei's orders aren't just to force 'Demon Dragon' to pull back," the three-meter-tall leader continued, a strong killing intent flashing in his eyes. "The Fire Tank Pirates are too great a threat to the World Government. Their potential even exceeds that of the Beasts Pirates or the Big Mom Pirates. That is why we, CP0, were tasked with this.
"The scientists in the arsenal on Dragon Fruit Island are to be executed. The weapon blueprints are to be retrieved. Moria and all other Fire Tank Pirate officers are to be eliminated. We also need to investigate their methods of biological modification and its connection to the Fuse-Fuse Fruit. We have many tasks, so we cannot waste a single second."