"I'm certainly the center of attention," Wilder said with a grin, sensing the gazes from across the battlefield converging on him.
"They're probably just watching to see how you die, Wilder," Smoothie said, her expression placid. She looked at Wilder and held her longsword horizontally in front of her, assuming an offensive stance.
"Heh… not a very likable person, are you," Wilder said, twisting his neck and revealing an excited smile.
"The same to you," Smoothie replied flatly, her response clearly a version of "right back at you."
The next second, both of them vanished from their spots.
The continuous sound of clashing metal rang out. Sparks flew in the sky and on the ground as the two tall figures collided relentlessly, their speed so great it was difficult for the eye to follow.
CRACK!
In the instant of another clash, Smoothie's eyes narrowed slightly. She spotted an opening in Wilder's movements and immediately seized the opportunity. With a step, she changed direction, instantly moving behind Wilder. Her longsword snaked from behind her back to her front in a cunning arc. Armament Haki spread from the hilt to the tip of the blade as she slashed down at Wilder.
"My, my, you don't give a person a chance to breathe, do you." Sensing the deadly wave of danger from behind, Wilder didn't even turn his head. With an impassive expression, he waved his hand, and a curtain of swamp, coated in Armament Haki, shot out from his body, blocking the blow!
CLACK!
She can even use it like that!
Smoothie's expression turned a little ugly at the failure of her attack. At the same time, she was astonished by Wilder's application and exquisite control of his ability. Her eyes shifted slightly, and with a few flashes, she quickly pulled away.
Then, the two once again turned into afterimages, engaging in a battle of clashing blades. Amidst the flying sparks, the two figures constantly shifted and moved, pulling away only to crash into each other again at high speed. The visual effect of such a fight was almost unimaginable to ordinary soldiers, who couldn't comprehend the danger involved.
Every clash was a contest of reaction and calculation. The time for judgment for both sides was probably less than a tenth of a second, but that tenth of a second was incredibly perilous. A slight misstep could mean death under the opponent's blade.
"Is this a battle between a Sweet Commander and a Warlord?" The surrounding pirates and Marines all watched with trepidation, their faces filled with shock.
"Got you!" In another clash, a triumphant smile appeared on Smoothie's face.
VMMMM…!
Her Squeeze-Squeeze ability activated. Smoothie's large hand reached for Wilder.
"Non-Newtonian Fluid Wall!" Wilder knew he couldn't dodge, so he instantly formed a wall of non-Newtonian fluid swamp behind him.
CRACKLE…! The next second, the large hand gripped the swamp wall. A strange sound came from within the wall. Cracks visibly appeared on its surface, and it began to dry out. Dried pieces of earth flaked off.
BOOM! Finally, the entire wall shattered into dust and small fragments.
During this time, Wilder had already retreated at high speed, only stopping his backward slide when the wall broke.
"A chilling ability," Wilder said, standing up straight and grinning at Smoothie, who had walked out steadily, though her expression was not very pleasant.
"Oh? So the Warlord Wilder is such a coward?" Having had two kill opportunities dodged by Wilder, Smoothie's tone had a hint of anger.
"Pfft! Hahaha! Not at all. Just an observation," Wilder said. Even as he spoke, his right hand suddenly slapped the ground, a cunning, sinister arc forming on his lips.
"Swamp—Hell's Thrust!"
What!
The moment Smoothie saw Wilder make this move, she immediately sensed something was wrong. She had just started to move when it was already too late.
PFFT! A sharp spike pierced straight through Smoothie's left arm. A flash of pain crossed her face for an instant, her eyes cold and annoyed.
I was careless!
More spikes shot out from the ground. Their sharp tips, as if locked onto their target, all surged toward Smoothie. They came from all directions, leaving no room to dodge.
CRACKLE! However, just as the spikes were about to hit Smoothie, she suddenly spread her arms, and an invisible wave enveloped her.
CRACKLE! The spikes stopped less than ten centimeters from her body. Their sharp tips suddenly cracked and then disintegrated in an instant, flaking away.
"You were careless, Miss Smoothie," Wilder's voice suddenly came. He had appeared above and behind her at some unknown point. An arm-thick earthen spear with a sharp tip, coated in black Armament Haki, shot out from Wilder's open palm, its speed too fast to be seen, aiming straight for Smoothie's back.
However, the next second, Wilder's expression suddenly changed slightly.
CLANG! A sharp sound of metal clashing rang out. The earthen spear that had shot from his palm was sent flying backward, landing in the distance and embedding itself deep into the ground.
At some unknown point, Smoothie's body had grown two to three times taller. Wilder's attack just now had been slapped away by her suddenly enlarged form. After the successful hit, Smoothie's large hand immediately reached for Wilder.
BAM!
The large hand passed straight through Wilder's body. To be precise, Wilder's body had turned into a puddle of swamp and scattered, sinking into the ground and quickly burrowing beneath it. It looked as if the hand passing through had caused it.
"Mama was right. You're just a sewer rat," Smoothie said, turning around, her expressionless face stating what seemed to be a recognized fact.
Up to this point in the battle, Smoothie no longer dared to treat Wilder with her initial attitude.
This guy was too cunning and sinister.
"Nyahahaha! I don't think so. Miss Smoothie's ability is so wicked, I wouldn't dare be reckless," Wilder's figure emerged from the ground on the other side, coalescing into a human shape.
"Die!" Smoothie suddenly flashed forward, swinging her longsword at Wilder!
Before the sword even arrived, a wave of purple sword energy, carrying a sharp, murderous aura, had already struck! The shockwave spread out in all directions! It seemed Smoothie had been preparing this slash for a while, just waiting for the moment Wilder emerged.
Of course, she wasn't the only one who was prepared.
"Swamp—Giant General!" Wilder had also been waiting for this slash for a long time.
What!
Smoothie's expression changed drastically, but her attack and forward momentum were already unstoppable. She could only watch as a terrifyingly massive figure rose and expanded, finally forming a colossal shape she had never seen before. And her body, along with her longsword, charged straight into this giant's body.
The sword sank into the swamp, and her entire person was continuously pulled into the Giant General's massive body. Smoothie felt the surrounding swamp intentionally pressing in on her. It was hard to breathe, and her bones felt as if they were about to be crushed, creaking loudly.
Just as she was about to activate her ability, she heard two deep, heavy sounds in her ear.
"Solidify! Harden!"
Wilder, hidden within the Swamp Giant General, revealed a sinister smile. If there's no water, you can't squeeze any juice, right?
Once Wilder seized an opportunity, he would never give his enemy a chance for a final, desperate struggle.
At the Giant General's waist, the area that had swallowed more than half of Smoothie's body, a series of cracking sounds was heard as Wilder's two words fell. The swamp solidified and hardened at a visible rate.
And accompanying this process was compression. Smoothie, with the upper half of her body trapped in the swamp, instantly spat out a mouthful of blood. With a crack, her ribs began to break under the terrifying pressure. Her mind grew heavy from lack of oxygen, her consciousness began to blur, blood flowed continuously from her mouth and nose, and her pupils contracted and dilated amidst her trembling.
The appearance of the hundred-meter-tall giant instantly silenced the entire battlefield. Everyone, without exception, stopped fighting and focused their gazes on the Giant General.
Shock was written on every face.
The airflow generated by the Giant General's rise blew so hard that people couldn't open their eyes, but it didn't stop them from catching a glimpse of its massive body, and… the scene of Smoothie charging into it.
"Is… is this something a human can do?" a pirate under the Big Mom Pirates' flag asked in disbelief, looking at the Giant General and swallowing hard.
"Are you kidding me… something like this… how is this possible?" The members of the Charlotte family were more in denial because Smoothie was trapped by the Swamp General. In their minds, the Three Sweet Commanders were invincible under Big Mom. How could she be defeated just like that?
CRACKLE… The cracking sound from the Giant General's waist continued to echo across the field. The color of the swamp in that area was clearly different from the rest of the giant's body, one part hardened, the other still moist.
It was like the same soil, but dry, cracked earth and wet earth would show different colors.
Wilder listened to this wonderful sound, his eyes squinting in comfort, a wicked smile naturally appearing on his face.
Another Sweet Commander about to be killed.
How nice.
Although she is a long-legged woman…
What a pity.
But, the most important thing is her identity as an enemy.
That's enough.
He and Big Mom were already in a life-or-death struggle. There was no such thing as, I'll let you go, and our two families will make up and be friends again.
If we meet, we kill!
This was a consensus reached by both sides without any need for discussion.
Simple, brutal.
But not a bad way to resolve a conflict.
As long as one side disappeared from this world, the conflict would naturally be resolved.
In the silence, only the cracking sound of the solidifying swamp was heard.
CRACKLE…
"CRACK!"
Suddenly, a cracking sound, clearly different from the others, rang out. The entire battlefield fell into a deathly silence.
The smile on Wilder's face, inside the Giant General, froze. His whole body stiffened.
"Mamamamama! Smoothie, are you alright?" Big Mom's voice abruptly appeared in the quiet area. At some unknown point, she had appeared in front of the Giant General. A giant hand plunged into the Giant General's waist, directly digging out a large chunk of solidified swamp. She held it in her hand and squeezed lightly. The swamp chunk crumbled and fell to the ground. Smoothie, in a state of semi-consciousness, knelt dazedly on the ground, her pupils wide as she gasped for fresh air.
"I'm fine now. Thank you, Mama." After a long while, once Smoothie's breathing had steadied, she stood up and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Big Mom. Throughout this process, it was as if all sound had been stripped from the surroundings. No one dared to make a noise.
"Mamamamama! Well then…
…it's time to settle the score with this brat!" Big Mom's smile turned from motherly to sinister, her tone from sunny to stormy. The whole process was like the weather in the New World—one second clear skies, the next a sudden downpour.
A terrifying aura emanated from Big Mom. The surrounding pirates couldn't help but show looks of terror on their faces, taking several steps back.
Under the nervous and uneasy gazes of the crowd, Big Mom, her face shrouded in a dark cloud, moved. Her giant hand clenched into a fist and smashed into the spot on the Swamp General's waist where a chunk had already been dug out!
DONG! It was as if a bell had tolled in everyone's mind. Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, their jaws dropping to the ground.
First, its feet left the ground. Then, the Swamp Giant's body began to lean back, and then… it was airborne, flying backward.
Flying backward…
Flying away…
Away…
…
The entire battlefield was instantly plunged into a silent, deathly stillness. Everyone maintained their wide-eyed, jaw-dropped expression for a full half-minute.
Then, someone, it's not clear who, was the first to come to their senses and let out a… Holy shit!
The entire battlefield erupted in a chorus of "holy shit!"
No one noticed that as the swamp flew backward, a large chunk of swamp detached from the Swamp Giant's back and burrowed into the ground.
Then, the entire Giant General began to disintegrate as it flew backward. Large swathes of swamp crashed to the ground, sending up plumes of dust. Some of it was reabsorbed into Wilder's body. The parts that fell off were mostly the outermost layer that Wilder hadn't bothered to control. The Giant General's disintegration at this moment was also Wilder's own idea. Controlling such a massive swamp giant was not easy, and it consumed a great deal of stamina. Especially after witnessing Big Mom send his Giant General flying with a single punch, Wilder had no choice but to dispel it.
Otherwise, fighting Big Mom in that state would likely be even more disadvantageous for him.
"This is a bit troublesome. What is that old geezer Kizaru doing?" Wilder's body emerged from the large amount of disintegrating swamp and landed steadily on the ground, he said with annoyance.
So close!
I was so close to killing Smoothie!
"Yo! Were you looking for me, my dear brother Wilder? My apologies, I was careless just now." Just then, a golden light coalesced into a human shape in front of Wilder. Kizaru appeared, looking slightly disheveled.
In fact, it was because of a sudden phone call during the battle. In a moment of distraction, Kizaru had been sent flying by a punch from Big Mom.
Of course, there was no need to explain such a thing, so Kizaru didn't.
"Don't worry, my dear brother Wilder. This battle will be over soon," Kizaru said, his back to Wilder, his gaze fixed on Big Mom. He pushed up his slightly askew glasses and gave a lukewarm smile.
"What do you mean?" Wilder stood up, straightened the wrinkles on his clothes, and his gaze also fell on Big Mom in the distance.
"The Marine reinforcements are almost here. Well… she is a Yonko, after all. If we don't bring out our absolute suppressing power, our losses will be heavy. I can't bear that responsibility," Kizaru's leisurely voice entered Wilder's ears, making him raise an eyebrow.
"Reinforcements? Who is it?" His intuition told him that these so-called reinforcements were no ordinary force.
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