BOOM!
With a deafening explosion, the roaring thunder descended. Even before it hit, the waves along the coast were already surging violently, crashing against the shore in a frenzy.
The marines' faces changed drastically as they scrambled to retreat.
But Nao remained exactly where he stood — unmoving.
The horrifying column of violet-black lightning struck his body — yet the moment it touched him, it was completely absorbed. Like a drop of water vanishing into the sea, it didn't even leave a ripple behind.
"Mm… that feels nice."
Nao tilted his neck with a satisfying crack, arcs of azure-blue lightning flickering faintly across his body.
He raised his eyes toward BIG MOM, his tone calm and teasing:
"Although we can barely be considered old acquaintances, our affiliations are different after all. Offering a supplement like this right from the start... aren't you being a bit too polite?"
"Hmm?"
Seeing her thunder attack fail completely, BIG MOM's face twisted into a grotesque snarl — slipping further into madness.
"MAMAMAMA! I almost forgot you brat had become a user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!"
Her shrill laughter sent chills down spines as she slowly raised her massive right hand.
BZZT!
Countless sparks of flame and arcs of lightning intertwined, wrapping around her fist until it glowed with destructive power — crackling and booming with a terrifying pressure.
"However, if you think eating a Devil Fruit is enough to oppose me, you're still far from ready!"
With a furious roar, BIG MOM leapt down from Zeus, her fist wreathed in both flame and lightning, crashing downward like a meteor.
The air howled; waves and wind surged violently, as if the world itself would be swallowed whole.
"Flame… Critical Smash!!"
Compared to her earlier massive lightning strike, this punch covered a smaller area — but its raw destructive force was far more terrifying.
Nao's brow arched slightly — but he didn't intend to block it head-on.
Ever since BIG MOM appeared, he had already laid down an electromagnetic field over the entire dock.
The instant he willed it, his body vanished — reappearing hundreds of meters high in the air in a flash of light.
BOOM!
BIG MOM's flaming punch struck nothing but the ground.
The dock split open, spiderweb cracks racing across its surface.
It looked as if the entire harbor would collapse at any moment.
"Now's our chance!"
On the deck of the largest pirate ship, Perospero burst into wild laughter and waved his candy-coated staff, shouting sharply:
"Smoothie! Cracker! Take six pirate crews each and flank from both sides!
Mama will deal with the White Dragon — but as for his Marines,
not a single one of them leaves here alive!"
"Understood, Big brother Perospero."
Behind him, Smoothie stared at Nao from afar, her expression complicated. After a brief breath, she steeled herself and replied firmly.
On the other side, several towering biscuit soldiers slammed their fists together and grinned wickedly.
"Heh-heh, don't worry. Leave it to us!"
Just as Nao had predicted —
BIG MOM had crossed the Calm Belt, but since Zeus could only carry a limited number of people, she couldn't bring the full might of Whole Cake Island's forces.
So she had simply recruited locally, coercing and bribing twelve North Blue pirate crews to serve as cannon fodder.
The real combat power lay in the hands of her two Sweet Commanders — Smoothie and Cracker.
Cracker, especially — as long as his stamina held out, his Biscuit-Biscuit Fruit could create an endless army of powerful soldiers, each one vastly stronger than the average North Blue pirate.
As for Perospero, though he was the eldest of the Charlotte siblings, his combat ability was only second-rate within the family.
He preferred to stay behind and direct the battlefield.
And as for Katakuri...
He had departed for the New World long before this.
With BIG MOM taking two of her Sweet Commanders to the North Blue, the family's defenses had been left dangerously thin.
Relying on someone as detached as Compote to manage things would never do — Katakuri had to stay behind to guard Whole Cake Island personally.
Before long, all the pirate ships had made landfall.
Led by their captains, thousands upon thousands of pirates charged up the harbor like a pack of ravenous wolves, howling as they went.
A massive wave of Biscuit Soldiers followed close behind, quickly forming an encirclement that sealed off the entire 128th Marine Branch.
Not even water could leak through their blockade.
"That's a lot of damn people…"
Onigumo, cigar clamped between his teeth, gave a cold sneer before turning to Captain Garmore beside him:
"The pirate crews to the east aren't that tough. Take your men and handle them.
The stronger ones — and those biscuit soldiers — are our problem."
"Yes, sir!"
Captain Garmore snapped to attention and led his unit toward the eastern flank.
Meanwhile, the Marines under the Thunder Hawk's command had already dispersed on Momonga's orders, preparing to face enemies who outnumbered them several times over.
"So… what about the two Commanders?"
Onigumo exhaled a stream of smoke, glancing at his fellow officer.
"Smoothie's got the higher bounty. You want me to take her? You handle that… uh, Snickers guy?"
"It's Cracker," Momonga corrected dryly.
"I don't mind, but you'd better be careful.
Smoothie once fought Vice Admiral Gion to a draw.
I'm worried you might not hold up."
"Tch. Don't underestimate me."
Onigumo flicked away his cigar, drawing his blade with a smirk.
His eyes gleamed with fighting spirit as he looked toward the distant white-haired woman.
"I've been training like hell for years.
A fight like this?
I've been waiting for it a long time."
...
Meanwhile, high above the sky—
Thunder roared and lightning raged wildly across the clouds.
Amid the explosions, two figures flashed in and out of sight — BIG MOM and Nao, clashing again and again at blinding speed.
In less than ten minutes, the two had already traded hundreds of blows in midair, their bodies colliding head-on with terrifying power.
Under Nao's control, their battlefield gradually shifted toward the northern forests of the island.
Though the island's population was small — and most had likely evacuated — he still wanted to minimize any potential casualties.
"Nao, YOU BRAT!!!"
BIG MOM roared shrilly, seizing a brief opening as she lunged in, her massive fist crashing forward.
THUD!
Nao didn't dodge.
He took the flaming punch head-on with his shoulder — the impact twisting the joint grotesquely — but within moments, his flesh began to reform and heal.
Barely a scratch remained.
"That supposed to tickle?"
He grabbed her massive, flame-wreathed hand mid-strike, forcing it back inch by inch.
A cold smile curved his lips as he met her grotesque, bloated face up close.
"Almost three years since we last met, Charlotte Linlin.
Aside from getting even fatter, your strength hasn't changed at all.
Been too busy eating cake, I guess?"
"INSOLENT WHELP!!"
BIG MOM's fury erupted.
With a roar, she poured her full strength into her body — enough to drive Nao back several steps.
"Don't think that just because you barely fought Kaido to a draw,
you can survive against me!"
Her hair flew wildly as her face twisted into something demonic, like a beast risen straight from hell.
"Back on Whole Cake Island, you were lucky — jumping into the sea to escape me!
But this time, you won't get that chance again!"
With a sharp motion of her right hand, the pink, twin-horned captain's hat on her head — Napoleon — transformed into a massive broadsword, gleaming wickedly in her grip.
"The warm-up's over, brat!"
Her bloodshot eyes glowed crimson.
Above her, the blazing Prometheus merged into the blade, sheathing it entirely in fire — burning bright as a miniature sun.
"Now let me show you…
what true power really looks like!"
"Emperor's Sword — Breath of Purgatory!"
With a thunderous roar, BIG MOM raised her massive flaming blade high above her head.
The infernal light seared the sky itself before she brought it down toward Nao's head with terrifying speed — a slash so fierce that it seemed to burn the very air.
Shhhhk!
Even before the blade could reach him, the suffocating heat washed over everything.
Waves of scorching air rolled outward, hot enough to melt stone and steel alike, twisting the space around them.
"Is that all you've got?"
Standing amidst the raging firestorm, Nao didn't budge.
The air shimmered around his body, but the unbearable heat didn't even faze him.
His eyes were sharp and cold — utterly devoid of emotion.
"You call that swordsmanship?
Let me show you how it's really done."
Zzzt!
Before his words even finished, lightning exploded around him.
From his chest, he drew the twin swords Yone, their edges gleaming with flowing blue electricity.
He slashed upward in a crossing arc — and from that strike, a massive azure thunder dragon roared into existence, surging straight toward BIG MOM.
...
Elsewhere on the battlefield—
Hundreds of hulking Biscuit Soldiers surged in from every direction, waves of armored constructs crashing together as they launched attack after attack toward the center.
At their core stood Momonga, surrounded on all sides.
His expression remained calm and unreadable.
Sword in hand, he weaved effortlessly through the onslaught, cutting down one biscuit soldier after another in clean, efficient arcs.
"Hehahahaha! Nice swordsmanship! Your Armament Haki's not bad either!"
A mocking, high-pitched voice echoed all around him, constantly shifting direction so that its source was impossible to pinpoint.
"Guess I underestimated you, Mr. Mohawk! For a Rear Admiral, you're pretty close to Vice Admiral level, huh?"
"But so what?"
"Heeheehee! Power alone won't save you! Can you find me, huh? Can you?"
"If you can't, I'll just keep making Biscuit Soldiers forever! And you— you'll tire out eventually…"
The laughter turned cruel.
"And when that happens… hahahaha, that'll be the end of you!"
...
The constant taunting would have driven most men into a rage — enough to make them stomp the ground and lash out blindly.
But Momonga was not most men.
His composure never wavered.
There was no irritation in his face, no hint of emotion.
He simply moved — methodically, mechanically — his blade flashing in the same steady rhythm as he carved through wave after wave of enemies.
"Tch. What a boring guy."
At last, perhaps growing tired of his own games, Cracker gave a final jeer — and fell silent.
Still, the Biscuit Soldiers kept coming, one after another, endless and unrelenting.
Momonga found himself surrounded again, locked in what seemed like an infinite battle that could never truly end.
Time blurred.
And then—
As his sword cleaved another soldier cleanly in two, Momonga's brows twitched.
He had sensed something.
In one smooth motion, he turned sharply toward a point deep within the formation.
"One-Sword Style — Thunderburst Slash!"
He uttered in a low voice, his sword striking out. The whistling sword energy seemed to carry the roar of thunder within.
Over the past few years, both he and Onigumo had frequently sought Nao's guidance in swordsmanship. Over time, they were influenced significantly, and the techniques they developed often carried a hint of Nao's wind and lightning sword style.
Slash!
The blade stirred up a violent gust of wind. Within the cone-shaped area of the attack, more than ten Biscuit Soldiers stiffened simultaneously. In the next instant, they abruptly burst open, scattering into countless fragments.
At the very end of the cone-shaped area, Cracker, who had been hiding inside one of the Biscuit Soldiers, revealed his somewhat withered figure.
He stood there blankly, his face full of shock and disbelief — clearly still struggling to comprehend how the situation had turned so suddenly against him.
"You… how did you find me?"
Cracker's expression flickered with panic for an instant, but he quickly forced himself to calm down again. His voice turned low and cold.
"I didn't even say anything after that… there's no way—"
"Exactly," Momonga interrupted him coolly, his voice like ice.
"You stopped talking — which means you also stopped moving."
His tone hardened, sharp as his blade.
"Enough nonsense, pirate. You've got two choices now — either fight me head-on like a man… or keep hiding behind your biscuit soldiers like a coward."
Then, without another word, his gaze froze over, turning utterly cold.
In the next instant his body vanished with a flash — "Soru!"
He reappeared directly above Cracker, sword drawn.
A heartbeat later—
His blade, wrapped in a dense layer of obsidian-black Armament Haki, came crashing down toward Cracker's neck!
...
Boom!
Blinding arcs of lightning tore through the forest canopy, illuminating the sky.
The raging inferno that had moments before swept toward Nao was devoured instantly by the massive thunder dragon that burst forth from his blades.
In the midst of the flames, BIG MOM's Emperor Sword came crashing down — but it was met head-on, blocked solidly by Nao's Twin Sword.
The flames licking across her sword began to fizzle and die out upon contact.
"Mama! It hurts! It hurts!"
The sentient sword Napoleon, now in its Emperor form, screamed in agony — its very soul wounded by the violent clash.
But BIG MOM didn't care.
"Shut up!"
She snarled, shoving another surge of soul power into the weapon, crudely forcing it to repair itself before she swung again with brutal strength.
Clang!
The clash of metal echoed like thunder.
Two overwhelming forces slammed together, grinding against each other for a few seconds — and then detonated outward, sending both fighters skidding back through the air.
Nao was driven back over a hundred meters before he stopped himself midair.
BIG MOM, though slightly steadier, was forced back nearly ninety meters.
"Impressive strength, brat…"
She narrowed her eyes, noticing that tiny difference, and a grim look crept over her face.
"To think… you're only a little weaker than me."
At their level, such a small gap in raw power was practically meaningless.
And for anyone who'd studied his record, it was common knowledge that Vice Admiral Nao's greatest assets had always been his speed, agility, and dual-sword mastery — all unmatched within the Marine.
His stamina was monstrous, his lightning powers terrifying, but his raw physical strength had never been considered his main advantage.
Yet now, BIG MOM realized with growing disbelief that the monstrous physical strength she'd always prided herself on…
was only slightly greater than his.
It was almost unthinkable.
This fact forced her to become instantly wary, temporarily sobering her up from her state of enraged frenzy, and compelling her to re-evaluate the overall strength of the man before her.