"Really, couldn't you have caught me more gently?"
On the frozen sea surface, Ace climbed out of the large crater, rubbing his head.
Supporting himself on the strangely shaped ice nearby, he took a few steps forward and noticed the two members of the Lunarian Race facing off at the center of the battlefield.
After staring at the identical flames burning behind them, a flash of inspiration struck his mind. "Father and daughter?"
"Absolutely not!!!"
King turned his head and roared loudly at Ace.
But Sato Sakura in front of him fell into a strange silence. The girl's complex gaze trembled slightly.
'No? Seriously?'
'Say something, brat?'
'You really want to be my daughter? What's the angle?'
Even Yamato froze in place now, her kanabo raised awkwardly, suddenly unsure whether to continue fighting.
Who would have thought that King, who always refused to take off his leather suit and mask, actually hid a surprisingly innocent-looking face beneath that thick shell.
Yamato withdrew her gaze from Sato Sakura and nodded seriously. "King-san, abandoning your lover and children is bad!"
"I don't care if you're from the World Government or one of those Stigma creations. You're dying here today!!!" After being stared at by Yamato with a near-insulting look for so long, King's last shred of sanity snapped.
He spread his wings and flew into the air, using the pteranodon's agile body to circle and slash. Countless flame slashes, each coated in Armament Haki, rained down from the sky like a downpour of blades, threatening to annihilate everyone on the ground.
Just then, the long-silent Sato Sakura finally moved. "I won't attack you this time. But next time, we'll be enemies."
As she spoke, Sato Sakura's arm partially transformed into its beast form. Flowing Armament Haki formed a layer of armor outside her body.
The massive beast claw blocked the area where the other crew members were, shielding them from King's rain of slashes.
"Are you looking down on me?" King's eyes behind his leather mask were bloodshot.
"No. I'm merely paying my final respects to the source of this body's genes, even though you currently harbor killing intent toward me." Sato Sakura's calm gaze met this stranger's. There was no regret or sadness in her heart.
Born as a product of genetic editing, she had long prepared herself to be disliked by these gene donors.
Yet unexpectedly, she had gained a precious familial bond during her journey. Honestly, based on the common knowledge Vegapunk had given her, she was already luckier than the vast majority of people in the world.
Her past origins, bloodline, and position didn't matter to her. What mattered was how to create her own future and leave her mark on this world!
"I've already broken free from the shackles of this bloodline. What about you?"
King seemed to see, in the girl's clear eyes, the reflection of his own face hidden beneath the mask.
"A half-breed like you wouldn't understand that. And brats don't get to preach to me!"
King raised his long sword, coated it again with Armament Haki, and slashed fiercely at Sato Sakura.
Clang!
Ace sprinted across the distant ice and blocked King's slash with his partially drawn famous blade.
Yamato, moving on all fours like a wild beast, charged behind King and raised her kanabo. "I don't know what's going on, but you're ready to fight again, right?"
The kanabo, radiating freezing air, swung in a wide arc, slamming hard into King's waist. The ice mixed with Haki seeped under King's leather suit.
—Ice General Slash!
"Cough!" King coughed out a few pieces of ice.
With no way to brace himself mid-air, he flew backward, crashing hard into the ice and kicking up a large cloud of ice mist.
'Dammit. Forget Yamato, what's the background of that other brat? Why is he so troublesome too?' King crushed the ice shards on his body and stood up from the crater.
The Lunarian's flame was still burning, so the brats' attacks couldn't break his defense.
But he couldn't match them in close combat or Haki... Could it be that...
"Would I lose to you two brats? Impossible!" King laughed in exasperation.
After reaching a certain point, he no longer felt angry. His mind was calm. He actively extinguished the mysterious flame behind him.
"Take this, you damn brats!"
After the flame went out, King's speed increased dramatically. He moved nimbly through the air, easily dodging the ice spears Yamato threw at him, and charged straight for Ace.
"He's coming your way, Ace!" The moment King passed Yamato, she turned and shouted a warning.
"Don't worry, I know!" Ace, mid-air, swung his sword to slash.
—Higanbana Blade Thrower!
A massive sword slash traced a cross in the air and crashed down toward King with Ace's Haki.
The pteranodon ignited a flame, shattered the slash, and then extinguished it again, rapidly closing in on Ace.
However, Ace had already used the recoil from his previous slash to drop himself inside Sato Sakura's protective circle.
"Hmm?" Sato Sakura and King were both momentarily stunned.
But King, with his richer combat experience, was the first to react. He coated his head in Armament Haki and used his claws to pull his head back like a slingshot.
Flames burned from behind him up to the pteranodon's mouth, forming a ring of fiery spikes.
—Proud Marten Emperor!
King released his arms. His head shot forward like a spring, carrying immense penetrating power, stabbing straight toward Sato Sakura's beast claw.
"Sigh."
The giant girl sighed softly, transforming completely into her full beast form. Flames identical to King's ignited behind her body.
The sea beneath the ice surged. Metals buried in the seabed were manipulated by Sato Sakura's ability, rapidly rising upward, finally breaking through the ice and condensing into a metal armor around her arm, followed closely by Armament Haki.
Sato Sakura, originally created as the strongest shield within Kamimusubi no Yari, now displayed her powerful defense to its fullest.
—Mumbling Nonsense? Tell It to My Defense!
Clang!
King's head collided head-on with Sato Sakura's palm, reinforced with Haki and metal. A thunderous crash erupted.
In a blur of spinning sky and earth, the pteranodon flew backward.
He couldn't even feel the pain of shattering bones or the dizziness of a concussion. Like a falling leaf, he was helplessly tossed up and dropped by the hurricane.
Before King, dazed and confused, could organize a second defense, Yamato chased after him and smacked him on the head with her kanabo.
"Thunder Bagua!"
The iron kanabo wrapped in freezing air flashed past. A large amount of blue lightning erupted from King's forehead behind her. He flew backward, his consciousness fuzzy, crashed through several ice pillars, and was buried again.
"Yeah!"
After landing, Yamato and Ace raised their palms and high-fived each other in mid-air.
Seeing their knowing expressions, Sato Sakura reverted to human form.
She appeared behind them, teeth gritted, her eyes turning into inverted triangles as she bared her shark teeth.
"You two! You used me!!!"
"Ah?" Ace and Yamato mechanically turned their heads.
And they saw that fist, wreathed in Ryuo, flying straight toward them.
So they turned and ran, the three of them chasing each other around the ship's wreckage.
But what they didn't notice was the clouds in the distant sky flowing.
An overwhelming force scared away all the sea beasts in the vicinity, stirring up countless giant waves and thunder.
—The World's Strongest Creature was crossing the sea.