Two hours earlier, Wano Country, Flower Capital.
"Are these the ones?"
Katakuri, half his face buried in his white fluffy scarf, stood outside a cage, his gaze sweeping over the Wano residents who had been rounded up.
"Heh heh, if you think it's not enough, I can go catch more!" The round-bodied Queen took his cigar out of his mouth, letting out a strange, pleased, creepy laugh.
"No need. There are already enough. You can release the women and children." Katakuri crossed his arms, turned, and raised his foot to leave.
"Oh? Release the women and children?" Queen raised an eyebrow. "You're not having a crisis of conscience, are you? Hahahaha!"
The sound of slowly retreating footsteps stopped. Katakuri turned his head, and a powerful spirit surged in his crimson pupils.
The overlord's will raged in the dim underground space, transforming into pure, soaring Conqueror's Haki, surging violently. "It's simply because the soul quality of women and children is poor. Understand?"
"Conqueror's Haki!" Queen's eyes behind his sunglasses hardened. The cigar he had been holding fell to the ground unnoticed. His massive, obese body withstood the impact stirred up by the Conqueror's Haki.
Although they were members of Emperors' crews and had heard intelligence about each other, when Katakuri's Conqueror's Haki actually struck Queen, it still made him unable to suppress a palpitation.
"Sigh, fine, fine. I'll release the women and children." Queen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "And, I have something interesting here. Please deliver it to Big Mom for me. Remember not to let your own people touch them!"
With that, Queen pulled a small test tube containing blue liquid and instructions from his body and tossed them to Katakuri. He watched the other leave the dungeon with cold steps.
…
Return to the present, on the battlefield of the northern river of Udon.
Under the bombardment of shells, the banks of the river had been turned into scorched earth. Crater holes of various sizes filled with river water, combined with the flames burning on the shore, seemed to be boiling.
In this hell, Sakura pushed aside a piece of rubble and walked out. Ice shards from her body scattered on the ground, forming a small snowy scene.
The explosions around her continued.
The shells seemed to be chasing her, and they could even f*cking turn?
In the midst of the storm of shrapnel, several ice-blue rays of light shot skyward, freezing all the surrounding scorched earth, also causing the shells to have their fuses sealed before they could explode, crashing to the ground and completely dudding.
After the thick smoke, ice-blue Homies stepped onto the ice field, stumbling directly toward her. This dense number, combined with their pale, white eyes, made Sakura feel for a moment that she had wandered onto the wrong set.
"Technology, corpses, combined with the product of Big Mom's ability?" With her Observation Haki flowing, Sakura had already analyzed some things from the appearance of the newly arriving army.
She casually dodged a Homie's bite, pinned it to the ground, and blue Chakra flowed from her fingertips, forming a surgical scalpel. She immediately cut open its skin.
Chakra infused it, and the internal structure was clearly visible. Faint traces of the remaining tissue of Wano residents who had been turned into Ice Oni by Queen using his epidemic bullets could be seen.
But these Homies were different from the Ice Oni he had developed, which had no self-awareness and only followed instinct to attack all surrounding life.
After the physiological activity of the original Ice Oni ceased, Big Mom used her ability to endow them with souls, allowing these enhanced corpses to move and be turned into an army.
This both avoided the decay brought by Sakura's Senjutsu's plundering of vitality and caused these corpses, which were themselves sources of viral weapon contamination, to bring her new trouble.
Sakura released the Homie. Yang Release Medical Ninjutsu killed the cells on the skin of her palm that had already been infected, then regenerated and expelled them.
She looked back at the vast expanse of ice-blue Homies and couldn't help but sigh, "How did this turn into Resident Evil?"
When Linlin was overseas, she used her fruit ability quite normally, with chess-piece soldiers, the March Hare, the Dreamy Forest… all looking full of childlike charm.
But as soon as she came to Wano, the style suddenly changed. She started playing with plagues, corpses, and pollutants. It was as if she wanted to go through every possible underworld activity.
It must be that the feng shui of Wano is problematic!
"Haruno Sakura..."
Perhaps because they used human remains, or perhaps because they represented Big Mom's anger toward Sakura, this Ice Oni Homie army was unusually ferocious. After gathering to a certain scale, they boldly launched an attack.
"Roar!"
The corpse horde roared. The virus raged.
The Oniwabanshu and samurai, who had originally come with Orochi to punish Sakura, no longer cared about any aftermath. The moment the Ice Oni Homies charged, they threw away their helmets and armor and fled in all directions.
The girl standing atop the ice hill gripped her greatsword made of iron clouds. A ray of light projected from her body, manipulating 'entropy,' her ability that defied common sense showing its edge.
The frost, transformed from subverted thermal energy, under the flow of Sakura's will, turned back into flames.
—High-Temperature Mode: Blazing Fire Warrior Form!
A breeze brushed her cheeks. Increasingly raging firelight gushed out from the girl's body, gradually turning into white flames that rose, enveloping the rapidly flowing, shifting cloud sword.
Threads of scorching firelight spread. The surrounding snowy plain quickly thawed. Many Ice Oni Homies instinctively felt discomfort and wanted to stop their charge, but it was too late.
"I told you, these creations without abilities can't beat me!" Sakura slowly nodded, seeming pleased as she swung the greatsword in her hand.
—Flame Emperor Sword: Ikoku Sovereignty!
Boom!
Amidst the deafening sound of the earth rumbling, a continuous, mountain-like gigantic slash filled the world, carrying endless flames, crashing into the army of Homies.
Explosions resounded. Flames leaped.
The terrifying heat spread, causing the moisture in the air to rapidly evaporate. Countless flesh and blood burned to ashes in the flames.
Not to mention the virus, even the earth was burned into lava. For several kilometers around, there was no sign of life. The entire battlefield looked like an eternally erupting volcano.
Having done all this, Sakura carried her sword and slowly walked up to the remaining metal Homies.
Her green pupils, surging with dark thunder, met its gaze, and also met the gaze of the Soul Empress watching this place through its eyes.
"How much longer are you going to hide? You, who are revered by the giants as the Evil Spirit, have you already lost the courage to face your enemy directly?"
The girl's disappointed eyes and arrogant appearance were clearly transmitted through the Homies' soul connection to the Tenshukaku, to the eyes of their Empress.
Finally, the anger that had accumulated to its limit ignited Linlin's already crazy soul like a scorching sun.
"Hey, you few! Get out of my way!!!"
The smile was gone from Linlin's face. Her patience with her children had also run out. Her tone was full of indifference and grimness.
"Life or Leave?"
The ferocious aura emanating from her soul deprived the surrounding light and warmth. Daifuku, Oven, Amande, Custard, and the other members of the Charlotte Family showed horrified expressions and quickly avoided her.
Only Linlin raised her fierce eyes and shouted, "Zeus!"
"Yes, Mama!"
Golden lightning suddenly spread. A blurred outline rose into the air.
Zeus, having turned into a dark cloud, carried Charlotte Linlin and rapidly sped toward the battlefield where that little brat kept provoking her!