"Try this one, long-nose!!!"
"Gift from the Heavens · Meteor Lead Shot!!!"
"Go to hell!!!"
"Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa…"
Whoosh—!!!
In the eastern region of Cake Island, deep within a lush primeval forest.
The figure of the New World's largest storage-industry magnate, the Hoarder Master Giberson, suddenly appeared high in the sky.
In the next instant, countless dense black dots emerged around his body.
A heartbeat later, those black dots abruptly transformed into basketball-sized lead spheres, crashing down like a torrential rainstorm under the pull of gravity.
Beneath that curtain of falling lead—
Was the very man who had just shaken Giberson to his core.
Usopp.
Yet even as the lead spheres poured down from the sky, Usopp showed not the slightest trace of panic. His expression remained calm and steady, like an ancient well untouched by ripples.
"I already told you…"
"Your ability is completely useless against me!!!"
As he spoke, Usopp suddenly extended his arm.
In the next moment, countless tiny wooden storage doors burst open from the pores of his arm, snapping wide in rapid succession.
Every lead sphere that fell toward Usopp—right before making contact—seemed to be "packed down" in an instant, shrinking to a far smaller size, then slipping neatly into the storage doors and vanishing into the warehouse within his body.
Hoarder Master Giberson, user of the Paramecia-type Shrink-Shrink Fruit!
His Devil Fruit allowed him to proportionally shrink or restore the size and mass of himself—and any non-living objects he touched.
How small he could shrink something depended on how deeply he had developed the Fruit.
It was precisely by relying on the Shrink-Shrink Fruit that Giberson built a vast commercial empire, making storage his core business.
And the Shrink-Shrink Fruit also gave him a distinctive way of fighting: compared to pure brute force, he relied far more on tools and items.
With that ability in hand, even a man of his nature had forced his way into the ranks of top-tier powerhouses.
Even the other kings of the underworld didn't dare look down on him.
Until today.
Until this very moment.
Because Giberson had encountered the single most troublesome—and most perfectly countering—opponent of his life.
The user of the Storage-Storage Fruit—
Usopp!
The rain-of-items style attacks Giberson depended on—his "scatter the heavens" barrage—became utterly meaningless before Usopp's storage abilities, like driving a heavy punch straight into splashing water.
Even worse, every single item Giberson threw out ended up turning into Usopp's personal property.
Seeing that, the already petty and miserly Giberson was instantly furious.
But before he could unleash that anger, Usopp below lifted the corner of his mouth, grinning up into the air.
"Lead balls again? Something this cheap?"
"Looks like you really don't have any valuable special tools left on you."
"In that case…"
"Let's end this fight early."
Usopp's gaze sharpened as he focused on Giberson, then he casually pointed.
"Volcarona, take him down!"
"Use Fire Blast!"
"Chirp—!!"
The moment Usopp's command rang out, a sharp cry echoed from above.
A scorching heatwave surged like a tsunami, swallowing the entire forest.
"What?!"
Giberson froze.
Realizing something, he snapped his body around and looked into the sky behind him.
In the next instant, shock and terror swallowed his face.
High above their battlefield, the blazing "sun" suddenly unfurled a pair of wings made of crimson flames, its body stretching and reshaping into the silhouette of a gigantic divine bird.
Only then did Giberson understand—
That "sun" above their heads had been Long-Nose's pet from the very beginning!
And he hadn't noticed a thing.
He had even been wondering why today's sun looked so big and round… and why it felt even hotter than before.
"Chirp!"
Unfortunately, Volcarona—now in its Vermilion Bird form—gave him no time to think.
Already prepared, it drew out the surging Fire-type energy within its body. With the Vermilion Bird's boost amplifying flame techniques, a massive "大"-shaped inferno formed instantly and crashed down over Giberson.
Giberson, who hadn't noticed the danger behind him, never imagined Usopp would be this shameless.
His Devil Fruit already countered him perfectly—and Usopp still had a Pokémon lying in wait nearby, ready to strike the moment an opening appeared.
A pirate with a bounty of three billion Beli…
Did he really have to be cautious to this extent?!
Between the two of them—
Who was the weak one here?!
With that bitter confusion in his heart, Giberson—whose personal combat strength wasn't truly his greatest asset—was swallowed by the raging flames and lost consciousness on the spot.
Not long after, a giant hand formed from countless tiny flying insects drifted down, grabbed Giberson by the ankle, and dangled him in midair, shaking him a few times.
Two hundred meters away, Usopp nodded thoughtfully.
"Looks like he's really unconscious."
"But just in case… I'll wait for Red and the others to arrive before putting him into my body warehouse."
The cautious Usopp didn't think this meant he was timid.
He simply…
Trusted his companions more than he trusted himself.
At least—that's what Usopp believed.
…
…
Whoosh!!!
Elsewhere on Cake Island, amid layered mountain ranges—
A figure like Tarzan swung through the air on a green vine, vaulting from one side of the mountains to the other.
The vine detached on its own, rapidly shrinking.
At the same time, the "Tarzan" who landed atop the peak also shrank down.
Now he looked like a tiny Tarzan.
"Heh heh heh… you can really run, you little thing!!!"
A rough, sinister laugh echoed up from the valley below.
A scythe-wielding figure sprang up from the ravine, instantly catching up to the fleeing little Chopper.
"Heh heh heh~" Drug Peclo let out another nauseating laugh. "Never thought the Straw Hat Pirates would have someone as weak as you!"
"No wonder you don't show up on any bounty posters!"
"But that's even better!"
"If those guys find out I personally slaughtered a core member of the Straw Hat Pirates, my reputation in the assassin world will soar again—fame and fortune in one leap!!!"
"Even if… you're just a 'transparent pirate' with no bounty!"
"You bastard! You're the one with no bounty!"
Little Chopper's face turned ugly as he snapped back.
Across all the battlefields today, Chopper might have been the only one chased around nonstop—and stabbed right in the pride by his opponent's words.
Still, it wasn't entirely Drug Peclo's fault.
After all, the photo on Chopper's bounty poster was of a fearsome giant beast—something that would terrify anyone at a glance.
The little Chopper in front of him was practically impossible to connect to that monster.
Even if they wore hats with the same pattern.
In truth, Drug Peclo had considered whether this little guy might have some connection to that beast.
But in a situation like this, there was no time to investigate.
More than finding the truth, he wanted to kill the little thing quickly—and escape this land of trouble.
Only…
Very soon…
Drug Peclo would no longer be laughing.
…
…
"So it really is like this…"
"Even with the equipment Usopp and Franky made for me, I still can't fight world-class powerhouses with my current strength?!"
"I'm… still too weak!!!"
With unwillingness burning in his eyes, Chopper made his final choice.
He slowly reached toward the backpack on his back, and from an angle Drug Peclo couldn't see, pulled out a Rumble Ball and popped it into his mouth.
In truth, with his level already high, Chopper no longer needed the Rumble Ball just to enter his Giant Beast Form.
But that didn't mean it was useless.
With Chopper's current strength—combined with the Rumble Ball's effects—
He could maintain two special forms at the same time.
For example…
"Giant Beast… Swordmaster!!!"
Chopper let out a low shout.
In the next instant, he bit down hard, crushing the candy coating of the Rumble Ball and swallowing it.
In a flash, the Devil Fruit energy inside him surged into chaos.
Under Drug Peclo's stunned gaze, the child he had been chasing suddenly began to expand.
First came thick fur bursting from the seams of his clothes.
Then a massive body filled with muscle and savage power.
In the blink of an eye, a giant beast identical to the one on the bounty poster stood before Drug Peclo.
But that still wasn't the end.
After becoming a wild monster, Chopper's body shifted again.
More compact, refined arms.
Straighter, steadier legs.
And eyes that looked calm and wise—like they could see through everything in the world.
This was the Swordmaster Form Chopper developed after observing Zoro's body!
A green glow filled with life blossomed around Chopper's right wrist.
Then, vines surged out like living blood vessels, intertwining at lightning speed—
Forming a massive emerald greatsword in his hand.
This was the special weapon Usopp and Franky had forged for Chopper over the past three months…
The internal proliferating Green Demon armor.
Its main material came from a special plant Usopp possessed.
Through experiments, Usopp discovered—
At normal or high temperatures, this plant could grow rapidly with extremely low energy consumption, and it had incredible toughness.
Even ordinary blades couldn't leave a single white mark on it.
Within a certain range, the higher the temperature, the tougher it became.
And conversely—
In extreme cold, this vine-like plant would instantly become incredibly hard.
The lower the temperature, the greater the hardness.
After Franky's modifications—drawing on his experience as a cyborg—he successfully implanted an energy-stabilizing conversion device into Chopper's wrist.
Under normal conditions, the plant would curl up into a seed-like form, rooted in the device base, causing no interference with Chopper's daily life.
But once battle began, Chopper could inject Grass-type energy into the device, making it grow instantly into a stylish, shapeable piece of equipment!
Whether blade, spear, staff, or some other special weapon—
Using his Grass and Ice attributes, Chopper could freely control it.
Its uses were virtually endless!
…
…
"Wh-what… is this?!"
Staring at the giant beast that had appeared out of nowhere, Drug Peclo's face beneath his mask went pale.
Even his always-cackling mouth hung open, unable to close.
He couldn't understand why the weak little kid from just a moment ago had transformed into such a terrifying monster in an instant.
Who allowed you to swap fighters in the middle of a battle?!
A bad feeling exploded in Drug Peclo's heart.
But before his dull mind could even process it—
A violent pressure wave was already slashing toward him.
"One Sword Style · Great Horned Reindeer · Surprise Assault!"
BOOM!!!
Despite his towering, multi-meter body, Chopper—wielding the Green Demon greatsword—blurred into a pitch-black shadow that seemed to blot out the sky as he charged straight at Drug Peclo.
CLANG—!!BANG!!!
The massive blade came down with terrifying force!
Even though Chopper hadn't studied swordsmanship with Zoro for very long, and his own skill was only barely at the beginner stage—
Strength could crush technique.
The Giant Beast form modeled after Zoro's physique gave Chopper a stance suited for swordplay.
And combined with the monstrous strength of his Giant Beast state…
Even Drug Peclo, famous in the assassin world, couldn't claim he could take that strike lightly.
Whooo—!
The shockwave roared outward like a violent storm, sweeping in all directions.
The ground collapsed under the impact, tearing open a long, narrow crater.
And the cracks around it—
Were shaped just like Chopper's usual antlers!
"Damn it…"
"Why is it like this?!"
Inside the ravine, Drug Peclo's face was dark as he stared at the sky-piercing greatsword lifting away, his body trembling uncontrollably.
This wasn't right.
This was way not right!
Why did his opponent go from a little kid to THIS?!
Someone tell me—
WHY?!
…
…
"At the same time…"
In a top-level area of Cake Island that offered a view of many battlefields—
Robin and Stussy sat at a pristine white European-style table.
Fine pastries and tea were arranged neatly on the tabletop.
Two elegant beauties lounged comfortably like close friends, casually commenting on the battles below.
Most of the shock came from Stussy, while Robin simply smiled, occasionally sharing a few insignificant details.
Compared to the raging war below, this might have been the only quiet place on Cake Island.
After hearing Stussy's astonishment, Robin—mid-sip—paused slightly, then spoke slowly.
"Little Chopper isn't a monster…"
"He's an important companion of the Straw Hat Pirates…"
"Three-time consecutive winner of our crew's Most Popular Award."
A flicker of danger passed through Robin's eyes, a faint pressure radiating from her as if warning Stussy—
Desserts can be eaten casually.
But words…
Must never be spoken carelessly.
(End of Chapter)