Meanwhile, Marco was also engaged with members of the Big Mom Pirates, but frustratingly, he hadn't gained any attribute points from defeating them, which left him disappointed. During the Marineford War, every enemy he defeated granted him attribute points like leveling up in a game, letting him feel his strength growing with each battle and giving him fresh motivation. It was unfortunate that after Marineford ended, no such mission had appeared again.
"I'll take out the executives first," Marco said, eyes focused.
Soon, he spotted Charlotte Oven wreaking havoc and charged straight toward him.
Seeing Marco move, Katakuri's pupils tightened. He pushed off the ground and leaped up, his arm solidifying into mochi as he shouted, "Don't even think about hurting my brother!"
But in the next instant, a red flash of Observation Haki appeared in Katakuri's eyes. Then Marco activated Flame Net, Fire Gun, and an enormous net of fire erupted to block Katakuri's path.
At the same time, Ace stood ready, hand at his waist in a pistol pose, firing blazing bullets from his fingertips like a machine gun.
Once again, Observation Haki flared in Katakuri's eyes, but the barrage of flaming bullets cut through his mochi body as though he'd become elemental.
At that moment, Marco had already closed the distance to Charlotte Oven. Alarmed by his allies' shouts, Oven turned and saw Marco approaching, fire lighting up his eyes as he sneered, "You came for me? Fine, I'll send you flying."
Oven's fist glowed red as he launched a fiery punch at Marco.
With calm precision, Marco caught the blow. Oven immediately followed up with another punch, and Marco caught that as well.
Oven's eyes blazed with fury. As a user of the Heat‑Heat Fruit, few could even withstand his strikes. Flames wreathed his fists, and he roared, "Don't underestimate me! I'll burn you to death!"
Marco felt the intense heat radiating from Oven's fists, but it wasn't magma‑level heat like Akainu's. He said coolly, "This heat might be strong… but it's nowhere near Akainu's magma. In both temperature and power, it's a different world."
With that, Marco tightened his grip on Oven's blazing fists, giving him no room to pull away, and called out, "Phoenix Seal!"
He drove his knee up and delivered a powerful kick directly into Oven's stomach. Oven spat out a mouthful of blood, and because his arms were immobilized, he flew up and backward from the force.
Marco seized the opening, wrapped his arms around Oven's limbs, and launched himself skyward.
"Oven..." Katakuri cried out in alarm. He had already seen what Marco was about to do.
Katakuri's arm turned into mochi and shot out to try to stop Oven, but a burst of flame struck his limb, leaving him reeling from the burning pain. Katakuri's face darkened as he glanced at Ace, already piecing together Marco's intent.
Ace curved his lips into a confident smile and said, "Don't even think about interfering with Marco."
"Damn it..." Katakuri's face turned pale, but he could only watch as Marco hurled Oven down from a great height. With a tremendous impact, the ground exploded outward, cracking and buckling as chunks of earth flew in every direction.
"It's not over yet!" Marco declared as wings of fire and light sprouted on his back and he dove again toward Oven.
Katakuri watched in shock. He already knew what Marco intended and shouted, "Stop, Marco…"
But the moment Katakuri tried to act, Ace unleashed a Fire Fist that blocked his advance. Katakuri had no choice but to stand down.
Smoothie and Cracker wanted to rush to Oven's aid, but they were too far away and already engaged with other formidable opponents.
Marco's fist was sheathed in Armament Haki and flickered with blue flames as he bellowed, "Iron Body, Fire Fist."
Just then, Charlotte Daifuku activated his Puff‑Puff Fruit ability and summoned a massive genie that leapt in front of Oven, its huge naginata blocking Marco's punch.
Yet in the next instant, Marco's strike shattered the naginata and dispelled the genie. The punch landed squarely on Oven's body, knocking him hard into the ground again.
"Hmph, blocked?" Marco muttered with slight irritation. Although the genie appeared suddenly, it had only absorbed part of his strike and could not withstand the full force.
"Don't even think about hurting Brother Oven!" Charlotte Snack charged in, large saber raised, slashing toward Marco.
Marco didn't dodge. He reinforced his arm with Armament Haki and met Snack's blade with a punch. The impact reverberated as Snack's saber vibrated against Marco's armored arm.
At that moment, many members of the Big Mom Pirates swarmed in to protect the badly wounded Oven and drag him back for treatment. Executives surrounded Marco, and Daifuku shouted, "Be careful! Marco is now Captain of the Phoenix Pirates with a bounty of over 1.8 billion Berries. Even Katakuri respects this monster. Don't fight him one‑on‑one, gang up on him! If we take him down, the Phoenix Pirates will surely collapse!"
Hearing this, the Big Mom Pirates fighters hardened their expressions.
Marco looked at them, a sneer forming on his lips.
"Then come and try," he said, "I'll show you the difference between you and me."
At this moment, Marco possessed strength at the Weak Emperor level, while the strongest among them, Snack, was only at Strong Captain level. The gap was immense. Even when Marco had been at Strong Emperor Subordinate level, facing Admiral‑Emperor rivals like Aokiji and Akainu, he knew that without multiple opponents cooperating, overpowering someone of a much higher rank one‑on‑one was nearly impossible.
Even if all those Big Mom Pirates teamed up, Marco didn't fear them. His strength far surpassed theirs.
The Phoenix Pirates crew would not allow them to overwhelm Marco, as Marco had coordinated tactics with them before the battle.
Katakuri, the only Sweet Commander who might hold Marco back, was currently restrained by Ace, and none of the others could stop Marco's advance.
"Don't act like we don't exist, Big Mom Pirates…"
Soon, the Phoenix Pirates' Vice Captains, Captains, and other officers joined the fray and began engaging the Big Mom Pirates executives head‑on.
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