"That's still not big enough? How big do you want it? You're not that big yourself!" Roger couldn't help but roast Gaban.
Gaban's old face flushed red. He slammed the table and declared, "I used to feel a bit embarrassed about it, but since we've come this far, I won't hide it anymore—my dream is to marry a giant woman from Elbaf!!!"
Clearly, his "confession" changed nothing—Roger and the others weren't surprised in the slightest. They'd already guessed it long ago.
On the contrary, Charlotte Linlin's eyes lit up with excitement.
"A kindred spirit! Gaban, I didn't expect you to be such an ambitious man! I've underestimated you all this time. Just for that alone, I can call you my close friend! If you ever feel unhappy with the Roger Pirates, my crew will always welcome you as vice captain!"
"Uh…" Gaban scratched his head awkwardly. "Let's… talk about that later, haha…"
"If this doesn't work and that doesn't work, then let's settle it the pirate way!" Roger slapped the table again. "Find an open place, bring your people, and we fight it out. Whoever wins gets the final say!"
Crack!
Linlin crushed the armrest of her chair in one grip. Her gaze darkened, her tone turning dangerous.
"Are you threatening me, Roger?"
Roger placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, Ace, no longer bothering to hide his true nature as a pirate. His eyes turned fierce.
"You can take it that way, Linlin."
Though they had been laughing and chatting at the same table moments ago, this was, in truth, a confrontation between two pirate crews.
If negotiations failed, they would fight.
That was the essence of pirates—plunder.
If you wanted something and the other side refused to give it, then you took it.
With Roger's stance set, Valthior and the others stopped eating. Rayleigh silently brushed his hand over his blade, Gaban's gaze sharpened beneath his sunglasses, and the chain on Valthior's arm swayed lightly.
Outside the door, Katakuri's expression grew heavy, while Perospero's eyes turned grave.
Linlin's aura began to surge, rattling the plates on the table with sharp clattering sounds.
The two captains locked eyes.
No one else stepped in—the stage belonged to them.
Roger's presence rose in response.
Even without Conqueror's Haki fully unleashed, the atmosphere grew thick and suffocating. The sheer pressure alone began shattering the dishes across the table.
Then—
Bang!
The lavish cake placed at the center of the table couldn't withstand the clash of their auras. It burst apart, cream splattering everywhere.
And in that instant—
Roger drew his blade.
Though he didn't believe Linlin was stronger than him, he acknowledged her as a top-tier powerhouse worthy of respect.
The moment Ace left its sheath, Conqueror's Haki exploded from Roger's body, coating the blade as he cleaved through the table and struck directly at Linlin.
Linlin knew full well she was still slightly inferior in raw strength—but as a great pirate, she would never submit.
With a flick of her hand, her captain's hat, Napoleon, transformed into an Cognac Sword. She grabbed it and met Roger's strike head-on.
Her own Conqueror's Haki surged forth just as violently.
The blades never physically touched.
Between them, the collision of Conqueror's Haki erupted—
In an instant, space itself seemed to tear apart. Black lightning danced wildly through the castle. The sky outside shifted as if reacting to their clash.
The sturdy castle couldn't withstand such overwhelming force.
Walls cracked. Lights swayed.
Then, in a single moment—
The massive structure split down the middle and collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Valthior, Gaban, and Rayleigh quickly retreated, adjusting their footing amid the falling debris.
The moment Valthior landed and created distance, he saw that Linlin was already being suppressed in the clash of Haki.
But before that disadvantage could spread, she changed tactics.
Flames suddenly ignited along her Cognac Sword, rapidly swelling into a roaring inferno.
"Maser Saber!!!
With a furious shout, her power erupted.
A violent explosion of fire swallowed both her and Roger, spreading outward and engulfing everything nearby.
Valthior, Rayleigh, and Gaban were blasted out of the flames like cannonballs, landing across different sections of the ruins.
In the next instant, Linlin's tall, curvaceous figure flashed out of the fire first, pulling away from Roger.
Moments later, a wild surge of Conqueror's Haki swept across the battlefield, extinguishing the flames wherever it passed.
Roger stepped out, a carefree grin on his lips. He flicked his blade, shaking off the lingering flames, and looked toward Linlin.
"You've gotten stronger than before, Linlin."
"Bastard, are you looking down on me?" Linlin's gaze was low and heavy.
At the same time, she noticed Gaban holding his twin axes, blocking her rear; Valthior with his chain-axe hanging naturally, sealing her right; and Rayleigh with his blade half-drawn, standing to her left.
As for her sons—
Katakuri and Perospero had been blown away by Roger's overwhelming Conqueror's Haki the moment it erupted.
Katakuri was barely managing to struggle back to his feet over a hundred meters away.
Perospero, on the other hand, had already fainted, buried beneath the rubble.
It had to be said—the Big Mom Pirates were at a severe disadvantage right now. Katakuri and the others had yet to fully grow, and many of Linlin's recruited pirate officers weren't even on Whole Cake Island.
The only one truly capable of fighting here—
Was Linlin herself.
And facing her—
Four top-tier fighters.
An absolute disadvantage.
Because of that, Linlin harbored no illusions of luck. She resolved to go all out.
She raised her Cognac Sword high. A ghostly green aura of soul energy flared around her as she roared:
"Soul Pocus: Collection!!!"
In an instant, the countless Homies scattered across Whole Cake Island collapsed.
From all directions, immense streams of soul energy surged toward Linlin like a meteor shower, converging upon her.
As that vast power poured into her body, her already massive frame began to expand even further.
Her aura—once inferior to Roger's—began rising at an astonishing rate.
Visible to the naked eye, her strength was rapidly increasing.
"This is…" Valthior's eyes widened slightly as he murmured.
In that moment, he understood.
In the original story, during the battle in Wano, Linlin had sacrificed her own lifespan to forcibly enhance herself.
But that had been because Wano wasn't her territory.
Here, on Whole Cake Island—her home turf—she didn't need to sacrifice herself at all.
All she had to do was reclaim the soul energy she had distributed into her Homies.
This—
Was her home-field advantage.
"Do you know why neither Shiki nor Newgate ever came to provoke me here, even though they knew I've been quietly building power on Whole Cake Island, Roger?" Linlin's body burned with eerie green soul flames, like a demon rising from hell. She looked down at him from her towering height.
Unlike Shiki and the others who had once sailed with her, Roger had never known about this trump card.
Without waiting for an answer, she declared:
"Because within this Soul Kingdom—my power is second to none!!!"
Away from Whole Cake Island, Linlin might only rank as second-tier among the very strongest.
But here—
With an endless supply of soul energy—
She feared no one.
Did he really think her soul tax existed just to create servants?
...
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