Just then, a loud crash echoed from the front of the corridor. The five of them paled, their heads snapping in that direction.
A section of the corridor wall had collapsed, leaving a massive, clean-cut hole. Rubble was scattered everywhere, and dust filled the opening.
A tall, imposing figure slowly emerged from the smoke.
Following close behind her were several other figures with bizarre body shapes.
As the smoke cleared, their identities were revealed.
Charlotte Smoothie, her greatsword resting on her right shoulder, stepped out, her expression as cold as ice.
Her gaze landed first on Claire, recognizing her. She stopped, about twenty meters away, her chilling eyes still fixed on her. "I see…" she said flatly.
"So Morass is involved as well? In that case… where is that man, Wilder?"
The five of them were on high alert. Hearing Smoothie's words, Claire narrowed her eyes and replied coolly, "No comment."
The corridor fell silent for a moment, both sides watching each other intently.
Smoothie's face remained impassive. After a brief silence, she spoke again, her voice calm. "Is that so? Very well. Then right here, all of you from Morass included…"
Her eyes snapped open, and a powerful killing intent erupted from her. "…will all die!"
Claire tightened her grip, her expression growing grave, but her voice was firm. "A Sweet Commander. I've been wanting to see what one of you is made of."
The others also focused their gazes on the figures behind Smoothie, their faces equally serious.
On the palace rooftop, at the wedding banquet, Wilder, dressed in an exquisite and elegant black suit, his face impossibly handsome, was smiling and chatting with the surrounding guests.
He held a glass of red wine, his every move graceful and sophisticated. His handsome features, combined with his elegant speech and manners, had drawn the attention of several beautiful ladies and young women attending the banquet, who frequently glanced his way.
Before long, a group of women had gathered around him.
"And that time, I nearly died."
"Oh! How dreadful!" The women around him gasped, covering their mouths, completely engrossed in the tall tales Wilder was spinning.
"Mr. Del, I want to hear the rest of the goldfish story you were telling. What happened to it in the end?"
"Ah, the goldfish," Wilder said with a charming smile. "I let it go, of course. After all, it was a life that had struggled so hard to survive."
Hearing this, the women's eyes shone even brighter as they looked at him.
"Mr. Del, you're so kind."
"Such a gentle man."
Of course, it was all just a hypocritical exchange of flattery between people of a similar ilk. Perhaps they had even started to deceive themselves, believing they too possessed such noble qualities.
Almost no one who could attend this event was a good person.
But they were drawn to Wilder, and so, their words and actions followed his lead, becoming just as "benevolent."
In the process, Wilder was continuously gathering information, and he ended up learning quite a few secrets.
When the women around him could no longer provide any useful information, Wilder gracefully made an excuse and extricated himself from the group.
There were less than four hours until the wedding ceremony began.
Wilder found a spot to wait for Claire and the others.
However, half an hour passed, and there was still no sign of them.
Something's wrong. They should have infiltrated by now, Wilder thought, standing up. He decided to wait a little longer.
If they still didn't show up, they must have run into trouble.
Another ten minutes passed. A bad feeling began to surface in Wilder's mind. He knew he couldn't wait any longer. It was clear that Claire and her team had been intercepted.
"I just hope it's not Big Mom herself," Wilder muttered, his expression growing serious. He quietly slipped away from the crowd, and once out of sight, his body dissolved into a swamp and seeped back into the wall.
He traveled straight down, and upon reaching the ground floor, he didn't stop, sinking into the earth and heading toward his intended destination.
Meanwhile, the battle between Claire's group and their opponents had already erupted.
The moment Claire finished speaking, everyone moved.
They knew they couldn't afford to be delayed here. They had to leave quickly. If they waited for Big Mom to arrive, any chance of escape would be gone. So, even though their enemies felt incredibly dangerous and difficult, not a single one of them hesitated. Before Smoothie's side could make the first move, they had already split up and charged, each finding an opponent.
Only Claire remained still. And across from her, so did Smoothie.
Claire knew that among everyone here, she was Smoothie's primary target. The woman clearly knew who she was and remembered that Wilder had killed Cracker. So, whether for revenge or as a strategic blow, she would be Smoothie's first and only target.
Smoothie didn't even glance at the other fights. In her mind, everyone here was already dead. It was a foregone conclusion that no one could change.
There was no way these few could survive against her siblings.
The people who had come with her were all ministers in the Big Mom Pirates.
While they weren't the top-ranking ministers, they were still pillars of the Charlotte Family.
The true strength of the Charlotte Family was far greater than what had been shown in the stories.
There were many members who were either insignificant or never even appeared in the original tale, but any one of them, on their own, would have a bounty of three to four hundred million.
Without any preamble, Smoothie stared at Claire, her face a blank mask. She slowly raised her greatsword until it was above her head, then brought it down in a single, powerful slash.
BOOM!
A pinkish-purple wave of energy shot toward Claire, preceded by a terrifying shockwave and a deafening roar.
Vmmm…
A door-sized block materialized out of thin air, appearing in front of Claire. The pinkish-purple sword wave slammed into it, and for a moment, the two forces were locked in a stalemate.
"Oh?" Smoothie let out a sound of surprise, but her expression quickly returned to calm. "Not bad. So that's your ability. But it's not enough."
As soon as she finished speaking, the pinkish-purple wave pulsed with energy. The block, which had been holding firm, began to wither and crack.
A moment later, the block shattered. Claire had already vanished. The pinkish-purple energy, having destroyed the block, continued on with terrifying force, smashing into the far end of the corridor and kicking up a cloud of dust and rubble.
"Tempest Kick: Black Rose!" Claire appeared above Smoothie's head, letting out a sharp cry. A black, blade-like projectile shot down toward her.
"Hmph!" Smoothie snorted. She raised her sword and sent out a sword wave of her own. The two attacks collided in mid-air, and after a burst of energy, they canceled each other out.
But Smoothie's assault didn't stop there. After the first slash, she immediately sent out two more, aimed at Claire, who was still in the air and hadn't had a chance to land.
"Using Moon Walk and Tempest Kick in succession… no one can move again so quickly after a combination like that. Let's see how you dodge this," Smoothie said, looking up with a cold smile.
But in the next moment, her expression changed.
A blue block had appeared out of thin air beneath Claire's feet. She landed on it, and the block quickly carried her away from her original position. The two slashes missed, striking the wall instead.
"Tch!" Smoothie clicked her tongue in annoyance. She raised her greatsword again, but this time, she moved as well. Pushing off the ground with her toes, she shot toward Claire at incredible speed.
BOOM!
A massive pinkish-purple slash flew from her sword. Claire's brow furrowed. She could feel an immense threat from this attack.
While riding the block backward, she created a series of new blocks in front of her.
Seeing this, Smoothie sneered, her slashes coming one after another without pause.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Each slash quickly destroyed a block. The attacks were imbued with Smoothie's juice-squeezing ability, which could rapidly cause objects to wither.
As a result, the incredibly durable blocks were now crumbling like tofu.
Finally, all of Claire's blocks were shattered. The last slash broke through and shot toward her. At the same time, Smoothie herself had closed the distance and was reaching out to grab her.
Two attacks, arriving at once.
A chill ran down Claire's spine. An overwhelming sense of crisis washed over her.
"You can't keep creating those things indefinitely, can you? That's not how Devil Fruit powers work. If your body can't keep up, even the best ability is useless," Smoothie's cold, hellish voice whispered in Claire's ear.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Hearing Smoothie's words, Claire's pupils constricted.
She was right. She couldn't use her power continuously without a break. It was simply a matter of stamina.
It wasn't that she was out of energy, but it was like holding her breath. She needed a moment to gasp for air before she could hold it again.
Normally, she would never need that moment. This was the first time her blocks had been broken so quickly. They were incredibly hard; that had been proven long ago. Breaking even one of them was no simple task. In this world, there were probably less than two people—maybe even none—who could shatter her blocks with pure physical force.
I can't let her grab me! In that critical moment, Claire knew that if Smoothie got her hands on her, it would be over. The slash was terrifying, but at least it wasn't a continuous drain. If she was hit, she would be injured and lose some of her body's moisture, which was still dangerous, but she wouldn't lose all ability to fight back at once.
But…
Claire grit her silver teeth. She wasn't going to get injured so easily!
Just as the slash and Smoothie's hand were about to reach her, Claire managed to muster a final bit of strength.
Almost simultaneously, a block appeared in front of the slash. The attack hit it, the block shattered, and the slash finally dissipated.
At the same time, just as Smoothie's hand was a hair's breadth from touching her, Claire's face paled, and she made a pulling motion with her fingers.
Then, very suddenly, the floor beneath Smoothie's feet was torn apart by a pillar-shaped block that shot upward. Smoothie's expression changed, but it was too late. It all happened in a flash. The pillar slammed into her abdomen from below.
Smoothie grunted, her eyes bulging. The force of the blow seemed to drain all the strength from her body, creating a momentary opening. The hand that was about to grab Claire fell limply to her side.
Claire's chest heaved as she gasped for air. Seizing the opportunity, she leaped away. After putting some distance between them, she dropped to one knee, supporting herself with her hands on the floor, her face pale and covered in a cold sweat.
That last move had been like pushing past the absolute limit of holding her breath. It had taken a toll on her. Although she wasn't physically injured and hadn't lost too much stamina—she just needed a moment to recover—in a battle like this, such a state was fatal. An enemy could seize that single moment of weakness to take your life.
"Cough!" Smoothie coughed, then slowly looked up and stood, her face as dark as a stormy sea, a shadow cast over it.
"I was careless…" she said, her icy eyes falling on Claire. She raised her sword, pointing it at her.
"Now, you'd better be ready! Hahaha!"
BOOM!
As she finished speaking, a burst of air exploded from under her feet. Her body vanished, and she reappeared in front of Claire.
Her greatsword was already raised. She swung it down.
Am I going to die?
Claire's eyes flickered. Her body was still unable to move. She could only watch as the greatsword, glowing with a pinkish-purple light, grew closer… and closer…
Vmmm!
The blade cut through the air, creating a sharp whistling sound. In the blink of an eye, it would take a beautiful head.
But just then, a figure suddenly appeared, blocking the path between the greatsword and Claire.
A single hand, like an iron claw, firmly caught the blade. The sword's descent was instantly halted, unable to move even a fraction of an inch further.
CLANG!
The iron claw and the sword blade collided. A gale of wind and a shockwave erupted from the point of impact, accompanied by a shower of sparks that flew outwards.
Everyone was stunned by the commotion. They stopped fighting and looked over, their eyes widening in shock.
The figure was tall and imposing. The swirling shockwave whipped past him, making his clothes flap wildly, but his body stood as firm as a mountain, proud and unmoving.
Smoothie's body froze for a moment. She then looked down and met a pair of eyes as calm and still as a deep, stagnant pool.