Just a casual stretch of the hand, and even though Marika wasn't moving quickly, just walking slowly, it made Smoothie instinctively want to back away.
But upon realizing this, cold sweat trickled down her forehead.
Why?
It's not a thought, but a bodily instinct; why this reaction?
"Celestial Essence·Starquake."
Before she could think further, Marika's gentle voice reached her ears. Instinctively, Smoothie raised her greatsword, with a pale white aura coiling around its blade.
The next second, a fist struck her sword's surface.
Bam!!!
The thunderous sound splashed the seawater around the ship in circles, and the heavy force caused the deck beneath Smoothie's feet to crack quickly, making the entire ship collapse like shattered glass, leaving everyone on board with no footing, dropping into the sea.
"Damn it!"
Smoothie didn't care about directly taking this punch and the numbness it caused in her arm. As she fell, she slashed downward with her sword, using the recoil to propel herself upward.
But just then, a gust of wind spread across her cheek. With just a glance, she only managed to catch a blurry afterimage before suffering a heavy blow.
Bam!
Marika's fist landed on Smoothie's face, sending her flying straight away, like a cannonball, onto a distant cake ship, punching a hole through it.
Before Smoothie could stand up, Marika leaped through the air, dispersing the smoke and diving toward that cake ship. Her fist landed on the deck with a boom, shattering it into debris, exposing Smoothie lying in the cabin.
Turning, Smoothie slashed down with her sword, using the recoil once more to remain afloat, swiftly twisting in mid-air to cut towards Marika.
Bam!
But this slash was shattered by Marika with a single punch, the dense Haki seemingly bolstered by her explosive aura or rather, fully concentrated.
This one wants a swift battle?
Smoothie realized this, but in mid-air with the sea below, she had no support to rely on, couldn't even land safely, and her counterattack was weaker.
After smashing the slash with a punch, Marika moved closer again with the Moon Step, pressing her hand against the greatsword's blade, her strength preventing Smoothie from moving it an inch.
And Marika's other fist was already coming, mercilessly.
A punch full of immense strength and explosive power hammered Smoothie's abdomen. Even with Haki's defensive blocking, the heavy force easily broke through the barrier and landed on her stomach.
Bam!
Just one punch, and Smoothie's body curled up in the air, blood spewing from her mouth, clearly in distress.
Haki is a power-boosting auxiliary. Besides Sage using it as Haki Bullets, even with externalized Haki, without a physical method, the impact isn't significant.
And such things can't block powerful forces at once; aside from Haki, one's personal qualities matter too.
Smoothie... can't withstand Marika's immense power!
With the punch, Smoothie gritted her teeth, twisting her sword to pull it from Marika's grasp. She was about to slash when she suddenly sensed something, shouting in horror, "Mama!"
Bam!
At that moment, the massive force pressed against her belly by Marika erupted, sending her flying backward like a cannonball, crashing through another cake ship.
"Infinite Energy State!"
On the opposite side of the crumbling Cake Island, at the bow of the Death Star, Renedia transformed her Mechanical Hammer into a Floating Machine Cannon, floating like an exoskeleton around her petite form. Especially at the head and arm positions, gun barrels extended, firing beams like a rainstorm.
Facing her, Perospero crafted candy bows and arrows, unleashing his 'Rain of Destruction,' and engaged in a barrage with the beams.
But in terms of quantity and power, he was clearly at a disadvantage. The beams knocked through the candy arrows, scattering around and destroying several ships.
"Hahaha, hahahahaha!"
Renedia imitated Sage's laughter, raising her tiny hands, continuing the relentless bombardment, "Let my infinite energy blow you all up!"
This was different from back at Ice and Fire Island, where she could exploit the weather and terrain for ice attribute attacks, but the energy was limited, so the impact was ordinary.
But here, she had stored a lot of backup energy on the ship, mostly gunpowder. When used, it had no extra attributes but exploded more violently than cannonballs.
Most importantly, the coverage was broad, and the firing rate fast.
After all, when a ship engages in naval warfare, being able to fire all its ammunition is quite a feat.
Unfortunately, that hasn't been achieved yet.
If they're going to be wasted anyway, why not use them all, empty the arsenal to eliminate the opponent's combat power first.
"Yours definitely isn't infinite!"
Perospero gritted his teeth, "Kid, your stamina isn't as strong as mine. I'll outlast you until you're spent, and then we'll see what you do! Disaster is entangled by Mama, and this ship, I will break through it!"
A Four Emperors' ship is worth a good fight!
On the Death Star, the also participating Blueno asked gravely, "Hmm... should I open a door?"
CP0 was brought along by Sage, though these three remained on the ship, performing rescue operations by opening doors with Blueno's ability for those critically injured as their warships sank.
From this distance, if he opened a door, it could reach the opposing ships.
In such high-intensity confrontation, if a sneak attack succeeds, Renedia would certainly win.
"Unnecessary! I can definitely blow him up!"
Renedia's small hands surged with sparks, making the beams faster, "I'm not that easy to deal with, powerful full-open teeth!"
But the opponents were no slouches either, continuing to counter with the ceaseless rain of arrows, though clearly disadvantaged, Perospero could hold out for quite some time.
If nothing unexpected happens...
Perospero had just launched an arrow, preparing another when he suddenly widened his eyes, staring incredulously at Cake Island's center, exclaiming in horror, "Mama!"
Boom boom boom!
In that momentary pause, a torrent of beams broke through the previous candy arrow rain, hitting Perospero and his ship, erupting into massive plumes of smoke.
"Mama!"
On the other side of Cake Island, mid-battle, Cracker was stunned, instinctively turning his head with a panic-stricken shout, revealing an opening.
"All Things Are Impermanent!"
Urouge descended from the sky, spinning his lead pillar like a propeller, crashing it with momentum onto Cracker's head before his body even descended, allowing another figure to dash in through the gap.
Squish!
Hawkins pierced Cracker's chest with his sword, letting the blood spill from the wound, staining the blade and dripping along its edge.
He said calmly, "I told you, the battle will go smoothly. It seems you can't escape the web of fate."