Although Lloyd's Planetary Devastation was not fully unleashed, it had already annihilated more than half of Cake Island. The death toll was immense, mostly Big Mom Pirates.
Linlin, having just regained her composure, looked at the ruined island below, her blood pressure spiking, while Roger had already landed safely.
After touching down, Roger did not chase Lloyd immediately. Instead, he activated his Observation Haki to survey the devastation and track movement across the island. Once he confirmed Rayleigh was unharmed and rushing toward them, Roger exhaled in relief. As Captain, he immediately commanded Barrett and the others to retreat. Their priority was to regroup with Rayleigh. Confronting Lloyd now, especially to satisfy Linlin's wrath, was unnecessary.
Roger understood the gravity of the situation. Even if he and Linlin managed to restrain Lloyd, he could leave at will. This time, Lloyd fought alone, unburdened by concern for allies or collateral damage. With his ghostly speed and elusive combat style, he could dispatch any Pirate in his path effortlessly.
Unlike his previous encounters with Garp, where battles carried a sense of challenge and jest, Lloyd fought with a single goal: lethal efficiency.
To expedite the evacuation, Roger flashed to Shanks and Buggy, one arm around each, and retreated without looking back. Any Pirate with basic sense knew that distance from Lloyd was the safest option.
But Linlin was far from rational. Her previous flame attack had proven ineffective, so she abandoned Prometheus, grasping Napoleon in one hand and Zeus in the other, and charged aggressively toward Lloyd. Without Roger's intervention, her threat diminished sharply. Lloyd, wielding the Demon Blade Muramasa, met her head-on.
Remaining Big Mom Pirates who retained some combat strength gritted their teeth and rushed forward as well. Lloyd deflected Napoleon with a single stroke, casting a casual glance at the approaching group.
"What a bunch of dutiful children," he said with a wry, detached smile.
With a swing of his arm, monstrous flames erupted, forming a wall that cut off the advancing Pirates. Katakuri and others attempted to douse the inferno, but a silver lightning bolt suddenly shot from the fire wall.
Before they could react, a heavy thud echoed. A woman wearing a massive sunhat, resembling Hachishaku-sama, fell with a charred hole in her back.
Perospero, the eldest son, froze and shouted, "Amande!!!"
Another woman, similarly dressed but with a plump figure, screamed in grief, "Sister!!!"
This was Charlotte Mont d'Or. Like the fallen Amande, both were Snake-Necked Tribe sisters. Seeing her sister destroyed, Mont d'Or charged through the flames without hesitation. The heat was unbearable even for her trained Armament Haki, and she let out a bloodcurdling scream as her body, skin, and hair were burned. Within moments, she too was reduced to ashes.
Witnessing Mont d'Or's fate, no one dared challenge Lloyd's flames again. Perospero tried to extinguish them with syrup, but it was largely ineffective.
Lloyd casually extended his hand, spreading the fire wall outward at terrifying speed. Had Linlin not momentarily absorbed some flames with Prometheus, the death toll would have been far higher.
Linlin herself had remained mostly unscathed thanks to her thick skin and combat prowess, just as Lloyd had suffered no significant injury.
When Katakuri and others arrived, they combined their attacks with Linlin's, launching a storm of strikes toward Lloyd. He countered calmly, relying on the Dark-Dark Fruit's area control and the Vampire Fruit's endurance, remaining undefeated despite overwhelming odds.
Yet this was not combat for dominance — it was a game to unsettle Linlin and Roger, testing their reactions while thinning their forces. Lloyd's focus on targeting the children awakened rare maternal instincts in Linlin. Determined to protect Katakuri and the others, she engaged in a strategic cat-and-mouse battle with him.
From above, Lloyd circled gracefully on his wings, observing the "mother hen" below. With Cake Island already 70–80% destroyed and numerous Pirates eliminated, there was no need to fight to the death.
Preparing his exit, Lloyd decided to leave Linlin a final, unforgettable "gift."
Pitch-black halos appeared on his arms. He raised his hands, and the halos detached, expanding as they ascended until disappearing into the sky.
With a faint, detached smile, Lloyd waved to Linlin below, then distorted his form, vanishing entirely from her sight. It was his first display of Kamui, a method to conceal his presence. Linlin immediately pushed her Observation Haki to its extreme, anticipating sudden reappearance, though she remained undeterred.
Behind her, Perospero and the others were shaken. Yet Lloyd never reappeared.
The meteor came instead.
Half the size of Cake Island, it plummeted from the clouds, capable of sinking the island entirely. Linlin's pupils shrank as she called upon Zeus, stepping onto it while wielding Napoleon. She unleashed a powerful sword energy, shattering the meteor, then directed Zeus to strike with a massive purple lightning barrage.
"Tenman Daijizai Tenjin!"
Lightning struck the fractured meteor fragments, reducing them to dust. Linlin, however, felt no triumph. She hovered in the sky in tense silence, then released a roar that echoed across all of Cake Island.
"Black Dragon!!!"
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