Sakazuki gave a cold snort, contempt etched across his face.
"Hmph. Nothing but a fleeting recovery bought by burning your own lifespan. In that state… do you really think you can keep fighting?"
"Gyahahaha! Exactly right!" Aramaki laughed, utterly amused.
The branches protruding from his body slowly retracted, curling back into his flesh. He turned toward Sakazuki with a grin. "Brother, try moving that arm now."
Sakazuki flexed his left wrist. A faint sting pulsed through the joint, but it held.
"Hmph… it will suffice. You have my thanks, Aramaki."
Aramaki waved it off with a hearty laugh. "No need for that! Still, a severed arm is a severed arm. Even reattached in time, it's not the same as before. Try not to rely on it too much, or it might become a liability."
"Understood," Sakazuki replied evenly.
Then Aramaki's gaze shifted to Big Mom, who stood gaunt yet defiant, barely clinging to consciousness.
"Brother, she's hanging by a thread. Leave her to me. You rest."
Sakazuki's eyes flicked toward Katakuri and Smoothie in the distance.
"Hmph. Very well. I'll handle those two brats."
Seeing the two Admirals advance once more, a savage light ignited in Linlin's eyes.
Her voice thundered across the forest.
"This is Totto Land! The kingdom I built with my own hands over decades! You think you can defeat me here?! Even if I fall—I'll drag you two bastards to hell with me!"
She raised her voice to the heavens.
"Homies… gather!"
The command echoed not only across Cake Island, but throughout every island in Totto Land.
In an instant, every Homie imbued with her soul began to tremble.
From teacups to trees, from cannons to rooftops—balls of pure white soul energy peeled away from their bodies, streaking across the sky like falling stars, converging toward Linlin's location.
The lifeless objects collapsed where they stood, stripped of animation.
Across the battlefield, countless Homies fell silent.
And the sky filled with white light.
The souls surged into Big Mom's body in torrents.
Her gray hair gradually regained color.
Her withered flesh thickened.
Her skeletal frame swelled once more, regaining mass and power.
The spectacle stunned both Marines and pirates alike.
"Is that… Mama recalling the souls?!"
The Charlotte children quickly realized what was happening. Every Homie had been born from her power. Their sudden collapse could only mean one thing—
She was cornered.
And she was drawing everything back.
But the cost was immediate.
Without the Homies, the Big Mom Pirates' battlefield strength plummeted.
On the Marine side, morale exploded.
Vice Admiral Onigumo raised his blade and roared:
"Big Mom's end is near! Soldiers! Now is the time to execute justice! Wipe out the Big Mom Pirates and let the light of justice shine across the seas!"
"Justice!"
"Defend justice!"
"Exterminate the pirates!"
Previously, the Marines had fought cautiously against the Homies. To die trading blows with soulless constructs felt meaningless. A Marine's life was worth more than an animated teapot.
But now—
The obstacles were gone.
The battlefield tilted sharply.
The Big Mom Pirates, already on the back foot, felt the pressure multiply.
Deep within the forest, Aramaki watched the swirling storm of white souls flood into Big Mom's body.
His expression darkened for a moment.
Then—
He burst into wild laughter.
"Gyahahahahahaha! Now this is worthy of a Yonko! I was wondering when you'd show your true fangs!"
He spread his arms, vines writhing behind him like a living sea.
"Of course… eradicating a Yonko crew was never going to be simple."
Sakazuki's eyes were colder than winter steel.
"Hmph… I truly didn't expect you to be hiding something like this."
As torrents of white souls poured endlessly into Linlin's body, her already massive frame began to swell.
Eight-point-eight meters… ten… twelve…
Until, before the stunned eyes of both Marines and pirates, she expanded to a staggering eighteen meters tall—no less imposing than a Giant of Elbaf. Combined with her immense bulk, she loomed like a living mountain, casting a suffocating shadow across the battlefield.
"Mama mama mama mama!"
Her laughter rolled like thunder.
"Now that I've gathered every soul in Totto Land into myself, what use is that so-called alliance?! Useless at the crucial moment! Making me burn fifteen years of my life!"
She bent down and picked up Napoleon.
The greatsword responded to her growth, expanding in tandem—its blade stretching beyond ten meters, radiating terrifying pressure.
"Today," she roared, "I'll show you exactly what happens to those who dare anger me!"
Sakazuki looked up at the colossal figure, unimpressed.
"Borrowing power from external sources is nothing but a temporary patch. Only one's own strength is true strength. Moriah once stuffed himself with stolen shadows. The result was laughable."
Big Mom's eyes went bloodshot with fury.
"Don't you dare compare me to that trash!"
She swung Napoleon with overwhelming force.
"Go to hell, Akainu—Hakkoku!"
A devastating sword shockwave tore through the air, splitting the battlefield as it surged toward Sakazuki.
"Forbidden Thicket!"
In that instant, enormous vine fists erupted upward, colliding head-on with the incoming blade wave. The impact detonated with deafening force. The vine fists were obliterated one after another, but they managed to weaken and divert the Hakoku's destructive momentum.
Aramaki stepped forward, grinning savagely.
"Your opponent now… is me."
His legs transformed into massive tree roots, drilling deep into the earth. His body began to expand, bark spreading across his skin.
Twenty meters.
Twenty-five.
Thirty.
Soon, he towered even higher than Big Mom herself.
"Let me see what a Yonko is really made of."
Countless vines burst from his frame, twisting into colossal fists that rained down upon her.
Big Mom reacted instantly. Napoleon swept in massive arcs, cleaving through the incoming vine fists with brutal efficiency.
Her voice dropped into a low, dangerous tone.
"So you're Admiral Ryokugyu…"
Sakazuki's gaze shifted past them—to Katakuri and Smoothie.
"Aramaki," he ordered coldly, "hold her here. Once I deal with those two brats, we'll crush this Old Hag together."
Aramaki's grin widened.
"No problem, brother. Leave it to me."
Meanwhile, Katakuri watched Sakazuki approach, each step radiating suffocating killing intent.
He understood the gap between them.
Even ordinary flames could harden and ruin his mochi. Sakazuki's magma—capable of melting steel and incinerating flesh in an instant—was a different realm entirely.
There was no room for illusions.
He shouted without turning back:
"Smoothie, go! I'll hold him off!"
"Brother—"
Smoothie's face paled.
Moments ago, Aramaki had drained her life force. Though she had wrung moisture from the ground to restore some stamina, her condition was far from battle-ready.
Still, she clenched her teeth.
"Impossible! You can't stop him alone! If we're going to fall, then we fall fighting!"
The air between them trembled.
Ahead, Sakazuki's magma arm ignited once more.
Behind them, Aramaki's forest raged.
And above it all, the fate of Totto Land teetered on the edge of annihilation.
Smoothie knew the truth as well as Katakuri did.
Even if the two of them fought side by side, they were no match for Admiral Ryokugyu. And now Sakazuki himself stood before them—the man who had defeated Aokiji and ascended to Fleet Admiral through sheer, brutal strength. Compared to Ryokugyu, he was an even greater monster.
Katakuri had already made his decision.
If Tottoland was destined to fall, then he would fall with it.
Beyond the forest, without the Homies to serve as shields and cannon fodder, the Big Mom Pirates were already being driven back. The battlefield was collapsing.
The only thing he could still do… was buy time.
Even a few minutes.
Even a few breaths.
So long as his younger siblings lived longer than he did, it would be enough.
"Even if we fight together," Katakuri said steadily, "we may not be able to change anything. But Smoothie—you must survive. As long as we hold out until the Phoenix Pirates and the Beasts Pirates arrive, there's still hope."
Smoothie's eyes hardened.
"No. If I leave, you'll die here alone. If we stand together, maybe—just maybe—we can carve out a path."
"Enough."
Sakazuki's cold voice cut through them like a blade.
He snorted, his expression filled with contempt.
"There's no need to argue. Neither of you will escape. And after you, I'll personally send every last member of the Big Mom Pirates to the afterlife. You're merely going ahead of them."
His lips curved into a frigid smile.
"As for your so-called reinforcements… don't worry. They won't come. And if they dare to, I will bury them here as well."
Elsewhere on Cake Island, the battlefield descended further into despair.
Towering figures—identical to Bartholomew Kuma—advanced in formation. Cold, expressionless. Mechanical.
Pacifista.
Each one raised its palm or opened its mouth, firing blinding beams of condensed light.
Whoosh—! Whoosh—! Whoosh—!
Explosions tore through pirate ranks. Bodies were vaporized. Buildings collapsed.
Over fifty Pacifista had been deployed.
Each possessed power comparable to a Marine Vice Admiral.
Together, they were an unstoppable tide.
"How… how can this be?" Flampe stared in disbelief as pirates fell around her like wheat before a scythe.
She had remained behind out of spite—burning with resentment toward the Phoenix Pirates… toward Ulti… toward anyone who had humiliated her.
But this—
This was hell.
The Pacifista moved like merciless executioners, harvesting lives without emotion. Bullets and blades barely scratched them. They advanced step by step, unstoppable.
A beam suddenly descended in front of Flampe.
The explosion's shockwave hurled her through the air.
She hit the ground hard, everything going black.
When she finally regained consciousness, her forehead slick with blood, she lifted her head weakly—and saw a nightmare made real.
The battlefield had completely collapsed.
With the Pacifista acting as iron shields and mobile artillery, the Marines followed behind, methodically finishing off fallen pirates. No prisoners. No mercy.
The Big Mom Pirates were retreating in panic, only to be encircled and slaughtered.
Even Charlotte Family elites were falling one after another.
The once-proud defenders of Totto Land were being crushed.
What had begun as a war had become a massacre.
The Marine front lines advanced deeper and deeper into Cake Island.
Only now did true fear creep into Flampe's heart.
Fear.
Panic.
Regret.
Maybe… maybe she should have swallowed her pride.
Maybe she should have followed Brulee into the Mirror World.
Maybe she should have left when she still had the chance.
Now, staring at the burning ruins of her homeland, she finally understood—
There might not be another chance.
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