"Kamina Evasion!"
Hearing that name made Big Mom tremble from head to toe, cold sweat pouring down her body despite the sweltering heat. That bastard with the nose hairs longer than his beard was supposed to be dead — so how was someone wielding that same technique to terrify her again? Had the Roger era truly never ended?
This kind of behavior was nothing but objectifying pirate silver-medalists like her, oppressing the great pirates of the sea! Just how were pirates who never became Pirate King supposed to live in peace? This society was rotten with pirate oppression — when would pirates finally stand up for themselves?
In short, Shanks's cry of "Kamina Evasion" had triggered Big Mom's PTSD, plunging her back into the terror of being dominated by Roger back in the day.
Back then, that man had stolen from her home in Totto Land, copied the contents of the Red Poneglyph hidden there, and made off with several Devil Fruits to boot. And Big Mom had never dared to reclaim what was hers.
Today, hearing Shanks's voice out of nowhere, she hallucinated — for a split second, she saw the man with no notable features except his absurdly long nose hairs standing before her, blade drawn.
But the cold sweat had barely broken out on her back before she realized something was wrong. The power behind this Kamina Evasion was nowhere near as overwhelming as she remembered. Was this some knockoff version?
She looked more carefully. Standing before her was a man in a straw hat, and beneath that hat flowed a shock of red hair. Oh — so it was not Roger. Then there was nothing to worry about.
Big Mom relaxed, barely concerned that Shanks had used Kamina Evasion to cancel out her Ikkoku Hakkei. After all, she had not been fighting at full strength, and this red-haired brat already looked strained. This was the gap between their levels of power.
Now at ease, she began studying Shanks's face — a face that looked oddly familiar.
"You're that red-haired brat, the apprentice who used to trail behind Roger's crew, right? Ma-ma-ma-ma, you've certainly grown up!" she laughed.
The line sounded exactly like something gossiping aunts would say during New Year visits.
Shanks, terrified that Big Mom's next words would be "I even held you when you were a baby," quickly shot back: "Even if you pull the old captain's name, we are still going to beat you today!"
Big Mom burst into a wide grin. This kid talked big, but she could not defeat Roger — did that really mean she could not handle this punk?
"Then show me what Roger's pupil is made of!" she roared, her aura surging upward in an instant.
A tremendous wave of Haki crashed forward in relentless pulses, making Buggy and the others feel their hearts lurch. Big Mom unleashed the full force of her Conqueror's Haki — a challenge of willpower that, while not directly affecting those with strong resolve, was still an essential part of any serious confrontation. If your Conqueror's Haki got crushed by the opponent's, you had already lost ground before the real battle even began.
In its raw, uncoated form, Conqueror's Haki was like a cosmetic skin on a game — it offered no real advantage, but when the loading screen showed your opponent's dazzling lineup and you had nothing but a bare default, the morale hit alone was devastating.
Big Mom's aura swept in like a cyclone, changing the very color of the sky and earth. Dust and gravel across the surface went scattering in every direction, her pressure like a collapsing mountain bearing down upon them — an avalanche about to crush them into nothing.
None of them would let Haki alone shake their resolve. Even if Big Mom's Conqueror's Haki overwhelmed theirs today, the fight would go on regardless. This was merely a greeting at the door.
Buggy and the others fought back, releasing their own Haki. Against Big Mom's endless onslaught, theirs looked pitifully weak — barely forming a barrier to wrap around themselves like guttering candles in a storm, liable to gutter out at any moment.
Shanks could not understand why the gap in Conqueror's Haki between people could be so vast. Rayleigh had told him that Conqueror's Haki was innate and could not be trained. So how was the difference this enormous? Could Rayleigh have been wrong? Impossible — he was the Dark King Rayleigh. Everything he said had to be true.
While Shanks wrestled with that thought, Enel was having an entirely different kind of awkward moment. Four comrades in the clash, and he was the only one without Conqueror's Haki — the others showing off while he could not even join in. What was supposed to be a five-person battlefield suddenly felt like there was no room for him.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma — is this all the resolve you have?" Big Mom laughed, instantly intensifying her aura. Buggy and the others felt like they were standing on a tiny bamboo raft tossed about by endless storms on the open sea, towering waves crashing in to shatter them to pieces.
In moments, all of them — Buggy, Shanks, and Doflamingo alike — were gasping for air. As Big Mom's pressure climbed to its peak and her massive body slowly advanced, they could barely stay on their feet. With each step closer, the crushing force grew stronger, enough to snap a person's body in half.
The middle-aged woman wore a look of smug satisfaction. Crushing these brats like this was a small pleasure in her pirate career. What she wanted to see was Buggy's crew — those ignorant kids who did not know their place — groveling at her feet. Especially that apprentice from Roger's ship.
"You brats want to challenge me? You are a hundred years too early!"
But would Buggy and the others submit? Not a chance.
"Damn you, you old hag!" The red-nosed pirate of modest height clenched his teeth, puffed out his chest, and forced himself forward one step as though wading through mud. Difficult as it was, that step was resolute. "Don't look down on me, you bastard!" he roared.
The fire in his heart burned bright. He was the future Fatui Executive Clown of Inazuma! There was no way he would bow and scrape before an old woman like her.
Two heavy, resonant footsteps pounded into the ground. In an instant, two flames that had seemed on the verge of extinguishing roared back to life — so fierce they looked ready to burn all of Whole Cake Island to ash. Buggy and Shanks locked eyes, and in each other's gaze they saw unwavering determination.
[
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