"Heavenly Fire!"
"Thunder!"
"Emperor Sword: Splitting Blade!"
"Nation of Might!"
"…"
Facing five opponents at once, Charlotte Linlin unleashed her full power, growing fiercer with every strike. For a moment, she almost felt like she'd been transported back to those chaotic old days.
She was certainly enjoying herself, but that made things miserable for Buggy and the others.
The combat power of a Yonko fighting at full strength was no joke. Overcoming her with numbers wasn't impossible, but it required fighters of a certain caliber at the very least.
Buggy and the rest were certainly strong, but they still fell short of the true summit.
They were missing something crucial.
Three of the five were already down. Only Buggy and Shanks remained, struggling to hold on. But even their situation was dire — both men's legs had turned to jelly, as if they'd skipped breakfast, run thirty kilometers straight, then rewarded themselves seven times afterward.
"Mama mama mama, are you done already? I'm far from satisfied!" Big Mom laughed.
She was actually in a pretty good mood right now. The frustration she'd been feeling had burned away along with her energy, leaving her whole body feeling refreshed.
She was fired up and wanted Buggy and Shanks to toughen up so they could fight another three hundred rounds with her!
They say women in their thirties are like wolves, in their forties like tigers, and by fifty they can suck the earth dry. This year, at forty-six, Big Mom's combat prowess was even more terrifying — five young men combined couldn't match her.
Buggy and Shanks had their names practically backwards by now, and they still couldn't hold on.
"Haa — Shanks, do you… do you have any other tricks left…?" Buggy fixed his eyes on Big Mom in the distance, gasping for breath.
Shanks was equally exhausted, but when it came to tricks, he did have a few.
"Buggy, have you ever heard of Advanced Conqueror's Coating?" Shanks said as he gauged the Haki remaining in his body. Conqueror's Haki could be coated onto attacks — Roger had told him that on the very day he awakened Conqueror's Haki.
But even now, Shanks had yet to master that technique.
"What's the matter — have you already learned it?"
Buggy naturally knew about it too. But Advanced Conqueror's Coating wasn't something you could master through training alone. It could only awaken through combat.
"Oh my, I didn't expect you two brats to know about something like that?" Big Mom said in surprise. She wasn't shocked that Shanks knew — she just hadn't expected that Buggy of all people would know.
She'd assumed Buggy was some backgroundless rookie pirate.
"It's just Advanced Conqueror's Coating — what's there not to know? I also know Devil Fruits can Awaken. Am I bragging about it?" Buggy shot back immediately.
"Annoying brat! But so what if you know? Knowing and doing aren't the same thing!" Big Mom retorted.
Devil Fruit powers could Awaken, and Conqueror's Haki could be coated — neither of those was much of a secret.
Take Katakuri, for example. Did he not know Conqueror's Haki could be coated? Of course he knew. But after all these years, he still hadn't reached that level.
Similarly, in this New World, plenty of people knew Devil Fruit powers could Awaken, but very few had actually succeeded. Impel Down, on the other hand, was full of monsters who'd failed the Awakening.
So Big Mom truly wasn't worried that these few would suddenly unlock some hidden potential and master Advanced Conqueror's Coating, or suddenly Awaken their fruits.
Was that even possible?
It was completely impossible!
If anyone could Awaken their Devil Fruit AND learn Advanced Conqueror's Coating all in a single day, then she, Big Mom, would jump straight into magma!
But Buggy and Shanks didn't think they were incapable.
"I didn't have any leads before, but just now while fighting Big Mom, I think I grabbed hold of a clue." Shanks said with lowered eyes.
His insight had been beaten out of him through sheer punishment. Watching Big Mom freely unleash her Haki again and again, the red-haired Shanks, enduring her attacks, had begun to grasp a sliver of understanding.
"Hmph, funny — I'm in the same boat!" Buggy, nose red and face swollen, suddenly grinned with pride. "But you're still a step behind me. I've also gotten a hint about Devil Fruit Awakening!"
With that, Buggy yelled at the top of his lungs!
"Hey, long-ears! How long are you gonna keep lying there?"
"You're not about to just stay down like this, are you? If you are, you're embarrassing the captain!"
In the ruins, Enel lay among the rubble and weakly opened his mouth. "Shut up, you red-nosed clown. Can't I get a little rest…?" He said that, but Enel still struggled to his feet.
"Oh? You can still stand?"
"I'm not just standing, you old hag! Devil Fruit Awakening — heh, as it happens, I've got a clue about that too." Enel's body swayed unsteadily, but the smugness on his face was impossible to hide.
No sooner had he finished speaking than Doflamingo, glasses shattered, trembled as he forced himself into a half-kneeling position on the other side.
Big Mom looked at these guys and suddenly sneered. "What a funny joke. Don't tell me you're about to say your fruit has Awakened too?"
Doflamingo didn't bother with words — he let facts speak for him.
His right hand pressed against the ground, and the power spreading from his palm immediately affected the surrounding environment.
Starting from beneath his feet, the earth transformed into a cocoon-like white.
Truly worthy of a T1-tier Fruit Awakening instructor — every single Devil Fruit user present, without exception, had completed their Awakening under Teacher Linlin's personal guidance!
Teacher Linlin was truly dedicated and tireless in her teaching!
"Conqueror's Haki can be coated? Fu fu fu, now that's interesting news. Unfortunately, I haven't reached that point myself."
"Overflowing White Threads!"
Doflamingo struck without hesitation. His ability had, at some unknown point, spread across the entire cavern floor. The ground beneath Big Mom surged to life as tens of thousands — perhaps hundreds of thousands — of white threads surged forward like ocean waves!
The white threads churned from all directions, rolling toward Big Mom. As they coiled around her, they twisted into rope-like strands, as if trying to strangle her that way.
But Big Mom was not an enemy so easily dealt with. She quickly broke free from the white surge, then swiftly slashed a fierce strike at Doflamingo!
"Shield White Threads!"
Doflamingo raised his hand, and several thick white threads burst from the ground in front of him, forcibly blocking Big Mom's slash.
She was about to press the attack, but just then Enel's counterstrike had already arrived!
[
Dear Readers,
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