Beehive Island.
The moment Ash saw Charlotte Katakuri, Charlotte Daifuku, Charlotte Oven, Charlotte Smoothie, and Snack gathered together, his eyes widened.
Good grief, are you trying to play the Four Sweet Commanders with five people?
You people really have no idea how to spell death.
Fortunately, Charlotte Oven only stayed briefly before gesturing to Longbread, Baron Tamago, and several other Devil Fruit users. Leading a group of younger siblings, they quickly moved in another direction.
It was obvious they intended to spread the battlefield across a wider area.
"These guys are pretty confident, aren't they? They're actually taking the initiative to spread out the battlefield."
Pini and Youki immediately saw through their intentions and laughed.
"That's only part of the reason."
Ash smiled and explained.
"Katakuri is an Awakened Devil Fruit user. His awakened ability can assimilate and transform the surrounding environment. They're mainly creating enough room for their perfect big brother to fully unleash his abilities."
"Oh? An Awakened Devil Fruit user?"
Pini and Youki instantly became interested.
The two brothers exchanged a glance.
Youki raised an eyebrow.
"This one is mine."
Pini rolled his eyes and immediately lost interest.
After fighting multiple Emperor crews, his standards had risen dramatically. Unless the opponent was one of the strongest figures at the Emperor level, he rarely felt motivated anymore.
If Ash had not mentioned Katakuri's awakening, he would not have cared in the slightest.
Now that Big Mom had been lured away by Jack, and Katakuri had already been claimed by Youki, the remaining members of the Big Mom Pirates looked like nothing more than a collection of weaklings in Pini's eyes.
Ash's next words confirmed his judgment.
"Don't get too excited. Even with an awakened Devil Fruit, Katakuri's overall strength is probably around King's level, maybe even slightly below Marco."
"Hahaha! Doesn't matter."
Youki laughed loudly.
"As long as I can enjoy the fight."
He tightened his gauntlets and charged directly toward the enemy forces.
"Heh, looks like Youki is planning to bulldoze straight through their entire army."
Ash watched with amusement.
The others immediately followed.
They knew Youki's style well enough. If he unleashed one of his large-scale attacks inside the enemy formation, there might not be anyone left for them to fight.
Meanwhile, among the Big Mom Pirates...
Katakuri had just finished assigning tasks to his siblings when he noticed Youki charging recklessly toward them.
As one of the Dawn Pirates' strongest fighters, Youki's intelligence profile had long been memorized by Katakuri.
Knowing his opponent possessed terrifying control over wind and sea currents, Katakuri naturally couldn't allow him to crash directly into their ranks.
"Daifuku, spread out. Follow the plan!"
Katakuri gave one final order before immediately wielding his trident, Mogura, and stepping forward to intercept Youki.
His reputation as the Charlotte Family's perfect brother was well deserved.
The moment he gave the order, his brothers and sisters scattered without hesitation.
Fidel, who also wielded wind and water abilities, accelerated with the assistance of powerful air currents.
Right after Youki moved out, he became the second person to reach the enemy.
Unfortunately, after securing an advantage in speed, he chose the weakest Sweet Commander available.
He headed straight for Snack.
McKinley wasn't far behind.
Hovering in midair, he fired a bolt of lightning at Charlotte Daifuku, who was moving laterally across the battlefield.
At the same time, he loudly provoked him.
"Hey! Bald guy with the ridiculous grin! Yeah, you! Come over here!"
Daifuku abruptly halted his sprint, barely avoiding the incoming lightning.
Then he heard the insult.
Veins immediately bulged across his forehead.
Without another word, he turned and charged directly at McKinley.
"Tsk, tsk."
Ash shook his head.
"McKinley really says whatever comes to mind."
Beside him, Kirk exhaled a stream of smoke and looked utterly helpless.
"Do you really need to ask where they learned it from?"
Ash blinked.
Then he instinctively turned toward Pini.
Pini instantly noticed the suspicious gaze.
"Kirk's talking about you!"
He pointed at Ash in disbelief.
"You! Why are you looking at me? What does this have to do with me?"
"..."
While the group chatted leisurely at the rear, Tsuki discovered an unfortunate reality.
Despite being among the first to charge forward, he had somehow become the slowest person to secure an opponent.
Katakuri had already been claimed by Youki.
Snack and Daifuku had been intercepted by Fidel and McKinley almost instantly.
Tsuki glanced toward Charlotte Smoothie.
The towering woman was moving sideways while keeping him within her peripheral vision.
Tsuki curled his lips.
Then he decisively changed direction and rushed after Charlotte Oven's group instead.
"Pfft."
Ash nearly laughed.
"Tsuki is actually looking down on his opponent. That's one of the Sweet Commanders, the Minister of Juice."
"Aren't you joining the fight?"
Ash turned toward Kirk.
"Busy."
Kirk tilted his head and lit another cigarette.
"How about launching a couple of rockets?"
"Good idea."
Ash grinned.
"While we're at it, let's make sure none of their ships survive."
"Exactly what I was thinking."
Pini removed his golden bow and fired three arrows toward the coastline.
"Those rockets don't look very convincing."
Ash laughed and casually waved a hand.
Crimson flames immediately wrapped around Pini's wind and thunder arrows.
The next moment...
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A chain of massive explosions erupted along the shoreline.
More than a hundred ships belonging to the Big Mom Pirates, including the Queen Mama Chanter, were instantly reduced to fragments.
Wooden debris scattered across the sea.
Flames spread through the wreckage while thick black smoke rose into the sky.
Everything that had existed moments earlier vanished completely.
Naturally, Katakuri and the others noticed the explosions that had practically sealed off the coastline.
Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do.
Katakuri narrowly avoided one of Youki's attacks using Future Sight.
Meanwhile, Daifuku and Snack suffered several heavy blows after allowing themselves to be distracted.
Watching from afar, Ash, Kirk, and Pini remained completely relaxed.
They chatted, observed the battles, and casually destroyed the enemy fleet, yet still showed no intention of joining the fight.
Saff and Robin were preparing to enter the battlefield when an unexpected figure suddenly rushed forward.
Dicken had somehow found and equipped a ridiculous bee-shaped mask.
He excitedly pointed toward Smoothie.
"Among the Sweet Commanders, she's the only one using a sword."
He grinned.
"She's probably a swordswoman, so I'll handle this tall lady."
At the same time, Smoothie was growing increasingly irritated.
Initially, she assumed the remaining fighter from the Dawn Pirates would naturally become her opponent.
Instead, that man merely glanced at her before immediately running after Oven.
Then, before she could even react, Ash and Pini casually destroyed the entire fleet.
Her shock quickly transformed into fury.
No one's even bothering to fight me?!
Smoothie swept her gaze across the battlefield.
She naturally recognized Heavenly Emperor Ash standing on the beach.
That monster was not someone she could challenge.
Ignoring him entirely, she looked elsewhere.
All around her, pirates cried out in panic.
Behind them floated the shattered remains of the Big Mom Pirates' fleet.
Further out at sea stood the Dawn Pirates' ship, completely untouched.
In an instant, a new target appeared in her mind.
Without hesitation, Smoothie abandoned the route assigned by Katakuri and charged directly toward the Dawn Pirates' vessel.
"Hey, tall lady."
Just then, an unfamiliar voice sounded behind her.
"If you want a sword fight, fight me instead."
"Running toward the ship is basically throwing your life away."