Smoothie was startled by the sudden voice. She spun around instantly, sweeping her longsword behind her in one fluid motion.
"Clang!"
Dicken grinned as he effortlessly blocked the slash with his dagger before landing lightly on the ground.
However, the moment he looked up, his expression stiffened.
His earlier comment about the "tall lady" suddenly felt incredibly accurate.
Dicken himself stood close to three meters tall, roughly comparable to the height of a Marine Admiral. Yet Smoothie towered at an astonishing 4.64 meters.
Combined with her absurdly long legs, his eye level lined up almost perfectly with her waist.
For a moment, even Dicken felt speechless.
Smoothie paid no attention to his reaction.
Nor did she know that the former ruler of Beehive Island, Wang Zhi, one of the legendary pirates once comparable to Big Mom herself, had ultimately fallen at this man's hands.
Seeing Dicken seemingly distracted, Smoothie showed no mercy.
Her blade flashed again, slicing directly toward his throat.
Dicken casually tilted his dagger and knocked the attack aside.
Just as he was about to continue teasing her, Smoothie suddenly took advantage of her long reach and extended a hand toward him.
As the former Sweet Commander known as the "Juice Minister," her ability was no secret.
Dicken had no intention of allowing her to touch him.
With a quick sidestep, he avoided the grab effortlessly.
Only then did he finally stop fooling around.
A three-foot azure blade aura emerged from his golden dagger.
His expression sharpened.
"I was planning to have a little fun."
He smiled coldly.
"But it looks like you're in a hurry to lose."
---
Beehive Island, Central District.
The once-bustling streets had long since been reduced to ruins.
Collapsed buildings and shattered stone littered the battlefield.
At the center of the destruction, Jack and Charlotte Linlin continued their brutal confrontation.
Big Mom's terrifying reputation came not only from her legendary Iron Balloon body but also from her mastery of the Soul-Soul Fruit.
The Soul-Soul Fruit allowed her to create Homies by granting souls to objects and even steal the souls and lifespan of others.
However, there was one condition.
The target had to fear her.
Unfortunately for Big Mom, Jack had no fear whatsoever.
Who was stronger and who was weaker could only be determined after a real fight.
Why would he be afraid before the battle was decided?
More importantly, Jack possessed the power of the Night Howler Fruit, a Devil Fruit capable of manipulating soul energy itself.
While his mastery of soul-based abilities might not be as versatile as Big Mom's, the inherent nature of his fruit granted overwhelming advantages in direct confrontations involving souls.
Jack had never developed flashy techniques like Big Mom or Perona.
Instead, he spent years cultivating and refining his abilities through relentless training.
Combined with his monstrous physique, the soul shockwaves naturally infused into his attacks had already elevated him to the forefront of the Dawn Pirates' strongest fighters.
The true power of the Night Howler Fruit was finally being revealed.
Earlier, Big Mom had relentlessly pursued Jack, determined to uncover the source of the strange force that had shaken her soul.
Once the distance became sufficient, Jack abruptly stopped retreating and launched his counterattack.
A charging punch infused with soul shockwaves struck forward.
At that moment, Zeus hesitated again.
No matter how furious Big Mom was, she finally realized the truth.
Zeus had not malfunctioned previously.
It had been affected by Jack's soul-based shockwave.
The attack had directly disrupted its soul, leaving it disoriented and unable to properly respond.
Realizing Zeus was unreliable against this opponent, Big Mom immediately abandoned the thundercloud.
Gripping Napoleon tightly, she descended from the sky and swung her Emperor Sword directly at Jack.
But in Jack's eyes, Napoleon and Zeus were merely Homies.
Nothing more.
He twisted aside and narrowly avoided the massive blade.
Then, instead of counterattacking Big Mom herself, he punched Napoleon directly.
Big Mom briefly froze.
In her eyes, Jack had just avoided a deadly attack only to strike her weapon.
Surely nervousness had caused him to make a mistake.
After all, if someone became afraid of her, the Soul-Soul Fruit would immediately become effective.
A huge grin spread across her face.
"Mama Mama Mama!"
She reached toward Jack and activated her ability.
Yet nothing happened.
At the same moment, she failed to notice something else.
Napoleon had completely lost its previous vitality.
The arrogant expression on the blade wilted instantly.
The sword seemed exhausted.
Prometheus was the first to notice.
Normally attached to Big Mom's hair, the fiery Homie often worked alongside Napoleon during battle.
Seeing Napoleon suddenly become silent felt deeply abnormal.
Prometheus looked down.
Then immediately shouted.
"Mama! Mama! Something's wrong with Napoleon!"
Only then did Big Mom finally notice.
The sword in her hand looked completely drained.
Its spirit had become unstable after receiving Jack's attack.
Big Mom immediately connected the dots.
The strange power that had shaken her and Zeus earlier had been used directly on Napoleon.
The result was devastating.
However, before she could react further, Jack had already completed another charge.
He attacked again without giving her any opportunity to recover.
Big Mom instinctively attempted to raise Napoleon to block.
Then she hesitated.
Given Napoleon's current condition, another direct hit might completely destroy its consciousness.
Grinding her teeth, she threw the sword aside and raised her left arm instead.
Yet Jack's target had never been Big Mom.
His real objective was Prometheus.
Among the Three Homies, Zeus embodied Big Mom's simple-minded innocence.
Napoleon represented her love of battle.
Prometheus embodied her rage.
In battle, Prometheus could attach itself to Big Mom's hair and unleash flames rivaling the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit.
It could even coat Napoleon in fire, dramatically increasing Big Mom's offensive power.
Her Iron Balloon defense was already troublesome enough.
Jack had no intention of allowing her to gain additional advantages.
The Three Homies had become his primary targets from the very beginning.
Homies were not Logia users.
They could be struck directly.
However, Jack's Armament Haki was merely a vessel.
The true threat was the soul shock hidden within every attack.
Being brushed by that force and receiving it directly were completely different experiences.
Zeus had merely been affected indirectly and suffered temporary disorientation.
Napoleon had received a direct punch and immediately became listless.
Prometheus faced an even worse fate.
The full force of Jack's soul shock crashed into its core.
Its blazing flames extinguished instantly.
The giant fireball rapidly shrank back into its sun-like form.
Even its expression became sluggish and vacant.
Big Mom had spent her entire life overwhelming others through the Soul-Soul Fruit.
Yet against Jack's Night Howler Fruit, her abilities were being suppressed at every turn.
Even her treasured Homies had become ineffective.
If Jack chose to focus entirely on them, maintaining consciousness would already be difficult for the Three Homies.
With her Devil Fruit abilities effectively neutralized, Big Mom's fury reached a new level.
Unable to rely on Zeus, Napoleon, or Prometheus, she finally dispersed all three.
Fortunately, she had never relied solely on her Devil Fruit to dominate the seas.
Her greatest weapon had always been her monstrous body.
The legendary Iron Balloon.
From that moment onward, the battle entered an entirely different phase.
No more soul abilities.
No more special powers.
Only raw strength.
Two monstrous figures collided repeatedly amid the ruins.
Punches met fists.
Arms slammed into bodies.
Shockwaves exploded in every direction.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The thunder and flames that had filled the battlefield earlier gradually disappeared.
Yet the deafening sounds of impact became even more terrifying.
Every collision shook the surrounding ruins.
Every exchange sent cracks spreading across the earth.
And this was exactly the situation Jack wanted.
A direct battle of endurance and brute force.
The battlefield where he excelled the most.
===
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