"Congratulations to the host for completing the achievement [Instant Refinement]. Reward: 5% portal energy."
"What is that?"
Akainu narrowed his eyes at the spear in Ymi's hands, which seemed to have transformed entirely, and at Famine—now radiating an even more sinister, terrifying aura, as though shrouded in "not for one's own glory."
Without scattering any insect powder, Famine—a spiritual manifestation to begin with—thrust forward at Ymi's mental command. A perfectly ordinary straight jab.
Akainu had no intention of dodging the incoming attack. He met it head-on with an Armament Haki-coated fist. Pitch black collided with shadow-dark, sending a blast of scorching air in every direction. The Sabaody mangrove trees, already ravaged by the magma raining from the sky, were ripped from the ground and flung a hundred meters away, sending the civilians who'd already fled into the distance into fresh waves of terror.
What the Doom-shroom provided was a "power" enhancement. In practice, the effects achieved through different items weren't fixed.
One hundred and fifty minutes—that was how long the Doom-shroom's enhancement lasted. Its potency far exceeded what the Insect Glaive manuals described for the Dragonstones, but thanks to the Doom-shroom's indiscriminate friend-or-foe effect, both the empowered Kinsect and the host who'd absorbed the enhancement would suffer the same damage as backlash.
Not that Ymi felt any discomfort whatsoever. She just didn't know which poor soul was tanking the pain for her.
She recalled Famine. This enhancement was originally meant to apply only to the Kinsect, yet once Famine returned, a layer of deep, dark radiance settled over the Spear of Longinus itself.
This was the Stand's second ability: "Fairness." Because the mushroom's enhancement was time-limited and Famine's recall had wasted some of that time, fairness dictated that the enhancement should transfer directly to the cat herself.
Akainu shook out his wrist. "So you had another trick up your sleeve? Hawk-Eye, what the hell are you scheming, raising a little monster like this? Or is the rumor about him marrying into Big Mom's family actually true?"
Nobody had believed that story when Morgans cooked it up for clicks...
Charlotte Linlin—a monster who, even as a child before obtaining her Devil Fruit, had gone on a rampage and slaughtered giants. Skin that was virtually indestructible paired with monstrous strength at the highest tier, all of it gained without a shred of training. A "born monster" in every sense.
Even if one of her descendants produced a child who'd inherited that bloodline, it wouldn't be surprising.
Now Sakazuki's killing intent was genuine. One Big Mom was already enough to terrorize an entire sea as a Yonko. What if their crew gained another one?
Facing the little girl's silhouette within that glow, he threw a magma fist without an ounce of restraint, its heat warping the very air around it. This place had become a hell where no living thing could survive.
"Great Eruption!"
No need to worry about civilians. Anyone who lingered on the first twenty-nine lawless islands had already been stamped with Akainu's label of "criminal."
Magma tore through virtually the entire Sabaody Archipelago, plunging this rookies' paradise—the place that cradled every pirate's dream—into a living hell.
Ymi didn't flinch or dodge. She took it head-on with a simple horizontal sweep to set up the motion, then flipped.
"Flying Roundslash!"
She didn't know if shouting the move's name actually did anything, but the cat copied her opponent anyway.
The two attacks deadlocked for an instant. The sky itself was split by the shockwave, a visible gash carved through the air before the forces, failing to converge on a single point, slid past each other.
Beyond the Sabaody Archipelago.
"It's so hot—was Sabaody always this hot?" A crew of rookie pirates felt the climate shift from far away.
"No, I've been here before. It shouldn't be this—"
"Is that what I think it is?" The navigator peering through binoculars was instantly drenched in sweat. "Akainu! Why is he here?!"
"You're saying—"
Before anyone else could react, a black line stretching visibly hundreds of meters high sliced through the ocean and passed clean between their ship's hull.
"What the hell is that?!!"
Not as powerful as just chucking the mushroom as a bomb.
Ymi looked down at her spear, furrowing her small brows slightly.
That was to be expected. After all, a single-use item was being spent as a two-and-a-half-hour buff.
"Hawk-Eye's daughter..."
Akainu gritted his teeth, staring at the gash running from his shoulder all the way to his heart.
Their attacks had slid past each other, but while Ymi charged in without the slightest thought of dodging or defending, he'd had to take a direct slash.
The good news was that this strike hadn't carried Armament Haki—a simple elemental transformation was enough to mitigate it. But the slash mark lingering on his shoulder refused to close.
This kid—how old was she??
What would happen if she actually learned Armament Haki?
On his end, bloodlust was running high. What had started as intent to eliminate the target was steadily shifting into genuine seriousness. But Sakazuki either hadn't noticed—or perhaps his miniature Den Den Mushi had been incinerated by his own heat—that headquarters had been calling his number so frantically it was about to go mad.
"Where's Sakazuki?! Pick up the damn phone!" Fleet Admiral Sengoku was on the verge of exploding.
He'd just received a call. Mary Geoise was burning. Specifically, every single second, another Celestial Dragon was spontaneously combusting.
"Daddy, I'm scared! Why aren't these commoners the ones dying?"
"Damn it, you commoners, hurry up and—"
"Why haven't they—"
"I'm a descendant of the creators! No, no... don't come near me!!"
They scattered in every direction. This was likely the most physically demanding thing the Celestial Dragons had ever done in their lives. Served hand and foot in daily life, carried by slave-drawn carriages the moment they stepped outside—"exercise" had never been part of their vocabulary.
Believing it to be some kind of contagious curse, they tried desperately to distance themselves from anyone already ablaze. But no matter how far they ran, it made no difference.
Saint Mjosgard, who had long since reformed, sat perfectly still and closed his eyes. "So retribution has come at last..."
"Did you go and attack the Celestial Dragons, Akainu?!"
"Bwahahahaha!"
Sengoku was apoplectic. Garp, standing beside him, was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.
Sengoku couldn't help himself and threw a punch. "What's so funny?!"
"Those pieces of garbage are finally getting what they deserve?" Garp said without a shred of tact.
"Hawk-Eye—call Hawk-Eye!"
"Hello?" An irritable voice. Mihawk's mood these past few days had clearly not been great.
"Your daughter killed Celestial Dragons! Explain yourself!"
"So..." Mihawk's response was utterly flat. "How nostalgic. Guess it's back to drifting on the open sea."
He hung up.
Was that him preemptively accepting his removal from the Seven Warlords?
Sengoku removed his cap with trembling hands. "Garp."
"What?"
"Starting today, you're the Fleet Admiral."
"Screw off."