Things had reached this point.
There really was only one path left: to fight to the death.
"Attack!"
A sharp glint flashed in Katakuri's eyes. The moment his words fell,he tightly gripped his trident, Mogura, and charged with explosive speed.
"So, you're finally getting serious…"
Marco murmured softly as faint blue flames surged around his body. He transformed into his half-human, half-phoenix form, rising into the air as he lashed out with a precise, cutting kick toward the oncoming Katakuri.
"Crane Talon!"
Whoom!
The turbulent gust force caused the surrounding rain to be completely shaken away.
The collision between the two seemed to act as a signal. On the entire mountain peak cliff, both sides roared and charged forward.
A full-scale melee erupted in an instant!
"Out of my way!"
With two casual swings of his twin swords, Flower Sword Vista cut down several charging pirates. As his fighting spirit surged, he caught sight of Katakuri being driven back, landing more than ten meters away. Just as he raised his blades to strike, his vision suddenly blurred.
In the next moment, several towering figures clad head-to-toe in heavy armor, looking like primitive barbarians, closed in and surrounded him.
"Can't let you interrupt my brother's fight."
Expressionless, the armored soldiers spoke in unison, voices low and heavy:
"Your opponent is me."
"Charlotte Cracker, one of the Sweet Commanders. Bounty: 720 million…"
Vista's eyes narrowed as he scanned the circle.
"Interesting. So you're the one with the Biscuit-Biscuit Fruit, huh? I wonder… which of these soldiers hides your real body..."
"Why don't you find out for yourself…"
The biscuit soldiers stared coldly at him, raising their broadswords in unison.
"You'll know soon enough."
"—Roll! Pretzel Roll!"
And so, alongside Marco and Katakuri's duel, Vista and Cracker clashed fiercely as well.
By now, dusk had fallen. The rain poured harder, heavy clouds shrouded the sky, and visibility was poor.
Even so—
The sheer force of the battles between these four top-tier powerhouses of the seas, and the destruction they caused, left the factions hiding in the shadows utterly dumbstruck.
"S-so this… this is the power of the top officers serving under the Emperors of the Sea…"
Someone murmured, dazed.
"Each one… they're all monsters worth around a billion berries."
Others couldn't hide their envy, voices tinged with bitterness:
"If only I had even half that strength… no, even a fraction would be enough…"
"What kind of dream are you having, Rau?!"
His companion immediately mocked him with a sneer.
"You? Forget that. Better start thinking about how we're gonna snatch the Road Poneglyph once those guys wear each other out!"
The pirate called Rau looked disgruntled but had no retort. With a snort, he fixed his eyes back on the cliffside battle.
The fight was getting more and more deadlocked. It didn't look like either side would win quickly. Watching for so long made Rau a little bored, until…
"The rain's getting heavier."
He glanced toward the distant night sky, where lightning flickered faintly within the thick storm clouds. A wicked grin tugged at his lips.
"Looks like there's thunder coming too. Hey, what if those guys brawling on the mountaintop get struck by lightning?"
"As if it'd be that much of a coincidence."
His companion rolled his eyes and turned away irritably. He was about to snap back when he suddenly noticed—his friend's entire face was lit up by a dazzling flash of lightning.
"Huh?"
Instinctively, he turned his head back—only to see, with stunned eyes, four massive bolts of azure lightning, like writhing dragons, tearing through the clouds and striking straight down toward the cliff!
Boom—rumble—boom!!!
The dazzling, blinding lightning in that instant lit nearly the entire Hall Island as bright as day. A few pirates instinctively shut their eyes; Rau was completely stunned —
No way, it actually struck with lightning. I've been alive over thirty years — when have my words ever been so prophetic?
Four bolts at once — isn't that a little over the top…?
As the blinding sensation subsided a little, Rau was the first to open his eyes and look up at the sky. Then, as if he saw something incredible, he froze: "Huh? That's... a person?"
————
The mountaintop was scarred with blackened craters.
Both sides' pirates, after instinctively diving for cover, now dragged themselves back to their feet, ragged and disheveled.
A few unlucky ones had been struck head-on, charred to cinders, their corpses unrecognizable.
"What bad luck." A pirate under the Big Mom Pirates cursed, clutching his injured arm as he stood up. Just as he was about to look up and curse the awful weather, his eyes suddenly bulged wide.
Under the night sky and through the rain, a handsome figure cloaked in a white mantle of justice, with twin pale-blue thunder-wings unfolding behind him, descended slowly from high above like a god, looking down at them with a half-smile.
"Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral…"
The pirate's scalp tingled under that gaze; he stumbled back two steps and shouted, "Natsuya Nao?!!"
His shout drew everyone's attention. When the other pirates looked up and saw the figure in the sky, their faces were filled with stunned disbelief.
—How did this guy suddenly appear here?
The four top officers on both sides, who had been forced to temporarily halt their battle by the lightning, also noticed Nao's descent; each showed a different expression.
"Hey, uh… this is bad…"
The blue flames faded from Marco's body as he returned to human form. He rubbed at his temple, eyes narrowing on the descending figure.
"Marines… got here this quickly?"
Although he'd seen that extraordinarily handsome face on newspaper front pages many times, this Marine Vice Admiral who'd risen to fame in recent years was someone Marco had never faced in person.
Even though this junior had become famous much later, Marco could clearly feel a subtle pressure emanating from him.
And that lightning just now…
It seemed the rumors from a few days ago were true. This guy had somehow eaten the Rumble Rumble Fruit and become a Logia user. His current strength was probably even greater than initially imagined.
This is bad… Marco frowned, massaging his temple.
"It's been a while, Nao..."
From the crowd, Katakuri tightened his grip on his trident and stepped to the cliff's edge. He glared coolly up at Nao and said in a low voice:
"The Marines clearly had no intention of getting involved in this Poneglyph battle. Why are you suddenly here?"
It really has been a while, more than two years...
Nao and Katakuri exchanged a glance; Nao shrugged casually:
"I'm not interested in the Poneglyphs. I only planned to watch you pirates tear each other apart — I wasn't going to get involved."
"But I had no choice."
He looked toward the mountaintop where three Poneglyphs stood, and at the CP operatives sprawled and battered beneath them. "Those guys called me for help. We're on the same side after all — I couldn't just stand by and let them die…"
"Now that I'm here, both the people and the Poneglyphs—I'll be taking them all."
His gaze swept back across Katakuri, Marco, and the others, lingering with a smile:
"So, do me a favor, won't you? That way, you don't have to keep fighting to the death here. Everyone just heads home happy—how nice would that be, hmm?"
Damn it—does this guy really intend to meddle? Katakuri's face darkened as his eyes fixed warily on Nao.
On the other side, Marco's brows furrowed deeply—
Sure, Pops had no interest in the Poneglyphs, but before setting out they'd sworn up and down that they would take the Poneglyph back from Katakuri and save face.
If they just handed it over now, what would that say about the Whitebeard Pirates' honor?
But if they clashed with him…
The consequences could be dire—and there was no real need. Marco was always steady, mindful of the bigger picture, and hesitation showed plainly on his face.
As for the rank-and-file pirates, their faces burned with anger, righteously indignant, itching to roll up their sleeves and mob this arrogant bastard.
But the lingering terror from his thunderous display earlier, combined with the fact their own leaders hadn't spoken yet, kept anyone from daring to step up and be the first bird out of the brush.
So—
The entire mountaintop fell into dead silence, a strange, tense quiet that lasted a beat too long.
And when those watching from the forest shadows saw this scene, the mood shifted, countless faces paling slightly…
"That man… he's really something…"
Among the Red-Haired Pirates, the bald newcomer couldn't hold back a click of his tongue. "Just a few words, and even the famous Marco and Katakuri are cowed."
"Yeah." Lucky Roux gnawed the last bit of meat off a bone, chuckling. "That's the power of reputation. Wouldn't it be great if our captain could one day command that kind of face value too?"
Give me some face…
From a nearby branch, Shanks watched the all-too-familiar figure, momentarily dazed.
He could still recall, just a year ago at Sabaody, when he'd lashed out in anger—only to be brushed aside like a child.
He hadn't expected to see him again so soon.
When he snapped back to himself, Shanks' eyes flashed sharp, his fist tightening, restless with anticipation.
This past year back in the New World, he'd honed his strength considerably; his bounty had even doubled, breaking past five hundred million. If the chance arose…
He really wanted to fight him again—just to see whether the gap between them had closed at all…
...
On the mountaintop.
The silence finally broke, shattered by laughter edged with fury.
"Head home happy, you say?"
The sharp voice came from within the ranks of cookie soldiers. "What kind of crap are you spouting! Our Charlotte Family mobilized an entire force—how could we possibly walk away?!"
"And you—a guy Katakuri crushed two years ago until you couldn't tell up from down—where do you get the confidence to think a few words will make us hand over the Poneglyph? Don't make me laugh!"
Stop spouting nonsense, Cracker… Katakuri's brow furrowed as he shot the soldiers a warning glance.
He knew full well—back then, after a day and a night of battle, neither of them had won.
Yes, he had held the advantage, but in the end it was only because Mama herself had come to haul Nao back to Whole Cake Island. So where was this "crushed" nonsense coming from…?
Hmm?
Katakuri started to turn back, but a red glint flashed in his vision—he suddenly foresaw something. His face changed drastically as he bellowed: "Cracker, watch out!"
The warning came in time—but too late. In the very next instant, blinding lightning flared, striking unerringly at a soldier deep in the rear ranks.
Boom!
With a deafening explosion, thunder roared forth in a torrent, gouging a massive trench over a hundred meters long into the ground. A towering, muscular cookie soldier was instantly swallowed and obliterated by the lightning.
"Did you really think you were hiding so well—that you actually had the nerve to speak to me like that?"
Nao's calm voice carried out from beyond the lightning.
When the blinding light faded, everyone stared in shock.
Amid the shattered cookie soldiers stood a bare-chested, short, scrawny young man with purple hair, frozen dumbly with his mouth half open.
His look and build clashed so jarringly with the surrounding cookie soldiers…
The Whitebeard pirates exchanged looks, their expressions awkward and bemused.
So this was the true face of one of the "Sweet Commanders," Charlotte Cracker?
The man was notorious for his fear of pain, always hiding inside his biscuit warriors. Even his wanted poster showed only them—so few, even within the Big Mom Pirates, had ever seen his real face.
But now…
Katakuri's eye twitched, and he instinctively tugged his scarf tighter around his neck.
Countless eyes bore down. For a long moment, the ragged Cracker just stood there stunned—until he finally snapped back, teeth chattering with fury.
He yanked up his shorts, face twisted in indignation, grabbed the fallen longsword beside him, and charged at Nao with a roar:
"Bastard, I'll kill you!"
Crash!
Before his blade even touched Nao, his body was already sent flying, screaming as he smashed into a massive boulder dozens of meters away, shattering it to rubble.
"With just you alone… you don't even have the right to make me draw my sword."
Lowering his lightning-wreathed fist, Nao looked down impassively at the wide-eyed, shaken pirates. The white cloak on his back whipped in the storm winds.
"Since you won't give me face…"
His gaze swept across Katakuri, Marco, and Flower Sword Vista. A smile touched his lips.
"…why don't the four of you come at me together?"