AN : There is a limited time discount running for TWO DAYS on my for Patreon page. Check it out and enjoy the story further. Kaido has been clashing with Marco!!
CODE - FA23B!!
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At those words, Katakuri felt as though he'd taken a devastating blow straight to the heart.
Deep down, he had always known that the Mochi-Mochi Fruit was not particularly powerful. He simply refused to admit it. Even after pushing the fruit to Awakening, this was as far as it could go. More than once, Katakuri had asked himself a question he never voiced aloud: If I hadn't eaten the Mochi-Mochi Fruit… if it had been a Mythical Zoan, or even a Logia… would I be stronger than I am now?
But what was done was done. There was no turning back.
Katakuri exhaled slowly, forcing his turbulent thoughts into order. He understood the situation clearly. He could not defeat Ace in a short time—perhaps not at all—and Marco had already crushed two of his younger brothers. Continuing the fight would accomplish nothing except turning defeat into disaster.
He looked at Ace and spoke firmly, without hesitation.
"Stop. We've lost this war. Fish-Man Island is yours once again."
"What?" Ace blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected Katakuri to concede so decisively.
Katakuri repeated himself, his tone unwavering.
"Stop. There's no need to continue. You've won this time. Fighting any further will only lead to meaningless casualties."
Then he turned and shouted across the battlefield, his voice carrying over the chaos.
"Big Mom Pirates—stand down! There's no reason to keep spilling blood!"
At his command, the Big Mom Pirates froze, pulling back and adopting defensive stances.
"Marco…" Namur looked toward him, waiting for the final call.
Katakuri raised his voice once more.
"Marco, this battle is yours. Call your people back."
"Katakuri-nii…" Among the Big Mom Pirates, unease spread. As a Yonko crew, surrender was a bitter pill to swallow. Two Sweet Commanders had already fallen, and with no one left who could stop Marco, they had no choice but to accept it.
Marco heard Katakuri's words, a faint smile forming on his lips. He lifted his voice in response.
"Everyone—stand down!"
At Marco's order, both sides began to regroup, retreating toward their respective lines.
"So… it's finally over?" The Fishmen watching from afar let out collective sighs of relief.
Jinbe smiled gently. "Looks like Marco and his crew came out on top."
Marco turned toward Ace, whose face was swollen and bruised beyond recognition, and asked with concern,
"Are you alright, Ace?"
"I'm fine…" Ace rubbed his puffed-up face and still managed a grin. "Honestly, fighting Katakuri like that… it gave me back a lot of confidence."
Hearing Ace's words, Marco couldn't help but feel a trace of sympathy for Katakuri. In the original story, the man had been used as an "experience pack" for Monkey D. Luffy. Now, somehow, history had repeated itself—only this time, Katakuri had become Ace's stepping stone instead.
Marco patted Ace on the shoulder and said with genuine praise,
"You did great. We really owe you this time, Ace. If you hadn't held Katakuri back, I wouldn't have had the freedom to deal with Snack and Cracker so cleanly."
Ace grinned in response, though the movement tugged painfully at his swollen face, forcing him to wince.
Marco then turned to Fossa, who was also badly injured, and spoke warmly, "You did just as well, Fossa. Holding off Smoothie wasn't easy—thanks to you, everything went according to plan."
Fossa scratched his head and returned a simple, honest smile.
On the other side of the battlefield, Katakuri stood before Oven and Daifuku. Oven's condition was still acceptable—severely injured, but alive. Daifuku, however, was in a far worse state. A gaping hole tore through his body, his eyes half-lidded and unfocused, his breathing faint and irregular, as if death could claim him at any moment.
"Daifuku…" Katakuri's pupils shrank violently as he took in the sight.
The ship's doctor nearby lowered his head and spoke with regret,
"I'm sorry, Lord Katakuri… Lord Daifuku's injuries are simply too severe…"
Katakuri knelt beside his brother and stared at the wound. The blow had pierced straight through—entering from the abdomen and exiting the back. The internal organs within the chest and stomach had been utterly destroyed. Survival was impossible.
His fists clenched tightly, nails digging into his palms until fresh blood seeped through his fingers. Slowly, he lifted his gaze toward Marco, murderous intent surging in his eyes as he ground out a single name, heavy with killing intent:
"Marco…"
Marco, however, paid no mind to Katakuri's fury. Instead, he spoke with faint mockery, "Still not satisfied, Katakuri? I gave him a chance. He insisted on throwing his life away. That's not on me."
Katakuri's eyes turned ice-cold. Though his side still had numbers, their high-level combat power was clearly inferior to the Phoenix Pirates. Now was not the time to push things further. Glancing at Snack—still bound and held captive by the Phoenix Pirates—Katakuri forced himself to calm down.
"Release Snack," he said coldly. "And I'll withdraw from Fish-Man Island."
Marco let out a disdainful snort. He could already sense that although the fighting had stopped, the system's Establish Authority mission remained incomplete. A mere ceasefire wasn't enough—the Big Mom Pirates hadn't been taught a lesson deep enough to leave a lasting mark.
Katakuri's lofty attitude irritated him as well. In Marco's eyes, Katakuri was only so bold because Big Mom stood behind him. If it were Kaido, Marco might hesitate—but Big Mom was arguably the weakest of the Yonko. Against her, Marco had confidence.
"Withdraw?" Marco replied coldly. "Fish-Man Island was ours to begin with. Do I need you to 'return' what you stole? You burned our flag and openly provoked the Phoenix Pirates. Being slapped in the face like that isn't something that can be brushed off with a few words."
His gaze hardened.
"If we don't teach you a proper lesson today, the Phoenix Pirates will never truly establish themselves in the New World."
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