Thousand Years of Death

The senior officers of the Beasts Pirates had indeed escaped disaster, but the remaining artificial Devil Fruit users, ancient giant test subjects, ordinary officers, and grunts were not so fortunate. The scalding tsunami crashed down, instantly wiping out more than half of the Beasts Pirates' rank-and-file and core forces.

For a time, screams, roars, and curses rang out without end. Moments later, the sounds gradually died away, leaving only the scent of cooked flesh drifting across the sea.

Yet everyone who smelled that scent wore a twisted expression. Even these pirates, who lived with blades at their throats, felt a chill in their hearts at such a horrific scene.

Even Yota had not expected his move to be so effective. Aside from the senior officers, nearly half of the Beasts Pirates' elite troops had been wiped out in one blow.

At that moment, glutinous rice, syrup, and biscuits scattered apart, revealing the Charlotte Pirates. But aside from Katakuri, both Perospero and Cracker were pale and drenched in sweat, looking utterly exhausted.

The syrup created by Perospero's Lick-Lick Fruit feared high temperatures, while Cracker's biscuits feared seawater. During the tsunami, the two had constantly replenished the syrup and biscuits to hold on until the end, which was why they looked so drained.

Although the two had lost more than half their fighting strength, compared with the Beasts Pirates, the Charlotte Pirates were now in far better shape. At least they had suffered no casualties.

"That was incredible. Yota, that one attack practically destroyed ten years of the Beasts Pirates' hard work. Kaido is going to be mad with rage now." Marco descended from the sky and landed beside Yota, staring at him in astonishment.

Yota scratched his head slightly. "Luck. This time, it really was luck!"

Yota was not being modest; he truly felt that way. The impact of the Water Release - Great Waterfall Technique might have counted as extremely powerful damage against ninjas, but against the thick-skinned monsters of the Pirate World, it was not all that lethal.

If it had been an ordinary tsunami, even if the Beasts Pirates had fallen into the water, aside from Devil Fruit users and artificial Devil Fruit users, everyone else would have been in no great danger as long as they endured the impact.

Even those Devil Fruit users could have been rescued with the help of the many Beasts Pirates members.

However, before that, Charlotte Oven had heated the seawater. As a result, the destructive power of Yota's Great Waterfall Technique had nearly skyrocketed, thoroughly devastating the Beasts Pirates in one stroke.

It could be said that Charlotte Oven had given him a godlike assist. Otherwise, there was no way he could have achieved such a tremendous result.

"You brat, die!" At that moment, an angry roar came from the sky. King, flying overhead in his pteranodon form, dove down without hesitation. At the same time, he loosened his claws, and Jack, whom he had been carrying, abruptly transformed into a mammoth and slammed down at Yota headfirst.

Though Yota was strong, he did not dare take head-on an opponent like Jack, whose brute strength was immense and whose charge carried the impact of a plunge from high in the sky. With a flash, he dodged the blow.

"Tankyūdon!" King roared as he endured a powerful attack from Marco, who had tried to stop him. He was nearly beaten to the point of vomiting blood, yet he forcefully withstood it without hesitation, all to deliver Yota a vicious blow. His jet-black wings were like blades descending from heaven, slicing straight through Yota's body.

With a splash, Yota was swept into two halves by King's wing, only for the halves to turn into two logs.

"Damn it! If you've got the guts, fight me head-on!" King roared at Yota, who had just avoided his attack with the Substitution Technique. But before Yota could answer, Marco came down from the sky and kicked King in the head, sending him tumbling far across the ice before speaking coldly.

"Don't you think you're taking me a little too lightly? Trying to attack a brother of the Whitebeard Pirates in front of me—do you take me for dead?"

Soldiers faced soldiers, generals faced generals. Marco's position in the Whitebeard Pirates was nearly the same as King's in the Beasts Pirates. By all rights, they were opponents on the same level. Yet King had forced himself to attack Yota despite Marco's assault, naturally making Marco feel utterly slighted.

Thus, even the usually good-tempered Marco became incomparably fierce, leaving King with no chance to strike again.

Yota swept his gaze over the battlefield. The other Whitebeard Pirates each had their own opponents. Yamato alone had held back Katakuri. Faced with the Cold Air of the Okuchi no Makami Fruit, the Mochi-Mochi Fruit instantly lost its ability to change forms. If Katakuri's Observation Haki had not reached the level of seeing the future, he would likely have been smashed to pieces by Yamato.

Ace was fighting Queen. Queen's technological weapons and viruses were useless against Ace's Elementalization ability, so he could only honestly fight Ace with Haki. From the looks of it, Ace was not at any disadvantage.

The remaining Whitebeard Pirates were dealing with the Beasts Pirates' surviving senior officers. With support from the Charlotte Pirates, although it looked like one against two, the Charlotte Pirates had not deployed their full force and their fighting spirit was lacking. The Kaido Pirates had only a few senior officers left, so the Whitebeard Pirates actually held the advantage.

As for Yota's current opponent, only Jack the Mammoth, whom King had just thrown down, remained.

Thinking of this, Yota looked at Jack, whose eyes were bloodshot as he panted heavily, and crooked a finger at him.

"Come on, you big dumb elephant. Watch me snap off all your tusks!"

"Bastard! Die!" Jack charged without hesitation, while Yota kept nimbly dodging.

"What are you, a monkey? All you do is dodge and run around!"

Seeing that the distance was about right, Yota wore a provocative smile. "Heh, I'm afraid that if I throw one punch, I'll have to beg you not to die."

"By the way, of that one-billion-Beli bounty of yours, were nine hundred million Beli put on those two tusks?"

"Die!" Under Yota's constant harassment and verbal taunting, the simple-minded Jack finally lost all reason. He instantly transformed into a mammoth, lowered his head, and charged forward!

A faint smile appeared on Yota's lips. Instead of dodging, he assumed a stance as though he intended to clash head-on with Jack, gathering his strength as he stood in place.

Seeing this, Jack was overjoyed. He increased his speed and force even further, coating his tusks in Armament Haki before violently thrusting them at Yota!

With a splash, Yota was instantly split in two. Blood spurted out, then slowly turned into clear water.

Only then did Jack discover that directly behind Yota was the edge of the ice!

Jack's expression changed drastically. He exerted all his strength, nearly cracking the entire sheet of ice beneath his feet, before barely managing to stop himself.

But then, an eerie voice sounded behind him. "Big dumb elephant, go take a bath in the sea! Thousand Years of Death!"

A violent pain surged through him. Jack, already standing at the edge of the ice, fell into the sea with a scream.