Second Sweet Commander

Considering that Charlotte Oven had still carried a bounty of 150 million Berries even when his strength had been underestimated, he was at least no weaker than most Marine Headquarters Rear Admirals.

On top of that, he was a power-focused fighter with exceptional offensive strength. Even many Vice Admirals might not be his match.

If, on that foundation, his explosive power could be increased severalfold, then his offensive strength might well rival those supreme, first-rate powerhouses standing at the top of the world. (Some might think this was underestimating the Yonko and Marine Admirals, but in theory, an individual with all attributes doubled could defeat four of their original selves. Thus, the gap in any single attribute between fighters of different tiers was not actually that great. As long as their types were not too different, the average difference was probably only around fifty percent.)

Even if speeding up his metabolism could not increase the strength of his muscles and bones, meaning the maximum force Charlotte Oven could safely use was only twice his original limit and could not be maintained for long, the improvement was already astonishing.

Moreover, it had to be said that Oven's self-heating enhanced far more than just his explosive power.

His thought speed, reaction speed, and even bodily agility had undergone astonishing, transformative changes. The boost was far greater than that to his explosive power; according to Oven's estimate, it was at least forty or fifty times greater!

The key to learning "Soru" and "Geppo" was having a sufficiently high step frequency. And step frequency, given the same leg length, depended on nothing more than explosive power and agility.

Oven's drastically increased thought and reaction speed further strengthened his control over his own body. Was it not only natural that he could easily master two Marine techniques?

Setting aside hard-to-quantify attributes such as agility, merely doubling instantaneous explosive power could raise one's strength by an entire tier, let alone with two highly practical ultimate techniques like "Soru" and "Geppo."

Coupled with the considerable improvement in his Armament Haki, which had risen along with his own surging strength, Oven had truly undergone a complete transformation this time!

Charlotte Oven had already been fairly strong to begin with. Now that he had received such an enormous boost, Katakuri estimated that he was strong enough to defeat an ordinary Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral. Even some elite Vice Admirals might not be his match.

And because the increase in his offensive power had been especially remarkable, combined with his already exceptional strength, Oven could even pose a lethal threat to a Marine Admiral under certain specific circumstances!

To make a joke that was not entirely a joke, if Garp dared to suddenly fall asleep in front of Charlotte Oven, simply getting slashed until blood sprayed everywhere would be the least of his worries.

Without using Armament Haki, even Garp would not fare much differently if his vital point were struck by one of Oven's greatly empowered heavy punches than Whitebeard had when Akainu blew off his head with a punch at Marineford—while Whitebeard was gravely ill and seriously wounded, unable to use Armament Haki for defense. (His Conqueror's Haki had clearly failed to activate, and the fact that he had not dodged at all indicated that he could not use Observation Haki either. Even if he could still use Armament Haki in that state, he certainly could not have balanced attack and defense at the same time.)

Thus, Charlotte Oven, who had originally only occupied an important position in the family through seniority, leaped into becoming another dazzling Sweet Commander among the family's second generation, second only to Katakuri in strength.

The mission team's strength had also become even greater. The three-man Flying Squad, in particular, had improved dramatically.

After exchanging a few simple moves and personally sensing his younger brother's transformation, Katakuri's face was filled with delight, and he finally relaxed completely.

With Oven's strength having unexpectedly skyrocketed, let alone merely two Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals, even if they encountered a massive fleet carrying out a Buster Call, they had an extremely high chance of victory so long as none of those exceptional powerhouses were among them.

However, Mousse, the one who had proposed the idea, regained his composure sooner and reminded his two brothers, "I never expected this move to be so useful. The Heat-Heat Fruit can now practically be considered a top-tier Devil Fruit. But Brother Oven, you must not rely on it too heavily. First, it only improves your attack and speed; your body's ability to withstand blows remains at its original level. Once you challenge stronger opponents, if you are hit, your relatively fragile body may very well get you instantly killed—especially since you still cannot use Observation Haki. Second, accelerating your metabolism also means accelerated depletion of stamina and lifespan. The cost is not small, so it is better to use it as little as possible in ordinary circumstances."

Still, they definitely had to test it out in today's battle. Faced with Charlotte Oven, whose speed and strength had both increased tremendously, the two Marine Headquarters Rear Admirals left behind on the warships in the harbor were utterly incapable of resisting.

One of them could not even withstand a single punch before he was punched straight through the chest and killed.

Even the other Marine Rear Admiral, who had eaten a Zoan-type Devil Fruit and was clearly tougher and more durable, only managed to take one more punch than his comrade. This showed just how terrifying Charlotte Oven's current offensive power was.

And thanks to his increased speed and enhanced five senses, Charlotte Oven was not hit even once by the enemy. His former weakness in evasion seemed to have been largely overcome as well.

His younger brother's activity exceeded all expectations, leaving Katakuri without even a chance to act. Yet if Katakuri had not first swept away the overwhelming majority of Marine officers and soldiers with his Conqueror's Haki, Charlotte Oven, who could only deal with enemies one at a time, might not have been able to handle human-wave tactics no matter how strong his attacks were, even with the help of his two younger sisters.

Since Katakuri had no opportunity to directly join the battle, the two younger sisters had even less reason to do so.

Because Oven had displayed such overwhelming might, the only role left for the two who had accompanied him was to put Seastone shackles on the severely wounded and unconscious Marine Rear Admiral.

This left the cruel, bloodthirsty Charlotte Amande deeply dissatisfied. With a dark expression, she questioned, "Brother Oven, why didn't you kill him? How did you become so softhearted too?"

"Mousse said before that we need Devil Fruit user captives for experiments." Oven's answer, however, greatly surprised Amande.

The half-Serpent Head Tribe girl instinctively extended her long, slender tongue to lick her lips, then let out a chilling laugh. "Hehe, so little Mousse has this side to him too! And here I was worried that his heart was too soft for him to face this world's cruelty in the future!"

While the siblings who had easily dealt with five warships chatted and laughed on this side, the two Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals who had led men into the palace and were currently besieging the young king who had broken the rules were shocked when they received the news.

As the fleet commander, the veteran Grumir hesitated almost not at all before immediately ordering the entire force to abort the mission and return to the docks.

The fact that the garrison troops had been unable to even finish their call for reinforcements made the enemy's terror abundantly clear.

If they continued tangling with the remnants of the Faros Kingdom instead of immediately gathering their troops again, they would certainly be defeated piecemeal by the enemy. In the worst-case scenario, the entire force might be wiped out.

"What happened? The enemy suddenly withdrew all at once? And those two Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals look so panicked?" Pharaohs King James Glenn, who had been struggling desperately and was already completely hopeless, had only remained standing through the unwillingness in his heart and the tenacious vitality of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user. Now that he saw the crisis had passed, his legs gave out beneath him, and he collapsed onto the ground.