Cracker's Shock

Fortunately, the Charlotte Family did not need to overthrow the Celestial Dragons' rule in order to survive. All they had to face were the World Government and the Marines, not the full might of the Celestial Dragons.

Nor did they need to defeat the former completely. They only had to make them realize that destroying the Charlotte Family would come at such a tremendous cost that it simply would not be worth it.

That would not be easy either, but Mousse believed it was still possible.

Especially after obtaining intelligence from Stussy and realizing that CP0 might even want to see the Marines suffer a setback, he felt even more confident.

His confidence had grown, but Stussy's visit had still delayed them somewhat.

Since it was already the end of the year, by the time Mousse had confirmed all the intelligence she had provided with the Homies and asked about various trivial details he had not had time to learn before, the new year had arrived without his noticing—Marineford Era 1500.

This year, One Piece Gol D. Roger would turn himself in and be executed. Though his words before the execution would herald the beginning of the Great Pirate Era, it would take time for the situation to spiral out of control.

The Marines would have some time to spare no matter what. The Charlotte Family's safe period was already running out.

However, considering that Roger first went to find a wife and only turned himself in to the Marines after confirming that he had a child, at least half a year should pass from the time he disbanded his pirate crew. Mousse's original plan could still be carried out in time.

Even so, Mousse did not want to waste a single moment. Even while sailing at sea, he kept hiding in Eighth Sister Charlotte Brulee's Mirror World and had his brother Cracker help test Big Head's practical combat capabilities.

The reason he had chosen Cracker rather than someone else was that after Big Head transformed into a Scroll, much of its attack power came from the momentum of high-speed flight. It accelerated rather slowly, so every attack was a one-shot deal, after which it had to turn and accelerate all over again.

Whether Big Head attacked on its own or Mousse took direct control of it, it was nowhere near as easy to handle as an ordinary sword.

If he tested it on someone else, he might accidentally chop them to death or cripple them. Cracker's Biscuit Soldiers, on the other hand, posed no such concern.

But Cracker did not quite agree with Mousse's worries. Not knowing Big Head's origins, he simply could not believe that such a tiny Scroll could pose a fatal threat to him while he was hidden inside Biscuit Armor.

If Mousse had not guided him before, it would not have been easy to persuade this tenth brother, with whom he had not been particularly close, to obediently follow the arrangements.

Even so, Cracker had ideas of his own. When Mousse controlled the opened, taut Scroll and sent it slashing toward the Biscuit Soldier, the latter, who had originally agreed to merely raise its shield and block, instead lifted Pretzel first and swung it down viciously to meet the attack!

Of course, Cracker still knew gratitude. Though he wanted to make Mousse lose face so he could mock him, he had no intention of going too far. The Biscuit Soldier had actually struck with the flat of the blade, so as not to damage his younger brother's "toy."

Yet the instant they collided, there was a crack, and Pretzel, whose quality surpassed even some Great Quick Blades, was instantly severed by Big Head's Scroll surface!

Before Cracker could react to his shock, that seemingly unremarkable Scroll continued onward without losing momentum and slashed toward the Biscuit Soldier itself. Like a table knife cutting through butter, it directly sliced off the latter's head!

"This..." Cracker immediately felt his face burning hot. Fortunately, his entire body was hidden within Biscuit Armor, so no one outside could see it. Otherwise, it would have been even more embarrassing.

But more than humiliation and anger, what Cracker felt now was shock. What the hell was this Scroll? Even if his Pretzel was not yet comparable to the legendary Black Blade, it should not have been far off. How could it have been so utterly helpless?

"Looks like I really underestimated you! Again! This time, I'm getting serious!" With a dark face no one could see, Cracker clapped his hands repeatedly and created another Biscuit Soldier to the highest standard. He had it raise a shield to block this time, rather than meet the attack with a hard but relatively fragile sword.

Unfortunately, the result was no different—if anything, it was even uglier. The taut, horizontally flying Scroll easily cut through the shield, which was as hard as high-grade alloy steel, then continued on to split the thick torso of the Biscuit Soldier behind it in two.

"..." Seeing Cracker remain silent for so long that he looked dead, Mousse could not help secretly rejoicing that he had muted Big Head beforehand.

Otherwise, if Cracker, already deeply shaken, heard it proudly boasting about itself, he would surely fly into a rage from humiliation. A little physical suffering for Mousse would be the least of it. If this tenth brother refused to continue helping him test it out of anger and embarrassment, that would be a real headache.

Several seconds later, Cracker finally spoke again, proving that he was still alive. "Your little Scroll is really something. It seems I have no choice but to go all out. Let's try again. This time, I'm using Armament Haki. Even the legendary Black Blade can't possibly be tougher than this."

Then, the Scroll, which now seemed somewhat terrifying in Cracker's eyes, once again cut the Biscuit Soldier cleanly in two. The increased hardness brought by Armament Haki hardening did not show any effect at all.

Cracker was completely shocked. He had been shocked before, but this time, he was utterly shocked.

What shocked him was not that Armament Haki hardening had completely failed to work, but that the Armament Haki he had added had already been completely drained. "I did everything I could to block your slash. My Haki even sensed my resolve and burned itself up to neutralize the damage from the strike."

"Armament Haki can directly neutralize damage?" Mousse was stunned when he heard that. Katakuri had explained it to him once, but since he himself still could not use Armament Haki, his understanding naturally could not compare with Cracker's.

But now that Cracker had stated the conclusion outright, Mousse understood it immediately. He even drew further inferences from it and resolved a small question he had had before crossing over.

So that's why Hawk Eyes said, 'Damage to a sword is a swordsman's shame'? I knew it. If it were merely a matter of increasing hardness, could it be harder than diamond or Seastone? Could it be harder than an indestructible Poneglyph? Wouldn't it still get damaged if it struck something? So it can directly absorb damage too. That makes logical sense, though it still isn't scientific! Wait, absorb damage? Isn't that somewhat similar to Blackbeard's Dark-Dark Fruit ability?

The ability to directly absorb damage undoubtedly overturned common sense, but it clearly could not come without a cost.

According to Cracker's additional explanation, if it was merely simple hardening, then whether Armament Haki was used to strengthen attack or defense, the consumption was quite limited. Even people weaker than him could maintain it continuously without much difficulty.

But if Haki was burned to directly inflict damage or absorb damage, the rate of consumption was astonishing. Going all out every time might drain it completely after only a few dozen uses, or even just a dozen or so.

Then again, the need for such a function generally arose only at the brink of life and death. It would not be unusual for the outcome to be decided in minutes or even seconds, making endurance far less important.

It was a completely different concept from those so-called "fierce battles" that supposedly lasted for days and nights, but in reality involved both sides holding back and frequently stopping to rest.

The final week of the new book period is here. Please keep reading and send recommendation votes ^_^