"Ohhh~ Fruit Awakening. What a terrifying ability~"
Borsalino hovered in midair, his mouth crooked, his face full of regret.
"Katakuri actually came too?"
Aokiji's formerly rather languid expression also turned serious.
Among the four current Emperor-level pirate crews, if one had to name the most threatening second-in-command, then aside from Ben Beckman, vice-captain of the Red Hair Pirates, it would be Katakuri of the Big Mom Pirates.
Marco, the First Division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and King the Conflagration, the All-Star of the Beasts Pirates, were both very strong as well, but they lacked one necessary condition for becoming a pirate emperor—Conqueror's Haki.
Katakuri was different. He possessed all Three-Color Haki, his fruit ability had awakened, and he had even developed his Observation Haki to the top-tier level of seeing the future.
With a kit like that, no matter how one looked at it, it made people feel he ought to stand upon the highest stage.
Most importantly, with the awakened Mochi-Mochi Fruit creating the battlefield, the Marine side's advantage of all three not fearing seawater was almost completely neutralized.
From one against three to two against three, the battle that originally could have been settled quickly was inevitably shifting toward a war of attrition.
After all, Emperor-level fighters were monsters. Their stamina could not be measured by ordinary standards. Even if they were at a slight disadvantage, they could hold out for a very, very long time.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Red Force of the Red Hair Pirates was already about to reach shore!
"Garp!"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku growled in a low voice. He looked very sternly at his old colleague, whom he had pinned to the ground. "Now isn't the time for you to act on impulse. Once Red Hair gets dragged in too, the