Devil Fruit Battle

Dusk.

A breeze scattered the fallen leaves.

The guards were on edge like startled birds; the slightest sound made their bodies tense instantly.

They were escorts the Celestial Dragons had brought from Mary Geoise. They could not disobey any order issued by the Celestial Dragons.

Even knowing pirates would certainly come here, they could not entertain the thought of fleeing.

Death awaited them here, and death awaited them if they fled.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps rang out. A figure burst from the woods and charged straight toward the treasure.

The guards' eyes narrowed. They stamped their feet against the ground, instantly appearing before Jian Jin'an as they unleashed a charged punch.

Elsewhere, a guard kicked off the air, flipped twice in midair, then suddenly launched a kick that swept up a "vacuum" like a sharp slash, rapidly closing in on Jian Jin'an.

Boom!!!

In an instant, the ground where the attack landed cracked apart, and dust billowed everywhere.

The guard spat on the ground and wiped the dust from his hands.

"Thought you'd be something special. Turns out you're just a petty thief."

In their eyes, someone who could be easily dealt with by just two of them was not worth having all the guards surround him.

"Hey, did you idiots skip dinner? You're so slow..."

On the roof above them, Jin An leisurely dusted off his spotless clothes.

After gaining 50 points of physique, dealing with these guards was effortless for him.

After a brief exchange, he realized there was no need to be so cautious. Had he known, he could have simply gone straight for the fruit and had an even easier time.

However, within his sight, Bartholomew Kuma and Emporio Ivankov were already within reach of the treasure chest.

Hearing the mocking words, the guards below turned pale with rage. But what frightened them even more was that not one of them had seen how the man on the roof had moved.

Fear overwhelmed their reason, and they kept backing away.

"Can we really fight a monster like this?"

Hearing that, Jin An's mouth twitched. Did they have some kind of misunderstanding about what a monster was?

"Ah!!!"

A scream reached Jin An's ears.

Turning around, he saw a tall, beautiful woman gripping Ivankov's face with one hand and smashing him hard into the ground, while holding a Devil Fruit in her other hand.

"Ooh! That was close. I nearly turned into the 'Big Head Dragon King.'"

Charlotte Linlin looked at Ivankov and teased him.

She had not wasted a moment. The instant she got off the ship, she had rushed here to seize the fruit before it could be eaten.

"Hand over the other fruit too."

Charlotte Linlin paid no attention to the people around her. She released Ivankov and reached for the fruit in Kuma's hand.

"Eat it now!! Kuma! Don't hesitate!!!" Ivankov roared himself hoarse.

Kuma swallowed the fruit in his hand in a single bite. He knew his comrades had fought desperately to obtain it; he could not let down their expectations.

"Pah..."

Charlotte Linlin spat. It was already too late.

"You have to survive. Even if it's only you, that's still our victory!"

Charlotte Linlin looked at Ivankov, who was still coughing up blood, but made no further move. She was already a Devil Fruit user; the fruit was merely a tool for exchanging benefits.

There were still so many treasure chests, gold, silver, and jewels here. She had already made a huge profit.

"Hee-haw, I'm waiting for someone to come. What are you waiting for?" Ivankov opened his mouth and directly taunted Charlotte Linlin.

Whoosh...

Sensing that something was wrong, Jin An launched a sneak attack from behind her.

"Brat, who gave you the courage to face me?"

Charlotte Linlin slightly turned aside, dodging Jin An's attack.

"You're... Big Mom?"

The woman before him was incredibly beautiful.

Beneath her curved brows were a pair of alluring large eyes. Her lips were delicate and full, with curves where there should be curves and a figure where there should be one. She was like a ripe peach.

His impression of One Piece stopped around the Whole Cake Island arc, but he had seen what this woman looked like when she was young.

After confirming his suspicion, Jin An's heart sank. He had no confidence that he could stop this opponent. Big Mom had been powerful since childhood, and her body was like iron and steel—even cannon fire could not leave a mark on her.

"Big Mom?!!" Veins bulged on Charlotte Linlin's forehead. She was clearly furious to the extreme.

"Very good, brat. I'll remember you. Do you know the price you'll have to pay for saying those two words in front of a woman?!!"

Jin An regretted saying those words the moment they left his mouth. He knew how terrifying this woman was when she went mad—she would kill even her own sons and daughters without hesitation.

Moreover, Charlotte Linlin had not yet developed the plump figure she would have later. In this world, probably no one dared to call her that to her face.

Sensing something was wrong, Jin An immediately shouted at Ivankov and Kuma, "Get out of here, now!!"

Elbaf Spear: Ikoku!!!

Charlotte Linlin casually tucked the fruit she held into her clothes, then raised her sword above her head with one hand and violently slashed forward.

A purple sword-energy shockwave carrying the aura of death swept toward Jin An.

In his haste, Jin An could only draw his blade and charge forward, swinging down at Charlotte Linlin with all his strength. Yet he could not advance even an inch.

An unimaginable force surged into his arms. Veins bulged across his neck and arms as the sword energy pushed him along, carving two trails into the ground.

At the same time, a terrifying force blanketed the entire area. Amid scream after scream, every person and animal within a hundred meters stared wide-eyed, their eyes filled with nothing but terror, followed by shrill cries after the flash of the blade.

Some did not even have time to scream before their entire bodies turned into clouds of blood mist that drifted through the air, leaving behind only scorched marks on the ground.

Their twisted postures before death were enough to prove how terrified they had been.

Fortunately, after hearing Jin An's warning, Kuma immediately used his Devil Fruit ability to send himself and Ivankov flying beyond the attack's range.

"What destructive power..."

Ivankov muttered, the smile gone from his face.

In the blink of an eye, everything within several hundred meters had become a land of death. Corpses lay everywhere, and even the grass and trees had lost their vitality.

"Where's Jin An? How is he?"

Kuma looked around, trying to find Jin An, but his vision was blocked by the dust, making him unable to search.

Within the dust-shrouded area.

"Not bad. Although I only used fifty percent of my strength, you managed to block that move. You're decent."

Charlotte Linlin licked her lips, her interest slightly piqued.

Jin An knelt on one knee, supporting himself with his sword in one hand. The clothes around both his hands had been shattered by the impact, and his arms were covered in wounds left by sword energy.

He once again felt death drawing near, yet a smile curved across his lips.

The hand he had kept behind his back slowly moved toward his mouth. Resting in his palm was something that looked as though it were wrapped in dragon scales...

A Devil Fruit!!!

(PS: In this story's setting, Big Mom had not yet reached her peak strength. She was accustomed to comfort and had not trained diligently, so she had not learned many techniques yet. Her only Homie was Prometheus.)