"Dammit! I found this chest of gold first!"
"Bullshit! Whoever grabs it first gets it!"
In the central area of God Valley, the castle that had once symbolized "order" and "nobility" had now become a carnival ground for pirates.
Their eyes were bloodshot as they brawled and cursed each other over the Celestial Dragons' treasures.
A pirate dragged a heavy sack of gold coins to his ship and said as if claiming credit.
"Captain! I just saw a huge woman carrying a chest. Judging by its shape..."
"It looked like it had a Devil Fruit inside! Should we..."
"A woman? What did she look like?" the captain asked with a frown.
The pirate tried hard to recall.
"She was extremely tall, with a... really hot figure! A pink dress, and she seemed to be wearing some weird hat..."
Before he could finish, the captain's expression changed drastically. He gave the pirate a hard smack on the head!
"Are you fucking stupid?! That's Charlotte Linlin of the Rocks Pirates!"
"You dare steal her things? I still want to live a few more years! Pack up, take whatever you can carry, and get out! Greed will get you killed!"
"Y-Yes, Captain!" The pirate shuddered in fright and nodded hurriedly.
Not far away, Charlotte Linlin, towering like a fortress, strode over with heavy steps.
Wherever she passed, whether pirates bloodied by their fight for treasure or Marines trying to maintain order, all consciously made way for her.
Linlin paid no attention to the fear of those around her.
She sat down on a relatively intact set of stairs, eagerly opened the treasure chest she had just found in the vault, and lifted a strangely patterned Devil Fruit before her eyes to examine it carefully.
"Ma~Ma~MAMA!"
Linlin let out her trademark laugh, her eyes filled with anticipation for the future.
"I'll have Katakuri eat this fruit later! My good son will definitely become one of the strongest forces under my command in the future!"
Just as she laughed and prepared to put the fruit away—
The sky suddenly darkened.
A massive shadow descended like storm clouds overhead, completely enveloping her.
"Thunder Bagua!!"
"Bang—!!"
The heavy spiked club smashed squarely into Linlin's smiling face!
The enormous force twisted her entire face, sending saliva mixed with a little blood spraying through the air.
Linlin's body was sent flying with a crash, smashing through a ruined wall.
Yet after taking such a heavy blow, Linlin merely shook her head. Apart from some redness and swelling on her cheek, she was completely unharmed.
"Kaido—!! What are you doing!!!"
Recognizing her attacker, Linlin let out a deafening roar.
The one who had attacked her was Kaido, the crew member she regarded as a younger brother.
Kaido stood there with his spiked club over his shoulder, licking his lips with a wicked grin. His throat bobbed, clearly having just swallowed that precious fruit whole.
"Worororororo! Linlin, that fruit was useless in your hands anyway, wasn't it?" Kaido laughed carelessly.
"Since you didn't know who to give it to, why not let me have it? I can test out my newly acquired power while I'm at it!"
"You actually dared... to eat the fruit meant for Katakuri..."
A terrifying aura began to radiate from Linlin. The sun Prometheus and thundercloud Zeus gathered above her head.
Lightning and flames intertwined.
"Looks like I need to remind you properly today who the boss is!"
"Hey, Linlin, once he's eaten it, making him spit it back out won't do any good."
A calm voice cut between the two who stood on the verge of battle.
Edward Newgate—Whitebeard—strode over with Murakumogiri resting on his shoulder and positioned himself between them.
"Don't start infighting yet. Something's wrong."
Kaido glanced at Whitebeard, his tone as arrogant as ever.
"Newgate, are you here for treasure too? Don't waste your time. Almost everything valuable here has already been taken."
Whitebeard did not look at the scattered treasures. Instead, he swept his gaze across the surroundings and spoke in a deep voice.
"I got here before you two."
He raised his naginata and pointed toward a high cliff in the distance. "Kaido, look over there. Do you recognize that guy?"
Kaido and Linlin looked in the direction Whitebeard indicated.
There, atop the cliff, stood a figure.
He wore a black suit, was covered in thick fur, and leaned on a cane. He was Saint Saturn, one of the Five Elders.
He paid no attention to the chaos below. Those deep eyes were fixed—not on the three of them, but on somewhere farther away.
"Saint Saturn..." Kaido recognized him and frowned. "Why is he staring at us?"
"No," Whitebeard said in a low voice. "He's not looking at us."
Atop the cliff, Saint Saturn's face was filled with an unprecedented mix of emotions.
Shock, fury, and a trace of... indescribable confusion.
He looked down at the Marines and pirates below, fighting chaotically like a swarm of ants.
Listening to their mad shouts over treasure, he muttered hoarsely to himself.
"Everything has slipped out of control... beyond all expectations..."
"It could even be said that I..."
His words abruptly stopped.
His pupils suddenly rolled upward, leaving only terrifying whites!
"Urgh... Aaaah—!"
A howl tore from his throat as his body began undergoing a horrifying transformation!
His formerly human body swelled and twisted as though inflated, his skin darkened, and bizarre purple-black flame clouds rose from his back.
Under the horrified gazes of Linlin, Kaido, Whitebeard, and countless people below.
The Warrior God of Science and Defense—Jaygarcia Saturn Saint—revealed his Ushi Oni demon form!
The shadow cast by his enormous body covered the entire area below!
Yet it was not over!
Above that massive Ushi Oni body.
An even more colossal, indescribable pillar-shaped creature emerged, carrying an evil aura that made souls tremble.
It forcibly "grew" out of Saint Saturn's back.
Crushing Saint Saturn's enormous Ushi Oni body beneath it!
"Ah—!!!"
"M-Monster!!"
"Saint Saturn! What happened to you?!"
The Marines and pirates below had never seen anything like this, and they immediately descended into panic.
A slit slowly opened at the top of the pillar-shaped creature, like an eye, yet also like a mouth.
A cold voice rang clearly in the minds of every insect present.
"An eyesore."
Before the words had even faded, several massive tentacles wrapped in black mist shot out from the creature's surface!
"Splat! Splat! Splat!"
"Urgh!"
"Aaaahhh—!"
Miserable screams erupted everywhere.
Like candied hawthorn skewers, those tentacles pierced through dozens of Marines and pirates who had failed to escape, raising them high into the air.
The indiscriminate slaughter did not stop.
Imu casually lifted a spider-like limb, stabbed it into the crowd beside him, then swept it across.
Another area was wiped clean.
Severed limbs flew everywhere.
The once-crowded center of the battlefield had been forcibly cleared into a bloody "no man's land."
"Wh... what exactly is going on..."
Even Linlin, who feared neither heaven nor earth, felt a chill rise from the depths of her heart.
Kaido's eyes were equally filled with gravity.
"Ha ha ha! Rocks Pirates, farewell!!"
An arrogant burst of laughter rang out.
Golden Lion Shiki stood atop a huge floating mass of earth, clutching an ornate treasure chest larger than himself in his arms.
He was rapidly flying toward the sea, clearly intending to slip away amid the chaos.
"Ah, I've had enough! I'm leaving this damn place too!"
Linlin watched Golden Lion's retreating back, then looked at the indescribable thing that had begun moving and continued its slaughter. The urge to retreat arose within her.
"What about you, Newgate?" she asked Whitebeard.
Whitebeard gripped Murakumogiri tightly, but his gaze was locked in another direction.
"I'm waiting for someone."
Kaido rumbled, "I've already gotten what I wanted. There's no need to stay here any longer."
"Is that so?" Whitebeard suddenly grinned, revealing a wild smile.
"Then I'll be taking my leave first!"
Boom!
The ground beneath his feet exploded, launching his massive body forward.
But he was not charging directly at that terrifying pillar-shaped creature. Instead, he rushed diagonally.
His target was another figure, likewise racing at high speed toward the center of the battlefield.
"Newgate! You..."
Linlin and Kaido immediately noticed that the figure running to meet Whitebeard wore the captain's coat they knew so well.
It was Rocks!
"Worororororo!"
Kaido transformed into an Azure Dragon and circled through the sky, a thrill of battle appearing on his draconic face.
"I've changed my mind, Linlin!"
"Now that I've gained new power, this is the perfect chance to test it on this giant bug!"
With that, he let out a dragon roar that echoed through the heavens. Wind and thunder swirled around him as he shot toward the direction where Rocks and Whitebeard were meeting.
Only Charlotte Linlin remained where she stood.
Watching Whitebeard, Rocks, and Kaido charge one after another toward that monster, she stomped her foot in anger and complained.
"You lot!"
"If you idiots are doing this, wouldn't I look like a coward if I didn't go too!"
She raised her head, ruthlessness and resolve flashing through her eyes as she shouted.
"Zeus! Prometheus!"
"Yes, Mama!"
The thundercloud and sun appeared in response, circling around her.
"A hard battle awaits us! Give me your full attention!"
"Let's go!"
"Yes, Mama!!"
Linlin leaped onto the thundercloud and charged toward the heart of the battlefield, which had already become a true hellscape!
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