Undercurrents / A World of Espionage

A light voice slipped through the thick layer of mochi and reached Katakuri's ears. Alarm bells rang in his head. Every muscle tensed as he made the mochi mass around him even thicker!

Boom!

Another violent explosion rang out, but Atlas showed no sign of delight. Katakuri had prepared his defenses well in advance.

When the smoke cleared, a black sphere hung in the air. It soon crumbled into black powder, and the howling sea wind swept it out of sight.

"Your Observation Haki is terrifying. You can predict most of my attacks?"

Atlas rolled his neck and loosened up, his expression grave.

Whoosh!

Without waiting for an answer, Atlas closed in. He was ready to settle this with a straight-up fistfight.

Katakuri reacted just as quickly. His arm turned to mochi, and Armament Haki coated it. His reserves of Armament Haki were nowhere near Atlas's monstrous supply, but paired with his Observation Haki, they were enough to sustain a long fight.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Fists and feet collided, their Armament Haki clanging like metal. Every so often, Atlas used Life Return to swell his arms, thick muscle fibers bulging with terrifying strength.

Katakuri, meanwhile, fought like a creature made of tentacles. Countless Haki-coated limbs split from his body, and with Future Sight, he blocked every one of Atlas's attacks with precision!

"Looks like Atlas has met his match..."

Watching from afar with Observation Haki, Gion grew worried. Atlas had the upper hand for now, but Katakuri's Observation Haki was a little stronger. His ability to see the future was absurd. Not a single one of Atlas's attacks had truly landed on him.

Of course, Gion knew nothing of Atlas's terrifying healing ability. Her slender, pale hand had already settled on Kompira at her waist. Atlas might have asked for a one-on-one fight, but she was a fellow marine. She would not stand by if he needed help.

High in the distance, the battle had reached a fever pitch. Atlas looked worse for wear, though he had suffered no serious injuries. Katakuri still looked much as he had when he first appeared, apart from occasionally rubbing his numb fists.

Damn it! I can't use my Devil Fruit Awakening in midair!

Katakuri's Mochi-Mochi Fruit Awakening could transform his surroundings, giving nearby objects the properties of mochi and bringing them under his control. But there was nothing to transform up here. Atlas had reduced the only ship to wreckage.

Was Atlas strong? Of course he was! He had almost no weaknesses in his fighting technique, physique, or Haki. Katakuri had to ask himself what chance he would have against a monster like this if he had not trained his Observation Haki to the point of Future Sight.

He had no answer. Too many factors could decide a fight, but his odds would certainly be worse than they were now.

"Marine, you've earned my respect. But I can't forgive you for hurting my family! You're staying here today!"

"Cleave Mochi!"

Katakuri's arm suddenly swelled to enormous size. Spikes jutted from it until it resembled a spiked club. He coated it in Armament Haki and spun it at high speed. Then the whole arm turned to mochi, its flexibility sending the club hurtling like a flail straight at Atlas's face!

"Bring it on!"

Atlas showed no fear. Through Life Return, his already powerful body swelled to five meters tall. The broad muscles of his back formed something like a savage demon's face, while every muscle fiber took on the black-and-red sheen of Armament Haki. Two mysterious markings rose from the corners of his eyes and met on his forehead. His entire body radiated explosive power!

Life Return: Armament: Martial God Form!

Bang!

Atlas swung a massive fist into Katakuri's spiked club! Both techniques relied on raw strength, but with the Ox Talisman, Atlas held the advantage!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Violent bursts of compressed air exploded against Katakuri. In this contest of pure strength, he could not stop himself from flying backward, straight into the distance!

Undercurrents

"Katakuri! You can't beat me, not even with Future Sight!"

Katakuri said nothing. He merely watched Atlas speak with a cold, unreadable gaze.

Atlas went on, unbothered. "Even if you could fight me for days, you'd be the one to run out of strength. Besides... I'm not a Devil Fruit User!"

Katakuri did not question him. A man with that kind of spirit had no reason to lie. Besides, Katakuri knew he had rushed here. Another female Swordsman from the navy was watching closely, and if the fight dragged on, he would lose.

"Come on! One last strike, with our lives on the line!"

Katakuri tore away his ruined clothes, exposing a muscular torso. Great masses of mochi formed around him, and Armament Haki wrapped around them!

"Come on!"

Atlas took a deep breath and pushed his Observation Haki to its limit. His muscles tightened, and the Armament Haki coating him grew denser. He knew that if Katakuri chose to leave now, he could not stop him. The gap between them was not that large.

"Explosive Fist: Armament!"

"Cleave Power Mochi!"

The high-heat blast met the grotesque, club-shaped fist head-on. Terrifying shock waves battered both men, as though the surrounding air were being torn away to leave a vacuum.

Both were hurled back. Katakuri rode the force of the impact and sped into the distance.

Atlas did not pursue him. He forced himself steady in midair and quietly watched him go...

"How did it go, Kanos?"

Back aboard the ship, Gion looked the disheveled Atlas up and down, hiding a smile behind her hand.

"Ah, not bad. He's pretty strong."

Atlas brushed some dust from himself and pulled off a strip of torn clothing still hanging from his body. He turned to the adjutant beside him. "Bolton, sorry for the trouble, but could you get me a change of clothes? Thanks!"

"Yes! There's no need to be so polite, Commodore Atlas!"

Bolton sounded excited. In the few days he had served under Atlas, the man's strength had won him over completely.

New World, Totto Land Waters.

It was a sea out of a dream, filled with the sweet scent of desserts. Cream flowed in streams, and an enormous ship sang an uncanny song!

It was the Big Mom Pirates' flagship, the Queen Mama Chanter! Ships belonging to officers with their own distinctive styles surrounded it, while numbered tart ships formed the outer ring. Together, they made up the fleet of a mighty New World pirate power!

At that moment, aboard the Queen Mama Chanter.

Big Mom sat at the head of the hall, her huge belly thrust forward. Her already fearsome face looked especially dark. Katakuri sat silently to her left; to her right sat Perospero, holding an enormous lollipop with his scarlet tongue hanging out.

The atmosphere in the hall had gone rigid. Perospero did not even dare lick his candy, afraid that one careless move would draw Big Mom's wrath and cost him his life. They had received dreadful news: Big Mom's fourth son, their brother Charlotte Oven, was dead!

There was a bitter irony to it. The Big Mom Pirates were built around family, bound together by blood, yet Big Mom's children had never felt a trace of motherly love from her. They had known only a tyrant's harsh demands.

"Mamamama! You're telling me that boy Oven died at a marine's hands? Katakuri!"

Big Mom's purple-shadowed eyes widened like brass bells. She shoved her heavy face close to Katakuri's, so close he could make out every red vein in her eyes. She looked like a demon straight from hell.

Katakuri remained silent. He met Big Mom's gaze without fear, though his stern expression betrayed how he felt.

No one loved his younger siblings more than Katakuri. His grief was as deep as anyone's. But the tyrant before him was not grieving. She only cared that she had lost face!

"Mamamama! What a worthless fool. He's embarrassed me! Katakuri, why didn't you bring that marine back?"

"I'm sorry, Mama. That marine is strong. I couldn't avenge Oven."

Perospero was stunned. He was the eldest of Big Mom's children, but Katakuri was the strongest: the man hailed as the Charlotte Family's finest creation. This was the first time Perospero had heard the man whose back never touched the ground say such a thing!

"Mamamama! You're worthless too. Are you ready for me to kill you?"

Big Mom laughed in her fury. Her heavy face grew even more frightening, her gaping mouth like the entrance to hell itself!

"Mama, calm down! Katakuri can't die. We'll have plenty of chances to kill that marine and restore your honor!"

Sweat poured down Perospero's face as he tried to reason with the furious Big Mom. If she killed Katakuri, the crew would lose much of its strength, and their younger siblings would turn away from her. Katakuri was the brother they admired most, and Perospero could not deny it.

Besides, Perospero was close to Katakuri himself. The older children had faced trials of life and death together in the crew's early days.

"Mamamama! I'll spare you this time. Remember to bring me that marine's head, Katakuri!"

At Perospero's words, Big Mom stopped preparing to use her Devil Fruit power. For all her unpredictable temper, she was a cunning pirate queen who could rein herself in when it mattered. No one became a ruler of the New World by being simple.

Even Kaido of the Beasts, who looked most like a brute, had plenty of tricks up his sleeve.

"Yes, Mama!"

New World, G-5 Base.

"Hahahaha! Atlas, you really pulled it off! That old hag Big Mom must be losing her mind right now."

The voice alone gave Garp away. He was grinning as he slapped Atlas's shoulder again and again.

Atlas, looking helpless, reported the course of the mission to Vice Admiral Tsuru, who sat behind her desk.

And as the news spread, undercurrents began stirring throughout the New World...

Espionage Storm

New World, Pirate Alliance waters.

Dark clouds brooded overhead. Marshes covered the ground, mosquitoes swarmed, and the whole island felt like uncharted wilderness. Dense tropical rainforest and cramped spaces made it hard not to feel stifled.

"Hey, Blood Scythe! Why do you always pick places this gloomy? Couldn't you choose somewhere normal for once?" complained a dark-skinned brute nearly five meters tall. The heavy flesh of his face shook as he spoke, making him look like a walking fortress.

"Exactly. What a crude fellow. I should've picked a sunny beach instead. We could've soaked up the sun and admired beauties in bikinis. Now that would be living!"

A man dressed as a gentleman chimed in. The effect was comical: he was bald, with sharp, mean-looking features crowded onto a broad face. Even the bow tie at his neck looked out of place, as though he had copied the idea of a gentleman without understanding it.

"Hehahaha! Yermak! Klaus! You two complain too much! I happen to like watching mosquitoes drink their fill of blood..."

The speaker was a gaunt man with a hawk nose and a sinister face. He ran his scarlet tongue over his cracked lips.

"Enough arguing. Tell us why you called this meeting, Blood Scythe."

Francis could not bear to listen to them bicker any longer. He had no wish to waste his time on their complaints, especially when he had come here with a mission of his own.

"Fine. Let's get to it. Did you read the paper a few days ago?" Blood Scythe Lakeham asked in a low voice.

"You mean the report that Oven of the Big Mom Pirates died at the hands of the Navy Supernova? And even their finest creation, Katakuri, couldn't do anything about that marine?"

"Hehehehe! Of course. Didn't you notice what that means?"

"Our chance has come! If we defeat one of the New World's rulers, we could finally secure our place here and become a pirate power no one can dispute!"

Lakeham sprang to his feet, his voice rising with excitement. He looked like a religious fanatic preaching to his flock.

Francis gave him a strange look. He was beginning to suspect Lakeham had come here with the same goal he had.

"Blood Scythe, you know it takes all four of our crews together just to stand a chance against Whitebeard and the others. Even then, we're barely surviving in a forgotten corner of the New World!"

Yermak, still dressed like a gentleman, challenged him.

"How blind can you be? Can't you see what the navy is doing? First the Whitebeard Pirates, then the Big Mom Pirates. The navy has decided to move against these so-called pirate rulers. There isn't room for so many powers in the New World. We have nowhere left to retreat!"

"The Whitebeard Pirates survived countless navy campaigns in the last era. Whitebeard himself is called the World's Strongest Man. How are we supposed to challenge a lion like him?"

Klaus might have looked like a mass of muscle, but he was no fool. He knew exactly how far he and the others were from the three great powers.

"The Big Mom Pirates!" Francis, silent until now, dropped the name into the discussion.

"Why?" Yermak asked, his eyes glinting. None of them could take on a major pirate power alone, so they had no choice but to act together.

"According to my sources, Big Mom is heavily pregnant and hasn't reached her due date. That has to limit her strength. Oven, one of her older children, was killed by the navy, while most of her other children are still too young to be strong enough."

"So the Big Mom Pirates are at their weakest right now. The Whitebeard Pirates have fought the navy more often, but we haven't heard of them losing anyone important. Kaido of the Beasts controls Wano Country, which is easy to defend and hard to attack. Both would be much tougher targets for us."

"Once we bring down the Big Mom Pirates, we can take their place as true rulers of the New World! And I've heard Big Mom has a Road Poneglyph. The Pirate King's One Piece might even be within reach!"

Francis laid out his assessment of the New World, point by point. The future he described made everyone's heart race.

The other three lowered their heads in thought, their eyes flickering as they weighed the risks. Yermak scoffed. "And then the navy rounds us all up, and we grow old alone in Impel Down?"

"Relax. The navy is probably locked in a fierce fight with the Whitebeard Pirates right now. They won't have time for us. Besides, we're pirates who live on a knife's edge. Since when did we become afraid to take a risk? This is our last chance, and you all know it!"

Francis was right. Pirates were gamblers at heart. Gamblers staked money at the table, while they staked... their lives!

The risk was enormous, but so was the reward. If they succeeded, they would have a place in the New World.

"Hehehehe! I'm in!"

Blood Scythe Lakeham, who had been eager from the start, was the first to agree to Francis's plan. That only deepened Francis's suspicions about him.

"Fuck it! I'll take the gamble!"

"...I'm in too..."