Chapter 96
Adrian held his swords in both hands, blocking the Trident, a cold smile playing on his lips.
"Charlotte Katakuri, I've seen through every single one of your attacks! All your movements are utterly useless against these eyes that can see into the future!"
What does "comfortable" mean?
Using the enemy's abilities to show off in front of the enemy—that's what feels good!
Katakuri with rage, didn't bother to respond. He gripped his Trident in his left hand and transformed his right hand into a flowing, rice-cake-like shape, coated with jet-black Armament Haki, before launching it at lightning speed toward Adrian.
"Horn Mochi!"
Adrian narrowed his eyes. If he used Swordplay, with the support of [Breath of All Things], [Three Thousand Styles], and Armament Haki imbued with these two characteristics, he could put up a good fight against Katakuri.
However, if he can only rely on physical skills, he will have no way to directly confront Katakuri.
Faced with Katakuri's fierce horned Horn Mochi, Adrian entered Ghostification form, retreated several meters, and then used his Sleeve Snow to block the violently blasted Horn Mochi.
Seeing that the distance had been created, Katakuri immediately transformed his right arm into a heavy machine gun, covered with thick, ink-like Armament Haki. The muzzle spun rapidly, roaring as it fired countless mochi-like bullets enhanced by Armament Haki.
"Peerless Mochi Blade Bullets!"
Mini Hollow - Nova Fire!
With a thought, Adrian saw specks of white fluorescence appear around him, which instantly transformed into hundreds of Mini Hollow.
Countless Mini Hollow flew towards the incoming rice ball bullets, with almost every Mini Hollow corresponding to several rice ball bullets.
A series of continuous crashing sounds suddenly erupted, and the flames and smoke from the explosions instantly enveloped the sky.
At that moment, Charlotte Perospero, the Candy Minister who had been closely following Katakuri to Misteria Island, finally arrived at the Battlefield.
Katakuri was overjoyed and shouted at Perospero, "Perospero! Quickly use your [Candy Man] ability to save Amande! She only has one breath left!"
Perospero, the Candy Minister of Totto Land, is Paramecia Devil Fruit User. He can create and manipulate candy infinitely, but one of his weaknesses is that he melts instantly when exposed to high temperatures.
[Candy Man] is one of the special abilities developed by Perospero.
Typically, the enemy is trapped by candy. The ubiquitous candy molecules continuously invade the opponent's body and deprive them of all physiological functions. In just three minutes, the opponent can be turned into a true Candy Man!
However, the abilities of Devil Fruit are not limited to destruction and killing.
If Perospero wanted, the Candy Man, which could originally deprive an opponent of their physiological functions, could also be transformed into a means of saving an ally from further deterioration of their physical condition!
"What? Amande!"
Perospero's expression changed drastically. He didn't have time to ask Katakuri for more detailed information. He quickly activated his Observation Haki, trying to find the location of Ghost Lady Amande.
Just then, a giant, wriggling rice cake slowly flew to Perospero's side. When it was opened, it revealed Amande, who was on his deathbed.
Perospero immediately waved his candy cane, and a gush of deep purple sugar liquid gushed from the tip of the cane, completely enveloping Amande and instantly transforming him into a lifelike candy statue.
"That won't do, Katakuri. That was an opponent I had to work really hard to defeat!"
Adrian took a deep breath.
He didn't finish off Amande before the battle started because he was certain that Ghost Lady couldn't Survive such a serious injury.
When Katakuri arrived, Adrian, who needed to concentrate on dealing with Katakuri's attacks, naturally didn't care what would happen to Amande was already dead in his eyes.
However, Adrian did not expect that Perospero's Lick-Lick Fruit could actually be used to save lives!
"A bit of a miscalculation!"
[Chapter 180. 169 The Mochi-Mochi Fruit! Awakening!]
In that case, let's die here together!
The Food Ministers of the Big Mom Pirates!
Adrian's gaze instantly turned icy, and with a ripple in the void, the Great Grade Sword Sleeve Snow was stored inside the castle.
The next moment, his figure suddenly flashed, soaring high into the sky, his right hand forming a claw shape, and a Ghost Energy Cannon with mysterious dark blue patterns shimmering on its surface appeared in his palm.
Thump!
The seemingly muffled Ghost Energy Cannon shot out instantly, expanding into a dark blue energy shockwave over a meter in diameter as it hurtled forward, carrying a powerful and ferocious momentum as it hurtled towards Katakuri, Perospero, and Amande below.
Katakuri and Perospero simultaneously felt a sharp, piercing sense of danger emanating from their Observation Haki. Not daring to be careless, they exchanged a glance and nodded to each other.
Katakuri plunged his Trident into the ground, gave a muffled shout, and erected a layer of sticky, soft rice protective material in front of the three siblings.
Perospero raised his candy cane high, tracing a path through the air before instantly forming an incredibly hard candy protective wall outside the glutinous rice protective layer.
Boom!!
The dark blue energy shockwave instantly shattered the protective wall formed by the hard candy, and with unstoppable momentum, it penetrated into the inner glutinous rice protective layer.
Faced with the attack of the Ghost Energy Cannon, the constantly flowing glutinous rice protective layer only lasted for less than a second before rapidly expanding and exploding.
A deep blue energy burst forth from the shattered protective layer of glutinous rice, soaring into the sky and bathing everything around it in a faint blue light.
"What kind of ability is this?"
Perospero's pupils reflected a blue hue, and he couldn't help but break out in a sweat, his expression extremely grave.
If Katakuri hadn't used his ability to instantly teleport the three away at the moment the Ghost Energy Cannon collided with the candy wall, they would probably have perished along with that thick ball of mochi under the immense power of the White Ghost's attack!
"Brother Perospero, you take Amande and leave first!"
Katakuri's eyes blazed red, his Observation Haki pushed to its limit, as he stared intently at White Ghost's every move.
"What? Card...?"
"Let's go! I can stop White Ghost by myself!"
Katakuri remained unmoved, his voice carrying an unwavering resolve that brooked no refusal.
"I am Charlotte Katakuri!"
"But I can't let you go!"
Adrian's figure in the sky suddenly became ethereal, as if he had transformed into a phantom capable of teleporting, instantly closing in on Perospero.
He held the Ghost Energy Sword high in his hand, as if he wanted to cut Perospero and the Candy Man Amande behind him in two!
Clang--!!
A Trident covered in dense Armament Haki blocked the Ghost Energy Sword, stopping it in time.
Katakuri could feel his Armament Haki being depleted like water flowing away.
Without turning his head, he roared, "Go!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Katakuri activated the power of his Devil Fruit.
The upper half of his left hand instantly transformed into a rice cake and compressed wildly inward. A scorching heat emanated from his arm, and in a moment it transformed into a blazing, fiery rice cake, which slammed into Adrian like a rocket launcher!
"Grilled Mochi!"
Adrian frowned slightly. Katakuri's strength and Armament Haki were not to be underestimated. He used his Demon Swordsman ability to dodge in an instant.
Taking advantage of the precious time Katakuri bought, Perospero manipulated the candy shell encasing Amande and sped away from the town.
Adrian wanted to continue hunting Perospero and Amande.
But Katakuri to him like glue, refusing to let him leave!
Mimic Ghost: Imitation Game!
With a thought, Adrian created dozens more Mimic Ghost that looked exactly like him.
"Naguri Mochi!"
Katakuri's eyes flashed red, and he suddenly transformed his arms into flowing, strip-shaped mochi, imbuing them with hardened Armament Haki. He unleashed a rapid, all-around barrage of punches at the group of Mimic Ghost, scattering Mimic Ghost one by one.
Adrian frowned. Facing Katakuri at full power, even if he wanted to break free, it wouldn't be something he could do in a short time.
With Perospero's speed, the time Katakuri bought him was more than enough for him to run a long way!
Adrian flew through the sky, his gaze icy. He clasped his hands together, gesturing a semi-spherical area, and aimed it at the back of Perospero not far away.
A dark blue light particle appeared out of thin air in the palm of his hand, suddenly expanded, and shone with dazzling light. A powerful dark blue light beam shot out, which was several times more powerful than the previous Ghost Energy Cannon!
Just then, the ground of Misteria Island suddenly began to undulate, and all inanimate objects seemed to sink into a swamp of glutinous rice balls, slowly merging into the ground.
Just as the Ghost Energy Cannon was about to hit Perospero and Amande, an enormous, Flowing Mochi suddenly burst through the ground and slammed into the Ghost Energy Cannon, instantly turning it into dust!
"This level of assimilation power... this is... the Devil Fruit Awakening the Mochi Mochi Fruit?!"
Adrian squinted at Katakuri.
"It really is an Awakening ability!"
Charlotte Family's greatest masterpiece was standing with one hand on the ground, and strange circular ripples emanated from the ground centered on him, with gurgling white, Flowing Mochi gushing out from the surface like fountains.
Katakuri's face looked extremely pale, and his forehead, which was exposed outside his scarf, was covered in sweat, but his amaranth-red eyes shone with an incredibly strong and unwavering will!
"White Ghost! You absolutely cannot get past the Mochi-Mochi Fruit!"
At the same time, a surge of overwhelming Conqueror's Haki rushed in like a tide, and thin black and red arcs of electricity faintly appeared in the surrounding air, looking extremely terrifying!
Upon witnessing the devastating Ghost Energy Cannon, Katakuri knew that the White Ghost before him was undoubtedly the most powerful enemy he had ever encountered in his life!
Faced with such an opponent, Katakuri simultaneously unleashed an extremely powerful will, unhesitatingly using all the methods he possessed!
"A very rare Paramecia Devil Fruit Awakening their abilities!"
Faced with such a powerful Conqueror's Haki attack, Adrian merely chuckled.
Unexpectedly, Katakuri would suddenly unleash his full potential under such circumstances, even triggering the Awakening of his Mochi-Mochi Fruit!
Adrian's right hand clenched into a fist, and the Ghost Energy Cannon reappeared in his palm, aimed at Katakuri's body from a distance.
"However, it's also a very valuable head to capture!"
[Chapter 181. Big Mom Arrives!]
New World, Whole Cake Island.
"Mommy! Mommy!"
Accompanied by hurried footsteps, a child's voice, tender yet eager, approached from afar.
The candlelight on the castle wall, now imbued with life, opened its sleepy eyes and illuminated the small figure.
This is a little girl who is about eight or nine years old. She has long pink hair, fair skin, and wears a black ornament on her forehead that looks like a devil's horn.
"Hmm... is it Galette?"
Hearing her mother's familiar voice, young Galette felt no tenderness from her mother; instead, she trembled with fear.
Little Galette said in a trembling voice, "Mom! You said before... that you would be notified immediately if there was any news about Katakuri or Cracker..."
"Katakuri and Cracker? I think that's something..." Charlotte Linlin stopped stuffing cake and dessert into her mouth, pretending to recall something. "I think I arranged for them to go find that White Ghost before?"
Thinking of this, BIGMOM couldn't help but burst into laughter, her face as innocent as a little girl who had just received a doll.
"Mama mama... Little Galette, tell me, did Katakuri bring that new brat White Ghost, back to Whole Cake Island? I've already figured out how to dress him in a groom's suit."
"No, that's not how it is!"
Little Galette clenched her hands, trying hard to suppress the shock and fear in her heart.
"It's not news about Katakuri... it's... it's news about Cracker. His Vivre Card suddenly burned to ashes, and Amande's Vivre Card is also slowly burning..."
"What did you say?!!"
Suddenly, BIGMOM leaned down, the relaxed expression on his face vanishing instantly, replaced by a ferocious look in his enormous, cowbell-like eyes.
"You mean, Cracker and Amande, those two good-for-nothings, are actually dead?!"
Overwhelmed by fear, tears welled up in little Galette's eyes instantly, but she still responded tremblingly.
"Before I arrived, Sister Amande's Vivre Card had already stopped burning..."
"So, Cracker really did die, but that good-for-nothing Amande didn't?"
BIGMOM was dissatisfied once again.
Perhaps in her eyes, a defeated and dead daughter was more acceptable than a wounded but alive cripple.
"Zeus! Zeus! Take me to the Vivre Card room!"
BIGMOM let out a deafening roar, summoning the powerful "Homies" she created by splitting her own soul— Zeus, representing the terrifying power of [weather] and [lightning].