On the Sunny Merry—
"Captain Luffy, Roman…"
Pudding bowed her head in gratitude, but Luffy just put his hands on his hips and grinned.
"I said a long time ago—I'm gonna fight all the Four Emperors! And Blackbeard… that guy 'killed' Ace. I've wanted to send him flying for ages!"
"That's right. The last red Poneglyph is probably in Teach's hands. That means we're bound to fight him—there's no avoiding it."
Hearing Luffy and Roman's confident, unwavering words, Pudding's three eyes welled up with tears. Sanji gently patted her shoulder.
"I told you—knowing Luffy and Roman, they were always going to come. Don't worry, Pudding, we'll save your siblings."
Blood is thicker than water. No matter what, those were still Pudding's family.
Just like how, despite everything, Sanji never gave up on the Vinsmoke family.
You may be heartless, but I won't abandon what's right.
"Thank you… thank you, everyone! Sanji…"
Ignoring Sanji as he comforted Pudding in his arms, Roman had already sent out a flock of white doves toward Whole Cake Island as scouts. But soon, his brow furrowed.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing the questioning looks from the Straw Hat Crew, Roman shook his head.
"My doves got wiped out. It was Van Augur. Looks like they were expecting us—makes sense. Blackbeard isn't like those other villains who get careless."
Van Augur, once the sniper of the Blackbeard Pirates and now the captain of the third ship in Blackbeard's fleet, was no weakling.
Able to hit targets from kilometers away in total silence, he was a true long-range sniper—an immense threat to anyone without advanced Haki. If you didn't have it, you wouldn't even know how you died.
But sneaking in? That was never Roman's plan.
Blackbeard was a real pirate—cunning, treacherous, and an expert at backstabbing. Naturally, he'd be on guard against sneak attacks.
It's like Cao Cao—he was a master at cutting off supply lines, so every time he transported grain, he made sure it was heavily guarded.
"So, we stick to the plan. Merry, Sunny—help Nami go all out!"
"Got it!" *x2*
Whoosh!
Thick black smoke billowed from the modified exhaust ports at the back of the Sunny Merry. As the smoke rose, it crackled with bright electric flashes, forming what looked like a cluster of small storm clouds.
No—these weren't just *like* storm clouds. They *were* storm clouds!
By the way, Usopp had a hand in this. The mechanism worked just like Nami's Clima-Tact, but instead of a personal weapon, it was now ship-mounted.
Its function?
The Maxim would definitely approve.
Rumble—
Dark thunderclouds loomed over the Sunny Merry as it slowly approached, making it look like a demon king's arrival.
As they neared the outer islands of Whole Cake, silhouettes of warships appeared on the horizon.
Of course—
*Clang!*
A sniper bullet flew toward them, but Roman sliced it in half with a single motion. He nodded toward Zoro, who stood at the ship's bow.
"Zoro, the defense is yours."
Van Augur's sniping was a serious threat to most of the Straw Hat Crew.
But not Zoro.
He'd been slicing bullets effortlessly since Water 7. Now, there was zero chance any would get past his blades.
Even if they were high-tech, specially crafted bullets… or something made from Devil Fruit powers.
Nothing was getting through Zoro's swordsmanship!
"Got it."
Zoro nodded, and the others settled in to watch.
Meanwhile, Usopp and Franky headed below deck to check the Sunny Merry's mechanics.
Up front, the ship's lion figurehead opened its mouth.
"Let's do this—Pluton Cannon, charging up!"
As the central figure controlling everything, Nami looked up at the sky. Above the Sunny, the thunderclouds churned wildly, colliding with the natural clouds and triggering powerful lightning bolts that crashed down! The lightning snaked through the air, striking the Sunny's mast before being guided down by the superconductive alloy embedded within it, storing the energy inside the ship's power system.
"Hey, hey, hey, Franky! This won't shock us, right?"
Inside the ship, surrounded by crackling electricity and flashing arcs of lightning, Usopp was drenched in sweat. He felt like he could turn into a pile of burnt ash at any moment.
"Super~~ safe!"
Franky gave a thumbs-up, looking completely confident.
"Relax! These lightning bolts may look scary, but for your body, it's nothing! Besides, with a modified cyborg like me here, you've got nothing to worry about."
"Hearing you say that makes me feel—"
CRACKLE!!!
Just as Usopp let out a breath of relief, a bolt of lightning suddenly jumped from the metal pipes, lashing him like a whip. A violent electric shock burst out! Sparks flew everywhere, and for a moment, his entire body became translucent, his skeleton clearly visible through the blinding white light.
He looked just like a second Brook!
"AAAAHHH! So this is what you call 'completely safe'?"
Uh…
Franky wiped away imaginary sweat, his eyes shifting as he tried to change the topic. "It's about to fire!"
Outside, dazzling lightning flickered all over the Sunny, making Zoro, who was standing on the deck, frown.
Standing inside a storm of lightning… It reminded him of Enel from Skypiea…
"Charging complete."
Electric sparks danced across Nami's skin as her long orange hair lifted behind her. She raised a finger, aiming at the island ahead where a large number of Blackbeard Pirates were gathered.
"Pluton Cannon, fire!"
*Whoosh—*
A flash of light tore through the sea!
It was too fast. Before anyone could react, the electric blast had already pierced through the world ahead of them.
All that was left in its path was a thin, blinding red line—expanding rapidly!
*BOOM!!!*
In an instant, the red line exploded into a massive firestorm, rolling and roaring as it spread outward. Thunderous explosions echoed through the air, followed by an overwhelming wave of heat. The force of the attack split the ocean in half like a master swordsman's strike!
The very air in front of the Sunny was burning—an ionized shockwave caused by the sheer speed of the blast ripping through the atmosphere. The sheer destructive power was terrifying.
As for the target—the island:
A massive explosion erupted in the distance. A gigantic fireball—no, calling it a 'sun' would be more fitting—rose into the sky!
Under the stunned gazes of Nami and Zoro, the island in the distance was completely obliterated by the shockwave!
The explosion's force kept expanding, sending towering waves over a hundred meters high crashing into the surrounding sea. The ocean itself seemed to be boiling, lifted into the air by the impact before collapsing back down into a chaotic storm of tidal waves.
One shot. The island was gone.
And as for the Blackbeard Pirates' warships nearby?
Well… what a lovely day it is today.
"Hey, hey, hey… Is this really *our* ship…?"
Watching the sheer devastation from that single cannon blast, even Zoro raised an eyebrow.
A simple weapon could do *this*?
Could it be that Roman wasn't joking when he called the Sunny "Pluton's little brother"?
"Zoro, I'll leave the incoming waves to you."
As the massive waves drew closer—just over a thousand meters from the Sunny— a deafening roar finally reached their ears. Only now did the true explosion of the "Pluton Cannon" make itself heard.
At the same time, the tiny Sunny looked minuscule before the towering hundred-meter waves, as if it would be swallowed at any moment.
But—
"Slash!"
Zoro didn't even bother naming his attack.
With a single horizontal swing of his three swords, a monstrous flying slash sliced across the ocean, cutting straight through the incoming tidal waves!
The waves—towering like skyscrapers—were split apart like jelly, sent flying in opposite directions!
Even the water itself, which should have been formless, was forced to freeze under Zoro's blade, suspended in midair for a brief moment—
Then—
*CRASH!!!!*
The falling ocean water smashed into the waves below, erupting into a chaotic mess of towering whirlpools and raging tsunamis. The clashing currents created a chaotic barrier, dispersing the shockwave and preventing it from reaching the Sunny.---
With one strike, a huge wave that could overturn a fleet was completely wiped out! "Alright,"
He sheathed his sword, the remaining 'small winds and waves' were no longer enough to affect the Sunny.
"Hehehe, so amazing~~"
Luffy laughed excitedly while holding his straw hat, and the others had their own expressions and postures. But if you looked closely, most people on the deck had a subtle awkwardness, and even the usually noisy Straw Hat trio was unusually quiet. This was all because: we perfectly caught the attention of the Blackbeard Pirates.
Now it all depends on whether Roman and Luffy's side is going smoothly~~
"Steer the ship, prepare for regular cannon fire!"
Nami instructed Jinbe, who was steering the Sunny, to increase the distance and "fly a kite," buying time for the second team.
Although they had blown up an island with one cannon, powerful beings who could destroy islands with a single strike were not rare in this world. After the initial confusion, the Blackbeard Pirates quickly had various warships surrounding them from different directions! However, this time, the ships were spaced out, clearly trying to prevent being wiped out in one shot.
And as for the so-called 'second team'...
"Nami's side has started, let's speed up," Roman said, pushing his hands forward. A portal appeared in front of them.
"Rein in your Haki, or I won't be able to carry all of you powerful people."
Nami, Zoro, Usopp, and Franky were to keep the Blackbeard Pirates' attention on the Sunny, while Roman used his 'The White Knight' form to disguise the others as puppets. With his 'Door-Door Fruit,' Roman opened a portal in the air and transported the rest of the Straw Hat Crew as surprise reinforcements straight toward Whole Cake Island.
As for why not sneak in from beneath the sea?
You could guess with your knees, the 'sea slug' surveillance network that Whole Cake Island prided itself on was also under the Blackbeard Pirates' control.
At the same time, it was hoped that Blackbeard had not had the Soul-Soul Fruit long enough to create a large number of 'Homies' yet~~ (End of chapter)
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