'Cover Story: Chopper and the Quack Doctor Vol. 6: "So That's How It Is... There Was No One Left to Save. That's Wonderful!"'
'Chopper follows Dr. Kureha into town to treat sick residents. Along the way, they hear rumors about a strange man wandering from town to town. One day, while visiting Big Horn Village to treat a patient, Chopper steps outside after the grateful family sees them off.
At the street corner, he spots a familiar figure talking with Dalton, who has come to help the village. After hearing Dalton explain everything that had changed in the country, the man Chopper had met by the sea lets out a long sigh of relief before throwing back his head and laughing.'
---
'BOOM!!'
Aokiji's punch sent Katakuri flying. Katakuri spat out a mouthful of blood in midair.
Even so, he refused to land on his back. Using his awakened mochi terrain, he caught his own arms and legs before they hit the ground, forcing himself to land on both feet.
"Cough... Cough..."
Sweat poured down Katakuri's face. Clutching his chest, he coughed again as blood soaked through his scarf and dripped down the front of his clothes.
"Brother Katakuri!!" Mont-d'Or shouted anxiously from above.
Katakuri steadied his breathing as much as he could before shouting back, "Prepare to retreat! I'll hold him off!"
"Got it!" Mont-d'Or knew that if the fight continued, Katakuri might not necessarily lose... but it would become a true battle of endurance. Meanwhile, their mother was in the middle of another hunger rampage. She didn't have the patience to wait for a drawn-out fight.
Mont-d'Or immediately flew back toward his two sisters on his floating books. Only then did he realize Giorno was still there, still sitting on Angel.
Aokiji stood atop the towering frozen terrain with his hands in his pockets, looking down lazily. "Ah la la... Leaving already? We only just met."
"..."
Katakuri had no mood for jokes. He poured nearly all of his remaining stamina into one final use of Awakening.
"Mochi Mochi Fruit..."
The remaining half of the island beneath his feet suddenly went berserk. The entire landscape transformed into mochi, surging upward without end until it became an enormous wall of mochi thousands of meters tall.
"Hm?" Standing atop the frozen terrain, Aokiji looked up. The colossal wall cast a shadow that blotted out the sky.
Katakuri thrust out a palm, and the gigantic wall crashed forward.
'RUMBLE!!'
Like a massive sheet being pressed flat, the endless wall of mochi slammed down over the frozen half of the island, burying the entire frozen landscape beneath it.
The enormous mass of mochi writhed violently. Katakuri could feel the terrifying force of the frozen terrain pushing back from underneath. His right arm trembled. Muscles bulged, and veins stood out across his body as he poured every ounce of strength into suppressing Aokiji, even if only for a few moments.
"Are you done yet?!" he roared.
"Brother Katakuri!" Mont-d'Or cried out desperately.
Katakuri glanced back, and nearly blacked out. Mont-d'Or had already opened an enormous Book World, preparing to store his two sisters inside. But that bastard Giorno had somehow pinned Mont-d'Or, Castard, and Angel beneath his feet at the same time.
Noticing Katakuri looking over, Liam even curled a finger at him in blatant provocation.
"You..." Maintaining every bit of pressure on Aokiji with his Awakening, Katakuri still charged toward Liam with a dark expression. "What did you do to my precious brothers and sisters?!"
His fist became coated with Armament Haki once again.
Liam smiled faintly, and his own fist instantly turned jet black. Releasing the three weaker Charlotte siblings beneath his feet, he strode forward to meet Katakuri.
'BOOM!!!'
Their fists collided. Black-and-red Haki lightning exploded between them. Katakuri's arm trembled violently. Finally, Liam let out a low shout and blasted him away with a single punch.
"...Sigh." Standing where he was, Liam shook his head. "No fun..."
Katakuri had already been drained too much by Aokiji.
While flying backward, Katakuri shouted, "MONT-D'OR!!!"
Mont-d'Or jolted awake. He immediately slammed the giant book shut onto the ground, storing his two sisters inside the Book World. Then he climbed onto the book's spine and flew into the sky as the pages flapped like wings.
"Damn it!" Katakuri felt the terrifying force building behind him. Aokiji was about to break through the suppression of his awakened Mochi Mochi Fruit.
He no longer bothered with Giorno. Leaping high into the air, he stretched out a long mochi arm and grabbed the giant flying book.
Looking back, the island below grew farther and farther away. Half of it basked beneath a clear blue sky, while the other half remained buried beneath the mochi terrain, where icy winds howled and snow continued to fall.
Moments later, a gigantic frozen arm, hundreds of meters thick, burst upward. It lifted the compressed earth, which had already reverted from mochi back into normal ground.
'RUMBLE...'
The massive slab of earth, thousands of meters across, was overturned and crashed back onto the island. From a distance, it looked as though a colossal arch-shaped ice bridge had appeared across the center of the island.
'Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!'
Several ice spears shot after the fleeing Book World. Katakuri jumped inside the book. Turning around, he caught the incoming spears with his bare hands. Frost instantly spread over half his arm.
"Huff... Huff..." He breathed heavily. He wanted nothing more than to collapse and rest, but the presence of his younger brothers and sisters behind him reminded him that he couldn't fall yet.
"Ah! My book!" Mont-d'Or cried out in distress. One of the ice spears had struck the Book World, and nearly half of its interior was instantly frozen solid.
Castard and Angel silently looked at Katakuri's back. Neither of them had ever seen their older brother so utterly exhausted.
"Haaa..." Katakuri took a long, deep breath before slowly exhaling. "Enough. Let's get back as quickly as possible. The most important thing now... is dealing with Mother's hunger attack."
"R-Right!" Mont-d'Or nodded repeatedly.
---
Charlotte Angel gripped her sword tightly, grinding her teeth. "That damned Giorno Giovanna..."
The mention of him immediately irritated Mont-d'Or. "I never imagined Aokiji, a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, would be hanging around with a pirate worth '400 million Beli'. What the hell is he thinking? Isn't he worried someone will report him?"
Katakuri absorbed his trident back into his mochi body. Walking over to the side, he pulled out a chair from the Book World and sat down.
"Think about it, Mont-d'Or." He adjusted his blood-soaked scarf, shadows covering his eyes. "Look at it from the opposite direction. If Aokiji is working together with Giorno... then it probably means... Giorno won't be an enemy of the World Government for much longer."
"You mean..." Mont-d'Or's eyes widened, then he thought it over. Honestly, if someone as strong as Giorno 'couldn't' qualify, 'that' would be the strange part.
Castard took a slow breath, her expression turning solemn. "The Seven Warlords..."
Katakuri nodded slightly. "Fortunately... they probably haven't officially joined forces yet. Otherwise, Giorno wouldn't have merely watched the fight and stopped you from interfering."
Mont-d'Or felt a chill run down his spine. If Giorno had fully cooperated with Aokiji during that battle... even Brother Katakuri might not have escaped safely. Quickly, he shook the terrifying thought from his head. 'Brother Katakuri is undefeated.'
---
Back on the small deserted island, a sloping road of ice extended outward from the gigantic frozen arch. Aokiji's figure emerged from within the ice. He slid casually down the frozen path until he stopped in front of Liam.
Brushing a few ice crystals off his clothes, he scratched his curly hair. "Ah la la... they got away." He looked toward the distant sky where the flying book had already disappeared. "Still... I destroyed one of their ships. That should be enough to give Admiral Sengoku an explanation."
Liam looked at him speechlessly. 'Destroyed one ship? You almost took down the undefeated Katakuri.'
'(End of Chapter)'
You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/marvel6395