"Kikiki, I'm back! Hahaha, wonderful! This body is so powerful—ah, such intoxicating strength!" Linlin's delicate frame trembled uncontrollably as she kept uttering incomprehensible words.
"Mom! What's wrong with you?"
Katakuri flashed over, staring in shock at the deranged 'Linlin'.
Caesar frowned and tightened his grip on Linlin's shoulders.
"Linlin! Snap out of it!"
However, what responded to Caesar was a raised fist from 'Linlin'!
Boom!
A terrifying fist force struck Caesar's chest, producing a loud sound like beating a leather drum.
Yet Caesar's body remained in place, not retreating even an inch.
"Shut up! I'm not that monster Charlotte Linlin! I am... Carmel!"
Carmel let out a hearty laugh and raised her right hand again.
As she clenched her fist, the jet-black Armament Haki was unprecedentedly thick, the most powerful Haki she had ever witnessed in her life.
What excited Carmel even more was that this perfect body not only possessed the innate divine physique of the Steel Balloon but also had Conqueror's Haki refined to its peak!
When crimson Conqueror's Haki lightning appeared around her fist, Carmel let out another chilling, maniacal laugh.
"With this body, I, Carmel, can become a pirate queen who dominates the seas!"
Then, with a sinister grin, she threw a punch at Caesar's cheek!
"Get out of my way, old woman!"
Caesar didn't move, allowing Carmel's Conqueror's Haki-infused punch to land squarely on his cheek.
Boom!
Thunderous explosions rang out as the atmosphere shattered!
But... Caesar's head didn't budge at all!
Carmel was stunned, shocked, and finally overcome with bottomless terror!
"You... what kind of monster are you?"
"Where is Linlin?"
Caesar's face was cold as frost as he spoke icily.
A terrifying aura enveloped Carmel, making her tremble uncontrollably.
"How is this possible? How can there be such a powerful monster in this seas?"
Carmel felt her very soul trembling!
The Caesar before her felt like an endless night covering heaven and earth, making her feel fear from the depths of her soul!
"I asked you! Where... is Linlin?!" Caesar demanded again.
Overwhelming killing intent began surging from within him, washing over everything in all directions like tidal waves.
Anyone touched by this killing intent couldn't help but feel as if they had fallen into an icy abyss!
In the distance, Kaido, who was fighting Fujitora alongside Loki, paused momentarily before his expression changed dramatically.
"Caesar! Snap out of it!"
He immediately abandoned Fujitora and rushed over.
Before Carmel, blood vessels began to appear in Caesar's eyes.
Under the tsunami-like assault of killing intent, Carmel could no longer endure it, her mental defenses collapsing completely.
"She... she entered the Soul-Soul Fruit's consciousness space, the place where I've been trapped for decades."
"The Soul-Soul Fruit's consciousness space?"
Caesar frowned: "Go bring her out."
"I can't enter. That space can only accommodate one soul at most." Carmel's voice trembled as she spoke.
"Then how did you get out? Why hasn't Linlin come out yet?"
Caesar's expression grew colder and colder."It was that sudden burst of power just now that blasted me out of the soul space. And Charlotte Linlin, due to the unique nature of the Soul-Soul Fruit, was swapped in by me. Unless she can break through the soul space, she will never be able to come out!"
After Carmel finished speaking, Caesar was as if struck by lightning, standing frozen in place.
"Linlin..."
"Gomu Gomu no! Kong Gun!"
At that moment, Luffy, who had been sent flying by Caesar, charged back.
His right fist extended infinitely, swelling into a massive fist the size of a small mountain.
The giant fist was pitch-black, wreathed in crimson lightning and flames, carrying earth-shattering momentum as it smashed down toward Caesar and Linlin's heads.
Katakuri's right arm bulged, ready to strike at Luffy.
Just as his right foot was about to step forward, he suddenly halted.
Caesar released Carmel, his expression as calm as stagnant water.
The longsword at his waist flew into his hand, his eyes bloodshot.
Crimson blood flames surged skyward from his body.
The mad blood of the Oni tribe blazed fiercely!
Crack, crack, crack.
Golden bone spikes sprouted one after another.
Golden scales covered his entire body.
His head transformed into a golden bird's head.
His ultimate form, fully unleashed!
Caesar looked up as the mountain-sized fist descended, crushing the heavens!
He gripped his sword with five fingers, the muscles on his arm bulging violently, unleashing boundless power!
Swish!
The longsword swept across the sky!
A pitch-black thin line met Luffy's black flames!
Sss...
Sss, sss...
Sss, sss, sss!
The sound of a sharp blade slicing through flesh echoed, followed immediately by Luffy's agonized scream.
"Luffy!"
Zoro, who had been driving Ganzui back step by step, trembled at Luffy's cry and couldn't help but glance over.
What met his eyes was Luffy clutching his bleeding right arm and screaming in pain.
And the massive pitch-black arm continuously falling downward.
But that wasn't all.
With a swish, the golden wings on Caesar's back spread, stirring up a gale as his burly figure vanished from the spot.
Caesar's expression was utterly cold.
The incident with Linlin made his chest feel as if it would explode.
He recalled the conversation he had with Linlin that day on Donut Island.
"I'm afraid of losing things I don't want to lose..."
"I used to have nothing, so I was never afraid,"
"Now I have things I want to keep, so I've developed reservations."
"But these reservations have made me whole..."
At this moment,
Rampant killing intent erupted like a volcano, almost materializing into a crimson glow, dyeing the sky above G-1 Base Island blood-red!
"Linlin! What I least want to lose is all of you!"
The longsword tore through the heavens, splitting the sky as it cut into Luffy's waist under his horrified gaze!
"No! Luffy!"
Zoro's eyes instantly turned blood-red.
The three swords in his hands shattered, and three intangible blades condensed anew, deflecting the Seven Star Sword in Ganzui's grasp.
"Get out of my way! Oni Giri—Rokudō no Sen!"
The sword light swept past Ganzui's body like a wind from the underworld!
The smile on Ganzui's face froze, his eyes still reflecting Zoro's demonic slash.
Swish, swish, swish!
Blood lines erupted across his body, and he collapsed instantly like a pile of falling blocks.
With a flash of sword light at his feet, Zoro shot upward at extreme speed, striving to stop Caesar.
But when he charged before Caesar, what greeted him was Luffy's body split in two!
"No! No!!"
A tattered straw hat fluttered down from the sky.