Marie was locked in combat with Smoothie. Smoothie's Squeeze-Squeeze Fruit was incredibly dangerous; Marie did not dare let her opponent touch her, or she risked being squeezed dry of all her moisture, which would instantly drain her fighting power. Furthermore, Smoothie's swordsmanship, bolstered by her Devil Fruit, possessed immense destructive power. The situation did not look favorable for Marie.
Marie, however, remained expressionless. She occasionally took a bite of a biscuit, her short legs moving briskly around Smoothie as she drew patterns in the air with her colored pens. When it came to Smoothie's attacks, Marie generally chose not to retaliate, as she felt that engaging head-on was something only a fool would do. Marie's strategy was clear: she was not trying to defeat Smoothie, but rather to drag the battle out. As one of the three Sweet Commanders, Smoothie was naturally powerful, and currently, only Marie was free to keep her in check. Marie could not defeat Smoothie for the time being, so she could only focus on delaying her, preventing Smoothie from harming her other companions.
Smoothie, however, was not satisfied. She did not know the details of Marie's true capabilities and relied only on the rumors surrounding her strength. She assumed that Marie had already reached a level sufficient to defeat a Marine Admiral candidate and that she was currently refusing to fight seriously just to tease her. Smoothie completely ignored the fact that Marie and Licky had teamed up to confront a Marine Admiral on the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Psycho painter Marianu! Are you kidding me?!" Smoothie shouted angrily. "Why don't you fight me with all your strength? Instead, you keep avoiding me. Is this disdain for me, or am I not worth your full effort?!"
Marie was startled, not understanding why the woman with the super-long legs was so upset. However, she stopped suddenly, silently took out a pack of biscuits, and nibbled on them while maintaining an expressionless, leisurely demeanor. She said nothing.
Smoothie became convinced of her own interpretation and shouted, "You really look down on me! If that is so, I will try my best to show you that the dessert master cannot be underestimated!"
Marie remained expressionless, but she felt relieved. Since her opponent misunderstood the situation, she decided to let her continue to believe it; the more impatient Smoothie became, the more likely she was to make a mistake that could be exploited. As she had been worrying about how to defeat these long legs, Smoothie had essentially offered her an opening. What a nice opponent.
Smoothie plunged her great sword into the sea water again, squeezing out the liquid to enhance herself and her blade. In the blink of an eye, Smoothie grew to the size of a giant, and her sword transformed into a sky-splitting weapon. Seeing this, Marie immediately quickened her pace and ran to a specific position.
"Water Sword!" Smoothie roared, swinging the massive sword forward. The purple-white sword energy tore through the air. Marie dodged immediately using the shave technique, but the group of miscellaneous fish-fighters behind her were not spared. They were all caught in the massive blast of sword energy and were wiped out.
Marie gave a thumbs up, acting as if she were complimenting Smoothie. Smoothie was infuriated, realizing that Marie had deliberately positioned herself so that the sword energy would strike the members of the Big Mom Pirates. However, Smoothie was too angry to care, and Marie had successfully used the situation to her advantage.
"Damn it! Go to hell! Water Sword!" Smoothie shouted, repeatedly firing off massive waves of sword energy, wiping out even more of her own crew's fodder. By the time Smoothie was exhausted, Marie stood unharmed, calmly nibbling on biscuits and signaling a victory sign to the Vinsmoke family.
Judge's family immediately returned the thumbs up. They admired Marie. Originally, there had been so many miscellaneous fighters that they had fought for hours without making headway, but Marie had used Smoothie's own attacks to wipe them out instantly. Moreover, as a Sweet Commander, Smoothie had been circling with Marie for over two hours, yet Marie was not blushing or panting, and even had the mood to eat cookies. It was truly amazing to witness the crew of the Straw Hats in action.
"Father, what do you think of the Straw Hats now?" Reiju asked with a smile.
"Oh, I can only blame myself for being blind," Judge replied, finally recognizing the reality of the situation. "But fortunately, we have resolved our grievances with the Straw Hats, and now we are fighting together. Even if we cannot be friends, we will not be targeted again. Reiju, you will be free in the future; I will not force you to do anything. Follow the Straw Hats and do what you like".
Marie stepped on the Moonwalk and flew back to the Thousand Sunny, taking out a teacup to pour some tea. At this moment, Smoothie's Water Sword attacked again. Marie glanced at the ship; although the Thousand Sunny was made from the strongest sacred wood, it would likely not be able to withstand such a strike. Marie drew a colorful pattern on her left arm. The moment it took shape, her aura changed from lazy to serious. Her left hand, wrapped in Armament Haki, punched the massive sword energy directly, shattering it instantly.
Smoothie was stunned, then smiled. "You finally made a move! It seems you value your ship. If so, I will threaten it. If you do not show your true skills, I will keep attacking your ship!"
Marie rolled her eyes. She did not want to fight, preferring to sit and drink tea, but it was clear that battle was unavoidable. If she did not defeat Smoothie, the ship would be targeted. "Let me drink a cup of tea to moisten my throat first," Marie said, taking her time.
After a long while, Marie put the tea and biscuits back on the deck. She turned her back to Smoothie, lifted her clothes, and drew a pattern on her belly. When she turned around, her lazy demeanor had vanished, replaced by an aggressive aura. With a bang, Marie disappeared, leaving only a cloud of smoke and dust. She moved so fast that Smoothie could not even react.
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