Uchiha Miyuki: "...I didn't expect Bullett to actually make a move. He didn't show up at the execution in Loguetown in the original timeline, right? Unfortunately for him, he ran into the worst possible match.
Uchiha Miyuki: Scathach-senpai specializes in handling massive entities like deep-sea gods. His fusion fruit means nothing to her."
Yamamoto Mei: "Everyone picked their own opponents. Is it to boost their mission scores and get better rewards? I love how motivated everyone is… It's kind of romantic."
Uchiha Miyuki: "Hah! That fool Yamato got the short end—assigned the weakest opponents! Shanks and Buggy are nothing now, barely third-rate pirates!"
Yamamoto Mei: "True… But the real unlucky one is Dragon. Facing both Kaido and Akainu? That's a nightmare."
Eriri Sawamura: "It's like watching a level 1 character run into two endgame bosses in the tutorial area… This is going to be a bloodbath."
The live stream of the battlefield ignited the chat group with excitement. While evenly matched fights were fun to watch, nothing beat the raw thrill of overwhelming dominance.
Boom!
The sky cracked as Kaido descended in his azure dragon form, followed by Akainu, molten magma pouring from his body like a demon from hell. They landed heavily in front of Dragon and Ivankov.
"Damn… So they really found me." Dragon gave a dry, bitter smile. "This is the worst-case scenario."
Kaido's monstrous form loomed over them, and Akainu's glare was nothing short of murderous. Ivankov's knees buckled, and he collapsed, panic frozen on his massive face.
These weren't the Yonko or the Navy Fleet Admiral of twenty years later.
But even now, Kaido and Akainu exuded an overwhelming presence. Dragon and Ivankov—future legends—were clearly outmatched.
"Ivan, looks like we're fighting shoulder to shoulder today."
There was no retreat. The sea and sky were already sealed off by Esdeath's Ice domain. Knowing survival was unlikely, Dragon laughed boldly.
"To die in front of the world… while standing against the Celestial Dragons… it's not a bad death, is it?"
Kaido: "You sewer rats really thought you could challenge the gods?"
Both he and Akainu, who had just witnessed Jaeger's overwhelming power firsthand, sneered at Dragon's declaration. To them, Jaeger was a god. Dragon's resistance was delusion.
Akainu: "Time to reunite with your damn father, Garp's brat!"
Flames and steel crashed down like the wrath of heaven. Kaido's Haki-coated club and Akainu's magma fist surged toward them.
But Dragon didn't back down. He roared, unleashing a storm of thunder and hurricane-force winds that slammed into both powerhouses. The ground quaked. For a moment—he stood tall.
Ivankov: "Damn it, let's go! My hormone fruit can boost your potential! I'll heal you as we fight—we're not going down without a fight!"
Dragon: "Then let's give them hell!"
—
On another part of the battlefield, chaos brewed.
Even Buggy, dense as he was, finally realized something was wrong. "Wait a sec… this whole execution… it's a trap?! They're trying to wipe out all the rising pirate stars in one go?!"
Shanks, still a rookie, stared at the battlefield in stunned silence. He wasn't a Pirate Emperor yet. Right now, he was just another greenhorn.
Buggy: "I'm outta here! I don't wanna die!"
Without hesitation, Buggy broke into pieces and tried to flee in all directions. But before he could escape—
Crash!
A mace cloaked in frost smashed into him from above. Buggy's head cracked as the cold instantly froze his scattered body into an ice sculpture.
Shanks: "Buggy?!"
The red-haired youth turned in horror to see a white-haired girl descend, her horns identical to Kaido's, a monstrous grin on her face.
Yamato.
One of Jaeger's seven elite followers.
Yamato: "Hmph. That red-nosed clown was weaker than I thought."
Her cold gaze turned to Shanks. "Jaeger said you've got top-tier potential. Better than the clown, at least."
She vanished in a flash.
Shanks: "She's fast!"
He barely had time to react. His sword came up in desperation.
Clang!
The blade shattered like glass.
Crack!
Yamato's Thunder Bagua landed directly, crushing half of Shanks' body. He screamed as blood sprayed across the frozen earth.
Yamato: "What? You're this weak?"
Realizing she'd gone too far—remembering Jaeger's command to keep Shanks alive—she immediately froze his mangled body in solid ice beside Buggy.
Pouting, she stared at the two frozen rookies.
Yamato: "Seriously? That's it? My fight's over already?"
She stomped the ground.
Yamato: "Damn that Esdeath! She gave me the weakest ones again!"
—
Meanwhile, unaware of Yamato's disappointment, Esdeath stood calmly in front of Crocodile.
Crocodile: "Step aside, Ice Empress. I've got no time to waste. Let me slip through the cracks and disappear."
Esdeath (smiling): "Oh? Not afraid of me? You know I defeated Dark King Rayleigh, right?"
Crocodile scoffed. "So what? Rayleigh fought Bullett to a draw years ago. I fought Bullett too and also had a draw with him. That means Rayleigh and I were equals… years ago. And I've grown much stronger since."
He smiled coldly, cigar smoke curling around him.
Crocodile: "I've probably surpassed every relic from the old era. Even Whitebeard wouldn't stand a chance against me now."
Esdeath: "Oh my… You might actually be worth my time."
Her blue eyes sparkled with sadistic delight.
Esdeath: "There's nothing more beautiful than crushing the strong—breaking their will, watching their pride shatter. To reduce them to begging dogs… It's pure bliss."
Crocodile narrowed his eyes.
Crocodile: "You're not just insane… You're worse than a pirate."
He thrust his arm forward.
"Let me use you to make my name before I challenge Whitebeard."
A massive sandstorm tornado erupted from his palm, tearing into the ice and land with devastating force. The longer it spun, the stronger it grew.
Esdeath stared in disbelief.
Esdeath: "This… is your power?"
Crocodile: "The Sand-Sand Fruit, Logia type. Tremble in fear! The longer this storm rages, the more powerful it becomes—until even I can't control it. Surrender now or be turned into dust!"
Esdeath said nothing.
Her silence made Crocodile grin wider. Clearly, she was stunned. So what if she beat Rayleigh?
Crocodile: "The past belongs to fossils. I am the future!"
"But what a farce."
Esdeath sighed, her voice cutting through the tense air like a cold wind.
Crocodile's eyes narrowed. "What did you say, woman?" he growled, his tone low and dangerous.
A smirk tugged at Esdeath's lips.
"I don't know how strong the Bullett that Scathach took away really is... but this? This is the power of the Logia Sand Fruit?"
Her gaze swept over him with thinly veiled disappointment.
"You're nothing compared to the Lightning Fruit or the Ice Fruit. Weak. Pathetic. And to think you once clashed evenly with Bullet… did he pity you or simply go easy on you?"
Her words were laced with disdain—playful, yet deliberately cruel.
Crocodile's jaw tightened. His composure cracked. "You dare...make fun of me?"
His fury erupted. Quicksand surged from beneath his feet, twisting and warping the ground.
Buildings nearby groaned as the earth turned brittle and dry. It was as if all of Loguetown were being devoured, swallowed by an ever-expanding sea of sand.
But Esdeath had already moved.
A whisper fell from her lips, calm and merciless.
"Demon's Advent— Ice Age."
She didn't shout. There was no flash of theatrics—just a slow push of her frost-covered palm.
Crack—Crack—CRACK!
The freezing air surged forward. Quicksand, dust storms, even the very space between them—everything it touched froze in an instant.
Crocodile's form was caught mid-movement, encased in jagged ice, transformed into a grotesque statue of sand and rage.
Her expression didn't change.
"This ice... even Aokiji wouldn't be able to shatter it." She studied her handiwork with a quiet satisfaction. "If you really were on par with the Dark King… break free."
But her excitement quickly soured. Time ticked by. The aura within the ice sculpture faded—slowly but surely. Crocodile, former warlord and wielder of the Sand Fruit, was dead.
Killed in a single move.
"…So how did a man like that ever fight Bullett on equal ground?"
Esdeath frowned, glancing toward the distant horizon.
The clash between Bullett and Scathach still raged beyond Loguetown's borders. Even from here, the aftershocks made the frozen ocean tremble.
Had Crocodile really been nothing more than a fraud all along?
Elsewhere in Loguetown…
"Bwahahaha! That crocodile bastard got killed that easily?"
Doflamingo stood atop a hill of corpses—civilians from Loguetown, their bodies twisted and broken.
He grinned wildly, blood splattering his coat as he manipulated thin threads to puppeteer several mid-tier naval officers, forcing them to slaughter innocent townsfolk.
Their eyes screamed regret and sorrow, but their hands couldn't stop.
Doflamingo watched them die with morbid fascination.
"Heh... seeing a father kill his daughter, a son butcher his mother…" His smile widened. "It's beautiful. That's what makes life worth living."
He looked toward the heavens.
"I'm a Celestial Dragon. I should be up there—like Jaeger—bathing in glory, wealth, worship. Instead, I'm stuck here playing court jester in the underworld, all because of that damned father of mine…"
But just as his thoughts grew darker, a soft voice interrupted him.
"You enjoy watching others suffer? Is it really that entertaining to bathe in their tears?"
Doflamingo turned sharply. A girl had appeared, her golden hair catching the sunlight, her expression calm.
"You…" he muttered, narrowing his eyes behind his shades. "I remember you. One of the seven who followed Jaeger. Hah... What are you, his pet? A brainwashed slave?"
"I am Saint Jaeger's loyal dog," Karuizawa Kei said plainly, her tone steady and sincere.
She looked so delicate, so painfully innocent, it made Doflamingo's fingers twitch with twisted desire. He wanted to ruin her—to shatter that image.
"A loyal dog?" he repeated, laughing wildly. "The Celestial Dragons never change. It's disgusting and hilarious!"
His grin sharpened. "Maybe I won't kill you. Maybe I'll make you kill Jaeger for me. Twist that loyalty into betrayal. Ohhh… now that would be fun."
Invisible threads rained from above.
But the moment they touched Kei—they vanished. Vaporized by a violent crackle of black thunder.
"…What the hell?!"
Doflamingo's grin vanished. His pupils shrank as he stepped back. "That's… that's the Lightning Fruit!?"
He clenched his fists, veins popping along his temples. "You damn little slave! How can you—how can someone like you—wield such power!?"
Kei tilted her head, blinking innocently.
"Huh? Is this rare?" she asked, feigning confusion.
"Erina, Utaha, and Yamato all have Mythical Zoan fruits. Esdeath and Miss Mei ate Logia types. Saint Jaeger is still looking for a Mythical Zoan fruit for the navy swordswoman."
She shrugged lightly. "Aren't these things pretty common?"
Doflamingo's body trembled with rage.
"What the hell kind of world are they living in!?"
He gritted his teeth, nearly snapping them. "Just give me one of those fruits… and I'll become king of this sea!"
Yet Jaeger tossed them around like candy—for his women, no less!
It wasn't just envy now. It was hatred. Burning, all-consuming.
"Don't get cocky just because you ate a Logia," he snarled, threads whipping violently behind him.
"I'll kill you. I'll teach you what Haki is. And I'll send your shredded corpse back to Jaeger!"
He roared, fingers snapping forward:
"Overheat!!"
•••
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