Totland. Totto Land, Jam Island.
The island was surrounded by warships of the Double White Alliance. Countless pirates rushed frantically toward shore, shells and bullets creating a storm of metal and fire across the beach.
On the shoreline and throughout the harbor, figures clashed everywhere. Blood mixed with seawater. The smell of gunpowder hung thick in the air.
Rayleigh held a musket and fired a remarkably precise shot, dropping a pirate with a headshot.
Then he staggered forward with the pirates around him, maintaining his cover as an ordinary grunt.
"Push forward! Big Mom and her officers are inside! Kill one of the Sweet Commanders and you'll get double the bounty!" A pirate captain roared, brandishing a massive cleaver.
Pirates were desperate criminals by nature. Once war erupted and the atmosphere intensified, they all became bloodthirsty.
As soon as the captain roared, a wave of pirates rushed forward recklessly.
Simultaneously, the allied forces of the Big Mom Pirates and Beast Pirates were beaten back step by step.
When the battle lasted until nightfall, the Double White Alliance finally captured the beach and harbor.
However, the fighting wasn't over. After seizing the landing point, a steady stream of pirates began disembarking on Jam Island. The entire island was shrouded in flames. Cannon fire and gunshots made this night anything but peaceful.
Another shot killed a pirate. Before Rayleigh could reload, a tall, muscular man from the Big Mom Pirates roared and slashed at him with a sword.
Rayleigh felt somewhat helpless. He swung his musket butt with full force and smashed the man's skull in an instant, crushing it like overripe fruit.
Street fighting had already begun throughout Jam Island. Rayleigh glanced around and spotted a dark alley not far away. He raised his musket and shot another pirate dead with casual precision, then quickly ducked into the alley, leaning against the wall.
Leisurely, he pulled out a small flask and took a sip.
Then he extracted a cigarette from his pocket, placed it between his lips, lit it, and exhaled smoke with satisfaction.
Just as Rayleigh was hiding here smoking, drinking, and watching the chaos, a massive shockwave suddenly erupted from the center of Jam Island in the distance, obliterating all obstacles in its path.
A large number of pirates were blown away. Under the shockwave's pressure, they rapidly transformed into blood mist that filled the air.
Surprise flickered in Rayleigh's eyes. He frowned slightly and instantly released his Observation Haki, wanting to see what had happened.
"Charlotte Linlin?" The surprise in Rayleigh's eyes intensified.
Although there had been rumors before the battle of Jam Island that Charlotte Linlin and others were on the island, in fact, before every battle during this period, there were always rumors that Kaido or Charlotte Linlin were on the fleet or island ahead.
He'd never encountered them though, so Rayleigh hadn't taken the rumors seriously this time. But clearly, this time was different!
"I was wondering why that move looked so familiar. Was that Ikoku?" Rayleigh murmured.
Simultaneously, the noise on the battlefield quickly quieted down, then suddenly erupted again with renewed intensity.
"It's Big Mom! Hurry, call for support!"
"Finally found her!"
These were the cries of some pirates who firmly stood with the Whitebeard-Smoker coalition.
At the same time, there were large numbers of fence-sitters who'd been paid by Smoker to assist. They shouted in panic:
"Run, it's Charlotte Linlin! She's a monster!"
"We're going to die! All of us!"
"How can we possibly beat someone like this?"
"Whitebeard? Where's Whitebeard? Only he can do it!"
Just as Rayleigh was observing the chaotic situation, a pair of eyes suddenly opened on the wall behind him. A human face grew out from the stone, biting toward Rayleigh as if to swallow him whole.
But before the wall could succeed, Rayleigh turned and sliced the entire section in half with a single strike from his bare hand.
"Homies?" Rayleigh murmured softly.
As expected, the next second, a massive number of Homies poured out from the already-breached Jam Island fortifications. These were military forces Charlotte Linlin had planted on this island.
With Charlotte Linlin's support, the Homies and remaining allied pirates quickly launched a counterattack, viciously slaughtering the Double White Alliance's forces!
On the battlefield, Jozu and Marco were reorganizing the scattered troops.
"Have you sent news of the situation back to Pops?" Marco asked urgently.
"Sent it. Hold on for a while. Pops and the others will definitely arrive before dawn!" Jozu said calmly.
Marco stopped talking after hearing that. He kicked off the ground and flew directly into the sky, instantly transforming into a beam of fire burning with blue flames.
But before Marco could gain altitude, a trident shot out from the distance and pierced through his chest, knocking him from the sky.
"Cough..." Marco spat blood.
But this guy was known as the Phoenix for good reason. After crawling up from the ground, he pulled the trident that had pierced through his chest and back, throwing it on the ground.
The wound on his chest, severe enough to kill an ordinary person, burned with blue flame. In the blink of an eye, it returned to normal. Even the blood stains at the corners of his mouth transformed into flames and vanished completely.
"Phoenix Marco. The reputation is well-deserved," Katakuri's tall figure emerged from behind a massive Homie not far away.
"The perfect man, Katakuri?" Marco said with a smile despite the situation.
"Perfect man..." Katakuri murmured softly. The figure of Finn appeared in his mind. That's what that bastard had called him back then.
The result had been his own miserable defeat.
Before he could speak, there was a loud crash. A burly figure flew backward from the distance and slammed directly into the ground.
Although it was difficult to see clearly in the darkness, the silhouette was clearly a large man with an unshaven beard, wearing armor like a general.
"What tremendous strength!" the general-looking figure said as he rose from the ground.
Katakuri already recognized who this was: his younger brother, Thousand Arms Cracker.
The armor on Cracker's chest had shattered, but cookie crumbs were already rapidly repairing it. Katakuri wasn't worried at all. Even if others didn't know, he understood that his brother was extremely powerful. As long as the outer shell of this strong general wasn't completely shattered and his true form wasn't revealed, it meant he hadn't gotten serious yet.
"Marco, are you okay?" Jozu's burly figure approached from the distance, his entire arm having transformed into shining diamond.
Obviously, the one who'd just smashed Cracker with a punch was Jozu.
"As soon as you flew away, someone attacked me. I thought Big Mom's Sweet Commanders would be tougher? Nothing special," Jozu said sarcastically as he looked at Katakuri and Cracker in the distance.
Marco's body burned with blue flames. He said seriously, "At least I feel this one is quite difficult to handle..."
Simultaneously, Katakuri spoke up. "According to Mom's instructions, before old man Whitebeard arrives, we should eliminate their capable officers first. Cracker, which one do you want?"
"Big brother," Cracker said respectfully to Katakuri. He responded first, then looked at Jozu. "That diamond guy, Jozu. Leave him to me!"
"Can you handle him? Even Mom is impressed by his defensive ability," Katakuri said.
"I'll do my best," Cracker said seriously.
"Really? Then I'll leave him to you," Katakuri said softly.
As soon as the words fell, Cracker clapped his hands and instantly condensed two biscuit soldiers, rushing toward Jozu. At the same time, he brandished his famous sword Pretzel and charged out.
Jozu glanced at Marco and said seriously, "Just fight until dawn."
"Don't worry, I can fight him for ten days!" Marco said confidently.
But as soon as Marco finished speaking, Katakuri shot out a mochi bullet from his finger and directly blew Marco's head half off.
"Damn it!" Marco roared and rushed toward Katakuri with half his head destroyed.
After just two steps, he was completely healed.
It wasn't just Marco and Jozu in tough fights. Throughout the island, large numbers of Big Mom Pirates officers and Whitebeard Pirates division commanders were engaged in combat.
But the Whitebeard Pirates were obviously at a disadvantage, because Charlotte Linlin herself was hiding on this island.
"Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you struggle against me?" Charlotte Linlin held a burly figure in her hand as if holding a large toy.
She wore pink pajamas and a dress, looking far more bloated than before. She no longer possessed the beauty of her youth and had completely transformed into an old woman.
"Let me go!" The burly man she was holding suddenly slashed at Charlotte Linlin's arm with a blade.
The knife carried powerful Armament Haki, but even so, it couldn't scratch Charlotte Linlin's skin.
"Captain Atmos!" A member of the Whitebeard Pirates roared, leaping up and slashing at Charlotte Linlin.
The result was like swatting a fly. Charlotte Linlin backhanded the pirate across the face, directly launching him from the air. With her monstrous strength, even this casual move shattered the pirate's bones, crushed his internal organs into pulp. He died spitting blood!
The pirate being held by Charlotte Linlin at this moment was none other than the captain of the 13th Division of the Whitebeard Pirates, Buffalo Atmos!
He'd simply exchanged a few moves with Charlotte Linlin, then been captured alive.
Obviously, the gap in strength between them was an insurmountable chasm.
"Let go of me!" Atmos roared, his muscles bulging as he tried to break free from Charlotte Linlin's grip.
His nickname was Buffalo, naturally because he possessed tremendous strength, like an actual buffalo.
But at this moment, the strength he'd been so proud of was worthless in Charlotte Linlin's eyes. Even though he struggled desperately, Charlotte Linlin paid him no attention. Instead, she looked into the distance, as if searching for someone.
"Strange... I rushed here because I felt a strong sense of crisis. There should be a powerful master nearby, so why can't I find him now?" Charlotte Linlin's eyes showed confusion.
After she'd unleashed Ikoku, she'd clearly sensed someone watching her, so she'd rushed over quickly. But she'd only encountered Atmos?
Why had the person who made her feel threatened disappeared?
Meanwhile, the culprit, old scoundrel Rayleigh, had retreated to the beach, found a pile of corpses, and lay down among them, playing dead.
Charlotte Linlin felt uneasy after failing to find Rayleigh. Atmos continued struggling to break free from her grip.
Finally, when Charlotte Linlin came to her senses, anger flashed across her face. She squeezed hard.
With a sickening crunch, Atmos's bones shattered. He seemed to burst. Blood flowed from all seven orifices. He glared at Charlotte Linlin, but died without being able to utter a word.
The captain of the 13th Division of the Whitebeard Pirates was as fragile as an ant when facing a truly top-tier powerhouse like Charlotte Linlin.
"Boring!" Charlotte Linlin casually threw Atmos's corpse to the ground.