Chapter 33: The Convergence of Monsters
After the future tease now broadcast really went to future screen. But this time with different opponents.
The screen didn't just transition; it shattered the reality of every viewer watching. The warm, nostalgic imagery of the Baratie was gone and it's not the same future scene as before, it's replaced by a sight so terrifying that half the civilian population across the Four Seas dropped to their knees in sheer, instinctual dread.
The sky on the screen wasn't blue or black; it was a swirling, bruised purple, torn apart by black lightning that looked like the veins of a dying god. In the center of the frame stood two figures that represented the absolute ceiling of power in the world. Kaido and Big Mom. Together.
"MAMAMAMA! KAIDO, IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE WE CRUSHED A BRAT SIDE-BY-SIDE!"
"WORORORO! LINLIN, DON'T YOU DARE GET IN MY WAY. I'M GOING TO TURN THESE ROOKIES INTO RED MUD!"
The pressure was so immense that even through the System broadcast, the audio distorted, sounding like grinding metal. But the camera didn't stay on the Emperors. It panned down to a man in a tattered black suit, standing in the middle of a literal apocalypse with a fresh cigarette between his lips.
> [Sengoku]: "SQUEAK! (THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! AN ALLIANCE?! TWO EMPERORS?! THE BALANCE OF THE WORLD ISN'T JUST BROKEN—IT'S BEEN PULVERIZED! AND THE STRAW HAT'S COOK IS... STANDING THERE? SQUEAK!)"
> [Akainu]: "This has to be a fabrication. Two Yonko teaming up? The Navy would have known. If this is the future, then the world is already over. There is no way a chef and a swordsman survive that shockwave."
> [Eustass Kid]: "HEY! ARE YOU SEEING THIS?! That's me in the background! Why am I bleeding while the cook is just standing there lighting a cigarette?! IS HE MOCKING THE YONKO?!"
> [Trafalgar Law]: "Black Leg... don't be a fool. Get out of there. You can't parry a combined strike from those two. Even my Room can't displace that much Haki."
> [Buggy the Clown]: "HONK! I'M LEAVING! I don't care if I'm in a cell, I'm hiding under my bed! If Kaido and Big Mom are friends now, the universe is canceled! HONK!"(while running in Impel Down)
>
The screen zoomed in on Sanji's face. He wasn't looking at the Emperors with fear. He was looking at them like they were a particularly difficult order in a busy kitchen. He rolled up his sleeves, his hands—which he never used in a fight—tucked firmly into his pockets.
"Hey, Moss-head," Sanji's voice was cool, slicing through the roar of the storm. "If we die here, I'm never letting you hear the end of it. My ghost will haunt your shitty dojo forever."
Zoro, standing beside him with blood dripping from his bandana, let out a raspy chuckle. "Then don't die, you shitty cook. Just keep the fire away from my back."
Suddenly, the two Emperors moved. The air didn't just move; it vanished. Kaido's club and Big Mom's sword were raised simultaneously, their Haki intertwining into a single, massive pillar of destruction that threatened to wipe the entire island of Onigashima off the map.
"HAKAI!" (Ocean Sovereignty)
The blast was a wall of pure energy, wider than a battleship, roaring toward the Straw Hat crew. The world watched, breathless, as the screen turned white with the intensity of the light.
> [Vinsmoke Judge]: "No... no, no, no! My data! My blueprints! A human body cannot withstand the thermal energy of that strike! Number 4 is about to be vaporized! Even a Raid Suit would melt in a second!"
> [Big Mom]: (Typing from the present) "MAMAMAMA! Look at my future self! I look wonderful! And that little Vinsmoke brat thinks he's a shield? How cute! I'll enjoy watching him turn into a charcoal briquette!"
> [Kaido]: (Typing from Wano) "WORORORO! An alliance with Linlin? Interesting. But those brats... their eyes aren't the eyes of dead men. Why are they still standing their ground?!"
> [Charlotte Perospero]: "Perorin! The cook is toast! Not even a miracle can save someone from a combined Emperor strike. The ranking ends here, surely!"
>
As the light began to fade, the camera revealed the impossible. Sanji had lunged forward, his leg glowing with a Diable Jambe that was vibrating so fast it was turning a ghostly, searing white. He wasn't just kicking; he was using the air-pressure of his strikes to create a microscopic "pocket" of force, diverting the outer edge of the Sovereignty blast just enough to protect the fallen Luffy behind him.
His suit jacket was gone, incinerated. His shirt was scorched to his skin. But he was still standing.
Suddenly, a strange sound echoed through the speakers. Click. Clack. Thud. It sounded like a machine resetting itself. Sanji's eyebrows twitched. He looked down at his own chest, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The metallic sheen returned to his eyes, more prominent this time.
"My heart..." Sanji whispered, his hand clutching his shirt. "It's beating like a hammer... and my skin... why does the wind feel like it's bouncing off of me?"
> [Rocks D. Xebec]: "TWO GIANTS SCREAM~ A DEADLY TEAM~ THE WORLD IS LOST WITHIN THE DREAM~ BUT THE COOK HAS A SECRET~ HIDDEN IN HIS BONES~ A POWER BORN FROM COLD, DARK THRONES! "
> [Sanji]: (Typing from Sabaody) "I don't care what's in my bones. If I have to become a monster to keep them safe... then I'll be the most stylish monster you've ever seen."
>
The chapter ended with Kaido landing a few feet away from Sanji, the dragon-man's eyes narrowing as he saw the boy still breathing. He raised his club again, lightning cackling.
"You're still alive, brat? Fine. Let's see how many times you can pop back up."