"Everyone, get away from the Cake Tower immediately!"
A tall man in a deep blue jacket, with ice cream-shaped rings and tassels on his shoulders and an ice cream-shaped guard sword on his back, loudly ordered the soldiers to evacuate the crowd.
"Lord Moscato, your body..."
"I'm fine!"
This was Charlotte Moscato, the sixteenth son of the Charlotte family. After stopping the rampaging BIG MOM from causing more destruction, BIG MOM had drained forty years of his life. Though he had survived, he recovered by supplementing his lifespan but didn't attend the banquet at the tower's top. Instead, he was here, commanding:
There were too many enemies, but—
The man, with two-toned curly hair and a chin covered in stubble, drew his long sword.
"All citizens, immediately head to the southeast port. It's best to temporarily take refuge on other islands. Leave this to me—Chess Pieces, advance!"
With a wave of his sword, soldiers dressed in plaid armor, known as "Homies," silently charged forward. While their appearance was fairy-tale-like, their combat abilities were far from weak. There were 'Soldiers' with bows and arrows, 'Cavalry' with lances and shields, 'Elephants' holding muskets, 'Chariots' with massive sabers, 'Queens' holding scepters, and 'Kings' with rapiers at their waists.
Their opponents were: "Spotting BIG MOM's sniper line!"
"As expected, the Commander and several princes are in danger—"
"Break through their formation! Kill everyone we see!!"
Boom, boom, boom! The fully armored army of the Vinsmoke family charged in, even without direct command, the thousands of soldiers automatically formed tactical teams, supporting and charging forward.
Tall soldiers with rocket launchers crouched to cover the area with fire; light-footed snipers quickly scaled rooftops to take high ground; burly soldiers in heavy armor wielding long spears charged forward like tanks—
Boom!!!
The two famous armies of the world collided fiercely. Both the power of ability-based creations and technology-based clones were equally disciplined and fearless! Arrows and spears flew side by side with high-tech shells and explosives, and soon the battle lines were:
Pushing towards the Cake Tower! "Damn—"
Moscato swung his ice cream-shaped sword, slicing dozens of Vinsmoke soldiers in half. But the soldiers didn't pause even for a second; they kept charging forward, and though Moscato sliced through them again, he muttered, "Are these guys even human?"
The Vinsmoke family, known for their "war legion," was constantly at war or on their way to one. The clone soldiers came from the most elite "samples," each with battle-hardened experience! Meanwhile, BIG MOM's chess soldiers were lower-level "Homies," and Cake Island, as the center of the world, hadn't been attacked in decades. So, as the battle raged on:
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh,
A few agile Vinsmoke soldiers took advantage of the moment Moscato cut down his own men, crawling low and leaping to tackle him. Then—
Boom! Boom! Boom!! Explosions of blood and flesh engulfed Moscato, despite his decent strength as the sixteenth son of the Charlotte family, leaving him helpless in the face of such a calm but furious attack.
"Close in on the Cake Tower, prepare for an indoor battle!"
"The Commander is at the top of the tower, move up—"
As the Vinsmoke soldiers surged toward the base of the Cake Tower, the battle at the top was already in full swing!
**Double Swirl Pretzel!**
Two long swords spun wildly like a raging storm, their sheer power enough to pierce anything in their path! Even Wapometal wouldn't stand a chance against Charlotte Cracker's full-force attack! But—
**Kami-e Martial Form – Willow!**
In an instant, Roman's entire body turned as light as a floating "sheet of paper." Before Cracker's swords could even reach him, the wind pressure alone sent him drifting backward, effortlessly avoiding the attack from his opponent, who had four arms.
"Hmph, using wind pressure to dodge with the 'Kami-e' technique?"
As one of the Three Sweet Commanders with a bounty of 860 million berries, Charlotte Cracker had seen plenty of tricks before. He immediately saw through Roman's move and, at the same time, became even more convinced of Katakuri's judgment.
If this guy still had the same strength he had when he injured "Mama," he wouldn't just be dodging like this. That meant—
"Then how about this?"
Just because his usual thrust attacks weren't working didn't mean Cracker was out of options. If an 800-million-bounty pirate only had one trick up his sleeve, people would laugh him out of the New World.
His two swords suddenly twisted forward in a synchronized motion—one hard, one soft. The swirling sword energy spun like a shield, intertwining and pushing against each other, creating a vortex that pulled everything nearby into its grasp. Within a dozen meters, the air itself seemed to twist, objects warped and tilted unnaturally, and even light itself bent in a bizarre, dazzling display! It felt as if a massive, ever-shifting whirlpool had enveloped everything, distorting reality itself.
**Double Vortex Pretzel!**
Suuuu—
A powerful force of suction pulled Roman forward. Forget floating away—he had to lower his stance immediately just to keep himself steady!
As the twin swords came slashing toward him, a sharp glint flashed behind Roman's mask.
Did Cracker really think he was scared?
**More More-20x Vibration Shatter Sword!**
The three blades clashed—but instead of a deafening clang, a deep, resonant sound rang out, like a temple bell echoing at dawn and dusk! Clear yet powerful.
The massive, biscuit-armored "Charlotte Cracker" suddenly flickered, like a glitching TV screen with bad reception.
"Impressive swordsmanship!"
At that moment, Roman had used a special force-dispelling technique to suppress Cracker's attack while sending a shockwave straight into his body. With just one hand, he was holding his ground against Cracker's dual-wielding assault!
"But this only proves how much your strength has dropped. Being one of the few people in the past 24 years to injure Mama—that's already something to be proud of!"
"Heh, so you think you've already won?"
Cracker wasn't wrong—after using that full-powered slash to break through BIG MOM's "iron skin," Roman had indeed suffered serious internal injuries. But if he dared to go all out from the start, that meant he had a plan to keep fighting.
"I only need one move to finish you."
?! Big words for—
With one hand holding back Cracker's swords, Roman's other hand shot forward in an instant!
Cracker's other two hands immediately raised his biscuit shields to block the attack, reinforcing them with Armament Haki just in case Roman had some weird ability up his sleeve.
The next second—
**Crack!**
"Cracker?!"
Nearby, Charlotte Galette, who had just been forced back by Franky Shogun's laser blast, stared in shock at the head that had rolled to her feet.
Under the spiked bull-horned helmet was a bearded face frozen in surprise.
"No way!"
Two voices cried out in unison—one belonged to Galette, a beautiful woman wearing a purple fur coat, a short orange dress, and small horns on her head.
The other came from a figure that had just been blasted out of the shattered armor—a man with short purple hair, three tufts of hair sticking up on his head, and sparks crackling from the left and right strands. A scar ran down his right eye, and his muscular upper body was covered only by a single shoulder guard and a pink-and-white spotted cape. His lower half was clad in baggy pants and brown boots, and he carried a long sword on his shoulder.
"My armor... it actually... actually..."
This man—this was the real Charlotte Cracker.
The biscuit-armored warrior from before?
That was just one of his creations.
Just like Roman's *White Knight*.
Crunch! Crunch!
"I told you, I only need one move to take you down."
In the palm of Roman's hand, which he had just thrust forward, a massive iron-barrel-shaped mouth was chomping down furiously! The biscuit armor, which was as hard as Wapol's special alloy and covered in Armament Haki, now seemed like nothing more than regular biscuits, being swallowed whole by that enormous mouth.
The *Munch-Munch* ability.
Ever since Roman obtained the *Bag-Bag Page*, he had barely used the *Munch-Munch Page*. It had been reduced to a tool for producing *blood paper* and *Wapol metal*—and even those could be made by Nami now, so Roman had almost stopped using it altogether.
But when it came to food-based Devil Fruits, their natural enemy was obvious—
Eating!
Wapol's *Munch-Munch Fruit* was practically a perfect counter to the food-based abilities of the Charlotte family! Wapol himself might have been weak, but Roman wasn't. Even using a *secondhand* version of the *Munch-Munch* ability, he could still take on a whole squad of the Charlotte family's top fighters.
Against him, every Charlotte elite fighter was just a regular super soldier with no fruit powers. And if they insisted on using their abilities—
"Damn it, go! Biscuit Soldiers!"
Dropping his disguise, Charlotte Cracker waved his hand, and an army of identical *Biscuit Soldiers* rose from the ground, each wielding shields and longswords, charging at Roman.
Each of these Biscuit Soldiers had around 300 million in bounty-level strength. In the original story, they were on par with Luffy's *Gear Third* and required *Gear Fourth* to be destroyed!
But to Roman—
"They're just snacks."
With a sudden lunge, Roman spread his arms wide, and the iron-barrel mouth in his palms opened to its limit.
"*Munch-Munch—Sixty-Four Palms!*"
Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!
As Roman dashed through the swarm of Biscuit Soldiers with his rapid-strike technique, a series of loud chewing sounds echoed through the battlefield.
In an instant, these multi-million bounty puppets shattered into countless flying biscuit crumbs! And as Roman devoured the Haki-covered biscuits, his energy surged like he had just taken a massive power boost. His face lit up with renewed vigor, and his Haki erupted uncontrollably from his body.
"No wonder they call you the *Sweet Commanders*. You guys actually taste pretty good."
"What—?!!"
Watching his strongest ability being used to *heal* the enemy, Cracker was furious.
"I'LL KILL YOU!!"
Enraged, he gripped his famed sword *Pretzel* and charged straight at Roman.
Since his Biscuit Soldiers were useless here, he had no choice but to fight with his own sword!
"Puppets? I'm pretty good with those too."
With his energy fully restored after a feast of biscuits, Roman grabbed his sword with one hand and removed his top hat with the other, turning it upside down.
With a rustling sound, paper poured out like a waterfall, transforming into multiple *White Knights* standing in formation around Roman.
Armament Haki—Cover!
Devil Fruit abilities—Activate!
"Go, my heroic warriors!"
Lightning crackled, sandstorms swirled, shadows loomed, diamonds sparkled—one after another, *White Knights* imbued with different abilities lunged at Charlotte Cracker.
Seeing this, the *Sweet Commander* nearly broke down in tears.
His abilities gave his opponent *unlimited stamina and healing*, while his enemy could *freely* use different powers?
What was the point of even fighting anymore?!
Forget it.
Just surrender.
(End of Chapter)
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