Three days—that's how long Kong and Big Mom had fought. Though to them, it hadn't felt that long; the battle only truly peaked when the shockwaves from their clash were felt across the New World.
Enel, on the other hand, had defeated Katakuri after a grueling, bloody twenty-three-hour battle. It was the hardest fight of Enel's life, but he managed to come out on top—largely thanks to the countless ideas Kong had fed into him. By pushing his Devil Fruit to its limit, Enel successfully applied the concept of the Railgun, launching a powerful iron bullet that struck Katakuri and dealt a devastating blow.
Oh, Enel had managed to learn how to use his lightning to manipulate the iron within the ground. Throughout the battle, he was constantly evolving—whether it was his mastery over Haki or his control of his Devil Fruit, everything had grown by leaps and bounds.
Of course, Katakuri kept fighting. Even after being struck by a projectile faster than light, he didn't back down. But Enel had one more move—his next step was to infuse lightning directly into his bloodstream, supercharging himself from the inside out.
That move had been another one of Kong's ideas, and in that form… Enel became so fast that even Katakuri, despite seeing the future, couldn't react in time. He was taken out in one swift blow, giving Enel the chance to finally sit back and rest.
Zed, on the other hand, had already defeated Smoothie and was simply observing the rest of the battles. Keep in mind, Zed was already stronger than her—the only reason their fight lasted as long as it did was because he was pushing himself to awaken future sight… which he eventually did.
Then there were Ain and Binz. The two had grown much stronger during this battle. Although not yet powerful enough to defeat Cracker outright, they were steadily wearing him down. Ain, for instance, had pushed her Devil Fruit to its limit—she could now fire her energy orbs outward and had even learned to infuse them into bullets, giving her greater range and precision. Anything hit by her bullets was reversed by twelve years.
Binz's Devil Fruit hadn't seen such a dramatic evolution, but his control had improved. He could now grow plants larger and stronger than before, making it more difficult for Cracker to deal with them. Alone, this wouldn't have been enough to slow Cracker down… but that changed when Ain slapped her hand against the ground, releasing a wave of energy that reversed everything it touched by twelve years.
This allowed them to pinpoint Cracker's location and move in to try and end the battle. Cracker attempted to use his Devil Fruit, but with the biscuits he created being reversed by 12 years, everything he summoned simply vanished.
He tried to reinforce the biscuits with his Haki, but even if Ain's power could only rewind time by a few minutes, which it didn't, it would still be enough to erase them. So for hours, Cracker was left dodging wave after wave of overgrown plant life trying to entangle him, all while avoiding Ain's relentless attacks.
What annoyed Cracker the most was the fact that these two were using him to train, especially with Zed not too far away, watching. Cracker wanted to end the fight quickly and help his siblings, but it turned into a long, drawn-out battle—one that came down to who would wear out first.
The fight could've dragged on for days, but it didn't—thanks to Binz. Throughout the entire battle, Binz had never shown that he could control the plant life he grew after it had fully matured. He let Cracker believe that once the plants finished growing, they were no longer under his command. So, when Cracker found himself surrounded by what seemed like harmless overgrown plant life, he let his guard down. That's when they all moved at once, swarming and overwhelming him in seconds.
To finish things off, Ain charged up her energy orb, focusing everything into a single, decisive shot. This time, she pushed her power beyond its normal limit, reversing Cracker more than twelve years into the past—until he was just a child. And that was how Cracker was finally defeated.
With the enemy commanders down, the team turned their attention to Kong's battle while tending to their wounds. At the same time, they began taking control of Big Mom's territory. After all, it would be a waste to defeat an emperor and simply walk away from the land they ruled. Naturally, once Kong and Big Mom took their fight elsewhere, the crew didn't hesitate to follow.
"Such speed… I need to grow stronger," Enel said with a smile, sensing exactly where Kong was. That's right—Enel's range of perception had grown to incredible heights, now surpassing even Kong's.
To put it into perspective, Enel could now cover every inch of Skypiea twelve times over without any difficulty.
Back then, even before he met Kong, Enel couldn't fully cover all of Skypiea. There were always a few who managed to slip past his senses. In other words, Enel's current level of perception was over twelve times stronger than it had ever been.
"Is Kong alright?" Zed asked.
Enel nodded, his eyes turning toward the sky where storm clouds were beginning to gather. It was a clear morning, but this was the New World—sunshine one moment, a snowstorm the next.
Without a word, Enel raised his hands, redirecting the storm clouds elsewhere. Ever since entering the New World, Kong hadn't needed to worry about the weather—Enel took care of everything. The only real challenge they ever faced was powerful winds, and even then, the Maxim powered through. It didn't rely on the wind to move.
"Well, I'm all healed up. I guess I should get you to a doctor or something," Kong said, glancing at Big Mom. It would be a waste not to have someone so powerful alive—maybe even joining his crew one day. So, he decided to help patch her up.
Still, Kong refused to leave the island. He was sure his crew was already searching for him, and if he left now, it might only make it harder for them to find him.
Now, if he could defeat an empowered Emperor… shouldn't he at least be ranked among the strongest in the world?
After all, the strongest man in the world was also an Emperor. Just how much stronger was Whitebeard—the strongest man—compared to Big Mom? And what about a supercharged Big Mom, one who pushed herself to her absolute limits?
"They're here," Kong said, glancing toward the approaching Maxim. He hoisted Big Mom over his shoulder, then leapt toward the ship. He wasn't about to walk—he'd just end up getting lost.
Time Skip, March 16 (Note, that in the canon timeline, this is when Luffy and the others met Aokiji, but that wasn't happening in this timeline since… well, Kong and Dragon actions}