The sky above Delsin Island was overcast.
Explosions resounded across the island, within the pirate stronghold.
Several pirates, with bounties exceeding one hundred million, brandished swords and spears, staring intently at the tall woman in the center.
Charlotte Linlin, already slightly plump with a face full of scars, let out a sinister laugh.
"Who shall I start with?"
Her icy gaze swept across everyone, as if selecting prey.
Alvin Hugh, captain of the Explosion Pirates, knew this could not continue. He roared,
"Let's go together and kill her!!!"
"Explosive Stream Slash!!!"
His long sword unleashed a wave of sword energy imbued with the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Charlotte Linlin's gaze shifted to him, and she casually caught the sword energy.
Boom!!!
A mushroom cloud, tens of meters high, surged into the sky, followed by billowing smoke.
Dada dada....
Footsteps echoed, and Charlotte Linlin emerged from the smoke, completely unharmed.
"Then I'll start with you."
"Damn it!"
"You bastard!!!"
He charged at Charlotte Linlin in a fit of rage.
He thrust his sword into the motionless Charlotte Linlin's heart.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted, but to no effect.
Charlotte Linlin's form didn't even stir.
Alvin immediately discarded his sword and grabbed Charlotte Linlin by the neck.
As he grabbed her, he shouted,
"Run!!!"
Then, his powers surged beneath his feet, and with immense force, he propelled both of them skyward.
In an instant, they shot up to a thousand meters, still ascending rapidly.
Charlotte Linlin understood Alvin's intention:
"Trying to sacrifice yourself to ensure your comrades' escape."
"Mamamama~"
"So loyal."
"Unfortunately..."
"It's useless."
Her incredibly powerful hand instantly seized Alvin by the neck and lifted him.
Alvin was abruptly held aloft by Charlotte Linlin.
Crack crack—
Two crisp sounds of bones breaking echoed as Alvin's legs were shattered.
Their upward momentum rapidly diminished.
Tear!
Charlotte Linlin ripped off his two powerful arms.
"Zeus!"
A black thundercloud flew over:
"Coming, Mama!"
It caught Charlotte Linlin and carried her downward.
At an altitude of three hundred meters above the ground, Charlotte Linlin signaled Zeus to stop.
From here, the small moving dots on the ground were clearly visible.
They were the scattered crew members of the Explosion Pirates, fleeing.
Perospero, Katakuri, and the others at the edge of the battlefield made no move to stop them.
Innumerable thunderclouds gathered in the sky.
Katakuri glanced at the sky:
"Is it coming?"
Perospero chuckled:
"Foolish people, they will surely pay with their lives for provoking Mama."
"Can they run faster than lightning?"
"Mama can control the weather."
"Hehehehehe."
----
High in the sky, Charlotte Linlin, standing on Zeus, spun Alvin around and held him.
"Take one last look at your comrades."
"Ten Thousand Heavens Great Freedom God!!!"
Countless lightning bolts struck down from the sky, seemingly with intent, twisting and turning but hitting their marks precisely.
With shrieks that echoed through the heavens, everyone turned into charred remains.
As Alvin's eyes blazed with fury, Charlotte Linlin's cruel voice sounded again.
"Given how close you all are,"
"You may live."
"But the price is..."
"Forty years!"
"Mamamama~"
Charlotte Linlin's hand yanked from Alvin's body.
A mass of pinkish matter was instantly pulled out and devoured by Charlotte Linlin.
"So delicious."
Charlotte Linlin licked her lips, while Alvin rapidly aged into an old man, struggling feebly.
Controlling Zeus, she flew to the ground and casually tossed Alvin onto the earth.
"Let's go."
"Next island."
The Charlotte family followed Charlotte Linlin as they departed.
Only Alvin, now an old man with no arms, remained, tears streaming down his face as he crawled on the ground towards the distant charred remains of his comrades....
----
Several days later.
The clean-up operation by the two Emperors shocked the entire New World.
All the pirates were taken aback by the swift and decisive action.
These newly famous pirates were utterly outmatched, annihilated in the most brutal ways.
The so-called new generation of pirates became a laughingstock.
Countless pirates knelt, begging for their lives.
Those who resisted were like ants before the Emperors, utterly eradicated.
The two forces, one from the south and one from the north, were finally set to meet.
The territories previously allocated to the new generation of pirates were effortlessly encroached upon by Hearl Nock and Charlotte Linlin.
----
"Nomiro Island, is it?"
Sengoku's voice sounded as he put down the map.
Two massive warships sailed side-by-side on the sea, heading for Nomiro Island.
While they had anticipated the Emperors' clean-up operation, it had been too fast. In just a few days, by the time they reached this area, it was nearly complete.
According to the latest intelligence from the Root Army, only Nomiro Island, located in the very center, had yet to be cleared.
And now, both forces were converging there.
Sengoku immediately turned his ships around and headed there.
They couldn't have come all this way for nothing. Perhaps there was an opportunity...
----
Three days later.
As Nomiro Island came clearly into view.
A colossal mushroom cloud, several times larger than the island, one white and one red, intertwined and collided.
The island trembled, and shockwaves and heatwaves spread outwards, creating massive waves that crashed against the outer sea.
Rumble rumble—
The immense roar arrived several seconds later, accompanied by heatwaves and the impact of Haki.
On the warships.
Kuzan, who had grown increasingly indolent, became serious:
"Oh my, a whole island destroyed so easily."
Under such an impact, everything on the island would be obliterated.
Borsalino said with exaggerated astonishment:
"Kuwaaaaii~"
"This is..."
On the periphery of the island, Katakuri's eyes narrowed, and he turned to look:
"The Marines?"