CHAPTER 108

As Carl crashed into the ground, the mechanical sound of the system echoed in his mind.

[Current special check-in location: Cake Island.]

[Sign-in progress: 0/3.]

The thick smoke and debris slowly dissipated, revealing the aftermath of the collision.

In the distance, Perospero's gaze was fixed on the crater, cold sweat beading down his face. His hands trembled slightly as he gripped his candy cane staff.

Inside the massive impact zone, a dark figure stood atop the fractured earth.

At this moment, Carl's form was barely distinguishable from before—his entire body was encased in an armor-like shell of pitch-black lightning, pulsating with an ominous glow. It crackled and shifted like living energy, a manifestation of his will fused with his Haki.

Just the sight of it sent a primal warning through Perospero's instincts, a suffocating sense of dread washing over him.

It felt as though an invisible guillotine was hovering above his head, ready to fall at any moment.

"H-How… How could someone like this appear in the Marines?" Perospero muttered in disbelief, his voice shaking. "That's not a human… He's a monster, just like Mama."

High above, atop a monstrous wave, Charlotte Linlin burst into a fit of deep, rumbling laughter. Her eyes gleamed with dangerous amusement.

"Well, well, brat. This brings back memories…" she grinned, her voice laced with mockery.

Her words mirrored what Golden Lion Shiki had once said about Carl's Haki-infused armor.

To her, such a wasteful application of Busoshoku Haki—coating the body in full armor—was laughable.

Armor wasn't meant to be formed like a second skin. The more condensed and focused Haki was, the stronger the defense. To her, Carl's use was reckless, inefficient.

"You're just squandering your strength!" she scoffed.

Carl, clearly irritated, responded with a sharp retort.

"What the hell do you know, you old hag?!"

Without hesitation, he stomped the ground, launching himself forward like a meteor streaking through the sky. His aura flared violently as he charged toward Charlotte Linlin, who stood atop the tsunami.

"Raptor's Splitting Void!"

Dozens of sword slashes condensed in front of him, forming the shape of a colossal dragon's head. Its fangs glistened with deadly intent as it lunged toward the Yonko, roaring with an eerie resonance.

"Zeus! Prometheus!" Charlotte Linlin commanded.

"Yes, Mama!"

The thundercloud and sun homies immediately obeyed, circling her outstretched fists.

"Heavenly Lightning Strike!"

Her massive fists, enveloped in raw lightning and flames, came crashing down with cataclysmic force.

The moment her fists met Carl's Haki-infused slash, the air itself seemed to wail.

BOOM!

A dazzling explosion of energy erupted between them, sending shockwaves across the battlefield. The sky trembled. The sea churned.

Carl gritted his teeth, pouring more power into his strike. The black lightning coating his body surged violently, colliding head-on with the overwhelming force of the Yonko.

Charlotte Linlin sneered. "Useless! I am the woman who conquered Elbaf! Your puny strength can't—"

Her words were cut off.

Beneath her feet, the tsunami Homie shattered—cut cleanly through the middle.

Linlin's massive body plummeted from the broken wave.

Carl's left hand instinctively gripped the hilt of his second sword—Deadwood.

"Ittoryu—Instant Draw!"

A thin, nearly invisible slash tore through the battlefield like a crack in space itself.

Blood sprayed into the air.

For the first time in the battle, Charlotte Linlin was injured. A deep wound ran across her abdomen, crimson staining her ornate dress.

The Yonko's lips curled into a grin.

"Heh… To think you'd actually make me bleed."

She licked her lips, eyes burning with exhilaration.

On the opposite end, Carl's black lightning armor had slightly deformed from Linlin's previous strike. The sheer, raw force of her attack had penetrated his Haki, an impact strong enough to shatter boulders.

Even with his top-tier Armament Haki, there was no completely negating that kind of monstrous power.

Carl clicked his tongue, annoyed.

"Crazy old hag…"

The killing intent in his gaze sharpened. His aura flared even more violently than before, black lightning crackling wildly across his form.

Charlotte Linlin's grin widened.

"It's been a long time since I've been this excited… Let's see how long you can last, little Marine!"

She raised her massive saber, Napoleon, and infused it with her Haki, weaving together thunder and fire into a devastating, all-consuming attack.

Carl's expression darkened. He could feel the raw power surging within her.

The massive sword descended toward him like an executioner's blade.

Carl instinctively met the strike head-on with Sakura Ten.

CLANG!

The ground beneath him cracked and split apart. The sheer force of their clash sent fractures racing outward, splintering the battlefield.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the entire area, and the ground beneath Carl's feet crumbled.

The monstrous battle had only just begun.

Strength Against Strength—The Clash of Monsters

When it came to raw power, Carl was still inferior to Charlotte Linlin, a monstrous force of nature.

Even though both of them had physiques that defied human limits, Linlin's natural body was built on an entirely different scale.

She was a natural-born giant, a member of the race known for possessing the greatest physical strength in the world.

And in battle, that difference was clear.

"Let's see how many times you can stop me!"

With an earth-shaking roar, Charlotte Linlin grasped Napoleon in both hands, swinging it down in a relentless assault.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Carl's Sakura Ten intercepted each monstrous strike, the force behind them sending tremors through his arms.

The battlefield was consumed by chaos. Black lightning crackled violently around them, intertwining with raging flames and surging thunder.

And then—

A suffocating, blood-red aura surged into the air.

ROAR!

Above them, a monstrous scarlet beast materialized, its glowing crimson eyes locking onto Charlotte Linlin with a ravenous hunger.

It was as if it saw her as nothing more than a slab of fresh meat to devour.

The beast's massive claws lunged for the crazed Yonko, slashing toward her with murderous intent.

Charlotte Linlin snorted, unfazed.

"Kid, you sure have a lot of tricks!"

With a sudden burst of strength, she swung her blade in a horizontal slash, forcing Carl back several meters.

Then, gripping Napoleon tightly with both hands, she raised it high. The air around her distorted from the sheer force radiating from her weapon.

"Hakai no Yari—Ikoku Sovereignty!"

The very same technique she once used to obliterate the Germa 66 fortress—a devastating shockwave infused with Haki—was now enhanced by the wrath of thunder and fire!

The titanic blast tore through the blood-colored beast in an instant.

FWOOSH!

A loud crack echoed through the battlefield as the very air itself was split apart. The devastating force surged toward Carl like a spear of destruction, warping everything in its path.

"Sword Wave—Sever!"

Carl's counterattack erupted from the ground, a towering, black-gold crescent slash that ripped through the earth like a divine judgment.

The two devastating forces collided head-on.

BOOOOOM!

The entirety of Whole Cake Island shuddered violently from the impact.

In the distance, every single member of the Big Mom Pirates went pale.

"This island… won't last much longer…"

For decades, Whole Cake Island had withstood Big Mom's monstrous power, but now, it was enduring not one, but two calamities of equal magnitude.

Even Punk Hazard, the island where Akainu and Aokiji fought for ten days and ten nights, had only changed its climate after their battle.

But Carl and Charlotte Linlin weren't merely manipulating elements.

Their battle was pure, raw destruction—a clash of uncompromising physical strength and overwhelming swordsmanship.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Flaming geysers erupted from the shattered ground.

Thunderstorms raged above.

Tsunamis surged against the coast.

And through it all, Charlotte Linlin stood tall, Napoleon in hand, slashing with unstoppable might.

The battlefield had been transformed into an apocalypse, dominated by the rampage of the crazy old woman.

Carl's expression darkened as his gaze flicked toward the skies behind her.

Zeus and Prometheus—her elemental Homies—continued to hover nearby, their grins smug and taunting.

With a single motion, Carl hooked his fingers, his stance shifting.

In the next instant—

He launched forward again.

"Well, well, you really don't know when to quit!" Charlotte Linlin's massive grin widened as she mocked him mid-swing.

"I'll give you one last chance, kid! Join my Big Mom Pirates!"

Her offer was met with a cold, wordless response—

Carl swung his blade straight at her face.

A glint of cruel amusement flickered in Linlin's eyes.

"So that's your answer, huh?"

Her grip on Napoleon tightened.

"Then I guess I'll have to kill you here, brat!"

As their weapons clashed once more—

Soft, pink cherry blossoms began drifting silently in the sky.

Unlike before, Carl had never activated Senbonzakura in this fight.

That was because its wide-range lethality wasn't well-suited for a duel against a single, overwhelming opponent.

But now—

The real problem wasn't Charlotte Linlin herself.

It was her damn Homies.

If it hadn't been for Zeus, he would have already thrown her into the sea.

That one factor alone could have ended this fight in an instant.

Now, it was time to change the battlefield.

Eliminate the distractions first.

Killing them was impossible—he lacked the soul-destroying abilities of a Yomi Yomi no Mi user.

But restricting them?

That was a different story.

SHWAA! SHWAA! SHWAA!

The battlefield suddenly fell silent as the sound of countless blades slicing through air rang out.

The flames, the lightning, the tidal waves—all halted in an instant.

Charlotte Linlin's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What the hell did you just do?!"

For the first time, she noticed—

The air around the battlefield was now filled with countless, floating pink cherry blossoms.

They drifted gently, but even without touching them, Linlin felt it—

Each one carried a terrifyingly sharp presence.

Though they resembled delicate petals, they were actually razor-edged blades.

Carl's voice echoed, his tone calm but edged with quiet amusement.

"Nothing much. Just getting rid of some distractions."

Behind Charlotte Linlin, Zeus and Prometheus suddenly froze in midair.

The two Homies—her most trusted weapons—were now completely engulfed in a prison of countless cherry blossom blades.

[Senbonzakura Kageyoshi—King's Domain]

A Bankai-level technique that normally turned every blade into a lethal storm of slashes.

But this time—

Carl had no intention of cutting.

Instead, he had sealed them.

Both Homies were completely trapped, unable to escape from the storm of floating swords surrounding them.

Linlin's face twisted into rage.

She immediately understood—

Without Zeus, she would lose her flight.

Without Prometheus, she would lose her fire-based abilities.

And the moment she lost her footing—

She would be vulnerable to the sea.

Carl smirked.

This battle was finally heading in his direction.

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