Chapter 201: The Beloved Aoxi
Boom!
Big Mom’s massive body crashed down inverted.
……
“Phew~”
“You’re really tough, pink granny.”
“I’ve attacked you so many times, but up to now you don’t have a single injury.”
“You’re even tougher-skinned than Boss Kaido.”
Aoxi looked up at Big Mom sitting on the ground and sighed.
The two had fought until now, but there wasn’t even a single bruise on her opponent, and even the arm that had been under concentrated attack just now was still completely unscathed.
A defense like this was something Aoxi had truly never seen before.
What was even more outrageous was that her opponent hadn’t used Haki for defense from start to finish, relying entirely on physical strength.
『This guy isn’t some monster who ate the Human-Human Fruit too, is she?』
Aoxi had the same doubt that Burufaruto had when he first saw her.
……
Big Mom was still sitting on the ground, not speaking, seemingly still stunned by what had just happened.
This was the first time her ability had failed.
Why?
Because this brat wasn’t afraid of her at all?
Or did the power on her opponent really completely counter her Soul-Soul Fruit?
Why does this world have such a power?
Her Soul-Soul Fruit should be the top of this type of ability.
……
Time passed second by second, and after the onlookers had all come back to their senses and started making noisy chatter, Big Mom finally stood up again.
“Mama~ mama~”
“It’s just my ability being countered… I never thought the day would come when I’d be confused over something like this.”
“I’m really getting more and more backward as I age.”
She straightened her somewhat disheveled pink long hair, and Big Mom’s tone surprisingly returned to calm, as if that punch just now had beaten all the anger out of her brain.
Looking at Aoxi in front of her, Big Mom asked calmly:
“Brat, why exactly are you getting involved in the matter between me and the Roger Pirates?”
“Is this that kid Kaido’s idea?”
“Well~ sort of, but not entirely.”
Seeing her opponent stand up again, Aoxi also prepared to end warm-up time and get serious.
Crimson Haki slowly emerged on Aoxi’s arms, with golden lightning patterns interspersed, like exquisite and sacred tattoos.
“Boss Kaido’s original intention was for me to casually pick a fight, beat up a few of your sons, and show off some power.”
“In the end, it’s just the standard procedure before an alliance to display martial prowess and gain more initiative.”
Kaido wanted to ally with Big Mom, something Aoxi had vaguely guessed.
Now the two pirate crews were evenly matched in strength, and they were at the critical moment of leaping from the second tier to the first tier.
The New World was only so big, and to successfully rise up meant necessarily squeezing out others’ positions, and anyone in the first tier was no pushover.
The other pirates wouldn’t miss this great opportunity of two tigers fighting; they might not have the strength to compete, but they definitely had the ambition.
Forming an alliance at this time was both to avoid infighting and wasting energy on each other, and to concentrate power to pull down those at the top.
……
Her bright red long hair danced, and Aoxi slowly spread her hands.
At the same time, the lightning patterns on her arms began to flash continuously, evolving into real lightning…
Zzz—
Zzzla~
“But now I’ve changed my mind; I don’t want to ally with someone like you.”
“Call it willful or disregarding the big picture, whatever you like. But…”
Crackle!
A bolt of thunder struck down!
“I hate you, I really, really hate you.”
……
“…”
“Mama~ mama~”
“What a willful brat.”
“But now I’m starting to like you a bit.”
Compared to Aoxi whose expression was gradually becoming serious, Big Mom, having regained her calm, surprisingly smiled again.
Her voice was no longer an angry roar, and her demeanor became composed and casual.
After that childish outburst just now that was somewhat unbecoming, Big Mom now seemed to have returned to being the powerful and dashing Sea Queen from before.
“Napoleon, come here.”
“Mama…”
“I said come here.”
“…Yes.”
As a Homie formed from soul separation from Big Mom herself, he could somewhat sense Big Mom’s thoughts to a certain extent.
Compared to the emotional venting nonsense just now, this was Big Mom getting truly serious.
“Clang!”
Spinning in the air, Napoleon’s two ends extended a hilt and a long, enormous blade.
“Mama, I…”
Looking at Aoxi wrapped in thunder on the other side, Napoleon was still a bit worried.
“Don’t worry, as long as it’s always wrapped in Haki, that little girl’s lightning can’t hurt you.”
The essence of Armament Haki was a layer of energy armor; as long as it was completely covered without being breached, even if Aoxi’s lightning had a special effect on soul creations, it wouldn’t matter.
“Red-haired little girl, you’re not that kid Kaido’s real daughter, are you?”
“Hm? Of course not.”
Aoxi answered with a strange expression; this wasn’t the first time she’d been mistaken for Kaido’s daughter.
“Well~ makes sense; even if you were really his daughter, that kid might not put this much thought into it.”
“That brainless brat went out of his way this time with such a big detour, scheming to make me personally step in and ‘teach’ you; you must be more important to him than his blood-related daughters.”
Ignoring Aoxi who was listening in a fog, Big Mom glanced at Ra who hadn’t made a move and stated even more affirmatively:
“The alliance between the Beasts Pirates and the Beasts Pirates is inevitable, whether you agree or not doesn’t matter.”
“Because this was decided the moment Kaido told you to come ‘provoke’ us.”
Aoxi might not understand the implication, but as an old Jianghu acquaintance of Kaido for many years, Big Mom figured out his real purpose after a moment’s thought.
At the same time, she couldn’t help sighing that her ‘younger brother’ had truly grown up.
Sizzle—
Powerful Armament Haki climbed onto the Emperor Sword’s blade, and feeling Big Mom’s overwhelmingly powerful Haki, Napoleon put away his timidity and bared his sharp teeth on the blade.
“Mama, I feel full of power!”
“Is that so? Then—Ikkoku!”
Boom!
Just like the difference between a bullet and a cannonball.
This “Ikkoku” far surpassed the previous strike used on the broken tree in both speed and power.
And Aoxi moved at the same time.
Zzzla~
“Thunder Cannon!”
The golden lightning torrent collided with the invisible impact wave, erupting in terrifying aftershocks.
“Mama~ mama~”
“That’s some nice power, but you can’t let your guard down even when attacking.”
Whoosh—
Her pink high heels stomped the ground hard, and in the next second Big Mom appeared in front of Aoxi head-on against the Thunder Cannon.
“Wha—”
“Opening!”
The instant gap after releasing the breath attack was precisely seized by Big Mom, and a fist coated in Armament Haki smashed hard into Aoxi’s face!
Smack!
The surging powerful Haki distorted Aoxi’s face from afar.
“Ow~”
Zzz—zzz, zzz, zzz!
This time Aoxi didn’t fly out but instead plowed half her body along the ground.
“It hurts, it hurts so much!”
After rolling a few times on the ground, Aoxi immediately clutched her face and stood up, her red palm stroking her slightly swollen cheek.
“Hurts?”
“This is real battle, brat!”
Giving Aoxi no chance to catch her breath, Big Mom appeared above her in the next instant and raised her Emperor Sword high.
“Tch!”
Bright red wings extended from behind, and Aoxi appeared dozens of meters away like teleportation, but—
“Ikkoku!”
As if anticipating it, the moment Aoxi’s short boots touched the ground, the violent impact engulfed her and the surrounding land entirely.
……
“Cough, cough~”
“This is… Future Sight?”
“Exactly!”
Aoxi, who had barely escaped the attack range at the last moment, hadn’t steadied herself when a large hand pressed her straight to the ground.
Boom!
“Mm…!”
A soft cry of pain…
The earth cracked with dense fissures centered on Aoxi, extending outward endlessly; from above, Aoxi looked like prey caught in a spiderweb.
“You even know Future Sight; looks like that kid Kaido taught you well.”
Crackle!
Big Mom’s pressing arm exerted more force, and the cracks beneath Aoxi widened accordingly.
“Hey~ red-haired little girl, do you know why Kaido gave you this mission?”
“To have someone who can counter my Devil Fruit Ability defeat my son in front of everyone at the most important ceremony in Whole Cake Island?”
“To display martial prowess?”
“To hold the dominant position in a possible future alliance?”
“Or something else?”
“You think that’s the so-called truth?”
