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~ 19 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon
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This was an island territory of the Emperor, Big Mom.
At this moment, it was engulfed in a sea of fire.
Surrounding the island, an immense fleet of countless Marine warships relentlessly bombarded the shore.
"Brother Oven!"
Charlotte Galette, user of the Butter-Butter Fruit and Big Mom's 18th daughter, looked towards Charlotte Oven, user of the Heat-Heat Fruit and Big Mom's 4th son, her forehead beaded with cold sweat.
"Why are the Marines attacking us??" Galette's forehead throbbed with veins, her expression grim.
The relationship between the Navy and the Emperors had always been one of mutual non-aggression. Before the rise of Sky Sovereign, the Three Great Powers—the Four Emperors, Marine Headquarters, and the Seven Warlords—had maintained a so-called balance on the seas for years.
After Sky Sovereign's rise, that balance was shattered.
But even with the new Fleet Admiral Akainu leading the Navy, who had pushed Marine Headquarters into the New World, the Navy had never launched a large-scale war against an Emperor.
To declare war on an Emperor was a decision with immense consequences, far beyond what Marine Headquarters could decide on its own.
The Navy was, after all, just one of the World Government's public faces and had to follow its orders. An all-out war required authorization from the World Government itself.
And given the World Government's typical desire to merely maintain the status quo and their own rule, it was inconceivable that they would allow the Navy to proactively attack an Emperor.
And now, of all times?? When they, the Big Mom Pirates, were in an alliance with the Beasts Pirates!
Attacking them was tantamount to declaring war on two Emperors at once!
And while they were at war with the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet!
WERE THE MARINES INSANE??
Sky Sovereign was supposed to be the Navy's greatest enemy! Even if they wanted to intervene in the war, in Galette's view, they should be attacking Sky Sovereign!
Why were they attacking them??
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"BASTARD! MARINES!"
Oven's entire body began to heat up. As a user of the Heat-Heat Fruit, he could heat his body to 10,000 degrees—a temperature even higher than the Flare-Flare Fruit's, allowing him to stand in magma unharmed.
But as a Paramecia, the Heat-Heat Fruit, unlike the Flare-Flare Fruit, couldn't create a sea of fire, nor did it possess the Magma-Magma Fruit's volcanic eruptive force. This fruit's ability was only to generate heat.
It was a fruit with impressive stats but significant limitations.
Of course, Oven had his own attack methods.
FWOOSH!
Oven attempted to heat the surrounding seawater. If he could heat the sea to a horrifying degree, he could damage the warships.
"It's Charlotte Oven! Concentrate fire!" The attacking Marine forces were, of course, well-prepared. They immediately turned their cannons, unleashing a massive barrage towards Oven.
"DAMMIT!" The dense cannon fire still posed a considerable threat to a pirate of Oven's level.
Aside from natural-born monsters like Big Mom with her "Iron Balloon" body, or special races, humans were ultimately carbon-based lifeforms. No matter how strong their physique, a direct hit from a large-caliber cannonball would cause severe injuries.
Thus, they had to use Devil Fruit abilities or Haki to block the attacks. If the cannon fire was too dense, stamina and Haki would be consumed at an alarming rate.
This was why a Buster Call's concentrated fire could even wear down and kill Marine HQ Vice Admirals and core Emperor crew commanders. It was also why powerful pirates in the original story often chose to retreat from Marine fleets rather than face them head-on.
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Facing the countless cannons from the Marine side, Oven could only retreat pathetically.
"Brother Oven, how is it?" Galette and some other officers asked anxiously as Oven returned.
"Can't break through! There are too many Marine warships!" Oven was covered in soot, looking haggard. He had used up too much stamina and Haki just to escape the barrage. He didn't have enough left to try heating the sea again.
This meant they were trapped. They couldn't break the Navy's blockade!
"Damn it! Let's fight them to the death!" Galette's expression turned fierce.
The other officers, all Big Mom's children, also showed ruthless expressions.
They were the children of the Emperor Big Mom!
They had their own pride... If they couldn't break out—then they would fight to the death.
"Alright! LET'S KILL THEM!" Oven's expression also turned ruthless.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Just then, an explosion erupted from the rear of the Navy fleet.
"It's reinforcements from the Big Mom Pirates!" Marine HQ Vice Admiral Red King's face turned grim.
"Brother Oven!" Galette was overjoyed. No one wanted to die if they could live.
Oven's Transponder Snail also rang at the same time. Hearing the contents, Oven was overjoyed.
"QUICK! GET ME A MIRROR!" Oven yelled.
VMM!
A mirror was brought out. It rippled, and Brûlée's figure appeared.
"Sister Brûlée!" Galette exclaimed in delight.
"Hurry! Retreat through the Mirror-World! Brother Katakuri has opened a breach in the Navy's blockade!" Brûlée said quickly.
"ALRIGHT!"
Oven and the others immediately nodded, jumping into Brûlée's Mirror-World.
VMM!
The Mirror-World closed.
"It's the user of the Mirror-Mirror Fruit! Charlotte Brûlée! DAMMIT!" Vice Admiral Red King saw this through his telescope and cursed under his breath.
"Report to the Fleet Admiral! We've locked onto Charlotte Brûlée's position! Drake's intel is correct!" Red King immediately ordered.
The appearance of the Mirror-Mirror Fruit user, Charlotte Brûlée, on the front lines, who had also appeared in the footage, further proved the authenticity of that footage.
After all, even with the video, the Navy was proceeding with extreme caution in their operation to take down a full-fledged Emperor crew.
"YES, SIR!" the reporting soldier immediately replied.
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"Ngh! Nngh!"
At that moment, inside the Mirror-World, Oven, Galette, and the other Big Mom officers were struggling in terror. But whether it was their Devil Fruit abilities or Haki, they couldn't use them at all!
Because this Mirror-World was filled with an unbelievably frightening Haki! Under this Haki, their Devil Fruit abilities were even directly shattered!
THIS HAKI WAS EVEN MORE TERRIFYING THAN BIG MOM'S!
This was not a power Brûlée could possibly possess.
And now, their mouths were bound shut by strings. They were all too familiar with this ability.
The String-String Fruit.
The power of the former Warlord, Donquixote Doflamingo.
And now, its wielder was—
"Oven and Galette, I presume?" a light chuckle sounded.
CRACKLE!
A thunderous sound echoed, accompanied by a chilling flash of lightning, a figure slowly solidifying.
The moment the lightning appeared, Oven and Galette's eyes filled with despair.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
Rowen dispelled his elementalization, looking at the fallen Oven and the others with a smile.
"Mmph! Mmph!" Oven and Galette glared furiously at Brûlée.
They couldn't understand.
Why would Brûlée betray the family?? Betray MAMA??
What did Sky Sovereign give her?? Brother Katakuri cared so much for Brûlée!
WHY THE BETRAYAL??
Even now, they didn't doubt Brûlée's identity. A person's appearance could be faked, their Devil Fruit stolen by Sky Sovereign, but their aura? Their emotions? Their micro-expressions? Their habitual tics and tone of voice? Theirs was a crew bound by blood. It was impossible to deceive them.
The person standing with Sky Sovereign WAS Brûlée!
BRÛLÉE HAD BETRAYED THEM!
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"Wiewiewie! Don't look at me like that, Oven, Galette!" 'Brûlée' let out her signature laugh.
"Because I... am not your family."
Brûlée's form rapidly shifted, transforming into... a perfect copy of Oven.
"!!!" Oven and Galette stared, dumbfounded.
The aura, the tone, the micro-expressions, even the habitual actions—were exactly the same!
What the hell is going on??
"Plunder!"
Rowen stripped the Heat-Heat Fruit ability from the real Oven.
FWOOSH!
The body of the fake "Oven" standing next to Rowen began to rapidly heat up.
Heat-Heat Fruit!
Oven and Galette finally understood everything.
Brûlée was a fake.
A string puppet of Sky Sovereign!
But for some reason, it could transform into a perfect copy of them. An unknown Devil Fruit ability.
And he could even plunder their powers and grant them to the puppet...
Whether it was appearance, tone, Devil Fruit ability, even micro-expressions, personal habits—all were exactly the same as them!
HOW?? HOW COULD SKY SOVEREIGN KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT THEM??
The Strongest Devil Fruit User in history... Was he truly this terrifying??
It's... it's over!
Oven and Galette exchanged glances, their eyes filled with despair.
Sky Sovereign's power was even more horrifying than they had ever imagined. Their Big Mom Pirates were a special crew, bound by blood. Infiltrating them with a spy was considered impossible.
But now, this man, Sky Sovereign—Could directly use his Devil Fruit ability to replace them!
Just how many of his string puppets were already inside their crew??
The mere thought sent a chill down Oven and Galette's spines!
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"The Heat-Heat Fruit? Not bad. A waste on you," Rowen smiled.
The weakness of the Heat-Heat Fruit was obvious: as a Paramecia, it required direct contact to deal significant damage. Even Awakened, it could only create a 'heat space', with little direct attack enhancement.
But in Rowen's hands...
FWOOSH!
Flames appeared in his palm. The power of the Logia, the Flare-Flare Fruit.
The temperature of the Flare-Flare Fruit, as a naturally occurring element, was capped. The limit of natural fire was less than 1300 degrees, hence its ordinary orange-red color. Even awakened, the temperature couldn't increase, only the explosive power of the flames. This was why it was considered inferior to the Magma-Magma Fruit.
But with the Heat-Heat Fruit—
"Heat up," Rowen smiled.
VMM!
The orange-red flames of the Flare-Flare Fruit rapidly heated up!
2000 degrees... 5000 degrees... 8000 degrees... 10,000 DEGREES!
Under the power of the Heat-Heat Fruit, the Flare-Flare Fruit's temperature soared!
Soon, it reached a high temperature of 10,000 degrees!
The flames turned from orange-red to a brilliant, terrifying BLUE!
This was a flame temperature even more horrifying than Sanji's Ifrit Jambe!
"The Flare-Flare Fruit... has evolved," Rowen smiled.
An awakened Flare-Flare Fruit could grant its user the power to enter the threshold of the Admiral level. But the gap between it and top-tier Devil Fruits like the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and the Magma-Magma Fruit was still significant.
But the addition of the Heat-Heat Fruit changed everything.
A 10,000-degree flame was a horrifying upgrade in power. To say the Flare-Flare Fruit had evolved was no exaggeration at all.
Of course, heating the flames to their maximum temperature also consumed a massive amount of stamina. Rowen's Human-Human Fruit intellect calculated that the optimal temperature for sustained combat was around 5,000 degrees.
As for whether the maximum 10,000-degree flame temperature could burn through Akainu's magma?
Rowen showed a flicker of interest, then dismissed it. With his current Haki, he could easily defeat Akainu in a one-on-one fight. They were no longer in the same league.
"Plunder."
Rowen looked towards Galette, stealing her Butter-Butter Fruit ability. Then, he activated his String-String Fruit ability, creating two more string puppets.
With the Nine-Tailed Fox's ability, these two string puppets' appearances quickly changed into those of Brûlée and Galette.
The fake "Brûlée" now repossessed the Mirror-Mirror Fruit.
The fake "Galette" now possessed the Butter-Butter Fruit.
"And one last, crucial point." Rowen looked at Oven and Galette.
POP!
Rowen activated his Paw-Paw Fruit ability, directly expelling the memories of Oven and Galette.
"Memory reading, analysis."
Rowen's eyes shone with wisdom.
With this ability, his enhanced intellect could perfectly replicate every habit of the person being imitated. Not even their closest relatives could spot a single discrepancy.
Because these string puppets possessed everything of their originals.
Their Devil Fruit. Their memories. Their appearance.
Under the combined power of the Human-Human Fruit, the String-String Fruit, and the Nine-Tailed Fox Fruit... they were completely another them.
At this moment, Oven and Galette finally understood.
And then, they despaired...
Before Sky Sovereign, they had no way to resist...
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VMM!
A mirror rippled.
"Brûlée" stepped out, leading "Oven" and "Galette."
"You've worked hard, Brûlée." Katakuri said, his eyes softening with brotherly affection.
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