To be fair, Jack's strength wasn't half bad.
In a one-on-one fight, neither Brand nor Akame could easily take him down.
But three against one? That's a different story.
Brand and his team were already powerhouses in their own right, and after their experience at the Dragon Ball World's Tournament of Power, their strength was only slightly below Jack's. Their teamwork was seamless: one tanking hits as a shield, another leading the frontal assault, and the third flanking for sneak attacks. Even when Jack activated his Elephant-Elephant Fruit, Ancient Zoan: Mammoth Form, he was pushed back, struggling to keep up.
Normally, Jack's stamina was his strong suit—he could theoretically last a whole day.
But...
The blade in Akame's hand seemed like a toned-down version of Murasame. It didn't have the one-cut-kill effect, but it was laced with potent neurotoxins. As the poison built up over time, half of Jack's body went numb, and Brand's final overhead slash sent him crashing into a crevice in the iceberg, unable to move.
CRASH!
The massive force rippled outward.
From the center of their battle, rocks big and small shattered and tumbled down the cliff. Some landed on the frozen sea below, while others smashed onto the Mammoth, leaving deep dents and gouges in its deck.
This made the crew aboard the Mammoth even more nervous.
Meanwhile...
Hikari let out a soft breath. "...It's over."
"Time to send our guests off, Esdeath."
"Got it."
At Hikari's words, Esdeath nodded and stretched out her hand, pressing her palm against the icy cliff beyond the ship's railing.
"Phew..."
An invisible aura pulsed from her palm.
After about ten seconds of silence, a faint crack echoed as the first tiny fracture appeared inside the iceberg.
Then a second, a third...
Countless cracks formed in moments, spreading rapidly in all directions like a spiderweb being woven. As they grew, the massive iceberg began to collapse, with chunks far larger than before tumbling down alongside scattering ice shards in every direction!
BOOM!
As the iceberg disintegrated, Jack, who had been trapped inside, plummeted deeper into the cracks, vanishing into the icy sea below.
More ice chunks followed, churning the sea for kilometers around and whipping up towering waves.
Hikari timely raised her Blood Jade Barrier, keeping the waves at bay.
But the crew on the Mammoth had no such protection. Several masts snapped under the falling ice, and the rising waves swept the massive ship like a leaf in a storm. Many crew members were flung into the sea.
In the chaos...
A large number of fish were swept up by the waves, landing frozen solid on the Blue Planet's deck.
Talk about door-to-door delivery—pre-chilled, no less.
Bulma, grinning ear to ear, gathered the frozen fish with Tanjiro and Naruto, stashing them in the ship's storage for a future fish stew.
Meanwhile, Hikari looked up, her gaze cutting through the swirling snow to a spot several kilometers away.
There, what had been an icy cliff now held a single white seagull, taking flight and shrinking into a black dot against the blue sky.
"What's up, Hikari? Something catch your eye?" Esdeath noticed her movement, glancing at her before following her gaze to the sky, her eyes narrowing. "Is that bird trouble? Want me to chase it down and take it out?"
"...No need."
Hikari shook her head, a faint smile appearing. "Just had a thought, that's all."
What she thought of was a unique creature in the One Piece world—
A News Coo.
That's right.
Hikari suspected that white seagull wasn't just any bird but an employee of the World Economy News Paper.
If she remembered correctly, these birds didn't just deliver newspapers across the world's islands—they doubled as "war correspondents." Many of the One Piece world's biggest headlines, like Jack's death or Luffy and Law's alliance, were reported by them the very next day.
So...
"If that's really a News Coo, then... does our fight with Jack make the front page?"
"And if the Navy puts a bounty on the Dimension Pirates..."
How much would she, Bulma, and the others be worth?
Hikari was curious.
But curiosity aside...
She had another question to address first.
WHOOSH!
With a gust of wind, Hikari used her Flying Thunder God technique to soar into the air, passing through the crumbling iceberg to hover above the Mammoth, about a mile away.
To be precise, the Mammoth was on the verge of sinking.
Its wooden structure was far less durable than Bulma's retrofitted warship. Even though Esdeath hadn't intended to sink it, the shockwaves from the iceberg's collapse were more than it could handle.
Still, most of the crew weren't Devil Fruit users.
They were bobbing in the water, some clinging to the tilted deck, staring up at Hikari in terror as she spoke calmly.
"Hey, you lot."
"Quick question: what year is it in the Sea Calendar?"
"...Huh?"
Faced with Hikari's question, Jack's crew exchanged confused looks, unsure how to respond.
"What, a bunch of illiterate pirates who don't know the calendar? Fine, different question: where's the Whitebeard Pirates' last known location?"
The Blue Planet had set sail from an unnamed island near Wano that morning, with no set destination yet. But meeting Whitebeard was a must—Yamato was still worried about Ace's fate.
The New World was vast, and unlike Kaido or Big Mom, Whitebeard didn't have a fixed territory. He preferred roaming with his "sons" on his ship, so asking locals for directions was the best bet.
"Whitebeard... How would we know where he is? Isn't that something you Navy folks would track?" a burly crewmember replied.
"...Navy?"
Hikari blinked.
The crewmember froze too. "Wait, the one who made that iceberg wasn't Admiral Aokiji? I don't know what kind of plot you're pulling, pretending to be a pirate crew, but since we're in your hands, do what you want—kill us or whatever!"
"..."
Alright.
Esdeath's abilities did resemble Aokiji's.
From the perspective of One Piece natives, it was hard to imagine someone controlling ice and snow without a Devil Fruit.
Mistaking Esdeath for Aokiji, especially without seeing her face, was reasonable enough.
But...
"Forget Aokiji or Akainu. Get it straight: the ones who beat you are none other than Captain Bulma of the Dimension Pirates!"
"She's the woman who'll conquer these seas and become the Pirate King!"
After setting the record straight for her "captain"...
Hikari glanced at the nearly sunken Mammoth, thought for a moment, and pulled out a universal capsule, tossing it casually.
POP!
Smoke cleared, revealing a sleek motorboat on the water.
"Here, take this boat as compensation for sinking yours. And when you get back, spread the word about our crew—exaggerate as much as you like."
Reputation grows through hype. Killing everyone here might be Akame's assassin style, but it didn't fit the pirate vibe.
"Oh, one more thing I almost forgot."
"We just came from Onigashima and left your boss Kaido half-dead. If you don't believe me, go check. If Kaido wants revenge, the Dimension Pirates are ready anytime."
Hikari added nonchalantly.
With that, she tapped her foot lightly and flew back, leaving the Mammoth's crew staring at each other in shock.
"Lord Kaido, beaten by that little girl?"
"No way, absolutely impossible. She's gotta be bluffing to scare us..."
"But if they're really Navy, and even Admiral Aokiji showed up, doesn't that mean the others are top Navy brass too? Is this the World Government launching a Buster Call to wipe out the Beasts Pirates?!"
"...Enough theorizing! We need to save Lord Jack first!"
After some debate, two crew members dove into the freezing water to retrieve Jack from the seabed.
The others stared at the motorboat, lost in thought.
"This thing... is it a boat? How do you even drive it?"
...
"Big news! This is huge!"
At the World Economy News Paper headquarters...
Morgans, sporting his albatross form, danced with excitement as he listened to his seagull subordinate's report.
"'Drought Jack' ambushed! Admiral Aokiji suspected to be working with a pirate crew... This is world-shaking news!"
"Where did you see them fighting? Can we still get there to snap some photos?"
(End of Chapter)