The sky above Delsen Island was filled with dark clouds.
Explosions rang out continuously across the island. Within the pirate gathering area on the island...
Several pirates with bounties exceeding 100 million, wielding swords and guns, kept their eyes fixed on the towering woman in the center.
Charlotte Linlin, now slightly plump with a face full of flesh, let out a savage grin.
"Who should I start with first?"
Her icy gaze swept across the group like she was choosing prey.
The captain of the Explosive Pirates, Alvin, knew they couldn't let this go on any longer. He roared:
"All together! Kill her!!!"
"Explosive Slash!!!"
He swung his longsword first, releasing a slash imbued with the power of the Explosion Fruit.
Charlotte Linlin shifted her gaze to him and casually caught the sword aura.
Boom!!!
A mushroom cloud dozens of meters high shot into the sky as thick black smoke billowed out.
Tap tap tap tap...
Footsteps echoed as Charlotte Linlin walked out of the smoke, completely unscathed.
"Then I'll start with you."
"mamamama~"
"Flame!"
Prometheus, attached to her hand, shot out from her palm.
It grew in the wind, transforming into a massive wave of fire that swept toward the surrounding pirates.
Facing the incoming wave of flames, the Explosive Pirates all drew their weapons to counter it.
Sword auras, Devil Fruit abilities, physical techniques, and Haki — they used everything they had.
Though the Explosive Pirates were few, every one of them was an elite.
They managed to shatter Prometheus' wave of fire.
Just as Wise, a swordsman of the Explosive Pirates, landed on the ground, he heard Captain Alvin shout:
"Wise! Get out of there!!!"
Wise suddenly felt a presence behind him, his heart tightening.
"What?!"
He instinctively turned to look, but just then, Charlotte Linlin's voice came:
"Die in peace."
And everything went black...
Charlotte Linlin's massive hand, clad in Haki, slammed down on Wise's head, grinding it downward.
At the same time, a bolt of lightning from the sky connected to her palm.
An endless shockwave burst out, accompanied by dense black smoke and the scent of burning flesh.
Wise, crushed into a lump of meat, turned to ash.
Charlotte Linlin grinned and said slowly:
"Thunder."
Alvin gritted his teeth and looked at Charlotte Linlin.
"Damn it!"
"You monster!!!"
He charged at Charlotte Linlin in a rage.
His sword pierced into her chest, motionless.
Boom!
A huge explosion rang out — but it had no effect.
Charlotte Linlin's body didn't even flinch.
Alvin immediately let go of the sword and grabbed Charlotte Linlin's neck.
The moment he grabbed her, he shouted:
"Run!!!!"
Then, his power erupted from beneath his feet. With immense force, the two shot into the sky.
In an instant, they had soared over a thousand meters, and were still rising fast.
Charlotte Linlin quickly understood Alvin's intent.
"A sacrifice for your crew's escape, huh?"
"mamamama~"
"Such loyalty and devotion."
"What a pity..."
"It's useless."
That overwhelming hand instantly seized Alvin's neck and yanked him up.
Crack—crack—
Two crisp bone-snapping sounds echoed as Alvin's legs were kicked into splinters.
Their upward momentum rapidly dwindled.
Tear—
Charlotte Linlin's powerful arms ripped both of Alvin's arms clean off.
"Zeus!"
A black thundercloud flew over.
"Coming, Mama!"
It caught Charlotte Linlin and flew downward with her.
At three hundred meters above the ground, Charlotte Linlin signaled Zeus to stop.
From here, she had a clear view of the tiny figures moving on the ground.
They were the crew of the Explosive Pirates, scattering in escape.
And on the edge of the battlefield, Perospero, Katakuri, and the others did not intervene.
In the sky, endless thunderclouds gathered.
Katakuri glanced upward.
"It's coming."
Perospero chuckled.
"Those foolish fools... They must pay with their lives for provoking Mama."
"No matter how fast they run, they can't outrun lightning."
"Mama can control the weather, after all."
"Hohohohohoho."
...
In the sky, standing on Zeus, Charlotte Linlin turned Alvin's body around and lifted him up.
"Take one last look at your companions."
Countless bolts of lightning struck down from the sky. As if they had minds of their own, they twisted and curved — yet each one hit dead center.
Every fleeing crew member of the Explosive Pirates was struck.
Their screams echoed through the skies as all of them were reduced to charcoal.
Just as Alvin's eyes filled with grief and rage, Charlotte Linlin's cruel voice rang out again.
"Since you all were so close..."
"I'll let you live."
"But the price is..."
"Forty years!"
"mamamama~"
Charlotte Linlin pulled her hand from Alvin's body.
A pinkish mass was instantly yanked out and eaten by Charlotte Linlin.
"Delicious."
She licked her lips as Alvin rapidly aged into an old man, struggling weakly.
Controlling Zeus to descend to the ground, she casually tossed Alvin onto the earth.
"Let's go."
"Next island."
The Charlotte Family followed Charlotte Linlin as they left.
Only the now armless, elderly Alvin remained, tears flowing, crawling toward the scorched remains of his fallen companions...
...
A few days later.
The purge carried out by the two Emperors shocked the entire New World.
No pirate had imagined it would be so swift and merciless.
These up-and-coming pirates had no means to resist — they were all slaughtered in the most brutal fashion.
The so-called New Generation of Pirates now seemed like a joke.
Countless pirates knelt and begged for mercy.
Those who resisted were crushed before the Emperors — wiped out completely.
The forces from both sides, one from the south and one from the north, were finally about to meet.
The territories once assigned to the New Generation of Pirates were now effortlessly consumed by Knock and Charlotte Linlin.
...
"Nomilo Island, huh."
Sengoku's voice rang out as he put down the map in his hands.
Two massive Navy warships sailed side by side on the sea, heading toward Nomilo Island.
Just as predicted, the two Emperors had begun their purge.
But it had happened too quickly. In just a few days, by the time they arrived here, most of it was already over.
According to the latest intel, only Nomilo Island at the very center remained uncleared.
Now, both factions were converging there.
Sengoku immediately turned the ships around and headed that way.
They couldn't come all this way for nothing. Perhaps there'd be an opportunity...
...
Three days later.
They could clearly see Nomilo Island in the distance.
A white mushroom cloud, several times larger than the island itself, interwove with a red, fiery mushroom cloud.
The island trembled as shockwaves and heat blasted outward, kicking up layer after layer of enormous waves across the surrounding sea.
Rumble——
The deafening roar came a few seconds later, followed by a heatwave and an overwhelming wave of Haki.
Onboard the warships—
The usually laid-back Kuzan grew a bit more serious.
"Alalala... An entire island, just wiped out like that."
Under such a shock, everything on the island would be destroyed.
Borsalino made an exaggerated face and said:
"This is..."
On the edge of the island, Katakuri's eyes narrowed. He turned his head.
"The Navy, huh."