Katakuri's reasoning for this was not without merit. Recently, Charlotte Linlin had been angry several times. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been the one sent here, so this time he had to come up with a satisfying result.
Moreover, he believed Marco was harder to deal with than Shaina, so he wanted to first solve the tougher opponent and then face Shaina one-on-one again.
Even if there were problems, falling into the hands of the Hundred Beasts would be easier for Charlotte Linlin to accept than falling into the hands of Whitebeard. Additionally, their pirate crews already had areas of cooperation, so he naturally proposed a collaboration.
After speaking, he didn't even wait for Shaina's response and produced a trident from his wrist.
He was a Mochi-Mochi Fruit user, an extremely special Paramecia-type, able to transform his body into mochi (glutinous rice paste), achieving effects similar to a Logia-type with his powerful Observation Haki.
He could change body shapes, create substances, and store items; the trident named "Earth Dragon" was usually stored in his wrist.
The reason he acted directly was simple because he had already seen the scene where Shaina agreed to his proposal.
This was the formidable aspect of his Observation Haki.
His Observation Haki had been trained to the highest level. Although he didn't have the innate special abilities of Otohime or Roger, he had reached the stage where he could foresee the future.
Ever since Brulee's face was slashed when he was young, hoping to protect his younger siblings, he wished to foresee all dangers, and thus he had trained to this extent.
Within a certain distance, the weaker the opponent, the further he could see. However, if the opponent's Observation Haki was equally strong, what he could see was limited.
"Rice Ball Stab!"
Katakuri's arm transformed into mochi and then wrapped the trident. Then, the mochi-formed arm began a high-speed rotation, and the trident stabbed at Marco with immense force.
As Katakuri flipped the table, Shaina's right foot was also wrapped in flames, kicking towards Marco, though Marco did not react without response.
While they could sit together for negotiations, it didn't mean they completely trusted each other. The decisive action by the other party just exceeded his expectations.
With cyan flames igniting on his arms, Marco quickly retreated, securing a temporary safe zone in the sky, although the burning cyan flame on his chest indicated that Katakuri indeed struck him.
Marco was a Bird-Bird Fruit·Mythical ·Phoenix Form user, and the cyan Flame of Rebirth was his Mythical Beast ability. Although this flame did not cause harm, the wounds would regenerate once enveloped by it.
Until his regenerative ability reached its limit, Marco was a genuine "Phoenix."
"Hey, hey, is this your negotiation?"
"Obviously, we temporarily reached an agreement, and someone has to be knocked out first."
Shaina's figure appeared in front of Marco. The way she took off was more like a catapult, and her burst over a short distance was much faster than Marco's, bringing her directly above Marco, hoping to force him back to the ground.
Though she and Katakuri had never fought together before, at their level, they were already battle-hardened warriors, so initial coordination was not a problem.
Shaina's fists were wrapped in flames, with airtight punching shadows aimed at Marco.
"Why do you have arms? That's not fair."
Marco still had the leisure to reply because Shaina wasn't going all out, and both she and Katakuri were holding back their cards.
According to common sense, Marco would not be a match for the two of them working together. The outcome would be decided in the subsequent combat, so both were observing each other's fighting styles, like now when she used hands instead of feet.
"That is a power you cannot comprehend."
With a flap of wings, an X-shaped flame flew towards Marco. Aside from the abilities modified by Arceus, Flying Type Zoans would turn people's arms into wings, which wasn't convenient in battle.
Moreover, although they were holding back, they weren't fighting a fake battle. At this point, Katakuri's arm transformed into a revolver machine gun, and under his foresight, the dense rain of bullets blocked most of Marco's escape route.
"Unrivaled Rice Cake Blade Bullet."
Under Katakuri's development, the Mochi-Mochi Fruit became very comprehensive. Whether it's the superhuman body or creating objects, both could be achieved. A large number of Haki-wrapped mochi bullets were fired into the air. It wasn't easy for him to avoid these attacks while fighting Shaina.
Cyan flames began to sporadically explode on his body. He was a Zoan, unable to transform his body like a Logia. However, in exchange, even damage caused by Haki would self-heal.
Unless his stamina was exhausted, making him unable to use the Flame of Rebirth, or unless he was suppressed by special items such as seastone, to deal with Marco, you would have to deplete his health bar first.
And his Zoan's endurance meant that although his damage in group battles was somewhat lacking compared to others, he was extremely difficult to deal with, which was why he could become the first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
However, in terms of health bars, there were few Lunarians who were afraid of it, let alone they were not in a one-on-one right now.
Although Katakuri wasn't adept at aerial combat, his combat radius was also significant, gradually forcing Marco into a lower altitude domain, giving Katakuri more opportunities.
...
"Rice Cake Punch!"
"Crane Claw!"
With his hands transformed into wings, Marco's combat mainly relied on his legs while he and Shaina continually collided in mid-air.
Just now, Katakuri had launched an attack from a lower side with his mochi body, while Marco leveraged the momentum of flight to kick towards Katakuri.
Their battle had been going on for some time, and even Marco's stamina was significantly depleted.
While dealing with Katakuri, Shaina's knee strike hit his chest solidly, and facing the pincer attack from Shaina and Katakuri, he was directly knocked to the ground.
However, this wasn't the worst part for him. Although the blow broke two of his ribs, under the repair of the cyan flames, it wasn't a big deal. However, at this moment, there was an extra scarlet flame on his body.
Even if the cyan flame repaired the damage there, that flame would quickly reappear, so he had to continually use the cyan flame to offset it.
This was because, during the battle with Shaina, he was hit by her Flaming Fist several times, ultimately putting him into a burn status. Under the additional damage from the burn, he had to continuously use the cyan flame.
Normally, it would be fine, but after going through intense combat, his stamina had greatly worn down, having to face these two strong opponents, with no time to catch a breath, as their attacks followed one after another.