"Well, well, well! Look who's here—five-hundred-million-Berry 'third-most-beautiful woman in the world,' Charlotte Linlin! What blessed day is this, sending beauties right to our doorstep!"
Warhammer recognized the newcomer, felt not a shred of fear, only hotter excitement, and whistled lewdly.
Mate, just recovering from the agony of his wounds, chimed in with a sneer, eyes gleaming greed and venom.
"Hahaha! Right on! Looks like the three loveliest women alive will all be our playthings today—caught in one net!"
Barnett scoffed, stepped forward, leveling his long blade at Linlin, voice dripping contempt.
"Thought some big shot arrived—just you, 'big girl'?"
"Huh? A rookie worth five hundred million—who gave you guts to challenge Great Pirates whose bounties top four billion together?"
"Rocks? Too bad your Captain from the Rocks Pirates isn't here to back you up!"
The three traded glances and burst into loud, arrogant laughter.
In the New World they might fear Charlotte Linlin for Rocks' sake, but this was the Grand Line—and the Rocks Pirates were nowhere near.
Gloriosa watched the tall, beautiful pink figure land before her, a strange, inexplicable calm welling inside.
Linlin's sudden appearance lit a spark of hope in her despair, yet reason told her Barnett's words held some truth.
Charlotte Linlin's five-hundred-million bounty paled beside any one of theirs; though bounty isn't everything, it's still the clearest ruler of might.
Gritting through her injuries, she called out urgently,
"Charlotte Linlin! Thank you for the timely rescue! But these are seasoned terrors of the New World, no pushovers! Take my crew and go—I'll hold them!"
"No, Captain! We live and die together!"
The handful of surviving Kuja warriors shouted as one, resolve blazing, no retreat in their eyes.
Barnett bared his teeth. "Run? Not a chance! Brothers, who'll teach this rookie the weight of seniority?"
Warhammer could wait no longer; he hefted his colossal hammer, roaring in excitement.
"This woman's mine! Haha—watch me smash the third beauty flat! Barbarian Crush!"
His massive frame exploded into speed belying its size, the jet-black hammer carrying mountain-shattering force straight at Linlin.
Barnett barked, "Go! The rest of you—take Gloriosa down for good! Spoils for everyone—no one escapes this time!"
"Yeah!"
"Awooo—!"
The remaining pirate rabble howled and surged like a tide toward the battered Gloriosa and her warriors.
Seeing this, Charlotte Linlin's brows drew together in distaste. "Tch… as expected, most pirates are just trash that can't stand in the light."
With her words an invisible, overwhelming pressure erupted outward like a tsunami.
The howling grunts were struck by an unseen mallet—eyes rolled back, they dropped like reaped wheat.
"Damn it—Conqueror's Haki!" Barnett's face changed; he cursed aloud.
"Does the Rocks Pirates mass-produce this gift? How come every crewman we meet has it?"
All contempt vanished; anyone wielding Conqueror's Haki is a willful, born sovereign—bounty alone can't measure them.
Warhammer, startled for an instant, roared back.
"So what if it's Conqueror's? It only sweeps the trash—now stay down!"
His hammer was already before Linlin, white streams of air coiling around it; even Gloriosa, who'd fought him, shuddered at its might.
Charlotte Linlin didn't flinch; her left hand brushed her waist and swept the huge sheathed nodachi in a horizontal arc.
CLANG—!!!
A deafening metallic peal rang skyward; a ring of shockwave blasted outward.
To the disbelief of Gloriosa and the others, the six-meter-tall, power-famed Warhammer grunted and staggered back several steps, each foot denting the deck, driven by irresistible force.
After receiving the blow, Charlotte Linlin only furrowed her brow slightly, thoughts churning within.
A veteran pirate who'd terrorized the New World for decades—no wonder the brute strength still had some bite... Looks like finishing them off in this shape will take a bit more effort.
But compared with Linlin's mild surprise, Barnett's group was reeling from a tsunami of shock.
Warhammer had stood shoulder to shoulder with them only because of the monstrous strength that outclassed the Giant Race and the Armament Haki.
Yet this tall, curvy woman had just overpowered Warhammer in raw force alone? Her physique was unthinkable.
Barnett abandoned the last shred of hope and barked:
'Mate! Move together! Don't give her an opening!'
The moment the order left his lips, his nodachi swept out—
'Sky-Split Slash!'
A translucent blue flying slash raced silently toward Linlin.
Barnett's Devil Fruit cancelled air resistance, keeping the strike both blindingly fast and undiminished in power.
Devil Fruit abilities could be smashed by Haki, but a sword wave she would have to take head-on.
Linlin's eyes lit with hunter's delight as she swung her wild tachi, sending a pink flying slash back.
Boom!
The two sword auras collided, eroded each other, and vanished in perfect parity.
'Damn! Her swordsmanship is above mine too?!'
Jealousy surged inside Barnett; empowered by his fruit, his strike had matched her casual swing—victor already decided.
In the flash of clashing light, Beast-form Mate burst from the side toward Linlin.
Black Haki-coated claws snapped at her calf, the only part a two-metre Mate could reach.
The nine-metre Charlotte Linlin simply grabbed the little scorpion.
'Gotcha! Charlotte Linlin, pay for your arrogance—lethal sting!'
His scorpion tail lashed like a viper, violet stinger aimed at her unprotected pale hand.
—
Clang!
'What?!'
The stinger that pierced steel couldn't leave a scratch on her skin; it felt like striking alloy.
Without even Armament Haki, Linlin had foreseen everything.
In one future, Mate's penetrative Haki could break hers, but she simply ignored the attack.
'Barnett, save—'
Clang-clang!
'Too late, trash.'
Linlin's fingers clenched like a vise, ignoring the scorpion tail.
With terrifying strength, she hurled Mate overboard; black lightning flashed to stop any Moonwalk return.
'Aaaargh!'
Impaled by lightning and impact, Mate vanished into the sea.
Conqueror's Haki, monstrous physique, top-tier swordsmanship—utter domination.
This rookie's threat level: two billion Berries, at least.
Sweat rolled down Barnett's face as he stared at the monster they had provoked.
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