One Piece: A Warlord's Path

Chapter 936: Chapter 936: Reinforcements! Retreat?

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Suddenly, the hundreds-of-meters-long earthen serpent thrashed violently in midair. Radiant beams of light pierced through its massive frame from the inside out, followed by an explosion of blinding lightning. The cascading bolts tore the giant serpent into dozens of jagged fragments, sending millions of tons of stone and dirt raining down upon the earth like a torrential downpour.

"Mama!"

Zeus flew out from the cascading debris, his gaseous body crackling with brilliant electrical currents. Yet, he could only watch in sheer horror as a colossal, flame-shrouded meteor plummeted toward the earth at terminal velocity.

"Noooo—"

Accompanied by Charlotte Linlin’s shrill, desperate shriek, the heavily fractured meteor tore through the upper atmosphere. The intense friction ignited a blazing inferno around its massive surface, turning the meteor into a roaring fireball as it whistled downward.

BOOM!

In the blink of an eye, the massive fireball slammed directly into a river bordering the coastline. The deafening detonation shook the island to its core, kicking up a cataclysmic shockwave and columns of dust that pierced the sky.

The sheer kinetic force of the impact caused the surrounding terrain to rise and fall like waves. Tremendous, spiderweb-like fissures tore through the landscape, spreading rapidly outward. The riverbed, barely ten meters wide, was instantly severed, forcing the rushing waters backward as colossal waves splashed into the air.

"Mama!"

Zeus cried out in a panic, diving at maximum speed toward the coast.

Sifting through the hundreds of meters of dense, swirling dust clouds, Zeus finally located the impact zone. The massive meteor had dug deep into the earth, carving out a gargantuan crater. The shattered remains of the artificial moon lay fractured across the basin, nearly filling the massive trench it had made.

Because the crater was so massive, a portion of it had breached the shoreline, allowing a torrent of seawater to pour inside. At the same time, the severed river on the opposite side drained into the depression, rapidly transforming the impact crater into a rising lake.

"Mama! Mama!"

Frightened out of his wits, Zeus wailed Big Mom’s name repeatedly. After a frantic search through the rising deluge, he finally spotted her, half-submerged in the murky water.

Charlotte Linlin lay completely drained of strength, slumped against a massive, protruding boulder. The turbid seawater had already risen to her chest, and she periodically spat up mouthfuls of fresh blood, staining the surrounding water crimson.

First, she had been subjected to the crushing force of tens of thousands of tons of compressed rock, and then she had fallen from an altitude of several thousand meters. Even with a body as resilient as iron, she had sustained catastrophic internal injuries. To make matters worse, the rising seawater was rapidly draining her stamina, leaving her completely paralyzed and unable to manifest her homie abilities.

Beside her, Napoleon had similarly lost his ability to transform due to the sea water, reverting into his original bicorne hat form as he floated listlessly on the surface of the river.

Watching this play out, Zeus bounced up and down in frantic anxiety. Lacking hands, he had no physical way to drag Big Mom out of the water. If this delay dragged on any longer, Big Mom would likely become the first Yonko in history to drown!

Yet, he didn’t dare leave her side. Big Mom was currently at her absolute weakest. If anyone, even a low-tier grunt, were to stumble upon her right now, they could easily inflict a fatal wound.

Meanwhile, on an open clearing two kilometers away, Aeridar lay completely motionless on the ground, drenched in blood. However, at the edges of his mangled right torso, millions of fresh, tender flesh buds were rapidly sprouting. At a speed visible to the naked eye, his muscles, flesh, and bones were continuously regenerating.

"That... was a literal brush with death."

"I’ve never been hit this hard in my entire life... Not by Syrons, not by Redfield, not even by Whitebeard..."

"Does Big Mom seriously carry Giant blood in her veins? She’s a hag well into her sixties, yet she still packs that kind of monstrous power..."

Aeridar’s face was deathly pale. He forced himself to speak aloud to distract his mind from the excruciating agony and intense itching sensation radiating from the right side of his regenerating body.

Having half of his body pulverized by a single strike from Big Mom would have left anyone else thoroughly dead. It was only because Aeridar was a literal monster possessed of boundless vitality and a near-instantaneous regeneration factor that he could survive such trauma.

Thud, thud, thud...

SKREEE—

Suddenly, a series of heavy impacts and a sharp avian cry echoed from the sky. Aeridar tilted his head slightly, shifting his gaze upward.

High above, Zephyr was stepping through the air, utilizing Geppo to rapidly descend. Beside him, Lucien rode upon the back of his pet dog Uken, while Dimitri and Backan were seated atop massive stone birds. Within moments, the vanguard touched down on the shattered field.

"Captain, are you alright?"

Dimitri rushed forward, his expression taut with anxiety. He dropped to one knee beside Aeridar, quickly assessing the gruesome state of his injuries.

Back on the floating island, seeing Aeridar take a direct hit from Big Mom’s devastating flying slash had nearly scared the life out of him.

Zephyr, Lucien, and Backan quickly closed in, forming a protective perimeter while scanning the surroundings with extreme vigilance.

"I’ll be fine in a moment! Just a moment!"

Aeridar let out a strained grin, shaking his head to indicate he was fine. With his self-healing capabilities, it wouldn’t take very long for him to make a full recovery.

Seeing that his captain was out of danger, Backan’s anxieties vanished, replaced by a savage, exhilarated grin. "Captain, I saw it from above! Big Mom fell right into the water and she’s completely paralyzed! Should we head over there right now and finish the job?"

Hearing Lucien’s assessment, and knowing that only the thundercloud Zeus remained to guard Big Mom, Zephyr felt a sudden surge of temptation.

Similarly, a sharp glint flickered across Lucien’s eyes as his thumb instinctively stroked the smooth chassis of his sniper rifle, Death Gun. However, he remained grounded, offering a cold analysis: "We could take the shot, but we are currently in the heart of the Big Mom Pirates’ territory. We are surrounded by enemies on all sides, and there’s no guarantee their high-ranking officers aren’t already watching us from the shadows."

Having spent years surviving the cutthroat underworld, he knew all too well that a seemingly helpless prey often hid a fatal trap behind it.

If Big Mom were to be extracted from the water by her children or subordinates, then despite her grievous wounds, she would still be a monster capable of slaughtering them with ease.

After all, the nickname Aeridar had coined for Big Mom, the ’Iron Balloon,’ was common knowledge within the Chris Pirates. Who knew how much latent combat strength that woman still possessed?

An injured beast was always the most dangerous.

"Lucien is right. The eighth daughter of the Charlotte Family, Charlotte Brûlée, is a Paramecia-type user who ate the Mirror-Mirror Fruit. Her ability allows her to traverse the Mirror World. No matter the distance, as long as a mirror exists, they can reinforce any location instantly." Aeridar slowly closed his eyes, his expression calm as he added, "In all likelihood, the executives of the Big Mom Pirates have already arrived."

Earlier during his clash with Big Mom, his Observation Haki had picked up several presences watching the battle from afar. Though they had maintained their distance, so much time had passed that they had undoubtedly realized something was amiss with Big Mom.

"We’ve already secured Pudding. Furthermore, the Captain has severely crippled Big Mom, and our ten-thousand-strong homie army has inflicted devastating casualties across Whole Cake Island. Our objectives have not only been met, but vastly exceeded. It’s time to pull out," Dimitri said coldly, his eyes fixed on Aeridar’s right arm, which had already begun to reform its skeletal structure.

"What?"

Hearing Dimitri’s call for a retreat, Backan barked out in sheer dissatisfaction, "We’re retreating already? I haven’t even had the chance to bust any heads yet!"

After watching such a legendary, high-tier clash from the sidelines for so long, his hands had been itching for a fight. To retreat now meant they had traveled thousands of miles into the New World just to act as spectators for a grand theater performance.

"KILL THEM!"

"Slay Aeridar!"

"Charge! Wipe out the bastards of the Chris Pirates!!!"

"..."

Right at that moment, a massive wave of thunderous battle cries echoed from the horizon. Countless figures began to spill over the edge of the landscape, a chaotic vanguard consisting of multi-colored Chess Homies alongside pirate fleets comprising humans, Minks, Snakenecks, and various other races.

Evidently, the colonial reinforcements from the other islands of Totto Land had finally arrived!

By now, Aeridar’s right arm had completely regenerated. Though his face remained pale and beads of cold sweat lined his forehead from the immense toll on his stamina, his posture was steady.

Slowly standing up, Aeridar looked over the devastated, cratered battlefield, his eyes lingering on the dissipating dust clouds along the coast. He said in a deep, commanding tone: "Our objectives are complete. There’s no value in a war of attrition. With just the few of us, we cannot systematically wipe out the entire Big Mom Pirates. It’s time to retreat!"

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