Smack, smack, smack.
Elsewhere, the sound of Robin’s slaps had yet to stop.
“By the way, how many times are you planning to hit him? Eight thousand slaps?”
Delia possessed an innate trait: regardless of gender or age, as long as she considered someone attractive enough, she could get along with them quite happily.
Besides having mastered her own unique form of economics, she was also extremely obsessed with appearances. Robin, at least, fit her standards of beauty, so Delia naturally spoke to her without any sense of unfamiliarity.
Since Robin had only begun attacking Usopp after he bragged about having eight thousand men, Delia thought Robin might genuinely intend to slap him all eight thousand times.
“I had no such intention. Just as this man doesn’t look like someone with eight thousand men, I was merely hitting him casually. I haven’t counted how many times.”
As she spoke, Robin stopped attacking Usopp. The arms created by the Flower-Flower Fruit possessed exactly the same strength as her real body. As someone who frequently went out on archaeological expeditions, Robin had abundant stamina and was far from weak.
By this point, Usopp had already passed out, his head swollen into a smooth, round shape.
“Forget it. Letting them leave like this would make us look rather bad. I suppose I should get some exercise.”
After flexing her wrists, Delia stood up again. Through her thermal vision, she could clearly see Sanji controlling the now-invisible antelope mecha as he attempted to rescue Usopp.
When building those mechas, Judge had not included Sanji’s antelope unit in the primary combination formation. The antelope existed as a logistical equipment pack capable of transforming into weapons for the combined mecha.
Correspondingly, the antelope also possessed the largest interior space, enough for Sanji to load several of his companions inside.
Usopp, who was currently under attack, was naturally among those he intended to rescue. Fortunately, Judge’s brain had not been completely empty, and all the mechas were capable of hovering. Otherwise, given their bulky frames, Stealth Black’s invisibility would have been practically useless.
“Moss Head, you’d better hold on…”
Through the internal display, Sanji could see Zoro fighting a difficult battle. Yet the more desperate Zoro’s situation became, the less Sanji could afford to help him. If he did, they really would be completely wiped out.
“A woman? Sorry, but this time, even if you’re a woman, I can’t hold back…”
Sanji had a principle of never attacking women, but when the survival of his companions was at stake, he had no choice but to break that principle. He would not stand by and do nothing while his companions were killed.
However, Sanji seemed to sense some kind of danger and brought the mecha to a halt in midair.
“What is it, Sanji? Is something wrong?”
Chopper could enter his Monster Point by consuming a Rumble Ball, but he would fall into a weakened state afterward. Sanji had just brought the nearby Chopper into the mecha. Seeing Sanji’s movements suddenly become stiff, Chopper also sensed that something was amiss.
Under normal circumstances, the sight of Sanji wearing a combat suit and piloting such a cool mecha would have sent Chopper running around in excitement. There was also a high chance he would have begged Sanji to let him try piloting it himself.
But he had no such thoughts now. They were facing their greatest crisis since entering the New World. Even on Whole Cake Island, they had never encountered a situation this close to total annihilation.
“I think that woman… has been looking at me this entire time…”
“Sanji! This isn’t the time to be staring at women! You’re invisible! How could she possibly see you?!”
Sanji had no time to look after Chopper and had merely secured him temporarily against one of the storage shelf. Chopper could not see the display screen in front of Sanji at all.
“No, that’s not what I mean…”
Under normal circumstances, Sanji would already have suffered a nosebleed the moment he saw Delia..
Sanji could also sense a bloody presence now, but it was not from a nosebleed—it was the surging, roaring blood of a wild beast.
Delia’s eyes, blazing with lightning, were filled with murderous intent. On the open plain, Delia resembled the most dangerous apex predator imaginable, the blood within her body thundering and roaring. Even from a considerable distance and separated by a layer of mecha armor, Sanji felt every hair on his body stand on end.
The survival instincts engraved into every living creature’s genes were crying out to Sanji, warning him exactly what stood before him.
“There’s no time to worry about that. Prepare to fire the lasso.”
Judge was, at the very least, a top-tier scientist. The combat assistance system he had developed for the mecha allowed Sanji to master its fighting capabilities extremely quickly.
Whoosh!
A mechanical claw shot out from the antelope’s chest. Sanji planned to retrieve Usopp into the mecha and then immediately flee the area. But just as he wondered how Delia would respond, she suddenly stopped moving.
“What?”
Boom!
“Ah!”
Before Sanji could react, the mecha was struck by a violent impact. Warning alarms instantly blared throughout the cockpit, and a notification indicating damage to the machine appeared before Sanji. Strangely, however, Sanji did not see the person who had attacked him. He only saw Zoro lying on the ground.
“Muhahaha! I told you there was no need for anyone else to interfere. I can take care of all of you by myself. Did you really think that Three Sword Style brat could keep me occupied?
I was merely curious to see what other tricks you had.”
Queen’s voice echoed through the air, while Zoro’s body had already stiffened in place.
Plague Bullets: Medusa.
Through archaeological research into Ohara’s technology, Queen had achieved a degree of progress in his mastery of the Lineage Factor. By combining the Lineage Factor of Hancock’s Love-Love Fruit with Pheromosa’s unique pheromones, Queen had successfully developed this new weapon.
Its effect was area-wide petrification. Its drawback was that, unlike Hancock’s ability, it did not last permanently and would automatically wear off after approximately twelve hours. Queen had originally intended to develop a version 2.0 to further enhance its power.
However, it had its advantages as well. Unlike the Ice Oni, which required time to take effect, Medusa’s effects were instantaneous. Haki and physique could provide some resistance, but Zoro, who had already suffered a heavy blow from Queen, had no strength left to resist.
“You brat, you’re Judge’s son, aren’t you? I’ll admit it was somewhat surprising that he managed to build a mecha like this, but I am the greatest scientist of this era!
Everything that b*stard Judge can do, I can do too. I can even do what he can’t. What could he possibly use to compete with me?!”
Queen’s body turned invisible once again, resulting in an unseen battle with the antelope mecha, which had also reentered its invisible state.
As it had been designed as a support unit, the antelope’s direct combat capabilities were not particularly strong. Meanwhile, Queen’s strength, beaten into him through countless battles, was completely genuine. The combined mecha that had once fought Big Mom might have been able to exchange a few rounds with Queen.
But this single unit was nothing more than a toy in Queen’s hands.
“This is a pretty bad outcome… Chopper, Nami-san, you’ll have to be careful on your own from here on out. I don’t even know whether this thing is supposed to be used this way.”
“Sanji, what are you doing?”
“Something that has to be done. Moss Head has already fallen, so I’m next.”
Sanji pressed the mecha’s emergency escape button, then pressed the ejection button.
The machine underwent a slight transformation and began carrying the remaining passengers away into the distance, while Sanji exited the mecha through the hatch.
“I don’t know what kind of grudge you have against Judge, but don’t lump me together with that b*stard! I have absolutely nothing to do with him!
Diable Jambe: Collier Shoot!”
Both of Sanji’s legs turned blazing red. His feet, glowing like branding irons, struck Queen’s neck. Although his attack was not blocked by a transparent barrier as Zoro’s had been, Queen’s pitch-black Haki still swallowed the blow like a stone sinking into the sea, producing no reaction whatsoever.
“You seem like quite the problem child. I’m not interested in that b*stard Judge’s family troubles, but… with all that Germa technology in your body, it’s rather difficult for me to believe you have nothing to do with him.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Aside from the combat suit, none of this has anything to do with Germa!”
“Muhahaha! Do you think you’re a Lunarian? Ordinary humans don’t spontaneously burst into flames. At most, they can produce a few techniques involving fire.
Since those desserts you made tasted pretty good, I’ll give you a hint. Your abilities are inseparably connected to that b*stard Judge.”
Queen was actually even more interested in the Straw Hats than Kaido was. Kaido had only developed some ideas regarding Luffy, but Queen was interested in Chopper’s medical skills, the plant seeds Usopp carried, and Sanji’s cooking.
“Since you don’t like Judge either, how about I give you a chance to become a specially admitted recruit? This is an opportunity to bypass the evaluation process and directly make contact with the upper ranks.”
“Sounds pretty good. But I already have a captain!”
“Here we go again. Next, you’re going to say your captain will definitely become the Pirate King, and that you’ll definitely defeat me. Hearing the same childish joke several times in a row gets rather boring.
The odds of your captain becoming Pirate King are the same as the odds of our Young Miss never hitting me again—both are impossible.”
Queen picked at his ear, openly disdainful of such declarations. But in the next instant, his expression turned ugly.
It was not because Sanji had done or said anything. Robin had made her move.
“Mil Fleur: Demon’s Visage.”
A gigantic Robin appeared in the direction Sanji’s mecha was escaping.
Using the Flower-Flower Fruit, she could also create a giant version of herself. In this state, she possessed strength comparable to that of the Giants. Although she could not maintain it for long, it was more than sufficient for the current situation.
Without Sanji personally piloting it, the mecha had also lost its invisibility. The giant Robin created by her ability blocked the only route they could use to escape.
Boom!
Robin clenched both fists and smashed the fleeing antelope mecha into the ground.
“Is something wrong, Sir Queen?”
“Didn’t I say I would handle all of them myself? What are you doing?
Even if you let them run for five minutes, I could still drag them all back!”
Perhaps because it had been too long since Queen had enjoyed a one-sided battle against weaker opponents, he was still immersed in the pleasure of it and felt dissatisfied that Robin had cut short his entertainment.
Of course, the greater reason was that he feared Yamato or Kaido might use the matter against him later.
“Uncle Queen, your execution of the mission wasn’t very thorough.”
“Worororo! You needed a little girl’s help against small fries like that? Looks like you need more training, Queen.”
He could already imagine Yamato and Kaido’s tones and mannerisms.
“Well, Young Miss just asked me why it was taking us so long to deal with such small fries, and why we were causing such a commotion. She told us to hurry things up, so I took action.
And it wasn’t just me. Miss Delia has gone over there as well. These are all orders from the Oni Princess, Sir Queen.”
Robin’s explanation left Queen unable to argue. With Kaido and Arceus away, Yamato’s orders were essentially the “imperial decree” of Wano Country. Kaido and Arceus had already made arrangements regarding all major matters.
As for everything else, they could complain to Arceus or Kaido once they returned. But disobeying orders would violate the rules.
“…You Vinsmoke brat, this is all your fault!”
“???”
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