Chapter 18: Ku Tu
In the New World, the Totland Kingdom.
The Totland Kingdom does not represent a single island, but rather a vast sea area. Its official name is Totland, but pirates are more accustomed to calling it the Whole Cake Archipelago.
The so-called Whole Cake Archipelago means that on the islands of this sea area, nearly all races reside: humans, fish-men, minks, long-arm tribes, etc.
Although the Whole Cake Archipelago claims to have all races here, in reality, there are no giants. The reason for this is that the ruler of the Whole Cake Archipelago has a past grudge with the giants, and all giants hold a hostile attitude towards it.
That's right, this is the territory of one of the Four Emperors, Big Mom, and also the home base of the Big Mom Pirates.
At this moment, on an ice island within the Whole Cake Archipelago.
The cold wind howled. There was no snow on this ice island. It was called an ice island not because the entire island was formed of solid ice, but because the whole island was formed of a hard ice cream.
A sweet fragrance filled the entire island. 95% of the buildings on the island were edible, including the island itself.
Tick, tick, tick...
The second hand of a pocket watch turned inch by inch. With a snap, the watch cover was closed.
"Time's about right."
A man wearing a top hat and a bow tie stood up. On both sides of his waist hung a knight sword and a rapier. His temperament didn't resemble a warrior at all; instead, he looked like a pianist about to go on stage for a performance.
With a squelch, the top-hatted man stepped into a clump of ice cream. The sticky ice cream clung to his shiny leather shoes. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
"Must be refined."
The top-hatted man raised his hand to press down his hat, glanced around, and found no one nearby.
"Damn it!"
The top-hatted man cursed under his breath, glanced around again, and after confirming once more that no one was there, he pulled a handkerchief from his bosom and meticulously wiped his shoes.
Sss~
A signal interference sound came through the top-hatted man's ear. His brow furrowed as he tapped the wireless earpiece in his ear.
"Boss, what's up?"
"Stop dawdling. Now, immediately, right now, go attract Big Mom's attention. Qianmeng and I are already in position on Cake Island."
"Got it, got it. I'll hurry, but I must remain elegant."
The top-hatted man chuckled and walked forward at a leisurely pace.
"Player, if you dawdle any longer, I'll come over right now and castrate you, you hear me? No, you don't need to believe it. I'm coming to find you right now."
A cold, chilling female voice came from the earpiece. The top-hatted man, also known as Player, stopped in his tracks.
"Eh..."
Player's body shuddered. He almost instinctively quickened his pace.
"Five minutes at most."
"Three minutes at most! Otherwise, I will, immediately, right now, come and castrate you."
"Then... three minutes it is."
Player changed from a brisk walk to a jog.
"Hurry!!"
The woman's roar reached Player's ears. This time, he broke into a full sprint.
In less than two minutes, Player arrived at the building complex on the ice island. These buildings were all constructed from cookies and chocolate.
The pedestrians beside Player were a continuous stream, yet they seemed not to see him at all.
"I'm starting now. I'll hold Big Mom off for ten minutes at most."
Player drew the knight sword and rapier from his waist. He rested the knight sword on his shoulder and placed the rapier against the blade of the knight sword, his posture resembling that of someone playing a violin.
The blades of the two weapons pressed against each other. The corner of Player's mouth curled up. He loved the feeling of blood and flesh splattering.
Player drew the rapier.
Boom!
A layer of sonic boom spread out. The pedestrians on the street instantly shattered, turning into clouds of red mist.
Woooom~
The sound wave vibrated through. All buildings within 500 meters were pulverized. Amidst the broken building debris, a tall, middle-aged woman stood up.
"Who! Who destroyed my ice cream toast!"
This middle-aged woman in a pink nightgown was furious. She was one of the Four Emperors, Charlotte Linlin, known as Big Mom.
"Madam, would you like me to play a tune?"
Player walked slowly towards Charlotte Linlin. Charlotte Linlin looked at Player. Before he spoke, she hadn't even noticed him.
"You bastard..."
Big Mom's pupils gradually dilated. This was clearly a sign of her about to go berserk.
Boom!
A sonic boom spread, and the ground within a 500-meter diameter was directly scraped away a layer.
"Calm down. Listen to my performance for ten minutes."
Player let out a strange laugh. This guy looked refined, but in reality, his mind was somewhat unstable.
On the other side, on the core island of the Whole Cake Archipelago, Cake Island.
Rumble...
A pitch-black dragon tornado, dozens of meters in diameter, appeared above Cake Island. Below the tornado stood a man nearly two meters tall, wearing a black metal mask. He was Ku Tu, the number one in Pirate Reputation.
The tornado slowly descended. Everything sucked into the tornado rapidly withered, then turned to dust. Cake Island was now in chaos.
Ten minutes later.
A half-destroyed building collapsed, and large amounts of dust were blown away by the wind. These dust particles were all that remained of Charlotte Linlin's subordinates.
At the edge of Cake Island, Ku Tu led a man and a woman, walking quickly.
"Boss, aren't we going to Dressrosa to join the fun?"
The man among them spoke, holding a crystal heavy shield.
"No."
Ku Tu seemed to be pondering some issue.
"Why not?"
"Regional penalty mechanism."
"We could just tough it out, right, boss?"
"Pirate reputation is more important. Our next stop is Kaido's territory. Don't forget how we got in here. Our rank is slightly higher than this area. This entry qualification is part of the war world reward. Unless we go to the Red Line, wantonly destroying a large open world like this will only attract those monsters. Fourth rank is okay, but if we attract fifth rank..."
Ku Tu pressed his hand on his mask, seemingly recalling some unpleasant memories. The burly man holding the heavy shield behind him also shuddered.
"Indeed, those monsters, especially the fifth rank ones, we can't afford to provoke them yet."
The group walked away. On the ice island, a figure in a top hat crouched by the coast, tapping his own skull with his finger.
Ku Tu and the other five fifth-rank contractors were all members of the same adventure group. Their numbers were small, making them a small-scale adventure group within the fifth rank.
At the same time, on Dressrosa Island.
Explosions roared. Large groups of pirates roared and fought in a chaotic melee. Although the Big Mom Pirates were numerous, they couldn't break through the port in a short time.
The Don Quixote Family pirates suffered heavy casualties. In terms of the strength of the lower-ranked pirates, the Big Mom Pirates were clearly stronger than the Don Quixote Family. What was puzzling was that the Beasts Pirates were nowhere to be seen on the battlefield.
Slash, slash.
The sound of chopping came from the center of the battle. A 'strongman' nearly four meters tall, with a strange face and a long beard on his chin, was hacking down Don Quixote Family pirates at an astonishing speed. The longsword in his hand was already covered in blood.
This man was named Charlotte Cracker, a Biscuit-Biscuit Fruit user. However, this rough appearance was not his original face.