Chapter 21: Katakuri
A towering figure stood before Charlotte Cracker. This figure's height far surpassed Cracker or Doflamingo; although both were around three meters tall, they were dwarves before this man. The man had a full head of short red hair, a fur scarf wrapped around his neck covering the lower half of his face and part of his upper body, and red tattoos clinging to his thick upper arms. Just standing there, he gave off a cold, fierce feeling.
"Cracker."
The man's voice was deep, his gaze falling on Charlotte Cracker lying on the ground. Seeing the exposed brain tissue, the man frowned. Combined with his drooping eyelids, it gave a hair-raising sensation.
"Cracker!"
The man roared low. Charlotte Cracker, lying on the ground, twitched, trying to stand up. Unfortunately, his brain had suffered severe trauma; the exposed brain tissue was covered in sand and dirt. Even with immediate medical treatment, his survival was uncertain. The man seemed to realize this. His black-gloved hands clenched, cracking audibly.
This man, nearly five meters tall but with a well-proportioned build, was Charlotte Katakuri, the strongest member of the Big Mom Pirates aside from Big Mom herself. Or rather, Charlotte Katakuri was a powerhouse second only to the Four Emperors. His Observation Haki was simply too monstrous.
Although the Four Sweet Commanders of the Big Mom Pirates had no clear ranking, there were differences in strength. Katakuri was undoubtedly the strongest among them—there was no doubt about that. Don't think Cracker and Katakuri were close in strength. Though both were Sweet Commanders, their power levels were on entirely different tiers.
If Su Xiao fought Cracker head-on, he would have about a forty to fifty percent chance of winning. If he activated Demon Hunting Hour, Cracker would die nine times out of ten. But if he fought Katakuri head-on—no, Su Xiao would never put himself in that situation. If Demon Hunting Hour happened to be on cooldown, he had a ninety percent chance of dying at Katakuri's hands. Foreseeing the future was simply too broken, and Katakuri's own strength was off the charts.
Now, Katakuri stood before his brother Cracker, blocking the fatal bullet for him.
Katakuri stood on the beach, his gaze sweeping the surroundings. A red gleam flashed in his eyes. After a moment, he turned his gaze toward the central area of Dressrosa.
Su Xiao was also observing Katakuri through the scope. When the man's gaze shifted, he immediately sensed that Katakuri was looking in his direction.
Su Xiao's finger, resting on the trigger, paused. He had found an angle to blow Cracker's head off with one shot, but Katakuri, standing in front of Cracker, would likely deflect the bullet again.
Katakuri had just arrived. Doflamingo, who had been fighting him earlier, also came over. Doflamingo stood in midair, or rather, he stood on several invisible threads.
Doflamingo was also a genius at developing Devil Fruit abilities. He wrapped the threads formed by his ability around the clouds in the sky, and combined with his specially made metal-tipped shoes, he could step on those threads, achieving a hovering effect.
Dozens of seconds ago, Doflamingo had been fighting Katakuri at Landing Point 6. For some reason, Katakuri suddenly withdrew and rushed to nearby Landing Point 7.
Doflamingo, hovering in midair, looked down at the beach and immediately noticed Cracker, whose skull was fractured at the back, twitching on the ground.
After a moment of surprise, a smile appeared on Doflamingo's face. He initially thought Pica had injured Cracker, but he quickly realized that wasn't the case. Pica was being held back by dozens of biscuit soldiers, and Landing Point 7 was on the verge of being breached.
After Cracker nearly got his head blown off, the biscuit soldiers at Landing Point 7 were no longer as coordinated as before. Some biscuit soldiers were even twitching on the spot, looking like they were doing an awkward dance.
Just as Doflamingo was completely confused, Su Xiao, on the fourth floor of the villa, activated the locking function. The target was... Doflamingo.
That's right, Su Xiao locked onto Doflamingo with the Duke of Annihilation. He wasn't trying to switch targets; he wanted Doflamingo to notice his presence.
The moment he was locked onto by the Duke of Annihilation, Doflamingo immediately turned his gaze toward the central area of Dressrosa.
"King's Plateau?"
Doflamingo was even more confused. Then, the next moment, the hair-raising sense of danger disappeared.
Whoosh~
A bullet flew in. On the beach, Katakuri's right arm quickly dissolved into a sticky white mass. This was mochi, the substance of Katakuri's Devil Fruit ability.
This mochi formed a five-meter-high wall, shielding Katakuri and Cracker behind it. If it were just plain mochi, it wouldn't stop the Duke of Annihilation's bullet.
The mochi wall turned pitch black, coated with Armament Haki. Now, the mochi wall had hardness far exceeding most metals.
Boom!
Sand flew everywhere. The Duke of Annihilation's bullet pierced through the black wall, flew past Katakuri's cheek, and finally embedded into the seawater behind.
It seemed Katakuri couldn't block the Duke of Annihilation's bullet, but that wasn't the case. Rather than stopping the bullet's full impact, changing its trajectory was the smarter choice.
One shot missed, costing 1,000 Paradise Coins. Su Xiao, on the fourth floor of the villa, felt no regret. He was sending a message to Doflamingo.
Doflamingo glanced toward King's Plateau, then looked at the two brothers, Katakuri and Cracker. He had already figured out what was going on.
"Woof."
Hearing this somewhat familiar bark, Doflamingo turned to see Bubu Wang crouching on a large rock. On the rock beneath Bubu Wang was a line of text written.
'Hold off Katakuri.'
This time, Doflamingo fully understood the situation. He even guessed that the sniper in the distance was Su Xiao.
"Tch."
Doflamingo spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and pressed his hand to his chest. He had been seriously injured while fighting Katakuri earlier and was now using his String-String Fruit ability to suture the damage to his internal organs.
Doflamingo leaned forward, pushed off with his feet, broke through a layer of air, and charged straight at Katakuri.
With a roar, Doflamingo and Katakuri clashed into a melee.
Inside the villa on the fourth floor, Su Xiao loaded five bullets into the chamber of the Duke of Annihilation, pulled the bolt, and aimed the crosshairs at Cracker.
Cracker's physique was astonishing. He pushed himself up with his arms, about to stand.
Bubu Wang trotted lightly toward Cracker, leaped up like a gymnast, and landed with all four paws on Cracker's back. The already weakened Cracker collapsed to the ground again.
Katakuri, who was fighting Doflamingo, suddenly turned his gaze, staring directly at Bubu Wang. Noticing Katakuri's stare, the fur on Bubu Wang's back stood on end. It slowly backed away, no longer daring to be reckless.