Chapter 28: Doflamingo's Heartache
Doflamingo kicked back Katakuri, and Su Xiao and Doflamingo formed a pincer formation around him. Not far from the battlefield, a sneaky figure was approaching.
Bubu Wang held a thermal detection device in his mouth, which was the best tool for finding Cracker within the mochi. As for Amu, he was lurking nearby, waiting for an opportunity. As soon as Bubu Wang located Cracker's position, he would charge forward and beat Cracker to death.
Katakuri shifted his gaze. Although he didn't see Bubu Wang, he had foreseen it.
"Seastone."
Su Xiao swung the metal rod in his hand. Doflamingo smiled upon hearing this. He understood why Katakuri was willing to take his kick rather than be hit by that metal rod.
Su Xiao had no intention of hiding the material of the metal rod in his hand. For someone like Katakuri, who could foresee the future, the moment this item was used to attack him, he would already know what it was.
"Katakuri, look over there."
Su Xiao pointed the metal rod at Amu, the implication clear: Amu would take his place in beating Cracker to death.
Katakuri's expression darkened. If it were a 1v1 against Doflamingo, he was confident he could handle him. Even with Su Xiao added, he could still protect Cracker while fighting. But the current situation was different. Su Xiao, wielding the Seastone metal rod, plus Doflamingo, was already a tough combination. On top of that, Katakuri had to guard against the elusive Bubu Wang and the opportunistic Amu.
Bubu Wang and Amu didn't even need to directly engage in combat. They only needed to find Cracker to keep Katakuri distracted.
Katakuri was strong, but he wasn't a god. He could foresee the future, but he couldn't always change it. Moreover, his foresight ability had weaknesses. Sometimes, he couldn't foresee events that were bound to happen.
For instance, Doflamingo's earlier kick. Katakuri hadn't foreseen it because, while dodging the metal rod, he absolutely couldn't avoid that kick wrapped in Armament Haki. That was an inevitable event.
In other words, if Katakuri had a chance to dodge that kick, he would have foreseen it and evaded quickly. But if he couldn't avoid it, he could only sense it through Observation Haki, not foresee it.
Su Xiao could only think of two ways to deal with Katakuri. One was a war of attrition, where he and Doflamingo took turns holding Katakuri back, slowly draining his stamina. But given Katakuri's monstrous physique, who knew how long that would take.
The second was to use the severely injured Cracker to divide Katakuri's attention, forcing him to run around frantically.
From the very beginning, Su Xiao's target wasn't Katakuri. Given their current combat strength, killing Katakuri was unrealistic. Simply surviving against him would require all their effort.
Su Xiao and Doflamingo exchanged a glance, then charged at Katakuri almost simultaneously, flanking him from front and back.
Katakuri's eyes narrowed. He bent down and grabbed a handful of mochi from the ground. The mochi shaped itself in his hand into a trident, which he then coated with Armament Haki.
The trident, over two meters long, was only a short spear to Katakuri. He blocked it behind him while kicking out to the side.
With a loud clang, Su Xiao's metal rod slammed into the trident. Although Seastone was a bane to Devil Fruit users, it couldn't erase fruit creations. That meant even if the Seastone rod hit the mochi, the mochi wouldn't disappear unless it was part of Katakuri's transformed body.
While blocking Su Xiao's strike, Katakuri kicked Doflamingo's arms, sending him stumbling back a few steps.
If Su Xiao weren't in the middle of fighting Katakuri, he might have thought Doflamingo was holding back. But that wasn't the case. Katakuri's blocking moves weren't just predictions; he was foreseeing where the attacks would land and defending at the perfect moment.
The moment the metal rod was blocked, Su Xiao kicked at the back of Katakuri's thigh.
With a squelch, Su Xiao's foot sank into a sticky mass. Katakuri had turned his leg into mochi, trapping Su Xiao's calf inside.
Doflamingo had just been kicked away, leaving no one to support Su Xiao. Katakuri, holding the trident, raised his arm, locking the trident against the metal rod in a contest of strength. A tremendous force traveled to Su Xiao's hand, nearly causing him to lose his grip on the rod. By conservative estimate, Katakuri's Strength attribute was over 95 points, possibly even higher.
The pitch-black trident gleamed with a cold light. Just as Katakuri was about to impale Su Xiao's head, he suddenly released the mochi on his leg and nudged Su Xiao's foot aside.
As Su Xiao was pushed back, Cyan Steel Shadow Energy enveloped his leg. Even if he had delayed activating it for a moment, Katakuri would have foreseen it.
Su Xiao staggered back a few steps. Now he was certain that Cyan Steel Shadow Energy could likely harm Katakuri.
Katakuri stared at Su Xiao with murderous intent. In his perception, Su Xiao was like a "porcupine." The danger of the Seastone rod went without saying. One hit from that thing would break at least a few bones. On top of that, Katakuri had to guard against that pale blue energy.
In Katakuri's foresight, if he touched that energy, one of two scenarios would occur.