Chapter 982: Big Mom, Take This Strike!

Chapter 982: Chapter 982: Big Mom, Take This Strike!

"Doctor Dalt, what brings you here?"

Otto cast a swift glance at the gargantuan black lizard before stepping forward, his expression laced with surprise. Respectfully, he added, "Things are well in hand here. There was no need for you to trouble yourself."

Dalt waved a hand dismissively. He turned his gaze toward the buzzing activity of the aerial harbor and asked in a casual tone, "I just came to take a look around. By the way, do we need to deploy any of these experimental organisms? I happen to need some real-world combat data for these fellas."

Hearing this, Otto knit his brows and said hesitantly, "Doctor, the battlefield at Unzan Port is incredibly chaotic right now. The Big Mom Pirates currently hold the upper hand. Even when the Captain arrives with the main fleet, forcing the enemy back into the sea won’t be a simple task. If we deploy these bio-weapons now, recovering them later might prove extremely difficult."

"Ah, forget it then."

Dalt scratched his head, sending a flurry of dandruff flying, before muttering in frustration, "It’s a pity we’ve cultivated so few clones. Otherwise, we could have fielded a massive army of clone troopers that wouldn’t lose to the Germa clone soldiers in the slightest."

Years ago, when Aeridar had convincingly defeated Vinsmoke Judge, he had extracted the complete theoretical research of the Blueprint of Life, the Lineage Factor. Once Dalt got his hands on it, he treated it like the ultimate treasure, dedicating himself to researching it night and day.

The Dragonians, the XT Drug, the gigantification technology, and the Demon King Lizard were all products derived from his intensive study of the Lineage Factor. Cloning technology was merely another branch of that research.

However, the scientific trajectory of the Chris Pirates differed from that of the Germa Kingdom. Backed by an abundance of animated organisms and native kingdom soldiers, they had no practical need to rely on a disposable underclass of clone troopers for baseline military strength, especially since mass production would drain an immense amount of rare resources.

Consequently, Dalt had only cloned about a thousand individuals over the years to serve as laboratory guards and research assistants. Furthermore, when Zephyr teamed up with the Revolutionary Army to raid Alvis Island, a vast majority of those clone troopers had been KIA. Although Dalt had steadily replenished their numbers since then, the standing contingent still fell short of five hundred.

"It is of no consequence. Dr. Vade’s mechanical weapons paired with the Dragonians and our forces at Unzan Port are already managing to hold the line against the Big Mom Pirates’ offensive for the time being," Otto said with a wide grin. "Moreover, Enel has already reached the front line. All we need to do now is maintain the status quo and wait for the Captain and the main fleet to arrive."

Dalt’s mood instantly brightened, and he nodded repeatedly. "That’s good to hear, that’s good. If I weren’t so worried about friendly fire, I would have loved to calibrate the electromagnetic railguns to rain a chaotic bombardment right over the Big Mom Pirates’ heads!"

Allying with a Yonko crew held absolutely no appeal for Dalt. Within the Chris Pirates, he lacked for nothing—he was constantly catered to with beautiful women, fine wines, and exquisite gourmet food. More importantly, he possessed a nearly bottomless research budget that allowed him to pursue whatever experiments caught his fancy. He even had dedicated high-tier combatants assigned to secure his safety. It was a far cry from the old days, when he was hunted by the World Government and forced to skulk in the dark corners of the world.

Such a flawless lifestyle was the very paradise he had always dreamed of. If he were to join the Big Mom Pirates, having to deal with an eccentric, psychopathic old hag like Charlotte Linlin would be nothing short of a nightmare.

"Those clone troopers should remain behind to safeguard the various doctors. The Captain explicitly warned us that an individual with a bizarre devil fruit ability is currently lurking within our territory. Even the Captain couldn’t catch them when he personally made a move. We must remain highly vigilant to ensure this mysterious figure doesn’t pose a threat to our research staff." Otto’s expression grew profoundly solemn as he recalled the details from the high-level council meeting.

First, the Crescent Moon Hunter, Catarina Devon of the Blackbeard Pirates, had utilized her mythical illusion powers to infiltrate their ranks. Though she was exposed and subsequently captured, she was later broken out from right beneath the noses of the Chris Pirates’ high command by a mysterious cloaked figure. Even Enel, with his exceptionally potent Observation Haki, had failed to track them down.

Such an elusive capability filled Otto with deep apprehension. He feared that this mysterious cloaked figure might seize the opportunity presented by the Big Mom Pirates’ surprise attack, when the defensive garrison of Alvis Island was spread thin, to infiltrate and wreak havoc. That would be catastrophic!

Dalt reached out and stroked the massive head of the Demon King Lizard, chuckling softly. "Rest easy. I have this little darling with me. Any unfamiliar scent will only drive it into a frenzy."

"Besides, the other doctors possess their own unique methods of self-defense. They won’t be caught off guard so easily."

After all, every single one of them had survived for years in this treacherous world. If they didn’t possess a few survival tricks up their sleeves, they would have been captured by the World Government or slaughtered by lawless pirates long ago.

"As expected of our brilliant doctors."

Otto nodded, his anxieties eased considerably by Dalt’s confidence.

...

Unzan Port, Urban District.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

RUMBLE— RUMBLE— RUMBLE—

Two silhouettes, one colossal and one small, were locked in a savage, high-speed exchange. Every single collision sounded like a clap of thunder, kicking up towering walls of dust and sending violent shockwaves ripping through the environment.

Flying slash waves, jagged lightning bolts, roaring flames... Charlotte Linlin attacked Zephyr with unhinged ferocity, her monstrous physical strength effortlessly flattening the architecture of this harbor city, which boasted a population of hundreds of thousands.

"Thunderbolt!!!"

A piercing screech tore through the sky.

Columns of raw electricity as thick as water barrels cascaded down from the heavens, charring the earth below into a blackened ruin. Zephyr moved with practiced agility, weaving seamlessly through the falling lightning as he closed the distance. With a sharp leap into midair, he whipped his leg forward in a devastating arc.

"Rankyaku: Gauntlet Cleaver!!!"

A whistling vacuum blade erupted from the kick, slicing through the atmosphere as it traversed the dozen-meter gap in a fraction of a second.

"Get out of my face!"

Charlotte Linlin roared. She swung her giant blade horizontally, the metallic SHRING echoing across the plaza as she shattered the five-to-six-meter vacuum wave into harmless energy, triggering a severe backdraft of wind.

WHOOSH—

Immediately following the strike, Prometheus, who was fused onto Charlotte Linlin’s hair, unhinged his maw and spat a torrential wave of superheated flames that washed over the battlefield like a tidal wave of fire.

As the blistering heat wave closed in, Zephyr found himself with no room to dodge and charged straight into the inferno. Although his powerful Armament Haki shielded his flesh from direct burns, the intense heat began to rapidly dehydrate his body.

BOOM—

A split second later, a tremendous shockwave tore outward. The roaring wall of fire was forcibly blasted apart, dissipating into scattered embers as Zephyr erupted from the smoke, driving a heavy fist directly toward Charlotte Linlin’s face.

However, Linlin had long known that Prometheus’s flames wouldn’t be enough to heavily incapacitate Zephyr. Anticipating his trajectory, she had already thrown a counter-punch ahead of time. With a thunderous CRASH, her fist struck true, driving Zephyr violently into the bedrock below.

The earth shuddered violently. Under the weight of a Yonko’s monstrous strength, the paved ground instantaneously shattered and caved inward. Superheated flames interspersed with jagged electrical currents shot out from the impact crater, while countless fragments of stone were propelled outward by the shockwave like high-velocity bullets.

"Big Mom, take this strike of mine—!!!"

Suddenly, Zephyr let out a gutteral roar. Though soaked in fresh blood, his pitch-black, metallic muscles bulged like coiled dragons as he used sheer brute force to push against Charlotte Linlin’s massive fist and stand his ground.

With a heavy stomp of his foot, the tremendous kinetic force shattered the surrounding stone into dust, launching his frame into the sky until he soared directly above Big Mom’s head.

Charlotte Linlin snapped her head upward, her face contorted in a rabid snarl. "Don’t talk about a single strike! I can take a hundred or a thousand of your pathetic moves!"

"But this time, I’m sending you straight to your grave! Cognac: Hahaba!!!"

The giant saber, cloaked in raging flames, abruptly elongated as she unleashed a devastating upward slash. The surrounding air let out a sharp, burning hiss under the intense thermal energy of the blade.

Faced with the howling gale and the encroaching wall of heat, Zephyr’s eyes widened in raw fury. He spread his thick, muscular arms wide, whipping up a localized vortex. With a ferocious, unyielding expression, he bellowed into the wind:

"Let’s see if you have the strength to back up those words!"

"Rokushiki Secret Technique: Heavenly Black Arm Cannon!!!"