Chapter 39

The snowstorm outside Building R was blinding, whipped into a frenzy by the collapsing mountainside Law had just sliced in half.

While Law and Smoker dragged the unconscious Kurumi toward the coast, the rear guard—Perona, Laki, and Carmen—found their path blocked by a mountain of muscle.

"WIIIIIHAHAHAHA!"

Jesus Burgess, the Champion, exploded out of a snowbank. He was battered from Luffy’s earlier Elephant Gun, his luchador mask cracked and his arm bleeding, but his spirit was unbroken. If anything, the pain had only made him angrier.

"Straw Hat got away!" Burgess roared, slamming his fists together, creating a shockwave that blew away the snow. "But I won't leave empty-handed! Captain Blackbeard wants power! And you three…"

He pointed a massive finger at them.

"…you have some interesting fruits."

The Matchup

Carmen stepped forward, her hands glowing. "I'll sauté him."

"No," Laki extended her arm, stopping the cook. She adjusted her goggles, her white Shandian rifle leveled at the giant man.

"He’s mine," Laki said calmly. "Kurumi is down because she fought a Vice Admiral. If I can't handle a brute like this, I have no right to stand on the deck of the Clockwork Rose."

"But Laki!" Perona floated nervously behind a rock. "That’s a Yonko Commander! He’s huge! He smells like sweat and murder!"

"Go help Law load the Captain," Laki ordered, not taking her eyes off Burgess. "Carmen, prep the engine. I’ll buy you five minutes."

"Five minutes?" Burgess laughed, his chest heaving. "I'll crush you in five seconds, little angel!"

Round 1: The Shockwave

Burgess didn't waste time. He charged. He was deceptively fast for his size, closing the fifty-meter gap in two strides.

"Hado Elbow!"

He swung his elbow. It wasn't a physical hit; it was an air cannon. The atmospheric pressure cracked the ice beneath Laki’s boots.

Laki didn't blink. Her Mantra (Observation Haki) had already seen the attack three seconds ago.

Mosa Mosa: 100x Velocity – Evasion.

She didn't run; she kicked off the ground using a Breath Dial on her boot, multiplying her jump speed. She vanished into the air, the shockwave passing harmlessly beneath her.

"Fast!" Burgess grinned, looking up. "But can you fly?!"

He punched the air. Galleon Lariat!

A tornado of vacuum pressure shot upward.

Laki was mid-air. She couldn't dodge.

"Negative Hollow!"

Whoosh.

Three translucent ghosts passed through Burgess’s chest just as he swung.

"Gah…!" Burgess stumbled, his attack losing momentum. He fell to his knees in the snow. "I… I should just be reborn as a flea…"

"Perona!" Laki shouted. "I told you to leave!"

"I'm not leaving you to die, idiot!" Perona stuck her tongue out from behind an icicle. "Horo-horo-horo!"

Round 2: The Will of the Champion

The depression lasted exactly two seconds.

"GRAAAH!" Burgess bit his own tongue. The pain snapped him out of the negativity. His Conqueror-lite ambition (pure arrogance) burned away the ghosts.

"Cheap tricks!" Burgess roared, his Haki flaring purple. "I AM THE CHAMPION!"

He leaped into the air, aiming not at Laki, but at the ice shelf itself.

Elbow Smash!

CRACK.

The entire cliffside shattered. Perona shrieked as her hiding spot disintegrated. Laki lost her footing as the ground tilted into the sea.

"Now I've got you!" Burgess grabbed a massive chunk of ice—the size of a house—and hurled it at Laki.

Laki was falling. She had no leverage.

The Sniper’s Awakening

Think, Laki told herself. Kurumi trained me. A sniper isn't just about shooting. It's about controlling the battlefield.

She reached into her pouch. She pulled out a small, unassuming shell. A Reject Dial.

She didn't aim at Burgess. She aimed at the incoming ice boulder.

Mosa Mosa: 100x Size – Impact.

She threw the Dial. Mid-air, she shot the button on the Dial with a precision bullet.

The Dial released its stored energy—the force of Wiper's rejection—but Laki’s fruit multiplied the size of the shockwave by one hundred.

BOOM.

The impact didn't just break the ice boulder; it atomized it. The blast wave continued forward, slamming into Burgess mid-air.

"WHAT?!" Burgess crossed his arms to block.

The force was like being hit by a meteor. He was blasted backward, crashing into the side of the cut mountain.

The Finisher

Laki landed on a floating piece of debris. She didn't stop. She loaded her rifle with a special round—a Sea Prism Stone nail she had stolen from the lab.

"Mantra… Lock on."

She sensed Burgess pulling himself out of the crater. He was bleeding, furious, and ready to kill.

"You're sturdy," Laki whispered. "But you're slow."

She fired.

Mosa Mosa: 50x Velocity / 10x Mass.

The nail traveled so fast it turned into a streak of plasma.

Burgess saw the flash. He tried to dodge. But he was huge.

THWIP.

The nail pierced his right shoulder—his throwing arm—and pinned him to the rock wall behind him. The force was so great it embedded him ten feet deep into the stone.

"GAAAAH!" Burgess screamed, grabbing the nail. "Seastone?! I can't… move my arm!"

Laki stood on the shifting ice, the wind whipping her hair. She lowered her rifle.

"That was for the Captain," she said coldly.

The Exit

"Laki! Hurry!" Carmen’s voice echoed from the cove. The Clockwork Rose was revving its engines.

Laki turned and ran, leaping across the broken ice floes. Perona floated beside her, pale but grinning.

"You pinned a Yonko Commander to a wall!" Perona cheered. "That was so cool! Can I have his belt?"

"No time," Laki panted, sliding onto the deck of the ship.

As the Clockwork Rose pulled away from the coast, fleeing alongside the Thousand Sunny and the G-5 tanker, a roar echoed from the mountain.

"STRAW HAT! CLOCK GIRL! I'LL REMEMBER THIS!"

Burgess had ripped the nail out, destroying his shoulder in the process. He stood on the shore, watching them leave, his eyes burning with a promise of violence.

Recovery

Inside the cabin of the Clockwork Rose, the mood was somber.

Kurumi lay on the bed, looking like a corpse. Her skin was gray, her breathing shallow. Carmen was force-feeding her a nutrient slurry through a straw, using her heat powers to keep Kurumi’s core temperature up.

"She’s stabilizing," Law said, wiping his hands. He had just finished checking her vitals. "But she burned years of her life. She needs rest. Real rest."

"We're heading to Dressrosa," Laki said, walking in. "Doflamingo is waiting."

"Kurumi won't be fighting for a while," Law looked at the unconscious girl. "Which means… the Alliance is down one heavy hitter."

He looked at Laki and Carmen.

"Are you ready to step up? Because in Dressrosa… we aren't fighting a wrestler. We're fighting a Demon."

Laki touched her rifle. "We just dropped a Champion. A Demon is just another target."

Law smirked, pulling his hat down.

"Good. Then let's go start a war."