Chapter 55

The sea of Totto Land churned with violence. The *Thousand Sunny* and the *Clockwork Rose* cut through the waves, pursued by a nightmare armada.

Behind them, riding a massive wave of candy created by Perospero, was **Big Mom**. Her hair was aflame (Prometheus), and she rode a thundercloud (Zeus).

"WEDDING CAKE! BRING ME THE CAKEEEE!"

The Emperor’s scream shattered the windows of the *Sunny*.

"She's gaining on us!" Nami screamed, clutching the Vivre Card. "Jinbe! Can't we go faster?!"

"The current is against us!" Jinbe roared, wrestling the helm. "And the sea is full of Homies!"

But the real danger wasn't behind them. It was inside the mirror.

**The Dimension of Mochi**

Inside the Mirro-World, Luffy smashed the last mirror leading to the ship. He stood alone on the checkered floor, facing the strongest Sweet Commander.

**Charlotte Katakuri.** Bounty: 1 Billion 57 Million Berries.

Katakuri stood tall, his scarf covering his mouth, his trident *Mogura* spinning in his hand. His eyes glowed red with advanced Observation Haki.

"Why did you break the mirror, Straw Hat?" Katakuri asked, his voice deep and calm. "You just cut off your only escape."

"I'm not escaping," Luffy cracked his knuckles, steam rising from his skin. "I'm keeping you away from my friends!"

"Foolish."

Katakuri flicked his wrist.

*Jelly Beans.*

He flicked a bean so fast it tore through the air like a sniper bullet.

Luffy tilted his head to dodge, but the bean grazed his cheek, drawing blood.

"Too slow," Katakuri stated. "I saw you dodge before you moved."

Luffy gritted his teeth. "Gear Second!"

*Jet Pistol!*

Luffy vanished, reappearing instantly in front of Katakuri with a Haki-coated punch.

Katakuri didn't block. He didn't dodge. He simply *morphed* his body. His chest turned into sticky Mochi and opened a hole exactly where Luffy’s fist punched. Luffy’s arm passed harmlessly through him.

"What?!" Luffy gasped.

"I saw that too," Katakuri said.

The Mochi slammed shut around Luffy’s arm, trapping him.

"Busoshoku: Kaku Mochi (Block Mochi)."

Katakuri’s leg transformed into a square, blocky shape, coated in ultra-dense Armament Haki. It was harder than steel. Harder than regular Haki.

*DON.*

He kicked Luffy in the stomach. Luffy coughed blood, flying backward into a pile of mirrors.

"Your rubber is inferior to my Mochi," Katakuri walked forward. "Whatever you can do… I can do better."

**The Juice of Despair**

Back on the open sea, the *Clockwork Rose* was acting as a shield for the *Sunny*.

"Incoming!" Laki shouted from the crow's nest.

A massive slash of liquid pressure—purple and toxic—flew from a pursuing tart ship.

"I got it!" Kurumi stood on the stern.

She drew her rapier.

*Temporal Edge.*

She slashed the air. A localized time-distortion wave collided with the liquid slash, scattering it into harmless droplets.

But from the spray, a figure leaped onto the deck of the *Rose*.

It was **Charlotte Smoothie**. The 14th Daughter. Bounty: 932 Million Berries.

She towered over Kurumi, her long legs steady on the rocking ship. She held a large sword, and her skin looked wet and glistening.

"You're the annoying time girl," Smoothie sighed, looking bored. "My brother Cracker lost to Straw Hat. I suppose I have to clean up the rest."

She swung her sword.

"Water Slash!"

Kurumi dodged using *Zafkiel: First Bullet – Aleph*. She accelerated her body time, moving in a blur.

"Fast," Smoothie noted, her eyes tracking the movement. "But can you dodge this?"

Smoothie grabbed her own arm. She *twisted* it.

*Squelch.*

She wrung poison out of her own body, increasing her size. She grew larger, turning into a giant.

"I'll squeeze the time out of you," Smoothie swung her sword, now the size of a mast.

Kurumi blocked with her rapier and flintlock crossed.

*CLANG!*

The impact drove Kurumi to her knees. The Haki on Smoothie’s blade was immense.

"Heavy…" Kurumi grunted. Her boots cracked the deck.

"You rely on tricks," Smoothie pressed down, her sword inching closer to Kurumi’s neck. "But in the New World, weight and Haki are king."

**The Clash of Concepts**

Kurumi’s red eye glowed. She remembered Nekomamushi’s training. *Flow. Don't just block. Penetrate.*

She didn't push back against the sword. She let her Haki flow *around* it.

*Zafkiel: Second Bullet – Bet (Slow).*

She fired her gun point-blank at Smoothie’s sword blade.

The bullet hit. The kinetic energy of the sword *slowed* drastically.

Smoothie frowned. "My sword… feels heavy."

Kurumi seized the opening. She dropped her guard and rolled forward, under the giant's legs.

"Haki Flow: Phantom Cut!"

She slashed Smoothie’s ankle with her rapier.

It wasn't a deep cut physically. But Kurumi infused a micro-second of "stagnant time" into the wound.

"Guh!" Smoothie stumbled. "My leg… it feels asleep!"

"I didn't cut your tendon," Kurumi stood up, panting. "I paused the nerve signals. For three seconds, you can't feel your foot."

Smoothie’s eyes narrowed. The boredom vanished.

"You… you're actually dangerous."

Smoothie grabbed a passing crewmate (one of her own subordinates). She twisted him.

*SQUEEZE.*

She drank the juice that came out of him. Her leg healed instantly. Her size increased again.

"You damage me, I drink life," Smoothie loomed over the ship. "I am dehydration incarnate. How much life can you afford to lose, Time Witch?"

Kurumi checked her bullets.

*I can't use the Fourth Bullet to rewind myself too many times. I have to finish this with the First and Second.*

"Laki! Carmen!" Kurumi shouted. "Keep the army off my back! I'm taking the Giant down!"

**The Army vs. The Crew**

The sea around the *Clockwork Rose* was swarming with Chess Soldiers and Homies flying on carpets.

"They're everywhere!" Perona shrieked, floating through the air.

"Ghost Princess! Stop complaining!" Laki was firing her rifle like a machine gun.

*Mosa Mosa: Scatter Shot – Salt Rounds.*

She fired pellets of rock salt. Every time a pellet hit a Homie (a candy soldier or a cloud), the salt purified the soul, causing the object to collapse.

"Salt!" The Homies screamed. "It burns the soul!"

Meanwhile, Carmen was fighting on the railing against **Charlotte Amande**, the "Demon Lady" with the slow sword *Shirauo*.

"Slow Ballad…" Amande moved her sword agonizingly slowly, but the Haki pressure was crushing.

"Too slow!" Carmen’s hands glowed blue.

"Electro-Heat: Plasma Punch!"

She combined her heat fruit with the static electricity she had mimicked from the Minks.

*ZAP-SIZZLE.*

She punched Amande’s blade. The heat conducted through the steel, shocking the swordswoman.

"Gah!" Amande dropped her sword. "Lightning?!"

"Spicy lightning!" Carmen kicked her off the ship.

**The Storm and the Rubber**

Back in the Mirror World, Luffy was panting heavily. He was bruised, bleeding, and exhausted.

Katakuri stood opposite him, barely sweating.

"Are you done?" Katakuri asked. "I have eaten my merienda. I am ready to end this."

Luffy looked at the Mochi man.

*He’s strong. He sees the future. Every time I attack, he knows where I'll be.*

Luffy closed his eyes. He remembered Rayleigh’s words.

*"Haki blooms in the extreme conditions of battle. To surpass a strong enemy, you must reach their level."*

Luffy opened his eyes. They were fierce.

"I'm not done," Luffy said. "I'm gonna beat you. And I'm gonna learn that thing you do."

"Future Sight?" Katakuri scoffed. "You think you can learn it in the middle of a fight?"

"Yeah," Luffy grinned.

He charged again.

*Gomu Gomu no… Hawk Gatling!*

Katakuri morphed his body, dodging the punches with ease.

"Useless."

Katakuri's arm turned into a massive, spiked mace of Mochi.

*Unstoppable Donuts!*

He punched Luffy.

But this time… just for a millisecond… Luffy tilted his head *before* the punch landed. It still hit him, but it wasn't a direct hit. It glanced off his shoulder.

Katakuri paused. His red eyes widened slightly.

*He… dodged the core of the impact?*

"I felt it!" Luffy shouted, bouncing off the wall. "A little bit! I saw a flash!"

"You…" Katakuri’s aura darkened. The ground turned into Mochi. *Awakening.* "I cannot let you leave this dimension alive. You grow too fast."

**The Rearguard's Limit**

On the *Clockwork Rose*, Kurumi was breathing hard. Smoothie was relentless. Every cut Kurumi made, Smoothie healed by drinking something (or someone). Every bullet Kurumi fired, Smoothie blocked with liquid shields.

"You're running out of breath," Smoothie noted, swinging her sword. "But I have thousands of soldiers to drink."

Kurumi holstered her rapier. She held her flintlock with both hands.

*She's right. An endurance battle is a loss. I need a stopper.*

She tapped into her "Shadow" reserve. The life force she stole from the pirates at the wedding.

*I have enough for one big shot. A risky one.*

"Zafkiel…"

Kurumi aimed at the ocean beneath Smoothie's ship.

"Seventh Bullet – Zayin (Time Freeze)."

She didn't freeze Smoothie. She froze the *wave* lifting Smoothie's ship.

The water stopped moving instantly, becoming harder than diamond.

The momentum of Smoothie’s ship, suddenly hitting "solid" water, caused the vessel to lurch violently forward.

"What?!" Smoothie lost her balance.

"Now, Jinbe!" Kurumi screamed into her headset. "COUP DE BURST!"

On the *Sunny*, Franky (via instructions) and Jinbe activated the air cannon.

*BOOM.*

The *Sunny* launched into the sky, flying over Big Mom’s fleet.

The *Clockwork Rose*, tethered to the Sunny, was yanked upward.

Kurumi stood on the railing, looking down at the stumbling Smoothie.

"It was a pleasure, Commander," Kurumi curtsied mockingly. "But I prefer my juice without pulp."

Smoothie roared in frustration, unable to pursue as the ships flew 1 kilometer away.

"THEY ESCAPED!"

Big Mom, riding Zeus, looked up at the flying ships. Her eyes spun with madness.

"FLYING CAKE?! PROMETHEUS! BURN THE SKY!"

The sun came down.

"This isn't over!" Kurumi yelled, grabbing the railing as the heat wave hit them. "Luffy! Hurry up and win!"