One Piece: Investing In Whitebeard At The Start.

Mirror Rice Cake was used to suffocate the opponent, while Falling Rain Rice Cake served as a high-speed attack. The former functioned like a copper wall, and the latter struck with force stronger than bullets.

"Did you make it?"

Katakuri controlled the rice cake sticks, launching a continuous barrage at Vane.

Countless impacts rang out, like bullets pounding a wall, yet he heard no cry of pain. Using Observation Haki, Katakuri realized that Vane was surrounded by a thick layer of ice.

"Both of them can manipulate ice? What the hell is going on?"

Katakuri halted his attack. The Mirror Rice Cake quickly wrapped around Vane, sealing him in a completely enclosed space.

Inside, Vane retracted some of the surrounding ice, just enough to create space for a single punch.

That punch, empowered with the tremor of the Gura Gura no Mi, was terrifying.

Katakuri watched as the mirror-like rice cake continued to expand.

"Damn it! I can't lock him down?!"

Boom!

The massive rice cake suddenly exploded, releasing a shockwave like a barrage of bombs. Even the steadfast Katakuri was knocked back by the impact, forced ten meters away.

Vane floated in midair.

He glanced at Katakuri to lock onto his position, then darted forward at lightning speed, his fist crashing down. Katakuri instinctively crossed his arms, reinforcing them with Armament Haki, because Vane's fist was also coated in black.

Armament Haki clashed with Armament Haki!

The punch landed with a deafening explosion. Though Katakuri managed to stay standing, the ground beneath him collapsed, forming a massive funnel crater with him at its center. His hands went numb from the impact. If this opponent were someone like his mother, Big Mom, he wouldn't stand a chance.

In this world, there might be many powerhouses, but few were on the level of a Pirate Emperor—maybe a dozen, twenty at most. Vane might be one of them.

Vane slammed down another punch. The earth gave way once more, this time deeper and wider.

Katakuri braced himself, but his entire body trembled. Not from fear, but from the sheer overwhelming strength of his opponent.

"So strong!"

Katakuri knew he couldn't just stand there and take hits. He raised his right leg, morphing it into a mace-shaped rice cake. It grew massive, coated in Armament Haki, and swung upward at Vane in one fluid motion. The entire process took less than three seconds.

He wasn't just strong because he was part of the Big Mom Pirates. With a bounty exceeding a billion Berries, Katakuri had fought countless battles and earned his reputation without a single defeat.

The undefeated Katakuri was the pride of the Charlotte family.

But today, he was facing someone who would break that streak—Vane.

The giant mace struck upward, larger than Vane's entire body, like a mountain crashing down.

But Vane didn't flinch. He raised his fist and met the attack head-on.

With no hesitation, Vane's punch shattered the massive mace. Then, without pausing, his right leg—also infused with the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit—swept downward toward Katakuri.

The next instant, the coastline shattered.

The earth cracked open for hundreds of meters, and the sea trembled from the shockwave. Thick clouds of sand and debris erupted. Both fighters were swallowed by the yellow haze.

From the dust, Vane struck again with a sweeping kick. Katakuri, already disoriented from the previous impact, took the full force of the blow. Before he could regain balance, Vane launched another attack, sending him flying straight into the wall of a collapsed building near the coastal town.

Vane didn't stop.

His right fist trembled with explosive energy as he shot toward Katakuri, who was still embedded in the wall.

Crack!

Not the sound of breaking bones, but the sound of the very air being shattered.

Boom!

A large building behind Katakuri crumbled from the impact.

The damage was severe. For most, it would be fatal. But Katakuri was no ordinary man. For someone of his caliber, unless a limb was destroyed, he'd recover within days.

That's the world they lived in. The stronger the fighter, the longer they could last in battle. They could go days without food, fight nonstop, and recover from brutal injuries at unnatural speeds. Especially Devil Fruit users—since the body was the vessel of their strength, their durability and recovery speed far exceeded the norm.

A container could only hold as much water as its size allowed—and Katakuri's "container" was massive.

Still, thirty minutes later, Katakuri lay limply on the ground. He couldn't stand. Every nerve in his body screamed in pain.

"Too strong…"

"I'm no match. At least not now."

"I wanted to protect my family, but I underestimated him. He's not someone you can measure by logic. And that new crew member of his…"

"A woman, holding off three of my siblings at once!"

Katakuri gazed at the sky in quiet despair. The brightness didn't bother him.

He had lost.

---

On the other side of the battlefield, Cracker was frozen solid. Only his head poked out from a massive chunk of ice.

Esdeath held a glistening ice blade to his neck, ready to strike.

Cracker's eyes reflected fear, unwillingness, and helpless rage. But he refused to beg for mercy. He was a Charlotte—and they had pride. Even in defeat, he would never plead.

"I haven't tortured anyone in a while…"

Esdeath's excitement stirred. Her methods were infamous in the Empire—so much so that even professional torturers deferred to her.

But this wasn't the right place.

Torture required dungeons—damp, dark, isolated.

She'd once buried people alive, shattered their knees with stone, burned them, boiled them in oil, poisoned them, and poured molten wax over their skin...

She had no shortage of methods.

But Vane had given clear orders: capture them alive—no need for torture.

---

Elsewhere, two more Charlotte siblings—Perospero and Owen—were already floating in the sea, completely soaked and helpless.

---

Thank you for the "Generous" Powerstones ರ⁠_⁠ರ