Chapter 35: Constant Conflict With The Big Mom Pirates
As we sailed across the New World, I had the crew on my ship train at least one form of haki. If I wanted to have a force that could make a difference, I need to make sure that they had the strength to back it up. I would make them take shifts, I had them split into three groups: One group would be taking care of the ship, another group would be getting some rest and the last group would be training their haki. This way, the crew was able to maintain the ship's course, have a great time of rest, and get stronger all in one effective cycle.
It had been a few weeks since we began sailing. I was lying on a huge couch that was placed right next to the helm of the ship. My dear little brothers were thoughtful enough to create a shade of somesorts for me so that I would be able to watch them train in the comfort of the couch. So the couch was facing the bow of the ship, as a result, Stussy was lying right next to me on the couch as she took her afternoon nap. The crew never really paid it no mind, they continued to perform their daily tasks as we continued to sail.
A crew member suddenly rushed to where we was with my transponder snail in hand, it seemed to be ringing as he ran up to us. I took it from him and promptly answered it before the transmission would fail. The transponder snail slowly began taking the form of a man with a long face with little to no hair: It was Jozu, captain of the 3rd Division. He waited for the connection to get stable before exclaiming, "Boris, bad news! One of our islands was invaded, it's Big Mom!" I slowly got up, taking care to not wake Stussy up from her nap.
I slowly walked up to the railing that protected the helm before asking, "Is she there herself, or is it her pirate crew making an appearance?" Jozu quickly responded, "It's both! Big Mom had brought some of her top commanders and started attacking our crew! I already called Pops and the rest of the crew, but they won't be able to make it here in time!"
I could only sigh as I asked, "Okay, where are you right now?" Jozu wasted no time giving me the details of his location. It wasn't to far from the town of Ulvehoved; it was just a little bit to the north of the island, moreover, it was really close to Linlin's island. If we let her take this island, Ulvehoved would be next, and soon Paralough. I leaped over the railing and landed on the main deck of the ship. I glanced at the pirates who were listening in on the conversation I was having with Jozu and said, "Tell Stussy she's in charge when she wakes up, for now set sail to Ulvehoved. I'll meet you there."
My crew grunted in compliance as I grabbed my axe and strapped it on my back before growing into my animal form and speeding off towards the island Jozu fought in. The island wasn't actually as far off as I expected, on a ship, it would have taken a couple of days to reach the island of Ulvehoved and an extra day to reach the island that Jozu was in. However, with my speed, it only took me nearly an hour to get there. I could sense Big Mom's haki as I slowly approached, I also sensed the auras of her top cadres including Katakuri and Perospero.
All three heads of mine promptly huffed as we began to charge up an energy blast. I wouldn't let Charollette go away unscathed after this, it was one thing if she was threatening me; however, it was another thing if she just attacks one of our own. High in the sky, all three heads of mine had fully charged their blasts. Then, I promptly commanded all three to blast the beam at Big Mom's direction.
The three beams converged halfway into a single powerful beam that was almost twice the size of the Queen Mama Chanter. Charollette had noticed rather quickly and wasted no time summoning Napoleon to deflect the blast. I heard her yelling the name of one of her most powerful techniques, "Ikoku Sovereignty!!!!" The sword clashed with the blast. A large source of light could be seen at the point of impact as the power from the blast blew away everyone within a close range of Big Mom.
The power of Big Mom's attack managed to split my beam right in two as the two separate beams crashed into the sea. Causing two large explosions as a result, I didn't stay idol while this was happening. As soon as I managed to get the blast out of my three mouths, I quickly dove down following the beam. Although I wasn't as fast as the energy blast, as soon as Charollette had cut the attack in two; She was immediately greeted by a ferocious swing of my axe.
Big Mom could only guard in surprise as she met my attack with her Napoleon. Our clashed caused an even greater shockwave as our haki collided. I could see Linlin's smug smile as she tried to overpower me in this battle of wills. I immediately pulled back, doing a backflip right before I landed on my two feet. Big Mom, whose figure had gotten rather wide, slowly lowered her blade as she looked at me with her predatory gaze as she said, "I told you that I would be back, Boris! I don't care if you're one of Whitebeard's brats! This island is mine!!"
I slowly raised my axe as I began to infuse my conqurer's haki within it. Using Observation Haki, I could sense Jozu fending off against Katakuri and Perospero. He was having a hard time, but he still managed to hold on as they continued to fight. However, now wasn't the time to worry over Jozu, In the distance I could see a fleet of ships coming over; I could only hope that it was our reinforcements. Ironically, this wasn't the first time we have been clashing with Big Mom; normally, we had minor skirmishes with other divisions within our crew. We won some and we lost some, the ones that we lost; we normally didn't pursue it after. It wasn't as big of a deal as we wanted it to be, moreover, we kept losing more people the more we lost those islands. So getting the lost islands back ended up being more of a liability within the pirate crew.
However, there were islands that affected our bottom line. Paralough and Ulvehoved were two of those islands that we refused to give up. I personally began taking a liking to Ulvehoved whereas Whitebeard had always favoured Paralough island. After all, it was the first island we laid claim to.
Charollette and I met each other in another clash. This time we ended up being equally matched in strength and speed as we continued to collide, I had to admit, the woman was faster and stronger than many give her credit to. However, the impacts of our constant clashes continued to damage the Queen Mama Chanter.