Recruit Luffy at the start and build the strongest navy.

Looking around, one could see that the part of Prometheus that had been blasted away by Kyle's lightning showed no signs of recovery, and purple lightning still occasionally flickered at the edges.

Prometheus's human-like face was contorted with pain, his body churning and screaming.

The woman's expression changed again.

"Hey, Prometheus? You can't recover?!"

"Thunder doesn't suit you!"

"I... I don't know... Mom, I just feel so much pain, I have absolutely no energy to do anything else!"

The woman's brows were furrowed tightly.

Prometheus was a high-ranking Homie she created, carrying fragments of her soul.

It is one of her three core Homies.

Generally speaking, only soul attacks, large amounts of water, and opposing energies can cause Prometheus to be "injured" and feel pain.

Normal Armament Haki cannot cause it any effective damage.

But thunder... had never been among the things it clashed with before.

Before the woman could think too much, her expression changed again. She suddenly looked up in a certain direction and was greeted by a dazzling purple light.

A gigantic purple thunder dragon roared as it charged toward her, its terrifying and violent aura pounding against her in waves.

! !

"Thunder Shock!!"

The old woman manipulated Zeus, and thick bolts of lightning erupted from Zeus's body, forming a giant pillar of thunder that hurtled towards the oncoming thunder dragon.

As before, the woman's thunderous aura was shattered almost instantly upon contact, like a devastating blow.

With almost no damage, the Thunder Dragon roared and charged towards the old woman once again.

At the critical moment, Whitebeard suddenly punched the air from the side, shattering it like a mirror and unleashing an incredibly powerful shockwave that struck the Thunder Dragon from the side, blasting it apart.

"Gurararara!!"

The white-bearded man couldn't help but chuckle, a hint of mockery in his eyes as he looked at the older woman.

"What did you say when you first arrived? Why am I in such a sorry state?"

"So now I want to ask, between the two of us, who looks more disheveled right now?"

The older woman glanced at the white-bearded man and said irritably:

"Newgate, we're on the same side now, stop making sarcastic remarks!"

"If I were only good at making sarcastic remarks, I wouldn't have helped you in the first place!"

The white-bearded man curled his lip, looking utterly disdainful.

The older woman glanced at him, said nothing more, and instead turned her gaze back to Kyle, asking in a low voice:

"Why is my Thunder no match for yours?"

"I admit, your lightning is indeed stronger than mine in terms of the aura it exudes and the power it unleashes, but it could never be stronger than that, leaving me completely powerless just now. Why is that?!"

"Given our allegiance, you wouldn't normally have the right to ask me this, but to satisfy your curiosity, I might as well tell you!"

"Personality!!"

"There is a huge difference in rank between our lightning forms. To put it simply, in a kingdom, my lightning is a prince, while your lightning is the lowest-ranking slave. There is a fundamental difference between us!"

"Therefore, your lightning has absolutely no chance of fighting against mine!"

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Whether you understand or not doesn't matter, because that's no longer important. Now..."

Kyle paused slightly, then narrowed his eyes, and an incredibly powerful and violent Conqueror's Haki erupted from his body.

"You two...come at me together!!"

……

-

While the battle raged fiercely on Kyle's side, the intensity of the battles elsewhere was equally formidable.

Somewhere in the "Candy Land".

Thump thump thump thump—

A series of muffled thuds rang out, followed by a figure flying backward at incredible speed, spitting out a mouthful of blood in mid-air.

It crashed heavily onto the candy-colored land, its body sliding a considerable distance before coming to a stop.

However, as soon as he stopped, his expression suddenly changed, and without the slightest hesitation, he dodged to the side.

The next second, a spiked leather boot stepped down and landed directly on this "candy land".

The newcomer was tall with short, amaranth-red hair, patched scars on his cheeks, and dressed in black metallic clothing with a white floral scarf. It was none other than Katakuri.

The figure rolling on the ground was Luffy.

Luffy did ten somersaults on the ground before stopping, then suddenly stood up, his eyes fixed on Katakuri.

Katakuri, with a cold gaze, slowly walked towards Luffy, carrying his trident.

The metal suit made a crisp sound as it moved.

"Monkey D. Luffy, grandson of Marine hero Monkey D. Garp, you're the one who captured Cracker, right?"

"Since that's the case, then I, as the older brother, will take charge for him and kill the person who arrested him—that is, you!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Katakuri pushed off the ground with both feet and shot forward at an incredible speed, arriving in front of Luffy in the blink of an eye.

Raise the trident, and at the same time, your arm turns into a glutinous rice ball, wrapping around the trident. The next second, the arm, which has turned into a glutinous rice ball, keeps spinning.

"Glutinous Rice Ball Thrust!!"

!!!

Luffy's pupils widened again as he stared at the spinning mochi ball that had already arrived in front of him. Without thinking, he suddenly squatted down.

He was shrunk by more than half his original height, as if he were made of putty, barely managing to dodge the attack.

But Luffy's expression changed again immediately, as a shoe had somehow appeared on his face.

bang——

A dull thud was heard, and Luffy's body flew backward again. Katakuri took a step forward, closed in, and came directly in front of the flying Luffy, lashing down with his whip leg.

Luffy was struck directly, and the terrifying impact caused him to spit out a mouthful of blood.

His body crashed heavily into this "candy land".

Even though the 'Candy Land' is different from ordinary land, possessing considerable stickiness and a certain degree of 'recovery power,' it still managed to create a large crater with Katakuri's powerful stomp.

Inside the crater, Luffy couldn't help but cough violently. He struggled to lift his eyes and saw Katakuri's still cold and stern face.

Luffy's expression became extremely serious.

This is troublesome!!

……