“Defeated again.”

“Even Brother Katakuri lost.”

“We can’t win, it’s hopeless.”

Daifuku, one of the staunchest members of Big Mom’s crew, felt his vision blur as the world spun around him.

Many of the Big Mom Pirates members had already lost their spirit. Their faces drooped, wearing expressions of utter defeat.

“As expected of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the power of lightning, one of the strongest Devil Fruits.”

Big Mom gritted her teeth, glaring at Stussy.

Another loss for her.

This made it the fourth defeat.

“All thanks to having a good captain,” Stussy said gracefully as she walked over to Kuke, satisfied after receiving a subtle nod from her captain. She then took her place beside him.

Big Mom’s gaze, locked on Kuke, was filled with nothing but fear.

She only saw power.

Mythical Zoan, Rumble-Rumble Fruit—these top-tier abilities, he acquired so many with apparent ease, and gave them freely to his crew.

Big Mom looked at her own accomplishments.

Over the decades, she had managed to obtain only one Mythical Zoan, the Azure Dragon form, which she had handed over to Kaido. That was a monumental favor, a debt to be repaid for a lifetime.

After that, for thirty years, Big Mom had tried her best, scouring the sea, but she had never found another top-tier fruit.

The more she thought, the more frustrated she became.

The angrier she got, the more powerless she felt.

Big Mom’s breath quickened, her chest rising and falling rapidly, like a windmill spinning out of control.

She stuffed handfuls of sweets into her mouth to stave off the irritation and rage bubbling inside her.

“I knew I shouldn’t have toyed with this tactic,” Katakuri said, glancing at the tiny black dot on the back of his hand.

He had thought he had the bet in the bag, but he had lost.

“Mom, give me one more chance,” Katakuri looked at Big Mom.

He hadn’t been fully defeated yet.

His match with Stussy couldn’t be considered a proper defeat in the strict context of the sea.

“Alright.” Big Mom still trusted her most capable son, Katakuri.

Katakuri had never lost before. His undefeated record was one of the few sources of confidence the crew had left.

Amande had already joined Kuke.

Kuke turned to Big Mom, “What do you have left to bet?”

He had his eye on her four daughters.

He had already secured them.

“Anyone here that you want, they’re yours to wager.” Big Mom gestured towards her remaining children.

Including Katakuri.

“If I lose, I’ll follow you.” Katakuri was ready to wager everything.

He was betting his entire future.

“No.”

Kuke’s eyes did not turn towards Katakuri or the others.

“Why?” Big Mom was bewildered.

Katakuri, her son and a top commander, a a nearly one-billion-bounty monster—and he wasn’t interested?

Katakuri was also confused.

Was his worth less than Galette and the others? Even Smoothie had only just become a Sweet Commander, while he was the strongest of them, the family’s second-in-command.

Even though the crew of the Sun and Moon Pirates consisted solely of women,

Katakuri believed he was worthy enough to change Kuke’s rules for crew members—he, Katakuri, was worthy.

Never in his wildest dreams had Katakuri imagined that one day,

he would be turned down.

“Psh, even when Kaido offered King to join us, our captain turned him down,” Stussy chuckled.

Big Mom’s pupils widened.

King the Conflagration?

One of the people Big Mom desired the most in all the seas.

His strength, his race—Big Mom wanted them both.

But she could never get him.

Not even through pressuring Kaido with favors; Kaido simply refused.

“Truly not interested?”

Kuke did not answer.

His attitude made it clear.

Not interested at all.

Katakuri clenched his fists tightly in secret. This feeling of being overlooked, of being dismissed, was just as unbearable as his loss.

“If there’s no stake left, then this game is over. Of course, you can always choose to go all-out and try to take them back.”

Big Mom swallowed hard.

Take them back?

Against anyone else, even Kaido or Whitebeard, she would at least try, go ahead and fight.

But against Kuke?

The very thought had crossed her mind, only for her to crush it herself almost instantly.

Even if she could defeat Kuke, what about his crew?

They weren’t on the same level.

She simply didn’t have enough strong fighters.

“Are we really just going to let it go?”

Big Mom was torn.

Should she let this go? Admit defeat and cut her losses?

Just pretend Smoothie and her three sisters were never hers.

Pretend that none of this had happened today.

“No.”

Big Mom’s furious glare turned bloodshot.

Never in her life had she suffered such a heavy loss, never had she been humiliated like this.

To let this go now?

She would never be able to regain her pride.

She hadn’t even fought yet. This kind of loss, this surrender—Big Mom could not accept it.

“I still have a Road Poneglyph. I’ll wager the Road Poneglyph against you,” Big Mom’s eyes were a shade of red, like a gambler on the verge of total ruin.

She kept telling herself, reassuring herself.

Just win one match.

Just one match, that’s enough.

Winning back the Road Poneglyph, in Big Mom’s eyes, was worth as much as Smoothie and the others.

Win it back.

Then, even if she lost the others, word would spread and people would see she still came out on top.

Just one.

If she won, she would stop.

She could not hope for more than that.

“One more match.”

“Alright,” Kuke agreed.

He knew exactly where Big Mom was at mentally—all gamblers were like this.

They started by wanting to win.

And after losing too much, all they wanted was to break even.

They only got deeper and deeper.

“Katakuri,” Big Mom looked at Katakuri, “You must win, you must!!!”

Katakuri nodded heavily.

He looked at the massive Road Poneglyph that was being brought out.

The family’s most important treasure.

A key to claiming the Empty Throne.

They could not afford to lose it.

They could never match Kuke’s disregard for the Road Poneglyph…

“Gion.”

Kuke turned towards Gion.

In the previous matches, he had given them some chance, some hope of winning.

Now,

Kuke decided to bring out his ace.

To shatter every last shred of Big Mom’s hope, to force her to join the table herself.

“Go all out, finish it as quickly as possible.”

“Understood.”

Gion nodded.

She walked forward casually.

The tension rose even higher; both sides were sending out their second-in-command.

Katakuri: The Strongest Sweet Commander.

Phoenix Empress Gion: Vice-Captain of the Sun and Moon Pirates.

“Linlin is about to lose again,” Shakky looked at Big Mom with sympathy, seeing the latter’s red eyes.

Katakuri against Gion?

Shakky estimated that her own battle with Katakuri would have a fifty-fifty chance of victory.

But even two of her wouldn’t be able to defeat Gion.

Gion had become the vice-captain

not just because of her relationship with Kuke, nor merely because she had been the first to join the Sun and Moon Pirates. More importantly, Gion was the unquestionable second-strongest in the crew.

Stussy with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

Shakky with the Mythical Zoan Vampire model.

Yamato with the Mythical Zoan Great Deity model.

Belo Betty with the Op-Op Fruit.

Empress Hancock.

They were all weaker than Gion, by a large margin.

Stussy, Shakky, and even Yamato, who had recently seen her power grow dramatically, had combat power between 100,000 and 200,000.

Gion’s current combat power?

350,000!

In the East Blue, when Kuke and Shanks had fought for three days and three nights, both of them were at about 300,000. Now, Gion was even stronger than Shanks at that time.

Kuke estimated

that a true Emperor-level combatant should have between 400,000 and 800,000 power.

He guessed

that former Admirals like Z could reach around 400,000 at their peak.

Roger and Whitebeard, at their peaks, were probably around 700,000.

Even Rocks, the “King of the World” once upon a time, likely had power that fell short of 800,000.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been defeated by Roger and Garp before they even reached their peak.

Emperor-level combatants had differences in strength,

but not so great as to make a one-on-two fight feasible.

Gion’s power of 350,000 hadn’t reached 400,000; she hadn’t become a true Emperor-level yet.

But combat power only represented offensive strength.

As a Mythical Zoan user, Gion had immense boosts in all areas—vitality, defense, recovery…

And her abilities of wind and fire.

Most crucially, her Phoenix Rebirth ability, which absorbed the enemy’s stamina, enhanced her own, and increased her attack power. Upon reaching the limit, she could even undergo a rebirth.

Gion was one of the best in the sea at winning against stronger opponents.

One-on-one,

Kuke was certain—Gion could already take on the likes of Z, even in his prime.

And with the system abilities Kuke had given his crew, like teleportation and resurrection,

Gion was a true Emperor-level combatant.

Capable of facing any strong opponent in the entire sea.

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DONT FORGET POWER STONE

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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up 40+ chapters at patreon.com/Emik01.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep