Chapter 85: New Technique · Wood Giant
The storm cloud Zeus surged forward, rapidly closing the distance between BIG MOM and the naval warship.
"Fire!"
On the warship's deck, White roared, his voice filled with urgency. The navy gunners, caught off guard, quickly raised their rifles and fired at the airborne Charlotte Linlin.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A hail of bullets shot toward BIG MOM, but most missed their mark.
The few that did hit… did nothing.
BIG MOM's monstrous physique rendered ordinary bullets useless—they couldn't even leave a scratch.
Jon's eyelid twitched.
He knew exactly what kind of monster Charlotte Linlin was.
Even he wasn't confident he could injure her, let alone standard navy firearms.
Still, he said nothing—reality was already showing them the futility of their attack.
And then, BIG MOM launched her counterattack.
"Heavenly Fire!"
This time, she used the power of Prometheus, summoning a massive rain of flames from above, descending directly toward the warship.
"This one's mine!"
Seeing Pemberton's bravery, Kaji was inspired, charging forward alone to intercept the firestorm.
"Wait—!"
Jon had just started to warn him, but it was too late.
The moment Kaji leaped into the air, he was instantly blasted by Prometheus' flames, crashing straight into the sea with a massive splash.
But the firestorm didn't stop.
It engulfed the stern of the warship, exploding on impact, sending the entire ship rocking violently.
Flames spread rapidly, consuming a large portion of the hull.
Just one attack had crippled the warship.
Jon watched in horror—his heart sank.
His ability was to control plants, but using plants to block fire was nearly impossible.
As for Armament Haki, his previous defense had already drained a significant portion of his stamina. And now, the attack covered a much larger area—even with Haki, he doubted he could stop it.
And worse—BIG MOM was still coming at them with full force.
"Commander Jon! The ship is severely damaged—it won't survive another attack!"
Despite the crisis, veteran officer White remained composed, stepping beside Jon and stating the grim reality.
"We need to act now. Either we abandon ship, or we find a way to stop BIG MOM."
Jon laughed bitterly.
If he had the ability to stop her, he wouldn't have let it come to this in the first place.
"Get everyone ready to abandon ship. I'll handle BIG MOM."
"You're going to fight her?!"
Gion stared at Jon in disbelief.
Even without fighting her directly, she could tell—BIG MOM was on another level entirely.
Jon didn't answer.
"First, get someone to save Kaji."
"That idiot! He's completely useless at crucial moments!" Gion grumbled angrily.
But in reality, Kaji wasn't entirely to blame.
Yes, he was a rising star in the navy, but this time, he was facing Charlotte Linlin. The fact that he survived even one of her attacks was already impressive.
On the warship, the sailors scrambled to put out the fire and rescue Kaji, while the rest stood frozen in fear, staring at the approaching BIG MOM.
Jon's expression darkened.
If this continued, everyone on the warship would perish at sea.
"I won't let that happen."
This was his first mission as a commanding officer.
Not only did he want to succeed, but he also refused to let his men die for nothing.
His eyes hardened.
At this point, there was no other option.
He had to act now.
BIG MOM's Next Attack
"Soul Wave!"
BIG MOM didn't stop.
After using Heavenly Fire, she activated her Soul-Soul Fruit power, imbuing the ocean waves with souls.
Instantly, the water turned purple, and a giant wave rose up, forming a face twisted in an eerie grin—as if the sea itself had come to life.
This was the terrifying power of the Soul-Soul Fruit.
By infusing objects with souls, BIG MOM could control them completely.
And because she was already a natural-born monster, her Devil Fruit made her even more fearsome—granting her an endless variety of attack methods.
Right now, she was still some distance away, and Jon's crew couldn't do anything to stop her—but she could attack them freely.
The sailors on the warship watched the monstrous wave rise, losing all hope.
"It's over… We're all going to die."
"She's a monster. We never stood a chance."
"I don't want to die… My family's waiting for me back home!"
"I always knew this day would come, but dying at the hands of a pirate… I can't accept it!"
Fear and despair spread across the ship.
Even the young navy elite Nion, who had once been full of passion and ambition, was terrified, his previous confidence shattered.
Jon heard every word of their despair—and his resolve hardened further.
"Damn it. I've already died once. Why the hell should I be afraid of dying again?"
His eyes blazed with determination as he glared at the approaching soul-infused tidal wave.
Suddenly—an overwhelming surge of life energy erupted from his body.
"WOOD GIANT!!"
With a fierce battle cry, Jon launched into the sky using Moonwalk (Geppo), soaring over ten meters into the air.
Then—he activated his Devil Fruit powers and Life Return at the same time.
The transformation was instant.
Before everyone's shocked eyes, Jon's body began to change—
His flesh turned into wood.
His form expanded at an alarming rate.
In mere moments, Jon grew from a two-meter-tall human to a thirty-meter-tall wooden giant.
His features remained his own, but his entire body was now composed of wood, with his hair transforming into vibrant green leaves.
It resembled the wooden constructs he had created before, but this was different.
Before, his wooden puppets were just lifeless humanoid figures.
Now—he had become one.
This was the evolved form of his technique—instead of creating wooden figures, he transformed his own body into one.
As a plant-based Devil Fruit user, Jon could generate trees from his body.
But after developing Wood Giant, he wondered—what if he turned himself into one instead?
After months of experimentation, he had finally perfected the transformation.
Using a combination of his Devil Fruit and Life Return, he fully merged with nature, enlarging himself into a colossal wooden warrior.
This was his strongest form—not just a larger construct, but his actual body, amplified multiple times.
And unlike his previous wood-based creations, this form retained his full agility, combat abilities, and Devil Fruit powers.
After completing the transformation, Jon descended rapidly—
But before touching the ocean, he activated his ability, generating a massive wooden platform beneath his feet.
At the same time, he commanded the underwater plants to grow at high speed.
When he landed, he stood firmly atop the floating wood, completely unaffected by the sea.
The battle had just begun.
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