One Piece Chapter 888: Lion

Katakuri stands over the battered mirror-world battlefield and refuses to let Luffy's return pass without an answer. Calm but severe, he says, "Come now, don't let our reunion be such a violent one. I have a question for you." Luffy, breathing hard with "HAA-" and "HAA-," snaps back, "Even if you were to run, everyone knows you were up against me. None would have laughed in your face." Katakuri asks the question directly: "So why have you returned? Have you chosen death over the shame of being called a runner? Or have you seen the truth of the difference in our skills, and come to beg me to allow you to join us?" Luffy's answer is not surrender. With his eyes locked on Katakuri, he keeps panting, "HAA-," and prepares to face him again.

The duel resumes with a clash of fists. Katakuri's heavy blows hammer down through the air, but Luffy does not step back from the reason he came. He shouts, "I'm here to beat you!" Katakuri looks at him from within the storm of the fight and rejects the answer at once: "I don't believe that was one of the options!" The page is all impact and stubbornness, the black sound effects crowding around the punches as Luffy insists on victory rather than escape, apology, or submission. Katakuri's disbelief only sharpens the point: Luffy has returned not because it is sensible, but because beating Katakuri is the only path he will accept.

Out at sea, the cannonballs meant for the Straw Hats fly wildly through the air instead of finding their target. Voices shout "YAHOO!", "FIRE!", and "HEY-O!" as the crews launch round after round, but the living cannonballs are uselessly disorganized. One asks, "Huh? Who are we aiming for again?" Another laughs, "Hahaha! Here we go!" Others compete, yelling, "I'm gonna be first to hit 'em!" and "Nope, I will!" On the Sunny, the Straw Hats watch the chaos with disbelief. Someone yells, "The Straw Hat Pirates, stupid!" while another admits, "I don't see any Straw Hats anywhere!" A shot goes completely wrong: "My bad! The Straw Hats ran that way!" The cannonballs even call back, "C'mon! They're over there!" and "Thanks for the tip!" The ship swerves through the water as the crew snaps, "Agh! We don't have enough airtime left!" and, finally, "You idiots!"

The pursuit does not end with the useless cannon fire. On the Big Mom Pirates' side, a furious figure curses, "Why are all these bullets so damn useless?!" Lord Bavarois is introduced as "Charlotte Family, 26th son, Charlotte Bavarois," and he boasts, "Lord Bavarois! I promise you I'll get them!" Around him, the fleet keeps pressing forward while others argue over who should attack: "If Mama is not in her right mind, she can't control her souls!" "I guess." "Lemme at 'em!" "No, me!" From the sea, Jinbe reads the situation more coldly. Someone notes, "Mama hasn't slowed at all!" and another warns, "And we're going full throttle too!" When asked, "Why can't we catch up with them?!" Jinbe answers that he knows the waves better than anyone and thinks the enemy is already finished: "Anyway, Lord Bavarois, I think they're done for, now." Then a message comes in: "Huh?! We've just received word..."

The sea ahead fills with silhouettes. A lookout cries, "Crap!" and another reports, "I see a bunch of ships in front of us!" The trap has closed: "Damn... they got around us before we could shake our tail... We've been pin-cered!" The reports stack up from every direction: "Reporting in!" "Backup fleet!" "Commander Smoothie's!" "And from behind us," "At the front, Lord Daifuku's fleet has arrived!" Smoothie stands among the reinforcements, introduced as "Charlotte Family, 14th daughter/commander Charlotte Smoothie," and asks, "How many people did they call up for this?!" On the Straw Hat side, Brook and Chopper notice Carrot's strange silence. Chopper asks, "What's the matter, Carrot?!" while Nami and the others turn toward her. The page ends with Carrot shown apart from the panic, tense and focused as the encirclement tightens.

Perospero watches the enemy and complains to Big Mom, "Brother Peros, why'd you call us out here for just one little rat?" Someone observes, "They seem pretty relaxed." A voice asks, "Can I sink 'em?" but Perospero dismisses the game: "Do whatever you want, Perorin. I'm tired of you lot and your role-playing games!" Big Mom keeps riding the wave, already locked onto her craving and shouting, "Weeeeeed-diiiiiing!" Perospero explains the destination: "Headed for Cacao Island, where Pudding's waiting for her." He notices Big Mom's condition and murmurs, "Hm? Is it just me, or have you slimmed down a bit, Mama? Perorin." Either way, he concludes, "Mama's already..." The order goes out: "Blow 'em away!" and as the range closes, the cannons prepare. "When they get in range," the command finishes, "Ready, aim!"

On the Sunny, the crew assesses the blockade. Brook says, "No matter how we turn here, we're surrounded." Jinbe identifies the ship ahead: "It looks like the 3rd son, Daifuku, has his ship ahead of us." Someone adds, "He has a genie! He's a tough one." There is no elegant escape route, so Brook says, "We've just got to go straight ahead and pierce through them!" Jinbe warns Luffy's crew how to use their own strange ammunition: "Oi! Listen up! Use only the cannonballs without faces, alright?!" The answer is incredulous: "Are you serious, Lord Daifuku?!" Chopper steels himself anyway: "I'll go wild on them! Get close enough for me to jump onto their ship!" Jinbe knows it will be dangerous up close: "Up close, huh... I don't think we'll manage to get away easily. Let's go!" Then Carrot steps forward, calling, "Brop-per! Everyone! Let me do it!" With a determined smile, she promises, "I promise you I'll be useful!"

The full moon rises over the sea, and Carrot's mind turns to Pedro. She remembers his training and his trust in her. In the memory, she says, "I'll fight for you, too!" Pedro answers, "For you, too!" When she asks about the moon, he tells her, "Tonight's a full moon!" Carrot asks, "You've trained for it?!" Pedro replies, "Don't tell me... Su Long?" and reassures her, "Don't worry! Pedro trained me for it! As Pedro would have said, 'Leave it to me!'" Carrot adds with pride, "I am a musketeer, you know." Back in the present, the transformation begins. Her body tightens, her eyes sharpen, and a roar tears from her as the panels cut across the crew's shocked reactions. The moonlight brings out the power Pedro prepared her to use.

Carrot completes her transformation beneath the full moon. Her hair has turned pure white, long and wild, and her presence is suddenly unrecognizable. Chopper stares at her in shock and cries, "Carrot?! Even your hair's gone pure white!" He notices the other change as well: "And your eyes are red... I can barely recognize you!" The page lingers on her new form, her long hair streaming like a mane and her body balanced lightly on the ship's rounded surface. She growls, "Grr rr..." while the moon shines behind her. This is no ordinary burst of courage; Carrot has become something older and more dangerous, a moonlit warrior ready to cross the sea alone.

The Straw Hats try to understand what they are seeing. One voice says, "How mystical..." Nami asks, "Is this..." and Chopper finishes with awe, "After finally fighting them, look what's become of us!" Brook, watching Carrot from the shadows, realizes the meaning: "But that won't happen next time! We've got an ace up our sleeve." The explanation follows as Carrot launches toward the enemy fleet: "When next we fight, the Mink Tribe will show the world its true form!" The translator note clarifies the kanji as "Moon Lion," and Chopper names it aloud: "A Su Long!" A report reaches the enemy: "Tonight is a full moon! The enemy's mink girl has turned into this bad, Lord Daifuku..." Daifuku understands immediately: "The true form of the minks!"

Carrot streaks across the water and through the air like a white bolt, scattering sparks and shock lines as she races toward Daifuku's fleet. The Sunny's crew watches her path with alarm. Chopper cries, "She's going to fall into the water!" but someone recognizes the connection and asks, "Pedro was a citizen of the Phantom City Zou, right?" Another voice asks, "Is she from there, too?" Carrot does not fall. She lands and springs again, skimming over the waves and enemy ships with a speed that turns the sea into a launching path. The fleet ahead, including the ship marked for Daifuku, is suddenly within reach, and what looked like a reckless leap becomes the opening move of a precise assault.

The enemy spots Carrot coming and panics. One soldier shouts, "Here she comes! Shoot her down!" Another warns, "Keep your wits about you! She's a warrior of Zou! She's on a completely different level!" The bullets and blasts do not stop her. Carrot cuts through the air with "DAVER" and lands among the crews before they can react. Someone can only stammer, "Wha..." as she crashes into the ship and sends men flying with a cry of "GYA AAH!" The page shows why the warning mattered: Carrot is not merely fast, she is controlled, predatory, and calm. Her Su Long form lets her cross the enemy's fire, break into their formation, and strike before the fleet understands where she will land next.

Daifuku's side tries to reduce Carrot's attack to stubbornness. One man calls, "Little girl! Do you really intend to fight with a whole fleet of soldiers and stop us all by yourself?" Daifuku snarls, "In the meantime, we'll send your ship to the depths! Cease this useless strugglin-" But Carrot is already at the ship's wheel. A lookout yells, "The ship's wheel!" She tears into the helm and breaks it. The enemy shouts, "She's broken our helm!" and another panics, "Crap! Where the hell is this ship going to drift off to now?!" Carrot smiles, then leaps away as the ship lurches. On the Sunny, Chopper can only gape while someone asks, "What's going on over there, Chopper?!" The chapter ends with chaos spreading through the enemy fleet and the promise, "ONE PIECE will be on break next week."

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