"King guy!" Shaska shouted, recognizing the voice as belonging to von Esens.

"I haff a name. It is Balth-"

"What do you want, king guy?!" Shaska shouted again, rushing over to grab the receiver from Miwagyo. "I got a bone to pick with you!"

"Oh? Und zat vould be?" von Esens asked, the transponder snail's face curling into a sly smile.

"Don't play dumb! Your creepy sister killed one of my best employees! Not to mention your little cult that's bent on world conquest!"

"It iss not a cult. Ve are an organization vith a new vay off seeing ze vorld, seeking a more eqval, more just vorld."

"And as I keep trying to tell your underlings," Shaska began, "you can't make people more equal! People are different! They have different strengths and weaknesses! Trying to force people to be equal is tyranny!"

"Tell me, Shaska, you are a mermaid, are you not?"

"…where are you going with this?"

"Und you are okay vith ze continued enslavement off your people?"

"Of course not! But-"

"But vhat? Vhen I am done vith my plans, ze Celestial Dragons vill be no more. Your people vill be free in my utopia."

Shaska lowered the receiver for a moment and blew some smoke, then turned to her crew (and Zeimaru) and said "you guys, take out that snake, Miwagyo. I'm gonna be a while."

The other four nodded and promptly clashed with Miwagyo, who turned into glass and hid among the glass she created with her Crystal Catastrophe. Shaska picked up the entire transponder snail and left the office with it as her subordinates and son duked it out with Miwagyo's glass.

"Mihihihi! You fools! No one has defeated the Crystal Catastrophe!" Miwagyo declared as she shot glass spikes at the four from all directions. Zeimaru dodged with his Shave technique, teleporting next to a glass covered wall and destroying the glass with a Haki-enhanced kick. Zinnia flipped through the spikes and began destroying as much glass as she could; thankfully, she had left her snake back with Puerco, so Ruth was in no danger and could safely recover from her injuries. Schwarz simply cut through the glass spikes with his sword, while Lulupo covered himself in a thick layer of hair for protection as he broke the glass.

"So what's the plan, darlings?" Lulupo asked. "She's a Logia type, right? So can she regenerate from a single shard of glass unless we find where her real body is?"

"Seems pretty obvious; we just gotta keep breaking this glass until we can find where the glass is coming from," Schwarz replied as he cut through some of the glass that was flying at him.

"You won't get the chance! Crystal Coffin!" Miwagyo shouted as a wave of glass shot out along the ground from the back wall behind Miwagyo's desk toward Schwarz and Lulupo's feet. Schwarz spawned a hole under his feet and dropped through, landing on top of the desk. Lulupo, for his part, jumped forward and began breaking glass with his Haki-enhanced hair tendrils.

"We must be on our guard at all times," said Zinnia, assuming a fighting stance.

"Yeah, no shit," Zeimaru responded.

"Hm? But I do not need to-" Zinnia tried to say. However, she was cut off by a glass spike through the gut. She looked down at where she had been impaled and saw the blood trickling out the wound. She felt at it for a second, and then howled in pain.

Schwarz spawned a hole near Zinnia and sliced through the glass spike, freeing her from being stuck.

"Crystal Coffin!" Miwagyo called, sending a wave of glass along the ground toward Zinnia, who promptly jumped away while still having a glass spike shoved through her midsection.

"If I were you, I'd keep that spike in your gut for the time being; it's probably the only thing stopping you from bleeding to death," said Schwarz as Zinnia landed next to him on the desk.

"You are not me, but I will leave this spike where it is," Zinnia replied, causing Schwarz to roll his eyes.

—-

Shaska sat down in the hallway with the transponder snail, ignoring the chaos in the office. She flicked ash off her cigar, then started talking again.

"You're gonna bring about an end to slavery, huh?"

"Zat iss von off my goals, yes."

"And you think you can do what the World Government refuses to do?"

"I know I can," von Esens replied.

"Look, kingy-ding. I hate slavers and slavery as much as the next mermaid but what you're doing is absolutely insane. You need to be brought down."

"Und yet zere is no one, man or voman, who can stand before me. I haff been chosen by God Himself to lead zis vorld into a new era."

"Heh. God Himself, eh? I'll believe that when I see it. What, you think you're so tough just because you have the Conqueror's Haki? Big whoop! Gold Roger could do that too!"

"Your point? Are ve not currently in ze era bearing his name? Gold Roger vas God's chosen son over a decade ago, chosen to bring ze anarchy of ze Great Pirate Era. I, on ze ozer hand, am an agent of order. You agree zat ze Marines are just anozer pirate crew, no?"

"Yeah, well…"

"My goal iss simple, Shaska. I, on behalf off all ze vorkers und innocent people off zis vorld (ze kind zat you exploit vith your business), shall form a coalition of ze dispossessed. Ze fat cats und kings shall be made as eqval as the lowest peasants. All vill be eqval under my rule. Und vhen my time comes to leaf zis mortal coil, ze state I set up shall fall avay, leafing a perfect, classless, stateless, utopia."

"Tell me something, king. How many eggs are you gonna crack to make that omelette?"

"Hm? Vat do you-"

"I was at the Mercury Collective. I saw the mass starvation and the terror those people lived under," Shaska explained. "God only knows what's happening in the Panipuri Kingdom now."

"Ah, yes, ze Mercury Collective. I heard about your exploits zere. How you destroyed my supply of Happy Happy Grass six months ago. Doctor Feelgood and I vere not happy about zat."

"What's a man of God like you want with a bunch of drugs anyway?"

"Vell, you know vhat zey say. 'Religion iss ze opiate of ze masses.' Actual opiates can't hurt, eizer. It iss just a vay off keeping ze masses under control so-"

"So they can't see that their king is absolutely bonkers?" Shaska interrupted. "Face it, king, your plans make absolutely no sense and will only bring ruin to this world. The Mercury Collective was proof of that."

"Feh. Zat vasn't a proper implementation of my vision. True eqvality vill come vhen I sit upon ze empty throne at Marie Jois!"

"…"

Shaska paused for a moment, then snuffed her cigar before finally saying "I'm gonna crush you, kingy-ding. Not just to collect your bounty, but for the sake of this world."

"You may certainly try, Shaska ze Greedy. You may certainly try."

"Tell me, where ya headed next on your little world tour?"

"Vhy vould I tell you zat?"

"Because I'm gonna beat the crap out of you next time I see you. My employees are just about done securing my control of Kemurchant Enterprises. Then after that, you and me… we're going to war."

"…"

It was von Esens' turn to pause now.

"Ma… MAOHAHAHAHAHAHA!" von Esens laughed. "MAAAAAAAOHAHAHAHA!"

"Big brother, vhat iss so funny?" Rusila asked.

"You are undertaking an impossible task! Not even ze Vorld Government dare challenge Minus Vorld!"

Von Esens laughed some more, before settling down and saying "Rusila! You vill haff some new playmates soon!"

"Really? Yaaaaay!" Rusila cheered.

"Entertain me vith zis var of yours, Shaska ze Greedy. My next stop iss Vicks Davis Island in ze New Vorld. It iss a popular facation home for ze Vorld Nobles. Minus Vorld intends to liberate ze slaves zere und zen raze ze entire island. Purge ze land vith fire und salt, you know? Based on my intel, ve shall be zere in von veek! You haff von veek to steel yourself, Shaska!"

"Heh. Looking forward to it, king guy," Shaska said before hanging up the transponder snail.

caaaaalick

Shaska pulled out a new cigar and lit it up, then blew some smoke. After a moment's thought, she finally said "damn. Probably shoulda asked him where this Vicks Davis Island actually is."

—

On the ninth floor, Freddie bent over, huffing and puffing. He had a couple of nicks and scratches here and there, and had been grazed by a few bullets, but he was mostly unscathed. He had taken out three Kemurchants all by himself.

"How's everyone holding up?" Freddie asked between huffs and puffs.

"Deacon's been shot!" Delilah shouted as she cradled her husband, who had been shot in the shoulder and gut during the skirmish. "Please! Where's Doctor Puerco?!"

"That well, huh?" Freddie said.

Puerco (with Ruth wrapped around him) jogged over to where Delilah and Deacon were with his backpack of medical supplies.

"Alright, let's get you patched up!"

"How are we doing on grunts, anyway?" Johnson asked, walking up behind Puerco. "We had fifty when we started and went up against a force four times that size."

"Are we really just grunts to you?!" Delilah shouted at Johnson.

"Hey, don't get all huffy with me," Johnson replied. "I know you're all individuals with your own hopes and dreams, but you're also low ranking members of a paramilitary organization. Your sense of individuality should have been stripped away from you during training."

"Yeah, but-"

"Frankly, this is what you signed up for."

Delilah's expression soured, and she turned back to her husband, who thankfully was having his bleeding stopped by Puerco.

"Casualties seem to be at minimum," Ren said, surveying the floor. Grunts on both sides were staggering to their feet, injured, but not dead. "Maybe it's good idea to have more than just one medical officer…"

"Yeah, you think?" Puerco said sarcastically as he pulled the bullet out of Deacon's shoulder and began stitching the wound. "Fortunately, once Shaska and the other strong guys are done upstairs, we should have full access to this company's medical corps."

"I do find it interesting that we didn't run into any doctors or nurses when we were at the infirmary," said Johnson.

"The…" a Kemurchant began, coughing up blood. "The medical staff here aren't trained Kemurchants like us… they're outside civilian contractors who we pay to patch us up. They probably fled to the bunker in the basement when they heard the commotion."

"Good to know. Do you know if there's a transponder snail in there we can call? It'll be easier than going all the way down there and back," said Puerco.

"Kiss my ass…" the Kemurchant replied, passing out from blood loss.

"Damn it all, looks like we're gonna have to go down there," Puerco said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Or, you guys will. I've got more than a few patients to treat."

"Got it," Johnson replied, nodding. "Let's go, Ren."

"I… I need patching up too," Ren said, pointing to the blood running down her face. "I fought guy with exploding punches."

"Roxanne?" Johnson asked.

"I want to be up there, fighting. But Miwagyo is crazy strong and I can't really hurt her without Haki… I guess I can help you out," Roxanne replied.

—-

The battle in the office continued to rage on. The glass that constituted Miwagyo's physical body was driven into a corner thanks to the combined efforts of the Worldwide Smoke-Zeimaru coalition. She kept trying to extend her glass further, but it was broken faster than she could make new glass.

Shaska stepped back in and exclaimed "alright, bitches, I'm back! You miss me?"

"Not now, Shaska, we've almost got her!" Schwarz yelled as he cut through a spiky glass tendril that was flying at him.

"What are you even doing, Zeimaru?!" Miwagyo cried. "You're supposed to be on MY side!"

Zeimaru weaved past a spike that flew at him with his Paper Arts technique and said "I can't abide by someone siding with Minus World!"

He teleported forward with his Shave technique and landed a Haki-enhanced kick into the wall of glass. Miwagyo's head and torso materialized out of it and spat up blood.

"Even if that means allying with my awful mother!"

Miwagyo fully materialized out of the glass, and she doubled over, huffing and puffing as she grabbed her stomach with two of her hands.

"Hey now… hey now…" Miwagyo said between wheezes. "Can't we talk about this…?"

"I have a glass spike in my torso because you are taking the side of world conquering terrorists. My answer is no," said Zinnia, raising her fists and coating them with Haki.

Zinnia delivered a swift uppercut to Miwagyo's jaw with her right hand, then a punch to her gut with her left. Miwagyo stumbled around a bit and then exclaimed "please, I'll do anything!"

"Honestly, darling, groveling is quite unbecoming," said Lulupo, who kicked her in the jaw with a Haki-powered foot.

Shaska stood at the entrance to the office and laughed. "Heh! Serves you right, snake!" she called.

"Oh, can it, Shaska!" Miwagyo called back. "You don't even have the guts to come here and punch me yourself!"

"I already gave you enough of a beating, but if you insist!" Shaska declared.

The floor of the office was covered in layers upon layers of broken glass, making it difficult for Shaska to traverse due to her being bare… tentacled. Instead of walking along the floor, however, Shaska shifted her human legs back into tentacles and began to walk along the walls of the office with her suction cups. When she reached the other side, she hopped off and shifted her tentacles back into long, muscular legs with tentacle-y feet. She stepped over the biggest piles of broken glass (and winced when she did step on some) and grabbed Miwagyo by the collar with her hand that didn't have a massive wound in it, then lifted her up while blowing smoke.

"You're finished, Miwagyo," Shaska growled. "This company is mine again."

"You think you've won, Shaska?! You think you're going to take MY company that I rightfully inherited after you screwed the pooch?!"

"You're damn right, snake."

Miwagyo initially said nothing in response, and instead grabbed Shaska's arm with one of her right hands and shouted "CRYSTAL CUTTER!"

A razor sharp blade of glass shot out of Miwagyo's hand, cleanly slicing through Shaska's arm halfway between her elbow and her wrist. Naturally, this made her drop Miwagyo as she howled in agony and blood poured out of her arm stump.

"KILL HER!" Shaska ordered at the top of her lungs.

Miwagyo's face contorted into a smile as Schwarz brandished his sword, coated it in Haki, and thrust it through Miwagyo's chest, killing her instantly. She died with a smile on her face, having given a nice parting shot to her former boss.

As Miwagyo's body collapsed into a pool of blood, Shaska bent over and picked up her severed arm, while Schwarz wiped the blood off his sword.

"Son of a bitch, this hurts!" Shaska yelled. "God DAMN! That perv doctor had better be able to reattach it! I don't wanna be a leftie!"

"He is a miracle worker, Shaska, darling," Lulupo interjected.

Zeimaru couldn't help but smile at his mother's pain.

Shaska left the office, stepping over as much broken glass as she could, and picked up the receiver of the transponder snail she left outside with a tentacle. She dialed the number that let her connect to the loudspeaker snails stationed on every floor of the HQ with her attached hand.

"Alright, Worldwide Smoke!" Shaska declared. The members of Worldwide Smoke scattered throughout the building looked up from what they were doing, while the Kemurchants grew looks of dread on their faces upon hearing Shaska's voice again.

"This battle looks like it's been won! All enemy commanders have been killed! Search the building for any Devil Fruits that may have appeared, and start calling the branch locations to mobilize! We've got one week until the king shows up at a place called-GOD DAMN THIS HURTS-Vicks Davis Island! Everyone at HQ works for me now. You WILL be compensated handso-DOCTOR PUERCO GET YOUR ASS UP TO THE TOP FLOOR-compensated handsomely! We'll intercept the king at Vicks Davis and then find and snuff out his home kingdom with our full navy! Capisce?! MY GOD THE BLOOD WON'T STOP! Shaska, over and out!"

The grunts of Worldwide Smoke threw their hands up in celebration and began to cheer; the Kemurchants were filled with fear and loathing as the battle had been lost. Now, they were going to be sent on a suicide mission against the world's most wanted man. Only time would tell how the battle of Vicks Davis Island would turn out.

TO BE CONTINUED