One Piece: Dream of Immortality-Chapter 682: Ha, Psych!

"Yohohohoho!" Brook cackled as the plan went off without a hitch.

Takako, with overwatch provided by Usopp, proved to be enough to protect Franky’s tower from the enemy team, no matter their numbers. That let the rest of their own team focus on the other tower.

The defenders consisted of a couple dozen grunts and a few elites, meanwhile their own force was made up of only quality! Granted, Nami wasn’t so good in a fight without her weather staff, but she could still contribute in another way; an arguably more effective way.

See, the Whitebeard pirates didn’t actually get to choose where they started building. They thought they did, no doubt, but in reality they’d been cornered by hit and run tactics from himself, Carrot, Reiju, Cabernet, and Merry.

The terrain was fine, their shipwright wasn’t dumb enough to build on a poor foundation. It was the weather that was the issue. Nami was able to pinpoint a spot that would soon see a great deal of powerful wind, which wasn’t ideal for a brand new tower made of wood, even without people actively trying to topple it.

The division commanders did not become so by being easily harassed, of course. They fought well, keeping the pressure off their shipwright, but Brook and his companions didn’t need to to fall immediately. They had until the end of the game.

Then came the coup de grace. Takako had been given a simple instruction; to throw something at the other tower when the wind picked up. She was so huge that she’d be the first to know, minus Franky since his tower was taller than her by then.

All of that, combined with some strategic freezing of the tower’s base provided by himself, was more than enough to finish the job.

The icing on the cake was what, or rather who, she chose to throw. Four of the five division commanders on offense, used to smash their own high ground.

They weren’t out for the count, though, and now they were angry.

"Whoops!" Brook danced out of the way of a punch from someone he could tell favored swords. He could sympathize with that, especially since his owned unarmed attacks suffered from his lack of mass. In that sense, the other man had the advantage.

"Bam!" Until Carrot kicked him in the face and he went down like a sack of potatoes. Unlike Brook, she was already well acquainted with unarmed combat. For a girl who used clawed gauntlets, she sure did know how to use her feet.

"Eep!" Nami let out a cry.

He turned and saw her getting thrown over the shoulder of one of the division commanders. He’d snuck around them just to target their weakest; classic pirate behavior.

Nami wasn’t going quietly. She slammed her elbow into the back of his head pretty hard, but the difference of not just physical toughness, but armament haki too, was not something that Nami could make up for.

Thankfully, this was just a game. The poor guy wasn’t going to hurt her, and the retribution he’d soon face would be subdued by that fact.

At least Sanji wasn’t in this game. Brook could already feel the heat turning up toward the audience.

That division commander, Kingdew if Brook recalled correctly, turned to flee. The ploy was easily seen through; take a hostage and use her to split their forces. He was one of their combatants who used his fists to fight, too, so it stood a good chance of succeeding.

"Hello," Tia stepped out from behind a boulder, startling Kingdew. "I don’t believe that belongs to you."

"Yeah?" Kingdew recovered quickly. "And what are you going to do about it?"

"Look down," Tia said with a disturbing smile. Cherry had a creepy smile too, but there was something off about Tia’s that sent uncomfortable tingles down Brook’s spine.

Kingdew obliged. Then he stilled. "What...?"

"Thank you for your cooperation," Tia said.

Kingdew looked confused. Brook could understand why; the man had just set Nami down without a fight and still hadn’t realized he did it. Witchcraft was scary.

Brook didn’t want to know how she knew this would happen far enough in advance to carve all those symbols into the dirt. He also didn’t want to know what they all meant.

Even with Kingdew’s plan thwarted, the Whitebeard pirates were slowly gaining ground. With their full focus on assaulting Franky’s tower, their greater numbers and experience were giving them the edge.

"Ah! This is not SUPER!" Franky shouted from overhead.

He’d been tossed off the top of the tower by none other than Haruta, who’d somehow snuck up the far side of the tower.

Usopp swiftly followed with a scream of terror and Cabernet caught him before he fell too far. Nobody caught Franky, and he hit the ground with a boom.

"Damn, my calibration is going to be all out of whack from that." Franky stumbled out of a Franky shaped crater in the ground.

This was bad! Now they had the top of the tower and there was only-

"Thirty seconds remaining!" Itomimizu helpfully announced.

If only they had another team mate stationed at the island’s natural highest point whilst their tower was rigged to collapse just in case! Only a tactical mastermind with a penchant for deception could have predicted such an event!

...

Pudding sneezed, using a hanky to clean up her face. The cameras would be on her soon, after all. She had to look her best.

The top of this hill was blissfully quiet and peaceful, devoid entirely of Whitebeard’s minions. She was honestly shocked that there wasn’t a single one up here, just in case. She’d been prepared for a fight, and instead she was just stuck here waiting.

She almost regretted it. She wanted to look cool in front of Sanji! Instead, she’d just look like a sneaky bitch!

Well... she was a sneaky bitch, but that was beside the point!

"Ohohoho~! What is this? You thought we’d put all of our eggs in one basket? Fools!" Pudding practiced. "Hm, is that too arrogant? But what if Sanji likes arrogant? Maybe I should amp it up?"

’Or maybe you’re obsessing way too much over a boy.’ Her old instincts flared up. ’He should be the one begging me for attention!’

He literally did do that, though. Like, all the time. He was a golden retriever in human form.

And Pudding was an alley cat who couldn’t just show the affection she felt. She had to bite and scratch when people got too close, because that was how she survived until now.

"Ugh," Pudding groaned. "Why am I so pathetic? I should just bite the bullet and... and take him out on a date! A proper date with no ambiguity that even Sanji isn’t too dense to understand!"

She could even get Cherry to bring them anywhere in the world for it! With the way she is with Robin, she was totally a sap for romance, so there’s no way she’d refuse!

*Pweeeeeeeet*

The end whistle blew in the distance. Pudding looked over and saw both towers were piles of rubble, just as planned. What a bunch of muscle-brained idiots.