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"WAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
The cry was heart-wrenching, like a little girl abandoned by the entire world, sobbing helplessly into the void. It was so loud, so piercing, that it forcibly drowned out the cataclysmic battle raging in Mary Geoise.
In an instant, the eyes of the entire world shifted again. Video snails turned away from the destruction, searching for the source of this pitiful weeping.
But those who recognized the voice... their faces turned pale.
In Mary Geoise, locked in a life-or-death struggle, the combatants paused. With a collective headache, they looked up towards the high-speed sky road in the distance.
"The Beast?" Shiki glanced over, his lip curling in disdain.
"Damn it all, Kaido is here too!" The faces of the World Government defenders darkened.
Shiki had already dropped an island on them. His mutated beasts and his old pirate fleet were currently tearing Mary Geoise apart, inflicting heavy casualties. And now, they had to deal with an unkillable lunatic on top of that?
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"Kaido? Hahahaha! I should have seen this coming," Arthur chuckled, though he wasn't particularly surprised.
Kaido, obsessed with creating the "greatest war the world has ever seen," would have heard about Shiki's declaration two months ago. It was broadcast to every corner of the globe.
How could he have stayed away for a whole month? Unless he was tied down by something massive, there was no way Kaido would miss a party like this.
"SUCH A GRAND WAR! ARTHUR! GOLDEN LION! YOU BASTARDS! WHY DIDN'T YOU INVITE MEEEE?? WAAAAAAHHHH!"
Kaido sprinted along the sky road, bawling his eyes out. Tears the size of cannonballs rained down from the clouds.
His massive, oppressive silhouette appeared above the cloud layer, sending a fresh wave of panic through the World Government forces.
Kaido was invulnerable. There was no known method on the seas to kill him. Unless he ran out of stamina, he was an unstoppable force of nature.
Shiki might have more destructive power, more range, but the Marines would rather face the Golden Lion any day. The memory of capturing Kaido time and time again, only for it to be utterly futile, was a trauma not easily forgotten.
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Dressrosa. The Royal Palace.
The Donquixote Family sat in silence, their eyes glued to the war unfolding on the snail screen.
"Fuffuffuffuffu... The World Government will turn this around. It's inevitable. The only question is how much damage they're willing to accept," Doflamingo cackled, his floral pants and pointed shoes resting on the long table.
"If they want to minimize their losses... it depends on whether those people dare to use the 'National Treasure'..."
Knowing the supreme secret hidden by the Celestial Dragons was the only reason Doflamingo dared to threaten the World Government so brazenly, the reason he could escape Mary Geoise unscathed and become a pirate.
He had already planned his next move.
The Navy didn't want to make him a Warlord, didn't want to grant him legal plunder rights? Fine. Once the member nations sent their Heavenly Tribute, he would lead his family to intercept it, just as Arthur had done years ago. He would hold the gold hostage.
Under pressure from the Celestial Dragons to recover their wealth, would the Navy refuse him then? Doflamingo, the puppet master, was confident. They would fold.
He watched the world-shaking war on the screen, delighted by Kaido's sudden appearance. But when his eyes landed on Arthur, hovering motionless in the sky... his heart sank.
The other emperors were manageable. They had desires, needs that could be met with trade or tribute. But Arthur... he was the one man Doflamingo dreaded facing. The man followed no rules, respected no logic. He did whatever he pleased, whenever he pleased.
To satisfy a man like that, you had to constantly find ways to amuse him, to distract him. If you failed... the consequences were unthinkable.
"I need to find a way out from under the Thunder God Pirates' thumb. How can I maintain a partnership without being a subordinate... and without making the Thunder Emperor angry?" Doflamingo frowned, a headache building behind his eyes.
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"WAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Kaido continued to sprint along the sky road, sobbing uncontrollably. But in the next instant, he wiped his tears away, his face contorting into a mask of savage ferocity.
"A WAR THIS PERFECT... LET ME IN ON IT!!!"
He crouched, his mountain-like body coiling with power. With a sudden explosion of force from his legs, he tore off his coat and launched himself downward like a living artillery shell.
Pure physical mass, descending from the clouds. No defense, no technique. He intended to smash into Mary Geoise from ten thousand meters up, using nothing but his own body as the weapon.
Those who knew him didn't blink. They knew a fall from the sky wouldn't leave a scratch on him. But the ordinary people of the world, seeing Kaido for the first time, were horrified.
One monster wasn't enough? They had to have two?
"WHOOOOSH..."
The wind screamed. The air, compressed to its limit, detonated under the pressure.
Then...
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The earth shook. It felt as if the Red Line itself was cracking apart. Mary Geoise shuddered violently.
Rubble flew, dust billowed. Where Kaido landed, a crater hundreds of meters wide scarred the earth.
In the deepest part of the crater, from within a human-shaped indentation, Kaido stood up, covered in dust. He shook his head to clear it, then locked his eyes on Kong, Sengoku, and Garp, who were engaging Shiki.
Without a word, without a warning.
Kaido's eyes bulged, and he swung a fist the size of a boulder at the three legends.
"DAMN PIRATE!!"
Kong roared, glaring at the descending Kaido and Shiki. His lungs felt like they were going to burst with rage. "Zephyr! Get over here! You and Garp hold off Kaido! Don't let him kill anyone! Sengoku, Momousagi, Chaton—with me! We kill the Golden Lion!"
"Sakazuki, Borsalino, Kuzan! Clear out this trash! End this farce!"
Barking orders, Kong glanced at Arthur, who still showed no sign of interfering, then swung his iron fist at Shiki.
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Arthur looked down at Kong with disdain. The man was wary, terrified of provoking him, yet didn't attack... Arthur crossed his arms, standing on the clouds, with zero intention of joining the fray.
Only a man like Shiki was worthy of a face-to-face farewell. He wouldn't insult such a legend's final curtain call by interfering.
Fearing that Arthur's entry would make the situation completely uncontrollable and the casualties catastrophic, the Marines actively ignored him, pretending the mastermind behind this entire war wasn't hovering right above their heads.
"..."
Arthur was happy to enjoy the leisure. Besides, if he was going to fight, he would choose a moment even grander than this to challenge the World Government.
He watched indifferently as the battle below reached a fever pitch. Then, his gaze slowly shifted, moving away from the chaos to the sheer cliffs beneath the Celestial Dragons' palace in Mary Geoise.
"Finally here."
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