"Queen-sama! What should we do?"
"Jack-sama! What should we do?"
'If you're asking me, who am I supposed to ask?' Queen rolled his eyes.
To him, it was simple — if even Kaido wasn't able to defeat that freak, who were they to dare think they stood a chance?
However, Jack was different from Queen. He was hard-headed, violent, temperamental, and quite brainless.
"Of course we need to get revenge!!" Jack shouted in his Mammoth transformation: "Anyone who tries to flee, I'll kill personally!"
Jack's eyes were blood red. He had completely lost his sanity.
Kaido meant everything to him. Seeing him being killed and being unable to do anything had driven him completely mad.
'This guy is done for.' Queen knew Jack was already lost.
Now, he had to decide: advance or retreat.
Even with tens of thousands of them, Queen knew — in the face of absolute power, a flock of sheep remains defenseless before a predator.
"DOM!"
"DOM!"
With a sonic boom, Zaydas, who seemed to be miles away, appeared in front of Jack.
He was smaller than Jack, but grew in an instant to resemble an adult and a pony.
With his large hand, Zaydas grabbed Mammoth Jack's head and began to squeeze.
"Let me go!" Jack demanded in a commanding tone.
Smiling, Zaydas increased the pressure, and what happened next was his fingers piercing Jack's head, reaching his skull, crushing it in his hand.
"CRACK!"
With a loud cracking sound, Jack's Mammoth body began reverting back to normal.
Now with his head crushed, Jack in his more human form fell to the ground lifeless.
From Zaydas's shadow, a wolf's head emerged and devoured Jack's corpse.
"Tsk, so weak and dares to speak so loudly." Zaydas muttered quietly, but several of them managed to hear it.
Swallowing hard, they didn't dare make a peep.
Even Queen was sweating cold in that moment.
'What a terrifying boy...' Queen thought.
And with good reason. Jack was known for his durability, especially in his Mammoth form. But to see Jack's head crushed with bare hands — and worse, without even using Haki... It was a massive shock for Queen.
"You... Why are you doing this to us; what are you after with all this!?" Queen asked.
"What a funny question to ask." Zaydas laughed: "It was your actions that drew me to you, understand? If I didn't know what you did in this country, I wouldn't even be here in the first place."
"So all of this is just because you like being a hero!?" Queen felt numb.
The cigar in his mouth nearly fell.
"Hahaha, that's one way to look at it." Zaydas's smile vanished: "But why would I care how you or anyone else sees me? I simply do what I want to do, that's all~"
The next instant, he appeared in front of Queen with his hand on his head.
"So don't even try to buy time and come up with a plan, you're not going to escape~" As he finished speaking, Zaydas slammed him headfirst into the ground.
"BOOOOOM!"
Queen's body sank into the ground, leaving only his feet sticking out.
Although still alive, Zaydas's hand was surrounded by the ability [Thought Acceleration], making him relive the pain that hit him over and over again.
"Run!!!!"
Seeing that even Jack and Queen were powerless before The Traveler, the Beast Pirates ran wishing they had four legs. Even those who did wished they had more.
"You won't escape." Zaydas said, appearing in the sky as several red runes appeared shortly after.
From the runes, a barrier began to form.
Soon, a dome spanning kilometers in diameter was created, trapping all the Beast Pirates inside the barrier.
"Get me out of here!"
"Let me out!!!"
"I want to live!!!"
"I don't want to be trapped here with this monster!!"
"Someone! Please save me!"
Pounding their fists against the barrier, the Beast Pirates fell into despair.
"Feel pain. Behold pain."
Zaydas began to fly. Nearly reaching the top of the barrier, he spoke slowly in a deep and narrative tone.
"Accept pain. Know pain!"
"Human malice has no end. Hatred breeds more hatred. That's why I will show you true pain. With that... the world will become less dangerous."
"SHINE!!!"
"My eyes!!!"
"Shinra Tensei!"
At the end of Zaydas's words, everything began to be devastated from the central point outward, hitting all in its path with massive force.
Some had their bodies crushed or sliced in half.
The repulsive force that expelled the impure was sharp and full of power.
The screams and cries of thousands echoed with pleas and agony.
This lasted for a few seconds until those who had somehow survived were slammed into the barrier and crushed to death.
Among them all, not even Queen survived.
Meanwhile, in the sky, Zaydas had a notebook in hand as he crossed out a specific line.
'Luckily, I raised a barrier and no one saw this...' After putting away the notebook and pen, he scratched his face while ignoring the absurd number of warnings popping up in his retina.
"Fenrir." Zaydas whispered softly, and his shadow began to come alive, transforming into a gigantic wolf.
Without warning, Fenrir began devouring all the corpses.
Even though they had been killed, due to the barrier their souls were still trapped within their bodies.
After being devoured and digested, everything was transformed into Magicles, while their abilities became nutrients for Zaydas's skill [Degenerate].
[+216,879 AP!]
[The unique skill [Degenerate (Rank S+)] has risen to Rank SS!]
'With this, I'm confident I can fuse four Devil Fruits into one.' Zaydas thought with a smile on his face.
───────────
Meanwhile, a slim and curvy woman of average height, with short and messy light pink hair, had just disembarked from the ship she received from 'The Traveler' in South Blue, Sorbet Kingdom, carrying a small baby girl with similar hair in her arms.
To her, everything felt somewhat surreal!
After contracting the disease known as Sapphire Scales, she knew her days were numbered.
And precisely because of that, she saw an opportunity to escape with her daughter and at least make sure she would be safe. However, when she blended in with the slaves of the World Nobles and was engulfed by that milky light, the disease she had contracted began to be magically cured.
Desperate to reunite with the man she truly loved, she sailed across the seas until she finally arrived.
Even before reaching him, she managed to communicate with her beloved.
When she saw a large man running toward her, a smile bloomed across her entire face:
"Kuma-chi!"