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"KAIDO!"
Warcury's expression soured as he glared at the Seraphim designed to look like a young Doflamingo.
Kaido—the man who had once sought death by repeatedly launching suicidal attacks on Marine Headquarters and the other Emperor's fleets.
The man who had taken on the entire Marine force and an entire Emperor's crew by himself, only to be defeated and captured.
As a pirate, Kaido had been defeated seven times.
He had been captured 18 times when challenging the Marines and the Emperors alone. And subjected to over a thousand tortures and sentenced to death 40 times.
When they tried to hang him, the chains snapped.
When they put him on the guillotine, the blade shattered.
When they tried to impale him with spears, the spears broke.
He had sunk nine giant prison ships.
BEFORE SKY SOVEREIGN ROWEN, NO ONE COULD KILL HIM. NOT EVEN HIMSELF.
And as the Warrior God of Justice among the Five Elders, Warcury had personally ordered Kaido's execution sentences in the past.
He would never mistake him.
Though this person had the appearance of a Seraphim, the soul within... was undoubtedly the great pirate who had died at the hands of Sky Sovereign.
The Former Emperor and World's Strongest Creature—
—Kaido of the Beasts.
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"KAIDO?? HOW?? DIDN'T HE DIE AT THE HANDS OF SKY SOVEREIGN ROWEN??"
Vice Admiral Doll's face was filled with horror, her forehead already drenched in cold sweat.
The other Marine Vice Admirals also had looks of utter disbelief.
But then, Doll and the other officers fell silent.
After all... they had just seen Kuzan, who they had personally witnessed die at the hands of Sky Sovereign, return from the dead right before their eyes. The resurrection of Kaido, who had also been killed by Sky Sovereign, wasn't so hard to comprehend.
But to understand was one thing—to accept was another!
What level of pirate was Kaido??
Before the complete rise of Sky Sovereign Rowen, the strongest in a one-on-one fight was likely Kaido.
That was the near-unanimous consensus of the entire world at the time.
The title of "World's Strongest Creature" was well-deserved.
In the perception of the world back then, Kaido was the Emperor with the Greatest individual combat power.
And his current Haki fully proved that point.
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"HOW... CAN YOU USE HAKI??"
Warcury looked furious.
Neither the resurrected Crocodile nor Kuzan, though they could use their former Devil Fruit abilities—with Kuzan's Ice-Ice Fruit being no weaker than before and Crocodile's Sand-Sand Fruit being even stronger, mastered to its absolute limit—had a single shred of Haki.
Crocodile was a special case—for his own reasons, he had been unable to use Haki since becoming a Warlord.
But Kuzan's Armament Haki was among the absolute top-tier on the seas, yet now he couldn't use it at all. This could only mean one thing:
—As Special Elemental Homies, they were incapable of using Haki.
This, of course, was not surprising to the Five Elders.
After all, Armament Haki was the manifestation of physical and spiritual power combined. An Elemental Homie—whose entire body was an element and had no physical energy, could not possibly use Armament Haki.
Of course, the Seraphim were the Strongest Form of Humanity created by Vegapunk. With their Lunarian bloodline—they possessed incredibly powerful physiques. Each Seraphim could use very strong Armament and Observation Haki.
But what Warcury was talking about wasn't Armament Haki, but CONQUEROR'S HAKI!
The current Kaido's Conqueror's Haki was no weaker than when he was alive. In fact, it was even stronger!
A Kaido like this, even without his former powerful physique and the Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Azure Dragon... his combat power wouldn't be much weaker than before.
Peak Emperor-level combat power!
This was a terrifying force capable of completely shattering the balance of this war!
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"WORORORO! SURPRISED?? I'M SURPRISED TOO! BUT THIS HAKI... IS MINE!"
An astonishing crimson-black light flashed in Kaido's eyes.
Ace and the others were also very surprised. They weren't surprised by Kaido's appearance.
Before they came to this battle, Rowen had infused Kaido's soul into this Seraphim using the Soul-Soul Fruit ability. The original consciousness within the Seraphim had been ejected by the Paw-Paw Fruit.
Although they were weapons of war, the Seraphim were, in fact, Humans with their own consciousness.
Vegapunk called them the "Strongest Form of Humanity." This was how they could use such strong Armament and Observation Haki.
And for both the S-Bear Seraphim that Kuma's soul was infused into, and the Doflamingo-based Seraphim that Kaido's soul was infused into—Rowen had used a combination of the Paw-Paw and Soul-Soul Fruits to safely eject their original souls.
This had been a great relief to their creator, Vegapunk.
Although the original souls were gone, the powerful physical energy from the Lunarian bloodline within the Seraphim was completely intact.
Combined with Kaido's incredibly powerful spirit, in theory, the Kaido-infused Seraphim should be able to use even stronger Armament and Observation Haki.
Just a moment ago—Vegapunk had been performing the latest adjustments on the Kaido-infused Seraphim.
But that only included strong Armament and Observation Haki.
This Conqueror's Haki—which was no weaker than Kaido's when he was alive, even stronger, was also a huge surprise to Ace and the others.
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"COULD IT BE...!"
Saturn broke out in a cold sweat, a possibility dawning on him.
"IS IT THE PORTION OF CONQUEROR'S HAKI THAT SKY SOVEREIGN ROWEN TOOK FROM YOU??"
Saturn stared intently at Kaido.
"WORORORO! AS EXPECTED OF THE FIVE ELDERS! YOUR BRAINS WORK PRETTY WELL," Kaido laughed loudly.
As he laughed, the violent crimson-black lightning boiling around him surged furiously.
"I see... Rowen once took all of Kaido's Haki. So Rowen's own Conqueror's Haki contained a part that belonged to Kaido. By giving that part back to Kaido, since it was originally his, he can use it without any hindrance."
Sanji quickly figured out the key point after the hint.
Ace and the others immediately understood.
Conqueror's Haki, unlike Armament Haki, was the pure manifestation of spiritual power, and one had to have the Disposition of a king to awaken it.
Neither Kuzan, Crocodile, nor Enel had the Disposition of a King, so they naturally couldn't use Conqueror's Haki.
Just as before, Rowen could already transfer Haki to them through the spiritual channels he had established, but those without the kingly Disposition could only use it to strengthen their Armament Haki, and were still limited by their physical strength.
But those like Luffy, who had awakened Conqueror's Haki, could directly use it to strengthen their own.
The Disposition of a king was the ticket to using Conqueror's Haki. That could not be changed.
And Kaido, as the absolute hegemon of the era when the Three Great Powers—the Emperors, the Marines, and the Warlords—were in balance, possessed one of the Strongest Kingly Disposition!
And with Rowen's plunder ability, he had taken all of the defeated Kaido's Haki.
By giving that part back to Kaido, of course he could use it freely.
As for how Kaido's Haki was even stronger than before.
"Death holds great terror... but also great breakthroughs. But this breakthrough—only Rowen can stimulate it,"
Zoro said with a feral grin.
Death was the greatest catalyst for human potential.
To achieve a major breakthrough in Haki, one had to be tempered in the crucible of life and death.
Only by surviving constant life-and-death battles could one obtain stronger Haki.
Those who died would be completely lost, losing everything.
But Rowen's ability could summon the souls of the dead back from the underworld.
A soul that had experienced the great terror of death... its spiritual power would undergo a qualitative change.
This was why Kaido's Conqueror's Haki was even stronger than when he was alive.
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"What about the control authority, Saturn?"
Though he didn't have much hope, Nusjuro still looked at Saturn.
The highest control authority over the Seraphim was in their hands.
But for Sky Sovereign to dare to let the Kaido-integrated Seraphim appear, he obviously wasn't afraid of them taking control.
But what if...
"I CAN'T CONTROL IT! NO ONE CAN CONTROL THIS SERAPHIM ANYMORE! WHAT'S STANDING BEFORE US NOW IS KAIDO!"
Saturn's face was incredibly grim.
"WORORORO! OF COURSE IT'S ME! WHO ELSE WOULD IT BE?? NOBODY MAKES ME DO ANYTHING UNLESS I DAMN WELL FEEL LIKE IT! I—AM KAIDO!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Terrifying Conqueror's Haki boiled in the atmosphere.
"THIS IS GETTING MY BLOOD PUMPING! A WAR LIKE THIS! LET'S DRAG ALL YOU HIGH-AND-MIGHTY FOOLS INTO THE FRAY AND LET YOU TASTE THE CRUELTY OF WAR!"
Kaido laughed loudly.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
The surrounding buildings began to twist, turning into a massive amount of strings.
"The String-String Fruit, Awakened... Did Sky Sovereign also Awaken the String-String Fruit within the Seraphim's Green Blood?"
Saturn's face was incredibly grim.
The Seraphim, due to the Green Blood within them, all possessed replicated Paramecia Devil Fruit abilities.
Just as S-Snake had the Pirate Empress's Love-Love Fruit ability, and S-Bear had Kuma's Paw-Paw Fruit ability. This Doflamingo-based Seraphim had the Paramecia String-String Fruit ability.
But because it came from Green Blood, it was a replicated Paramecia ability, not a real Devil Fruit. It couldn't be Awakened.
But everything now indicated that Kaido could use the Awakened power of the String-String Fruit. And the only one who could Awaken the replicated Paramecia fruit within the Seraphim's Green Blood was, of course, that man—
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"Joker's String-String Fruit... barely usable," Kaido said with a bloodthirsty grin.
Though the String-String Fruit wasn't particularly powerful, it was still a Devil Fruit, and an Awakened one at that. It would still provide some boost to his combat power.
Due to the limited time, Vegapunk couldn't develop other Paramecia abilities into Green Blood.
As for Kaido's own Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Azure Dragon, it was a significant boost to Rowen's own combat power. And the current Kaido fought mainly with Haōshoku Coating anyway.
Even with just the String-String Fruit, because his Haki was stronger than when he was alive, his combat power wouldn't be much weaker.
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"KISHISHISHI! DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME!"
A piercing voice rang out.
WHOOSH!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A figure plummeted from the sky, landing beside Kaido.
"MORIA!"
The Five Elders, and the numerous generals of Marine HQ, looked at the newcomer with grim faces.
It was the former Warlords of the Sea, Gecko Moria.
And unlike Kaido, whose appearance was strangely that of a young Doflamingo.
Moria was in the Seraphim body that had been created based on his own Lineage Factor, combined with the Lunarian bloodline.
"Moria... didn't think I'd be fighting with you," Kaido said with a bloodthirsty grin.
"KISHISHISHI! I lost to you before, Now, I can't fall too far behind. I have to make my dear daughter proud," Moria laughed loudly.
"ARMAMENT——!"
VMM!
Dense Armament Haki wrapped around Moria's body.
Having experienced the great terror of life and death, Moria could now use Haki.
Plus with the powerful Lunarian Physique of this Seraphim, he could exert super-strong Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
VMM!
The next moment, a strange, dark light flashed in Moria's eyes.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The shadows of all the surrounding buildings began to twist furiously.
"THE SHADOW-SHADOW FRUIT—AWAKENED!"
Saturn's face was a mask of rage.
The replicated Paramecia ability in this Seraphim was Moria's own Shadow-Shadow Fruit. And now, Sky Sovereign Rowen had even Awakened the fruit ability contained within the Green Blood.
"OUR SHADOWS!"
Many of the Marines whose Haki wasn't strong enough were instantly overwhelmed by the Shadow-Shadow Fruit's ability.
Their shadows began to twist and swell, no longer under their control.
"SHADOWS ASGARD——!"
Moria's piercing laughter echoed.
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