Akainu burst out of the ship's cabin, looking extremely anxious and hurried.
Momotou stared in disbelief.
No way—this battleship may be impressive, but Akainu wouldn't usually act like this, right? Isn't he normally calm and collected?
Momousagi was puzzled.
He had seriously underestimated how much a man could care about a massive warship and its cannons.
Whether in Luo Lan's past life, or here in this pirate world…
Actually, to be precise, people in the pirate world love battleships and cannons even more than in Luo Lan's previous life.
Especially someone like Akainu, who spends all day aboard warships.
"Where's the battleship?"
"Why can't I see it anywhere?"
Arriving at the dock, Akainu scanned the area carefully.
Besides the sailing ship he had just been on and a pirate ship nearby, there were no other vessels in sight.
He quickly turned to Momousagi, who had followed him out, and asked,
"Jun Lin's fleet is five kilometers away."
"Hm, they're able to shell Punk Hazard from five kilometers out."
"It's incredible, but that's exactly why Sister Tsuru made a deal with them."
"I see!"
Akainu nodded.
That made sense.
If those battleships weren't powerful enough, how could the headquarters have struck a deal with them?
After all, Jun Lin is a wanted organization by the Navy.
Suddenly, Akainu's observation haki detected something.
He spun around sharply, a serious expression darkening his face.
"Kaido is here!"
A massive figure flew through the air, circling above the island before descending.
During the descent, the figure gradually transformed into human form.
It was, indeed, Kaido.
"Kaido!!"
"Hm? You're that Navy troublemaker? Where's Doflamingo?"
Kaido immediately frowned.
Punk Hazard was riddled with shell craters.
Especially the central area—it looked like it had been through a demon purge, the ground completely plowed over.
Most importantly, Doflamingo, who was supposed to meet him here...
Was missing!
Given the presence of the Navy admiral in front of him, Kaido naturally assumed the Navy had taken Doflamingo.
---
Meanwhile, inside the Danaan's ship bridge.
"Marshall, Kaido has been confirmed. He is currently confronting Vice Admiral Momousagi and Admiral Akainu."
"Have we reached our designated position?"
"Two more minutes."
"Then wait two more minutes."
"Yes, Admiral!"
At this moment, Danaan's ship and another battleship were circling five kilometers from Punk Hazard.
It was a hassle, but Luo Lan had no choice.
If Kaido learned Jun Lin fleet's original position, he could follow and catch up.
Those three battleships that had left minutes ago wouldn't be able to escape Kaido's pursuit.
So from the start, Luo Lan had guided the fleet from the island's south side, now nearing the west side.
At the same time, on Punk Hazard's south shore.
"Hey, you little firestarter, where's Doflamingo?"
Kaido's casual question immediately triggered Akainu's temper.
When Whitebeard called me a brat, I accepted it—he's a generation older than me.
But Kaido? You're only a few years older—what right do you have to call me brat?
Ah, no, Whitebeard had that right too!
One after another, they're all so irritating!
"Enough talk, Kaido. Either fight or get lost!"
"Bring Sengoku or Garp, then it might be interesting. As for you... you can't even kill me. No interest!"
"Demonic Dog!"
Kaido's scornful expression infuriated Akainu.
Without hesitation, Akainu's right arm transformed into molten lava, extending towards Kaido's face.
Though this was one of Akainu's regular moves, it had once torn off half of Whitebeard's face in the original story.
But this Kaido wasn't the weakened, sickly Whitebeard from two years later, who had been gravely injured.
Kaido swung his huge spiked club, activated his Armament Haki, and shattered Akainu's lava fist with a single strike.
"Is that all?"
Kaido's disdain deepened.
Akainu's face darkened.
That was definitely not his full strength, nor his strongest move.
But Kaido's attitude was maddening!
Having been betrayed before and treated like a toy by a woman for a month, Akainu immediately erupted in rage.
He was about to charge and battle Kaido for three days and nights.
But Momousagi grabbed him suddenly.
"Wait, the time's up!"
"What time? Let me go, Momousagi!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The familiar sound of cannonballs echoed in the sky again.
Momousagi's expression changed as he pulled Akainu back.
Kaido looked up at the sky, still unimpressed.
Cannons? That can hurt someone?
Obviously not!
In his view, cannons were useless junk that couldn't harm him.
He swung his spiked club at one of the cannonballs, which was flying straight at him with deadly accuracy.
The cannonball exploded on impact, causing a huge blast.
Five other cannonballs landed nearby in quick succession, detonating one after another.
But to Kaido, it was nothing.
Though the explosions happened right in front of him, he only swayed his body slightly, unharmed.
However...
Kaido frowned deeply.
Not because of injury, but because—
The moment he smashed that cannonball, something felt off.
Looking at his spiked club, he noticed a small notch and some cracks where it had struck.
Impossible!
His first reaction was disbelief.
How could his club be damaged when he used Armament Haki to crush just one cannonball?
But come to think of it,
That cannonball had looked strange.
Not the usual round shape, but something he had never seen before.
Strangest of all, its tip protruded into a sharp point.
Well, since they were shelling from that direction...
The ones who took Doflamingo must be there.
Kaido thought silently.
He prepared to transform back into his Azure Dragon form and scout the area.
But before he could act,
Strange objects suddenly appeared in the sky.
Several elongated objects trailing flames streaked rapidly toward Punk Hazard.
No, more precisely, toward Kaido!
Neither Kaido nor Momousagi, who was now retreating with Akainu, had ever seen anything like these before.
This time, Kaido didn't charge forward but moved to the side.
Not because he was afraid, but because...
He was cautious.
After all, his beloved spiked club was already damaged.
Who knew if smashing these weird things would damage it further?
Then, in the next moment, everyone was stunned.
Just as Kaido sidestepped,
The dozens of long, strange objects suddenly veered sharply,
And charged straight at him once again.
---
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