"Kaido!!!"
"Oden Two-Sword Style: Paradise Totsuka!!!"
Blades crossed in an X, blazing with intense red Haki, Kozuki Oden vanished in a flash and struck.
Shlunk!
A massive gash tore across the dragon's side. The mighty beast froze midair from the impact, blood gushing from his jaws.
Eyes rolling back, the enormous azure dragon crashed to the ground.
Kaido was officially knocked out of his dragon form.
"Long time no see, Kaido. You've improved."
From the distance, Ozz calmly cradled his sniper rifle, watching this evenly matched, epic clash unfold.
Just judging by size, Kaido was already showing signs of morphing into some kind of monstrous muscle freak. He was no longer that lanky figure from the past.
Comparing raw combat strength between the two... honestly, it was still anyone's game.
"Nice job, Oden."
Ozz had vented enough. He already understood where this was going. For someone like Oden a headstrong, heroic fool his death was inevitable.
So Ozz left.
He waved his sleeve and vanished, leaving behind only a few bullets still embedded in Queen's butt.
What else was he supposed to do? Stick around and throw down with Kaido and his boys?
They had shared a ship once, after all. It would be awkward.
Would he help or not? That kind of hesitation was just annoying.
As expected, the story unfolded the way it was always going to.
Just one cheap little trick, and the thick-headed Oden fell for it. Openings appeared everywhere.
Kaido seized the moment and took the kill.
As for Oden's retainers, there were barely two or three still standing easily rounded up by King and the others.
Victory: Beast Pirates.
Kaido was covered in injuries. Even with his monstrous durability and Mythical Zoan recovery, it would take time to heal. Blood still trickled from his face.
But he didn't look triumphant. He just stared, silently, at Oden's battered body lying on the ground.
It hadn't been a fair fight.
Crack crack...
Even in victory, Kaido clenched his kanabo so hard it groaned under pressure.
"Hahahaha... he really fell for it. What an idiot, that prince..."
Crack!
Black Maria, in her transformed form, laughed smugly oblivious to Kaido's darkening expression until a kanabo swung straight for her head.
A headless body hit the floor.
King stepped forward, flames licking from his back, expression unchanged as he stepped over her corpse.
He looked coldly at Queen, who was fiddling nervously with his cybernetic limbs, trying to treat the mess on his rear end.
"Hey!!! Queen! What the hell were you doing back there?!"
Flames danced on the blade in King's hand. His jet-black armor gleamed ominously, and his eyes were like ice.
Kaido's mood was already foul. Hearing this, he turned his head and glared as well.
Under their combined stares and his own burning pain Queen, who had bled and suffered for the Beast Pirates, finally cracked.
He was wronged! He had suffered!
So he spilled everything.
He even showed them his shredded clothes, the back riddled with neat little bullet holes.
But after hearing his story, neither Kaido nor King gave a damn about his butt anymore.
Their minds were blank with static.
You're kidding, right???
Ozz was in Wano???
Especially for Kaido already badly wounded the realization sent a jolt of terror through his system.
He knew exactly who Ozz was.
Ozz and Oden had both been on the Oro Jackson. They were crewmates.
If Ozz, at full power, came for him now while he was injured...
He didn't stand a chance. Not even close.
No matter how much stronger he'd gotten over the years...
In this sea, no one dared claim they could match Dotor Ozz in talent.
Even if you threw in the whole Beast Pirates crew, they wouldn't be enough to fill one palm.
Damn it!!!
Why now of all times?!
Kaido's eyes were bloodshot.
"Boss Kaido, maybe... it's not as bad as we think."
King, ever the reliable right-hand man and manager of the Beast Pirates, shook off his initial panic and calmly re-evaluated the situation.
Let's start with the basics.
If Ozz had truly sided with Oden, he could've easily taken them all down just now.
But he didn't.
All he did was... shoot Queen in the ass.
Which meant...
He wasn't here for Oden.
Considering all the intel on Ozz, the so-called Black Emperor, known for roaming the world however he pleased.
"Boss Kaido, I don't think Ozz came to help Oden. If he wanted to, that was the perfect chance."
He laid out his reasoning.
And it made sense.
That was exactly the kind of guy Ozz was.
"Prepare yourselves. Something serious has entered our turf."
Kaido looked at Oden's fallen body, and finally, his pounding heart began to ease.