"Hmmmm, you dealt with Marco so quickly?"
"Kaido, your masterpiece is a monster."
"Even I… I don't think I could have done better."
Charlotte Linlin turned around, stunned. Marco—the toughest of the enemy's vice-captains—had been dismembered in mere moments by Ragnar. His remains were skewered on a three-pointed, double-edged spear like grilled meat. The scene mirrored Kaido's earlier carnage exactly.
She stood frozen.
In the Great Pirate Era, she had clashed with the Whitebeard Pirates countless times. She knew Marco well.
As Whitebeard's right-hand man, Marco was notoriously difficult to take down.
The unreasonable regeneration of his Phoenix Flames made him nearly immortal in battle. Facing even the strongest opponents, he could hold his ground with ease.
Even for her, defeating Marco was one thing—but killing or capturing him in a short time? Impossible.
"You old hag want to compare yourself to my son?" Kaido broke his silence, suppressing his own shock with a smug grin.
If Yamato was his lifelong disappointment...
Then Ragnar was his greatest pride.
More satisfying than becoming an emperor in the New World was watching Ragnar act.
"Damn it!"
"I've spent most of my life giving birth to children, and not one of them compares to Kaido's so-called 'son.'"
"All trash."
Charlotte Linlin's wrinkled face twisted with frustration—first in disbelief, then bitterness. But she quickly composed herself as another thought surfaced.
"Ragnar... I can't compare to you."
From the deck of the Queen Mama Chanter, Katakuri witnessed everything. His sharp eyes narrowed.
He knew Marco—not just by name, but from battle.
Simply put:
He couldn't beat Marco.
And he couldn't outlast him either.
Yet the same Marco—whose strength surpassed even his—was now reduced to a frozen corpse-on-a-stick.
How could he not be shaken?
Hissss...
"That guy is a monster."
"To think Marco got chopped up like kebab..."
Cracker and the other ministers of Totto Land inhaled sharply.
From that moment on, one name rose to the very top of their "do not provoke" list:
Ragnar.
"True Lord, I'll keep an eye on him," came a voice from above.
It was King, who had just recovered from Whitebeard's earlier blow. He soared through the sky, wings beating against the wind.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yamato arrived as well, stepping skillfully through the air using Geppo, a technique she had recently learned from Aokiji and Akainu.
"No need for so much effort," she said casually.
Then she opened her mouth and shouted:
"Freezing breath!"
A blast of freezing air burst forth.
In a flash, Marco's dismembered head, limbs, and torso—still skewered on the spear—were frozen solid.
"Let's see how this bird plans to fly now."
After freezing him, Yamato clapped her hands happily, her pretty face alight with joy.
Clearly, this journey had thrilled her. She had seen the vastness of the world, participated in a war that could reshape history, and she was in high spirits.
"True Lord, aren't you going after Whitebeard?" King asked, noticing Ragnar had stopped and wasn't heading toward the Moby Dick.
"Don't worry," Ragnar said calmly. "Even if this chain isn't made of seastone, with Miss Yamato's freezing power, Marco won't be going anywhere anytime soon."
"I'll keep him secured," King promised, thinking Ragnar was still concerned about Marco.
"There's no need," Ragnar replied.
But facing King's confident words, Ragnar simply shook his head.
"Kaido, what's going on with you and your son? Both of you just standing there like statues?"
"If we don't pursue them now, Whitebeard and Red-Hair will escape!"
Before King could respond, Charlotte Linlin's furious and impatient voice rang out.
She had spent most of her life being suppressed by Whitebeard.
She had never managed to reach Raftel.
Now, finally presented with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to crush the Whitebeard Pirates, there was no way she'd let them slip through her fingers.
"Huh?"
King turned his head in confusion.
To his surprise, not only had Ragnar refrained from chasing after the Whitebeard Pirates, even Kaido himself was hovering atop his Flame Cloud—no longer closing in on the Moby Dick like before.
"No need to chase, Aunt Linlin," Ragnar spoke calmly before King could even raise his concern.
"Why?" Charlotte snapped.
"Didn't you already seriously injure Red-Hair? If Kaido and I join forces, we can take down Whitebeard!"
"With Whitebeard and Red-Hair gone, mopping up the rest of the captains will be child's play!"
From atop the thundercloud Zeus, Charlotte Linlin glared down at the retreating Moby Dick like a bloodthirsty beast, lightning crackling around her.
But even in her fury, she stopped advancing.
Because it was Ragnar who said it.
Had it been anyone else—friend, ally, even one of her own children—they would've lost their head the moment they tried to tell her to hold back.
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