"Is that kid a monster?!" The members of the Golden Lion Pirate Fleet, looking down from their ship, were shocked.
Two hours had passed, and Kaido of the Beasts showed no signs of collapsing. If he fought like Raylegh or Kong, knowing when to retreat or evade, they wouldn't be so surprised. But that madman was fighting head-on, never dodging or retreating, directly confronting every one of Shiki's ultimate moves.
Aside from Alucard the Immortal, they had never seen anyone dare to fight Shiki with such a technique, and for two hours, he hadn't retreated an inch.
"Come on! Golden Lion!!!" Kaido was covered in wounds, but his excited shouts continued, and the unleashed storms churned up dust from the already fragmented island.
"Hmph!" Shiki snorted heavily, his sword-legs extending.
Alucard's eyes narrowed. Is that old madman Shiki getting excited? I told him not to injure Kaido too severely!
The golden sword energy diving from the sky almost entirely covered Kaido's vision. There was no retreat, no evasion. But it didn't matter; Kaido didn't know how to "dodge" anyway.
"Graaahhh!!" Kaido raised both hands, clenching his fists at the diving sword energy, intending to meet it directly with his steel fists.
Just as the two were about to collide, Alucard appeared between them. He then condensed a giant sword of Blacklight Virus from Kaido's fist pressure, coating it instantly with Armament Haki, and brutally chopped upwards with Kaido's fist.
Three powerful forces collided in mid-air, unleashing an extremely potent energy burst. A fierce gale raged. Approximately five seconds later, a colossal mushroom cloud slowly rose from the center of Bannila Island.
Even one of the Golden Lion Pirate Fleet's ships, floating hundreds of meters above, was flipped by the impact.
"Hmph!" Shiki grunted, stabilizing himself in mid-air. He unleashed his Haki, sweeping away the dust, and glared furiously at Alucard. "Hey! Why did you stop it?!"
"Don't forget the objective. Do you want to beat him half to death before taking him?" Alucard said indifferently.
Shiki's expression froze. Two seconds later, he foolishly rubbed his head. "Ah... my bad, I got a little too excited."
Behind Alucard, Kaido, whose body was more than ten times Alucard's size, clenched his fists. "Aren't we here for war, Immortal?!"
He and Alucard had an "old acquaintance" relationship, but both also intensely desired to kill the other.
"Indeed, we are here for war, but not between you and me." Alucard turned and walked past Kaido's shoulder. By now, the Golden Lion, controlled by Shiki's ability, was gradually descending. Alucard said to Kaido, his back to him, "Get on the ship, or do I have to knock you unconscious first?"
"...If this 'war' you speak of bores me, I'll sink you to the bottom of the sea the very next second." After pondering for a few seconds, Kaido decided to hear what Alucard's "war" was all about. It just so happened he was bored with fighting petty pirates recently.
Golden Lion's Main Hall.
"Everyone else, withdraw. I need to speak with the junior." Shiki waved his hand, dismissing all his subordinates.
In an instant, the vast main hall was left with only him, Alucard, and Kaido.
"Jihahahaha! I never thought you'd sit here and listen to an old man like me. I thought I'd have to knock you out and drag you along," Shiki said, laughing at Kaido, who was seated to his left.
"If you can do it, try again," Kaido growled, after chugging a full barrel of sake and smashing the empty barrel. Even though his fight with Shiki had sometimes put him at a disadvantage, he showed no fear.
"So noisy, Kaido. Just listen to him finish." Alucard, wearing sunglasses, said impatiently. He hadn't initially thought Kaido would agree to this strategy of using him, but after pondering for a while, realizing the mad dog's thought process was incomprehensible, he decided it was worth a shot.
Shiki, chewing on his cigar, began, "I'll explain from the beginning. Alucard and my plan is to first have you..."
"Forget it, Golden Lion."
Shiki had originally intended to tell Kaido the full plan to attack the World Government and see if he'd agree to be bait.
Initially, he thought any sane person would never agree to be bait, especially this kind of bait. But after battling Kaido for over two hours, Shiki realized this guy had no brain at all, so he decided to try explaining the plan.
However, before he could even formally begin, Alucard interrupted him.
"This mad dog won't understand proper words. Let's just get straight to the point."
Even in Kaido's presence, Alucard still mercilessly called him a "mad dog." Whether it was because he was used to being called that, or because Kaido's temper had improved, Kaido didn't immediately get angry upon hearing the title. Of course, the latter was probably impossible.
"I'm going to throw you into Marineford, Marine Headquarters." Alucard cut straight to the chase, revealing the ultimate objective. "Well? Agree or disagree?"
"What do you want to use me for?" Although Kaido wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, having fought Alucard multiple times, he had a slight understanding of him. For the straightforward Alucard to do something like this, he was definitely planning something big.
Originally, Alucard and Shiki's plan was to directly throw Kaido into Mariejois. However, considering the troublesome Marine reinforcements, and the likelihood that this madman would just fight indiscriminately, they ultimately decided it would be best to throw him into Marineford to draw the bulk of the Marine's firepower.
———————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanFiction [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are over 100 advance chapters available for you!