It seemed Adrian's prediction was right.
Hours earlier, Doflamingo's crew had expected Kaido's reinforcements to arrive, but were surprised to see that only Jack had come. Doflamingo was livid. If a "calamity" like Jack was all it was needed to deal with Adrian, would the Donquixote Family be in such a pitiful state?
Does Kaido not read the news? Doflamingo thought.
But no matter how much Doflamingo complained in his heart, he didn't dare show it on his face.
"Mr. Jack," he said with a smile, "the troops you've brought may not be enough to deal with Adrian's group. Please inform Emperor Kaido and ask him to come in person."
Doflamingo was genuinely terrified of Kaido. The man was a rule-breaking lunatic who could kill him in an instant.
"Joker, you're a worthless piece of trash who can't even keep his own country in check," Jack interrupted with a sneer. "Boss Kaido is drinking away his sorrows right now. He doesn't have time for your nonsense."
Doflamingo's face darkened. Is he really that useless to Kaido? Am I even less important than drinking?
"Mr. Jack," Doflamingo continued, "Adrian is the man who killed Whitebeard head-on during the Summit War. He also has 'Demon Heir' Bullet under his command. If Emperor Kaido didn't come himself, I think…"
Doflamingo was too afraid to say "I think you'll die," knowing that Jack was a muscle-brained idiot. If he provoked him, he'd be the first to go.
"So what?" Jack glared at Doflamingo. "Are you looking down on me, kid?"
Tens of thousands of mud horses galloped past Doflamingo's heart. He was going crazy with Jack's rage. Are you even listening to me? Do I have to spell it out that Adrian can beat you to a pulp for you to understand?
"Young master, what should we do?" Gladius asked nervously. The rest of the injured Donquixote Family cadres looked just as frightened.
"Let that idiot die by himself," a sinister smirk appeared on Doflamingo's face. "But that's fine. After he's killed by that kid, Kaido will definitely come here in person. But then again, the World Government's large fleet might get here sooner."
Jack simply ignored Doflamingo's group as they fled in embarrassment. In his opinion, this kid was getting worse and worse. He decided that once he got back, he'd propose to Boss Kaido that they take over Dressrosa directly. This way, they would have an endless supply of Artificial Devil Fruits.
"Captain Jack, we're about to enter the waters near Dressrosa," Jack's confidant, reported with a panicked expression. "But it seems they've prepared for it. There are many defenders on the coast… Should we turn around?"
"Bastard, why would we turn around? Let me get closer," Jack roared.
But the expected shelling never happened.
With a cigar in his mouth, Shiryu waited for Jack's group to disembark with a smile.
"Boss Jack, those guys must have been frightened by your prestige! They don't even dare to fire their guns," a pirate said.
"Haha, I really didn't expect to dock so smoothly. I thought it would be a hassle," another added.
The pirates on the Mammoth cheered and jumped off the bow, following Jack as he walked toward Shiryu.
"Hey, you big-chinned guy over there, hurry up and tell that kid Adrian to get out here!" Jack held two scythes and said arrogantly. "Otherwise, all of you will die!"
"Damn it, you dare to call my captain by his first name?" Shiryu immediately became enraged, pulling out his sword, Raiu. "And I hate it when people call me 'big chin'!"
It's one thing when that bastard Bullet calls me 'big chin' every day, because I really can't beat him, Shiryu thought. But how stupid are you to say that to me? Do I give you too much face? If I hadn't promised the captain not to kill you, I'd chop off your head and kick it like a ball.
"Hey, you're going to fight me?" Jack said. "Little ones, kill them all!"
Jack raised his scythes and charged forward without a word. His crew also screamed and followed suit.
"It's just as the boss said. The Beast Pirates are a bunch of brainless guys," Betty said, waving the battle flag and directing the fight.
At Adrian's command, this battle was to be a test of their legion's combat adaptation. Unlike the unusual members of the Donquixote Family, the pirates behind Jack were clearly much stronger. Many of them had artificial Devil Fruit powers, but while they retained some animal characteristics, they couldn't freely transform into human and animal forms like real Zoan users, and their strength was inferior.
The two groups crashed together on the coastline like torrents.
Puff!
Blue sword light flashed.
Blood splattered all over Jack's face, leaving a horrifying wound over a meter long. But for an "Ancient Species" with thick skin, the injury was nothing.
"You piece of trash who can only use brute force, why aren't you transforming yet?" Shiryu sneered. "I'm going to chop off your tusks and send them to the captain!"
Jack was stunned, then instantly enraged. How dare these bastards covet my tusks? They're not getting out of here alive!
The strength in Jack's arms suddenly increased. His two scythes became like spinning death scythes, wildly swinging toward Shiryu. But Shiryu was incredibly agile, dodging and counterattacking with ease. The two were not far apart in strength, but Jack relied on brute force while Shiryu relied on technique, so the latter easily prevailed.
"Tsk, tsk, a piece of trash like you can be a Four Emperors' first mate? Is there no one else worthy in the Beast Pirates?" Shiryu taunted as he attacked. Adrian had ordered him to chop off Jack's two tusks, but since the brute hadn't transformed yet, he was starting to get impatient.
"Who the hell do you think I am? I'm Jack the Drought, with a bounty of 1 billion!" Jack was completely enraged. After a roar, his body suddenly grew larger, transforming into a giant mammoth the size of a hill. The wounds on his body also recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"The recovery ability of Zoan users is really something," Shiryu said with an excited look on his face, but he quickly shook his head in disgust. "But the transformed appearance is really ugly."