Dressrosa, the King's Plateau.
War raged wildly across this island known as the Kingdom of Love and Passion.
As the executives of the Donquixote Family fell one after another, all eyes gathered on the final battlefield,
The decisive clash between Monkey D. Luffy and Donquixote Doflamingo.
"Gomu Gomu no Cannon!!!"
Luffy, in Fourth Gear: Bounce-man, unleashed fists that twisted through the air like living serpents, relentlessly pursuing Doflamingo.
"Off-White!!"
Doflamingo's face twisted viciously as massive white string shields rose from the ground.
By now, he had long lost his former composure.
That brat in the straw hat was far stronger than he had anticipated.
Combined with the fact that Water Law was lurking nearby like a predator, even with his awakened Devil Fruit powers, Doflamingo felt pressure unlike anything before.
"Damn it… damn that Straw Hat! Damn Law!!"
Rage burned within him.
He was supposed to be the mastermind of this game.
Backed by the golden mountain that was G-5, standing atop Kaido's colossal warship, profiting from both sides.
But now these ignorant brats were trying to flip the entire board over.
"As long as I stall… just stall!"
Doflamingo calculated frantically.
"That dead-fat bastard Rehn said he's on the way! Once G-5 arrives, these pirates will be trapped rats! Then…"
However, just as Doflamingo plotted how to use another's knife to kill.
Just as Luffy prepared another fierce assault.
Just as Law tightened his grip on Kikoku, searching for the opening for a fatal strike,
Suddenly, the sky over all of Dressrosa darkened.
Not from storm clouds.
Not from an eclipse.
But from a suffocating heaviness, as though even the atmosphere itself had frozen.
Descending vertically from ten thousand meters above without warning.
"Hm?!"
Luffy and Doflamingo stopped fighting simultaneously.
In that instant, both of their Observation Haki detected a "lifeform" that was absurdly massive, absurdly violent, and overflowing with chaos and destruction.
"Hey… Tra-guy…"
Still bouncing in Boundman form, Luffy stared straight upward, cold sweat running down his forehead.
"Something… feels like it's falling from the sky?"
"That's…"
Law's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
His face turned deathly pale in an instant.
As a former subordinate of Doflamingo, this aura triggered terror etched deep into his bones.
"No way… impossible…"
Even Law's voice trembled.
"Why is that monster here?!"
VOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
A horrifying shriek tore through the clouds like the scream of death itself.
The sound drowned out even the artillery fire of the battlefield, making countless people's eardrums ache.
Pebbles on the ground began bouncing against gravity.
The air became scorching hot from excessive friction.
"Is it a meteor?"
Roronoa Zoro, who had just finished defeating the executives, looked upward with confusion in his single eye.
"N-no… that's not it!!"
Usopp held a telescope with shaking hands, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"T-that's… that's… a PERSON AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!
There was no time for anyone to react.
The "object" falling from ten thousand meters smashed into the center of Dressrosa in a catastrophic impact.
Right between the SMILE factory and the King's Plateau, directly atop the bustling city district!
The earth screamed in agony.
A quake comparable to a magnitude-12 earthquake instantly swept across the entire island!
Countless buildings collapsed like paper.
The ground split open into bottomless ravines.
A gigantic mushroom cloud of dust erupted skyward, blotting out the heavens and shrouding all of Dressrosa in gray despair.
The shockwave swept outward so violently that even the Thousand Sunny at the harbor nearly capsized!
"Cough… cough cough…"
The battlefield seemed to freeze.
Marines. Pirates. Donquixote Family soldiers.
Everyone was stunned by the sudden natural disaster.
They stared blankly at the center of the dust-filled ruins, primal terror making their legs tremble uncontrollably.
Then, within the rolling smoke, a gigantic black figure, like a demon god, slowly… stood up.
"HIC-"
A thunderous drunken burp echoed clearly across the deathly silent battlefield.
Then came a voice dripping with alcohol, irritation, and supreme dominance:
"Hurts… hurts like hell…"
"My head… hurts…"
"Haven't sobered up yet…"
As the smoke gradually dispersed, the figure finally revealed itself.
Over seven meters tall.
Bare-chested.
Muscles like forged steel.
Savage dragon-scale tattoos across his left arm.
Wild black hair.
Massive oni horns protruding from his head.
A giant sake gourd hanging from his mouth.
Most terrifying of all, the aura radiating from him.
Extreme violence, savage brutality, and absolute tyranny.
Merely standing there distorted the space around him.
One of the Four Emperors.
Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates.
The strongest creature in land, sea, and air, Kaido!!!
"K-Kaido?!!!"
On the King's Plateau, Doflamingo's sunglasses were already shattered.
But his expression now was ten thousand times more horrified than when they broke.
His body stiffened.
Cold sweat instantly soaked his feather coat.
"W-why is he here?!"
"Wasn't he on Onigashima?! Why did he fall from the sky?!"
Doflamingo's brain spiraled into chaos.
He considered himself a perfect schemer, balancing smoothly between G-5 and Kaido.
But he had overlooked one thing, Kaido was an unreasonable madman.
And a violent drunk.
"Ugh…"
At the center of the ruins, Kaido shook his massive head as if trying to fling away the dizziness.
His bloodshot eyes scanned the surroundings drunkenly.
"Where… is this?"
Kaido belched drunkenly, dragging his kanabo, Hassaikai, stumbling forward.
Each step left a crater in the ground.
"Oh… I remember now…"
"This is… Joker's territory… Dressrosa…"
Kaido's voice suddenly lowered.
The haze in his eyes vanished, replaced by icy fury.
"JOKER!!!"
A roar exploded outward!
BOOM!
Conqueror's Haki burst from Kaido like a nuclear explosion!
This wave of supreme Haki was several times stronger than the clash between Luffy and Doflamingo earlier.
This was true emperor-level dominance!
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
Nearby glass shattered instantly.
Weaker fighters rolled back unconscious.
Blake-red lightning crackled through the air itself!
"Ugh!"
Luffy staggered backward under the pressure, even his Boundman bouncing slowing.
"This old guy… his Haki is insane!"
Grinding his teeth, Luffy stared warily.
"JOKER! GET OUT HERE!!"
Kaido roared at the sky, his voice filled with fury and drunken grievance:
"Where the hell are my SMILE fruits?!"
"Why hasn't this quarter's shipment reached Onigashima yet?!"
"And…"
Kaido took another massive swig of alcohol before crushing the gourd in his hand.
"Why the hell haven't you answered my calls lately?!"
"I heard you've been getting real cozy with some G-5 Marines…"
"Did you… forget about ME?!!"
That final sentence sounded almost like a bitter abandoned lover accusing an unfaithful partner,
Yet the murderous intent within it could freeze the entire New World.
Standing atop the plateau, Doflamingo felt as though someone was choking him.
He couldn't speak.
It was over.
The worst-case scenario had happened.
Recently, he really had become too arrogant.
Because he had attached himself to Renzo's power, and because he'd been busy gathering resources and Devil Fruits for G-5, his SMILE supplies to Kaido had become sloppy.
He'd ignored Kaido's calls more and more.
He assumed Kaido would at least care about business.
But he forgot, Kaido was an emotional alcoholic lunatic.
If he got upset, he truly would jump out of the sky to beat your ass personally.
"Joker…"
Kaido's drunken gaze locked perfectly onto Doflamingo atop the King's Plateau.
"Since you won't answer the phone…"
"I came to ask you myself."
"You think… just because you found yourself some Haiiroyo's backing…"
"…I wouldn't dare kill you anymore?!"
BOOM!
Kaido stomped the ground, shattering the earth.
His gigantic body launched upward like a cannonball, leaping hundreds of meters onto the King's Plateau and landing directly before Doflamingo!
It felt as though a mountain had crashed down.
"K-Kaido-sama…"
Doflamingo forced out a smile uglier than crying, veins bulging on his forehead.
"P-please hear me out… this is all a misunderstanding… there's been a small problem with the SMILE factory…"
"A misunderstanding?"
Kaido lowered his head.
His enormous face moved close to Doflamingo's, hot alcoholic breath blasting across him.
"I don't wanna hear explanations."
"I'm pissed."
"I feel like shit."
"My head hurts."
"And…"
Kaido glanced dismissively toward Luffy and Law nearby.
"So these are Straw Hat and Trafalgar?"
"These little brats… wrecked my factory?"
"Joker, you've really fallen low."
"You can't even handle little kids playing pirate games anymore? I had to come myself?"
"Hey! Big guy!"
Luffy shouted angrily at Kaido's arrogant attitude.
"I don't care who you are! I'm the one beating up Doflamingo! Don't cut in line!"
"Luffy-ya! SHUT UP!!"
Law nearly lost his soul in terror, wanting to physically cover Luffy's mouth.
That was Kaido!
The strongest creature alive!
If they provoked a Yonko on top of fighting Doflamingo, they were absolutely getting wiped out today!
"Oh?"
Kaido turned drunkenly toward Luffy.
"You wanna… beat him up?"
"Worororo!!!"
Kaido suddenly burst into roaring laughter that shook everyone's eardrums.
"Interesting! Really interesting!"
"The Worst Generation these days…"
"…are all in such a hurry to die, huh?"
Kaido raised his kanabo, Hassaikai, wrapped in terrifying purple Haki.
"Since you all wanna fight so badly…"
"I'll play with you."
"Perfect…"
"…for sobering up!"