"Boom—!"
With a loud crash, the Queen Mama Chanter was instantly tilted, capsizing the ship and sending people flying.
Linlin's children and crew members screamed in panic.
With nowhere to go, neither up nor down, if the pirate ship fell, the consequences would be unimaginable.
But what could they do now? In this state of weightlessness, they couldn't even steady themselves.
Some weaker individuals were flung out one by one, falling into the surging waterfall. Under the terrifying force of the current, they couldn't even let out a scream.
Linlin's face changed drastically. She admitted she had underestimated this number three figure of the Beasts Pirates.
Linlin reacted quickly. As the ship tilted, she gripped the mouth of Zeus, the thundercloud, in her hand, blue-purple lightning raging.
She leaped, arriving before the carp pulling the Queen Mama Chanter.
However, before Linlin could launch an attack, her feet slipped due to the carp's slippery scales and the impact of the waterfall. She lost her footing and uncontrollably fell headfirst.
King looked at his handiwork, flapping his wings contentedly, and left.
Linlin didn't fall into the water this time.
She was not yet the Big Mom whose brain was oppressed by sweets.
As she plummeted rapidly, she released Zeus, who transformed into a thundercloud, supporting her body.
Only the Queen Mama Chanter wasn't so lucky. The ship slammed directly into the water.
Linlin almost bit through her silver teeth.
Since she first went to sea at the age of five, she had never suffered such a great loss.
No, she had never encountered anything like this since birth.
Even the giant leaders of Elbaf had been defeated by her.
Although she desperately wanted to ride Zeus and kill her way into Wano, her children were still on the pirate ship below.
Their fates were unknown.
Linlin suppressed her anger, riding the thundercloud towards the sea below…
After Bullet had eaten his fill, Noro had someone take him away to rest and recover.
Although that blood-tank said he didn't need rest, that these injuries would heal in a while.
He had encountered near-death situations on the battlefield, blah blah blah.
But under Noro's loving iron fist, with several large bumps on his head, he obediently went back to rest.
Noro had just returned to the port when he saw the returning Pteranodon. He could even sense that this kid was in a good mood.
What did he do?
Noro asked, puzzled, "King, what happened?"
King hadn't recognized Linlin, so he didn't think it was anything worth boasting about.
"Nothing happened!"
Eh?…
Hmm?…
Such familiar lines.
Noro didn't care. He had watched King grow up, so if anything major happened, it was impossible for King to hide it from him.
…
A small country in the New World.
The Moby Dick was sailing out of the port, leaving this land.
On the deck, some of Whitebeard's sons couldn't help but complain, "Pops, you're doing it again."
This small country was formerly Shiki's territory, and before that, it was an affiliated nation of the World Government.
But the domineering Shiki didn't care about any of that. This was the New World. What was the World Government thinking?
He directly hoisted his Jolly Roger and demanded that the country's Heavenly Tribute be paid directly to him.
The arm couldn't twist the thigh.
This country couldn't pay both the Heavenly Tribute and Shiki's protection money.
They could only grit their teeth and hand over the Heavenly Tribute, originally meant for the World Government, to Shiki.
But, surprisingly, it worked well.
The Marines in the New World couldn't enter freely, and if they were attacked by pirates, they couldn't effectively protect their affiliated nations.
Shiki was different. In the New World, his Jolly Roger was much more effective than the World Government's flag.
This was his marked territory. Any pirate who didn't know their place and dared to offend the Lion King's authority would be met with Shiki, that madman, dropping an entire island on them.
Although being a pirate's territory sounded bad, the benefits were real. This country had a rare few years of peace.
Until the news of Shiki's defeat by the Beasts Pirates spread across the sea, and countless pirates poured into this country, wanting to claim it for themselves.
The land was suddenly filled with the smoke of war.
Whitebeard had originally arrived with his pirate crew, intending to occupy this country.
After arriving, seeing the state of the country, he, who had grown up in war-torn lands, was moved by the sight.
He not only drove away all the pirates but also hoisted his Jolly Roger high over this land, declaring it his Whitebeard's territory from then on, to protect this country.
And it was free of charge.
Whitebeard politely refused the protection money offered by the king, telling the king to use it to rebuild their homes.
It was equivalent to making a trip for nothing, and even helping them drive away pirates.
This was also the reason for his sons' complaints.
Whitebeard laughed heartily. "Gurarararara… They're not easy. I can't do something like adding insult to injury."
Whitebeard's sons only complained verbally. They knew their Pops' character, and it was precisely because of this that they were willing to call him "Pops."
"Gurarararara… Come on, let's go to the next island, then have a feast!" Whitebeard ordered with a smile.
No matter what, they had just finished fighting. It was only right to relax.
"Oh!"
"Long live Pops!"
…
His sons cheered excitedly.
The crew soon arrived on a small island, and a bonfire slowly rose.
Everyone sang and danced, drank and ate meat, having a grand time.
Whitebeard held a large sake bowl, his face benevolent, occasionally taking a sip.
…
At the coast, on the deck of the Azure Dragon.
Kaido stood with his arms crossed, his gaze profound as he looked at the pirate ship flying Whitebeard's Jolly Roger.
Englar Alaric came before Kaido, saying in a low voice, "Captain, the Whitebeard Pirates seem to be on the island."
Kaido nodded. "I know."
How could he not recognize that Jolly Roger?
Raja also came to Kaido's side, asking, "Should we attack?"
These captains, who had always followed Kaido and Noro, were always fearless.
Especially old Englar and Raja.
In their eyes, there was no one more formidable than their two captains.
With a single command, no matter who it was, they would dare to pounce and take a bite.
Kaido's lips curled into an untamed grin.
He didn't intend to start a war with the Whitebeard Pirates. Noro wasn't here now, so starting a war wouldn't gain them any advantage.
However, he did want to meet Whitebeard.
As the saying goes: Returning home in splendid attire, yet not showing it off, is like traveling in fine clothes at night.
Of course, Kaido was uncultured. He just felt that he was awesome now.
The high seas were even comparing him to Roger and Whitebeard.
So, he, the former intern, naturally had to go and meet the number two figure from the Rocks Pirates, second only to Rocks himself.
Speaking of which, it had been a long time since they last met.
===
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