Upon seeing the scene before him clearly, his eyes widened round with astonishment.
Under the moonlight.
A pink-haired lady wearing a cowboy hat was lazily leaning against the balcony railings, slender and elegant, her features as picturesque as a painting, holding a half-eaten cake in her hand.
"Lin... Lingling??"
Kaido couldn't even speak properly, stammering, "Weren't you, how, how could you..."
"Mwahahaha! What, surprised to see an old friend back from the dead? Don't forget, I'm a Fruit Ability User who has deciphered the secrets of the soul with the Hollow-Hollow Fruit!"
The pink-haired lady, the younger version of Charlotte Lingling, chuckled as she stuffed the last bite of cake into her mouth, casually wiped off the cream from the corner of her lips, jumped off the railings, and strode forward.
"That sort of thing doesn't matter."
She looked down at Kaido, chuckling:
"More importantly, hey, Kaido, you actually have such a downcast time, hiding here to secretly cry? For whom? Me?"
"Don't flatter yourself!"
Kaido turned his face away, snorted coldly, "I'm just sulking, the dignified Four Emperors, being defeated so easily by a mere junior brat, huh, ridiculous..."
Before he finished speaking, his cheek was suddenly pinched hard by a slender, fair hand.
"Ouch ouch ouch! Take it easy, Lingling!"
"So dishonest."
Charlotte Lingling shook her head speechlessly, "I'll temporarily accept that concern, but there's really no need to take it to heart. As Pirates, being defeated like this isn't that normal?"
Normal?
Kaido looked up in shock, what part of it was normal?
"Forget how you got here after being Four Emperors for so long?"
Lingling pointed to the distance, "I ask you, what is that?"
Kaido looked towards the outside of the balcony, somewhat puzzled, but still frowned and answered, "The ocean?"
"Yeah, the ocean!"
Lingling grinned, "It's the ocean we've always wanted to conquer! It's the ocean that tolerates all dreams, all victories and failures, all ambitions!"
"To conquer it, no cost is too high, and precisely because of this, it seems so alluring and mesmerizing!"
"Back then, we stepped on the dreams of countless people to climb to the peak of this ocean; now, time has passed, and someone wants to step on us to realize their ambitions, isn't that normal?"
"Lingling..."
Kaido looked at her enthusiastic appearance, momentarily dazed.
Finally, he lowered his head in silence.
"Hmm? Still not understood? Hey, Kaido, when did you become so wishy-washy?"
Lingling dissatisfiedly nudged Kaido's shoulder, so forceful that his burly frame trembled:
"Even if you die, so what? You think I'd disappear forever over one defeat? Too naive! As long as this ocean keeps surging, the juniors' stories continue, our legends won't end!"
"What, you think I'd be unwilling? Harbor hatred?"
Lingling bared her teeth in a brazen laugh:
"Mwahahaha! What a joke! To be killed by a worthy opponent during your prime, that's simply a perfect curtain call for a Pirate!"
She opened her arms, as if to embrace the entire night sky, "Compared to inexplicably dying old in bed or falling into the ocean, clearly such an end is worthy of the name 'BIGMOM', right!"
"So set aside my affairs, get excited, Kaido! This ocean has finally produced monsters that can truly threaten us, that can kill us! How long has it been since you felt that thrill?"
The night wind ruffled the ribbon of her cowboy hat, also brushing past Kaido's face, sobering him up considerably, staring dazedly at the slender silhouette before him.
"Lingling." Kaido closed his eyes, then opened them, speaking earnestly, "Thank you."
"Oh?"
Lingling turned her head, revealing a smile:
"Did you listen? Good to hear, anyhow, pour everything into fighting, idiot, while you're still at your peak, while your fists can still swing..."
"Either personally end that brat, tell him it's still your era! Or... become, like me, a grand foundation under his throne! Either way, it's worth this life!"
Her figure gradually blurred, became ethereal, her voice and laughter also fading away.
Kaido instinctively reached out, trying to grasp Lingling's wrist, but caught nothing.
He only caught a handful of moonlight.
Faintly, it seemed there were voices of conversation emerging from that night.
"Yikes~ what an ugly brat! Newgate! What are you doing, bringing such a thing onto the ship?"
"Hmm? Just call me Lingling? So impolite, stinking brat, you should call me sister!"
"Divine Valley... besides that Shakky, there's a lot of top Devil Fruits as prizes?"
"Hey! Lingling, you haven't forgotten that fruit you promised me, right?"
"Relax, relax, keep it, no one will snatch it, ignorant little kid..."
"Nonsense, Rocks is dead, naturally everyone will disperse, so... brat, from here on, we part and go our own ways, huh?"
Kaido's actions froze, only after a long while did he lift his head to look around, gazing at the empty balcony.
The past has departed, only the distant waves crashing against the Ghost Island's reefs, producing bursts of commotion.
"Gone?"
He suddenly laughed loudly, casually tearing open his front chest, revealing a scar-covered torso, grabbing a jar of wine, smashing open the sealing wax, and continued to drink heartily.
Finally gone!