Soon, Carlo sensed Kaido's aura.
But… 'This guy still hasn't lost his ability to fight?'
In his perception, Kaido's aura was in complete disarray.
It had also grown much weaker.
Yet he was still moving.
Plunging toward deeper, farther reaches of the sea.
However, probably knowing he couldn't hold his breath for long in his current state,
This time Kaido didn't dive too deep.
After descending a few hundred meters, he sped up and shot sharply to the right.
Carlo, perfectly relaxed, followed at a leisurely pace above the surface.
Another ten-odd minutes passed.
With a splash, the pale-faced Kaido burst from the sea ahead, gasping for fresh air.
But this time the pursuit struck faster!
Two searing laser beams burned through the air, smashing precisely into his curved horns and blasting the breath-hungry Kaido back into the water.
Thus, instead of the air he craved, Kaido inhaled a huge mouthful of bitterly salty seawater!
"Gurgle—!"
His eyes rolled back from the choking.
Bloodshot spheres stared in shock.
A storm of despair, frustration, and rage churned inside him.
"Damn it!!"
'Am I, Kaido, going to die here today?'
"I won't accept it! I refuse!"
"I haven't met Rocks yet! I haven't challenged him! I haven't defeated him!"
"I haven't become the pirate overlord of the New World!"
"Damned navy brat! Damned Carlo!!"
Those chaotic feelings erupted in his fading heart.
His thoughts grew sluggish from lack of breath.
The world before his eyes darkened.
Just as Kaido went limp, his sight blank, mind empty, and began to sink toward the abyss… the seawater around him surged unnaturally!
The ocean seemed shoved by an invisible force, turning from turbulence into a mighty current.
The deep-sunk Kaido was swept up by that self-willed flow and rushed toward the surface!
Carlo, skimming the sea, suddenly beat his wings hard and rocketed upward.
The instant he left the surface behind,
A huge dome of water bulged below, hundreds of meters across.
As though a colossal Sea King were rising underneath.
"Boom!!"
The sea exploded. Eyes rolled back, Kaido was spat out like a glob of seawater.
Immediately after,
A visible ripple distorted the air beside him.
The air bulged outward, then snapped back.
Caught in that uncanny shift, the airborne Kaido was dragged downward toward a fast-approaching ship.
On the bow of that skull-flagged pirate vessel stood a tall, straight-backed man with a white crescent mustache.
One hand leaned on a huge naginata,
The other clutched empty air as if pulling on an unseen rope.
With a casual flick, the blond man caught the flying Kaido and dropped him onto the deck.
He reached into his coat and drew out a wanted poster.
Glancing at the bloodied, charred, hairless, half-drowned Kaido at his feet,
He lifted his gaze to the sky, eyeing Carlo in surprise.
"Gurararara, so he really is the Oni pirate Rocks is looking for—Barbarossa Kaido."
"Thought I'd misrecognised him."
He studied Carlo's face with interest, taking in the wings on his back.
"Tell me, who might you be?"
"You've battered the rookie Rocks values so highly; a minute later and you'd have killed him outright."
"With strength like that, boy, you can't be some nobody."
High above, spiked club in hand, Carlo regarded the blond man below.
Seeing the familiar crescent mustache and the huge naginata, he showed no shock.
He had long spotted the approaching pirate ship from his vantage in the sky.
But his eyes still blazed!
"Whitebeard—Edward Newgate!"
"Oh? You know me?" A relaxed smile curved Whitebeard's mouth.
Carlo grinned. "first division captain of the Rocks Pirates, strongest officer under Rocks, right hand of Rocks D. Xebec, Paramecia Tremor-Tremor Fruit user—the 'Earthquake Man'—your name is known across the seas. It'd be stranger if I didn't recognise you."
Whitebeard's smile faded; he snorted. "I'm no one's underling. Rocks and I are partners, nothing more."
"Enough about me. Answer the question: who are you?"
"Me?" Carlo's lips curled as he descended to hover just above the pirate ship, looking down on Whitebeard.
"Marine Headquarters Ensign Sorus Karlo!"
"A Marine? An ensign?" Whitebeard blinked.
He clearly hadn't expected that answer.
Seeing his surprise, Carlo chuckled. "Don't believe me?"
"Frankly, no."
Whitebeard glanced at the unconscious Kaido and shook his head.
"Your style's nothing like any Marine I've met. Besides…"
"I don't think a mere headquarters ensign could reduce Rocks's prized rookie to this state."
"Really? Then what if I said I know someone whose rank isn't even ensign yet who can trade blows with you—would you believe that?"
Carlo tossed Kaido's spiked club down, smashing a crater in the deck behind Whitebeard.
He himself landed from the sky,
Settling on the rail right in front of Whitebeard.
His wings shrank and vanished in an instant,
His six-metre frame shrinking to just over three, a white-haired youth.
Looking at the fearless, impossibly young boy before him, Whitebeard's eyes showed approval.
At Carlo's words he frowned in thought, then said hesitantly:
"You can't mean Zephyr? But last I heard he was a rear admiral."
"Not anymore—he's dropped back to headquarters lieutenant, rank even lower than mine," Carlo answered with a wry smile.