On the exact night Ochoku officially became a Warlord of the Sea, a small, sleek vessel bearing no flag quietly docked at a hidden cove on the back of Pirate Island Hachinosu.
Several black-robed figures—clandestine agents of the World Government whom Ochoku was deeply familiar with—disembarked from the boat. The two parties met in the shadows beneath the towering Big Skull Mountain.
"Ochoku, it has been a long time. I thought we wouldn't cross paths again after our last collaboration at God Valley, but here we are," the lead black-robed figure said, his voice completely devoid of emotion.
"Hahahaha! Actually, I'm the one who's surprised!" Ochoku sneered, resting a hand on his massive sword. "I didn't expect the Five Elders to value York so highly."
The black-robed figure replied coldly, "He is also a major, existential concern for you, isn't he? For over a year, you've been looking over your shoulder, living in constant fear of his retaliation. If it weren't for the threat of the Crimson Empire, I don't think you would have requested our Admiral-level support as a special privilege when applying for the Warlord title."
Ochoku lost his playful, arrogant mood. His expression became deadly serious.
"Cut the crap. Tell me, how exactly do you plan to deal with York this time?!" Ochoku demanded. "A heads-up: he hasn't caused me any trouble in over a year and a half. I can't guarantee he'll actually seek revenge for Shakky just because my name was in the paper."
The black-robed man chuckled, a sound filled with absolute, chilling confidence, as if all the pieces on the geopolitical board were perfectly under his control.
"Do not worry, Ochoku. Even if he doesn't have an immediate plan to deal with you, we will give him an absolute reason to come to Hachinosu!" The agent pulled a scroll from his robes. "As for the specific plan..."
That night, the black-robed agents and Ochoku discussed the impending trap until nearly dawn. Before the agents departed, they personally painted a massive, five-pointed demonic summoning circle in an empty room at the top of the skull fortress.
From then on, Ochoku practically lived in that room, nervously waiting for York's arrival.
Ochoku had thought this waiting period would be agonizingly long. He didn't expect that less than half a month after the Warlord news was leaked, York would actually come knocking with apocalyptic fury.
He didn't know if this was all perfectly calculated in the World Government's plan, or if York himself was simply triggered by the information in the newspaper. But in any case, York had arrived.
Immediately following the Emperor's descent was the sudden, horrifying arrival of the Five Elders.
Ochoku had no idea that the pentagram magic circle could directly summon the highest authorities of the world. He had naively thought it was merely a beacon to summon an Admiral or that black-robed CP0 agent.
From the absolute second he saw the colossal, mythological forms of Saint Warcury and Saint Nusjuro materialize, Ochoku knew he was doomed. He was nothing but disposable bait.
Not to mention the most horrifying sight of all: Saint Saturn of the Five Elders had materialized, but he was inexplicably possessed by an even greater, unfathomable existence.
Looking out the window, Ochoku witnessed that "Great Existence" launch countless, pitch-black tentacles across the island. While York's blinding Holy Light had drained thousands of pirates into smiling mummies, the dark tentacles from Saturn violently infected the surviving pirates, mutating their bodies and transforming them into mindless, roaring demonic beasts.
Seeing the apocalyptic clash between the Sun God and the dark powers of the World Government, Ochoku knew he had absolutely no chance of survival if he stayed. Even if York was truly eliminated after the battle, the Five Elders would certainly erase Ochoku afterward to ensure no witnesses remained.
"No! I can't die here! I absolutely cannot die!!"
Ochoku muttered those resolute words, turning away from the window and sprinting down the fortress stairs to flee the island.
However, precisely at this moment, the roof of the fortress was violently torn off.
Dark thunderclouds billowed in the sky, and a colossal Azure Dragon descended from the heavens, blocking Ochoku's escape path.
"Wororororo! Ochoku! It's been a long time!!"
"Kaido?!" Ochoku's expression warped in surprise and indignation. He asked coldly, "Did York really only send you here to deal with me?!"
Kaido's massive form shifted, rapidly compressing from a full dragon into his hulking, bipedal Human-Beast Form. He unhooked the massive spiked club, Hassaikai, from his waist. Sizzling, purplish-blue electric arcs flickered violently across the black iron.
Kaido sneered, his reptilian eyes locking onto the Warlord. "Do I need anyone else to crush you?"
Seeing this, the panic in Ochoku's eyes gradually faded, replaced by the calm, lethal arrogance of a veteran pirate.
"You're overconfident, Kaido!" Ochoku drew his massive broadsword. "Don't think that just because you acquired a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, you can suddenly stand on equal footing with the senior officers of the Rocks Pirates!"
"You're just a bratty intern! Do you really think the massive gap in our age and Haki can be filled by just eating a damn fruit?!" Ochoku roared. "Let me show you the truth! All this time, I never once used my full power while sailing under Rocks!!"
As his voice fell, the solid stone ground beneath Ochoku's boots quickly became wet, sinking, and utterly muddy.
The fortress pathway, clearly paved with thick bricks and reinforced stone, dissolved instantly into a bubbling, bottomless muddy swamp. Ochoku gently touched the nearby load-bearing wall with his bare hand, and the solid stone structure completely softened, collapsing into a tidal wave of thick mud.
The suffocating swamp rapidly spread toward Kaido's feet. The heavy Oni's boots slowly began to sink into the earth, like a doomed soul being swallowed by a merciless quicksand pit.
Kaido looked down at the bubbling mud consuming his shins, then looked up at Ochoku with a raised brow.
"Devil Fruit Awakening?"
"You actually have some insight, brat!" Ochoku smiled proudly, his body beginning to drip with thick, viscous mud. "But this isn't some simple Paramecia trick. This is a Logia-type Awakening! You've never seen one before, have you?!"
"Wororororo! I'll admit, this really is the first time I've seen it," Kaido grinned ferociously, not a single trace of panic on his monstrous face.
A sharp hint of intense displeasure flashed in Ochoku's eyes. He despised Kaido's calm, mocking demeanor. This was a Devil Fruit Awakening! And a Logia-type Awakening at that—the absolute pinnacle of Devil Fruit mastery! Yet this arrogant kid was smiling?!
"Die!"
Ochoku's physical body completely liquefied into mud, instantly collapsing and plunging into the massive swamp that the entire fortress ground had become.
The next second, Ochoku's voice echoed ominously from all directions, vibrating through the very earth itself.
"Kaido, you still don't understand, do you?! A Logia-type Awakening doesn't just affect the user; it permanently alters the natural environment of an entire area! And as the corresponding Devil Fruit user... my true body and my abilities are now omnipresent here!!"
The muddy ground, which had melted outward to a massive range of several hundred meters, suddenly churned violently like boiling water.
The next second, the entire swamp rose up, transforming into an apocalyptic tsunami of heavy mud. Giant waves, tens of meters high, blotted out the sky and crashed down towards Kaido to crush and suffocate him.
Kaido's expression remained terrifyingly calm.
He planted his feet in the sinking mud and took a massive, deep breath, his chest expanding and his cheeks puffing out sharply.
"Boro Breath!!"
With a muffled, draconic roar, a massive, apocalyptic torrent of superheated dragon flame spewed from his jaws, blasting directly into the tens-of-meters-high mud tsunami and instantly incinerating a massive, gaping hole through the wave.
"It's useless!"
Ochoku's face miraculously formed on the surface of the remaining mud wave, sneering down at him. "Here, I am nature!! Your elemental abilities not only can't harm my true body, they have absolutely no effect on my control over the swamp!!"
"Ragnaraku!!" (Conqueror of Three Worlds: Ragnarok)
Kaido had absolutely no interest in further idle chatter. He directly imbued Hassaikai with advanced Supreme King (Haoshoku) Haki.
Terrifying, jagged trails of black-and-red lightning mixed with purplish-blue electricity wrapped violently around the spiked club. The muscles in Kaido's legs—which were already submerged up to his knees—bulged, simultaneously erupting with a massive burst of lightning and kinetic force.
The wet mud gripping his legs was instantly flash-vaporized. The cracked earth beneath the swamp exploded, and Kaido shot forward like a literal flash of dark lightning, instantly appearing directly behind the crest of the mud tsunami.
He swung the Haki-drenched club with apocalyptic force.
BOOM!!!
The massive mud wave behind Kaido exploded like a wet firework. Black, red, and purple lightning violently weaved through the raining mud, forming a terrifying curtain of thunder that shredded the swamp.
"I already told you, it's completely useless! Your Haki is useless against me!!"
Ochoku's mocking voice echoed again from a completely different puddle of mud. He seemed to have truly transformed into the concept of nature itself; he was omnipresent, and Kaido's devastating, Haki-infused strike had somehow not hit his true physical body at all.
Kaido landed heavily, his boots splashing in the reforming swamp. He couldn't help but frown slightly.
'My Observation Haki can't perceive his true body anymore?' Kaido thought, his reptilian eyes sweeping the bubbling landscape.
He hadn't expected a Logia-type Awakening to be so uniquely elusive. Just a moment ago, his Observation Haki had clearly perceived Ochoku's presence inside the wave. His Hassaikai should have absolutely crushed Ochoku's physical form. But there was no sensation of hitting flesh or bone, and Ochoku's presence hadn't diminished in the slightest.
'Could it be...' Kaido tightened his grip on his club, rain and mud pouring down around him. 'Could it be that a Logia-type Awakening truly means completely assimilating and transforming into nature itself?!'
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