Sakazuki's indifferent voice echoed right beside Queen's ear. "It's been almost thirty years, hasn't it."
The way he looked at the pirate was no different from looking at a dead man.
Queen's face turned pale with fear, and his body trembled slightly. The terror Sakazuki had left in him ran too deep.
From the time he was still a researcher in MADS, when Sakazuki hunted them down and displayed that world-destroying power, to Punk Hazard, where he effortlessly crushed Kaido and captured him for experiments, and now, when he had just wiped out an entire island and slaughtered countless pirates in an instant… the fear had long been carved into his bones.
The moment Sakazuki killed Ulti, Queen had already decided to run, but everything happened too fast. From Ulti's death to Who's Who's death, it took only seconds.
Before he could even escape a thousand meters while invisible, Sakazuki had already appeared and pierced straight through his body.
Enduring the pain, Queen forced an ugly smile onto his face. "Fle… Fleet Admiral Sakazuki…"
Sakazuki gave a slight nod, but his gaze did not change in the slightest.
Seeing that, Queen's expression twisted as the will to live overcame his fear. With a crazed roar, he transformed.
Roar!
His body rapidly expanded, turning into a massive yellow brachiosaurus. Sakazuki's arm, still piercing through his chest, hung there like a small ornament against the giant body.
The brachiosaurus's left arm shifted and segmented, gleaming with cold metallic light as it reached toward him.
"Winch… Queen!"
Like the Vinsmoke family's "Winch Green," the modified arm extended, trying to grab hold of Sakazuki and tear him away.
Queen had once worked with Judge in Vegapunk's MADS research group, so he could use technology similar to the Vinsmoke family. The earlier invisibility worked on the same principle.
Sakazuki watched the mechanical dragon claw coming at him. Suddenly, magma burst out from every part of his body, swelling and enveloping him, and in an instant, he transformed into a magma giant even larger than the brachiosaurus.
He let the claw grab onto him, then seized Queen's neck and dragged him downward.
The yellow brachiosaurus struggled wildly. Although its neck was caught, it could extend endlessly. It coiled around the magma giant, tightening like a massive serpent as golden light gathered in its mouth, aimed at the giant's head.
Whoosh!
A laser beam fired out.
It exploded against the magma giant's head but failed to break through the layer of Armament Haki covering Sakazuki.
The two colossal monsters plummeted closer and closer to the ground.
Boom!!!
The earth shook violently as the magma giant crashed down on top of the brachiosaurus and raised its fist to strike.
"Blast Breath!"
Kaido's voice roared from afar as a blazing column of energy shot toward the magma giant.
The giant paused, its body darkening further under Haki. Its fist did not fall, but its grip did not loosen either.
Boom!!!
The Blast Breath slammed into Sakazuki, sending the magma giant and the tightly held brachiosaurus tumbling across the ground.
Crack, crack, crack…
Before they could even recover, the sound of mechanical parts shattering rang out.
The lava giant that Sakazuki had transformed into tore off one of the brachiosaurus's arms by force. Mechanical components flew everywhere, and after ripping it off, he crushed it instantly with outward-flowing Armament Haki.
The brachiosaurus's eyes lit up with a blinding glow as dense beams of laser fire shot toward him, bombarding the lava giant with continuous explosions in an attempt to destroy it.
Sakazuki pushed forward through the barrage. One massive hand clamped down on its face while the other grabbed its remaining arm.
Crack!
Parts shattered and scattered across the ground. The last arm was destroyed as well.
Then the lava giant seized the brachiosaurus's head with both hands. Haki spread upward as it spun its body and hurled the creature straight toward Kaido, who was rushing in.
Kaido's expression darkened. His steps paused for a split second before he flashed aside to dodge.
Boom!!!
The enormous brachiosaurus was slammed into the ground headfirst. After taking Sakazuki's piercing strike and having both arms torn off, it struggled weakly.
The lava giant stepped forward and planted its foot firmly on the writhing body. A Haki-coated hand gripped the brachiosaurus's head tightly as the giant looked at Kaido.
Sakazuki's indifferent voice sounded out. "Why dodge? Where's the courage you had when you rampaged through Allen Port?"
Kaido's dragon eyes were ferocious as he stared him down. "Let Queen go."
By now, he had calmed down. Hassaikai rested in his hands, crackling with electricity.
Perhaps the phrase "technology is the primary force" did not exist in this world yet, but all pirates had begun to sense it. Brute strength alone could not last forever. Only technology could take them further.
And in the Beasts Pirates, there was only one great scientist. Everything they had now, much of it came from Queen. If he died…
Sakazuki's voice remained cold. "Let him go? You still don't understand your position. A mere beast—"
Boom!!!
An overwhelming wave of Conqueror's Haki surged toward him.
Kaido's expression turned terrifying, his killing intent almost taking physical form.
Yet Sakazuki paid it no mind and continued calmly, "Red Hair lost his daughter. Big Mom lost her dream. You have both. So what will you lose…"
He paused for a moment, as if something had occurred to him, and a hint of mockery entered his tone. "No. You probably don't have a dream. Because the so-called dream you talk about has always been a joke.
"A creature treated as a weapon, as cargo, as an experimental beast since birth… how could you ever create a free world? Freedom? Ridiculous.
"Do you even know how you got to where you are today… You've only been controlled every step of the way. And you dare flip the table… you… think you're worthy?"
With that, the lava giant's foot pressed down slightly.
Crack!
It pierced straight through Queen's chest.
Boom!!!!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Lightning split the clouds above as the sky roared, Kaido's Conqueror's Haki clashing with Sakazuki's and making the heavens churn in unrest.
Queen was already on his last breath. Ignoring the angry Kaido, Sakazuki pressed his hand down, and his Armament Haki surged outward.
Crack!
The massive brachiosaurus was severed cleanly, head separated from body.
Boom!!!
Kaido's kanabo, wrapped in crackling lightning, smashed forward. One of the magma giant's fists met it head-on, while the other hand gripped the severed dragon head, its long neck dragging across the ground.
"You think your meeting with this fool back then was fate?"
Kaido's dragon pupils shrank. Veins bulged across his arms as he stepped forward again and again, forcing the magma giant backward with brute strength.
Faced with his furious outburst, the magma giant retreated several steps, yet showed no concern, and Sakazuki's calm voice echoed again.
"Have you ever wondered why, out of everyone, he just happened to fall right in front of you?"
Crack!
Bolts of lightning struck the magma giant one after another.
Kaido did not dare think about it. Instead, he poured even more power into his attack, pressing forward.
Sakazuki sneered. "And just so happened to know how to modify bodies, filling in those pitiful organs of yours that were burned away. Do you really think that was coincidence?"
Kaido suddenly raised his head. His aura surged once more as his dragon form twisted in fury.
"Roaring Thunder Bagua!!!"
Boom!
The island trembled violently.
At last, the magma giant seemed unable to hold together and collapsed, revealing Sakazuki within as he was blasted backward.
Kaido stomped forward and pursued immediately, appearing above the flying figure. Gripping his kanabo with both hands, he smashed it down.
Bang!
Sakazuki's body scattered into magma and merged with the ground.
With no target left, the kanabo struck the earth, blasting out a massive crater as dust and black smoke rose and swirled.
Within the smoke, a faint spark appeared before Kaido.
Sakazuki's cold voice sounded.
"Hellhound."
Rip!
A magma hound burst through the smoke, extending endlessly from his arm and slamming into Kaido's head, forcing him to stagger back.
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