Kaido was clearly irritated.
If it had been a one-on-one fight, neither Sengoku nor Garp would have been his match.
But with the two of them working together, even Kaido found it difficult to crush them quickly.
"Kaido-san!"
At that moment, King swooped down from the sky and landed beside him.
Seeing King arrive, Kaido immediately barked an order.
"Find a way to hold one of them back!"
His kanabo crackled with Haki as he pointed forward.
"Once I take the other one down, the rest will be easy!"
"Yes."
Without hesitation, King shot forward and intercepted Sengoku.
"Damn it…"
At the same time, Zephyr kicked off the air with Moonwalk, intending to support Garp and Sengoku.
But before he could reach them—
Two figures suddenly appeared in his path.
Vergo and Who's-Who.
One was a former Marine Vice Admiral.
The other a former CP9 agent.
Both had mastered Moonwalk, allowing them to fight in midair.
Zephyr stopped, his expression turning icy.
"You two traitors…"
His voice was filled with cold fury.
"Do you really think you can stop me?"
Who's-Who snorted in annoyance.
"Traitors?"
His eyes flashed with irritation.
"I used to work for CP9."
"Others may not understand the darkness of the Marines… but do you think I don't?"
He sneered.
"Don't act like you're the righteous ones."
Zephyr snorted dismissively.
"Hmph."
"Trash will always be trash."
His gaze shifted between the two of them.
"One betrayed the Marines. The other betrayed the World Government."
"And now you've crawled into the Beasts Pirates."
His tone hardened.
"That crew really does love collecting garbage."
His eyes locked onto Vergo.
"Especially you, Vergo."
"Today… I will personally clean house."
Vergo remained calm.
"Zephyr-sensei," he replied indifferently.
"I was never truly a Marine."
"I only joined to gain power."
Those words made Zephyr's anger flare even further.
"Hmph! A scoundrel with no sense of justice!"
He clenched his fists.
"Then there's nothing more to say."
Vergo adjusted his stance.
"Agreed."
"Let our strength speak instead."
In the next instant, both Vergo and Who's-Who transformed into their Human–Beast forms.
Both possessed Cat-Cat Fruits: Tiger Models.
But Who's-Who's was an Ancient Zoan—Saber-Toothed Tiger Model.
Their auras surged as the two lunged toward Zephyr.
Meanwhile, King issued orders to the subordinates behind him.
"Sky Unit!"
His wings spread wide.
"Hold the remaining Marines back."
"If they want an aerial battle—"
King's eyes gleamed coldly.
"Then we'll give them one."
"Yes, sir!"
Soon, more than a dozen SMILE users with flight abilities soared into the sky.
They were King's personal elite.
Though their numbers were small, each possessed strength worth over 100 million Berries.
And with the advantage of flight, they formed a deadly aerial squad.
At last—
Kaido and Garp faced each other alone.
Kaido unleashed all the fury that had been building within him.
His kanabo swung wildly through the air, tearing apart the sky itself.
"Die!"
"Ragnarok!"
The massive club came crashing down like a falling mountain.
Garp roared in response.
"Bone Fist!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Kanabo and fist collided repeatedly in midair.
Black lightning from Conqueror's Haki erupted around them, striking the ground like bolts from the heavens.
The surrounding sea churned violently under the shockwaves.
Garp gritted his teeth as he endured the monstrous pressure.
During their earlier clash, he had already realized something.
Kaido's strength was terrifying.
Even in his current state, Garp knew the truth—
Perhaps even in his prime, defeating Kaido would not have been easy.
The two were blasted apart by the explosive impact, each sliding dozens of meters through the air.
Kaido grinned savagely.
"Old man…"
His eyes glowed with battle lust.
"You're already past your prime."
"You should've retired long ago."
He raised his kanabo again.
"So why are you still fighting like your life depends on it?!"
The weapon swung down once more.
A massive surge of purple Haki energy exploded from the club as it came crashing toward Garp.
Garp did not retreat even a single step.
He swung his fist forward again.
This time, the shockwave generated by his punch was even more terrifying. Though several hundred meters separated them, the moment Garp's fist collided with Kaido's descending kanabo, another violent shockwave erupted between them.
At the center of the clash, a devastating storm exploded outward.
The violent air currents swept across the battlefield like a natural disaster, forcing nearby Marine warships and pirate vessels to retreat rapidly to avoid being overturned.
"Wororororo!"
Kaido laughed wildly.
"Let's see how long you can keep up that level of attack!"
Gripping his spiked kanabo with both hands, Kaido suddenly began swinging it in rapid succession.
With every swing, a purple, club-shaped blast of Haki energy shot toward Garp, streaking across the sky like falling meteors.
Garp showed no intention of retreating.
When he was young, he had been fearless.
And even now, at his age, that spirit remained unchanged.
"Heh…"
A grin spread across his face.
"You think that kind of power is enough to defeat me?"
"Don't make me laugh!"
"Bone Fist: Meteor Shower!"
Garp's fists moved like a storm.
Each punch tore through the air, generating immense shockwaves that heated the atmosphere through sheer friction.
This time, the two titans did not clash in close combat.
Instead, they bombarded each other from afar with Haki-infused shockwaves and devastating strikes.
Every collision between Kaido's club-shaped blasts and Garp's shockwaves detonated like an explosion.
Violent winds spread outward with each impact.
Facing such a terrifying battle, both the Marines and the Beasts Pirates instinctively retreated further away.
Ordinary soldiers had become completely irrelevant here.
The Marines and pirates could only exchange cannon fire between ships.
Yet the power unleashed by Garp and Kaido dwarfed cannon shells by hundreds of times.
In the face of such overwhelming force, everyone else seemed insignificant.
Even Sengoku, watching from nearby, wore a grim expression.
If this had been the younger Garp, Sengoku wouldn't have been worried.
But Garp was now seventy-seven years old.
Could his aging body truly endure such a high-intensity battle?
"Wororororo!"
Kaido's laughter grew louder.
"As expected of the famous Hero Garp!"
"To think you can withstand so many of my attacks!"
"Come on!"
The more Kaido fought, the more excited he became.
His swings grew faster and more violent.
His goal was simple—
Defeat Garp as quickly as possible.
The Three Emperors Alliance had only just been formed with great difficulty, and already the Marines and the World Government were trying to destroy it.
If both Marco and Big Mom were killed on Cake Island, Kaido knew exactly what that would mean.
Even with all his confidence, Kaido understood one truth.
He and the Beasts Pirates alone could not take on the entire Marines—let alone the World Government.
If he wanted to realize his ambition of launching a world-shaking war, he needed powerful allies.
That was why this battle mattered.
Meanwhile, Garp clenched his teeth as he continued throwing punch after punch.
But time was beginning to take its toll.
His arms were growing heavier.
His stamina was dropping rapidly.
Still, he couldn't allow even the slightest lapse.
His fists continued to strike the air with explosive force, producing sonic booms and powerful shockwaves that hurtled toward Kaido.
Each shockwave collided with Kaido's energy blasts, canceling them out and producing violent hurricanes that spread across the sea.
The battle between the two monsters was unimaginably intense.
The booming explosions of their clashing attacks echoed across the ocean for dozens of kilometers.
Even from far away, Marines and pirates could clearly hear the thunderous impacts.
Shockwaves rippled visibly across the sky.
By now, both fleets had stopped firing their cannons entirely.
At this point, they were no longer trying to destroy each other's ships.
Instead, their priority was simply keeping their vessels stable and staying alive.
The battle between Kaido and Garp was generating violent storms that tossed the surrounding ships like toys.
Warships pitched and rolled wildly on the waves.
If not for the sailors' years of experience, both Marines and pirates would have long since been overwhelmed by seasickness.
This brutal clash continued for over ten minutes.
But in the end, age became Garp's disadvantage.
The shockwaves produced by his punches began to grow weaker.
Kaido immediately sensed the change.
A savage grin spread across his face.
Without hesitation—
He increased the intensity of his attacks.
"Garp—!"
Sengoku's expression changed drastically as he watched the situation unfold.
Without hesitation, he prepared to rush forward and support his old comrade.
But at that very moment—
King's aerial unit swooped down and intercepted him.
Although none of them could truly match Sengoku's strength, delaying him for even a few seconds would be enough.
"You're exposing your back to me, Sengoku."
King's cold voice rang out from above.
"That's a fatal mistake."
Seizing the opening, King charged forward with blazing speed, his wings slicing through the air like blades.
However, Sengoku's Observation Haki was far superior to King's.
The moment King launched his sneak attack, Sengoku sensed it.
Without even turning his head, he raised his palm and struck backward.
Clang!
Sengoku's palm collided with King's wing-blade, producing a sharp metallic sound that echoed through the sky.
King's attack had been stopped.
Yet his expression remained calm.
"As expected of the former Fleet Admiral of the Marines," King said evenly. "Your strength truly lives up to the legend."
Sengoku had just used Future Sight Observation Haki to anticipate the attack.
King knew about this ability.
Although he himself didn't possess Future Sight, his Lunarian physiology made up for that weakness.
When it came to defense, only a handful of people in the world possessed enough brute force to break through his durability.
Sengoku glared at him.
"Damn brat…"
But even as he faced King, Sengoku couldn't help glancing toward Garp.
Worry crept into his eyes.
King's voice remained cold.
"Even if it costs me my life…"
"I will not allow you to interfere with Kaido-san."
Meanwhile—
Garp finally stopped trying to clash with Kaido head-on.
Instead, he kicked off the air with Moonwalk, rapidly moving through the sky to dodge the incoming barrage of club-shaped Haki blasts.
Seeing Garp retreat, Kaido's eyes flared with battle lust.
"Don't think you're getting away, Garp!"
With a furious roar, Kaido immediately gave chase.
Garp's expression darkened.
Due to Sengoku's earlier orders, the Marines were forbidden from landing on the island and engaging the Beasts Pirates in a full-scale ground battle.
As a result, the fight had turned into a naval and aerial battle.
And that put Garp at a disadvantage.
Unlike Kaido, he couldn't fly.
His aerial mobility relied entirely on Moonwalk.
Against an ordinary opponent, that wouldn't have mattered.
But his opponent was Kaido.
A monster among monsters.
Fighting in the air meant Garp could not unleash his full strength.
And because of that—
He was slowly being pushed onto the defensive.
Watching Garp continuously evade his attacks, Kaido grew increasingly irritated.
"What's wrong, Garp?!"
His voice boomed across the battlefield.
"The great Hero of the Marines doesn't dare fight me head-on?!"
His grin turned savage.
"Where's the courage you had when you defeated Rocks?"
"Where's the guts you showed when you chased Roger across the seas?!"
With a furious swing, Kaido brought his kanabō crashing down.
Garp raised both arms to block.
The impact exploded like thunder.
The sheer force of the blow sent Garp flying through the air like a baseball struck by a bat.
BOOM!
The air burst around him.
For a moment, Garp's body plummeted toward the ocean below.
But just before hitting the water—
He kicked the air repeatedly.
Using Moonwalk, he stepped through the sky as if it were solid ground.
Each step left behind bursts of white smoke.
With a powerful backward leap, Garp finally dispersed the force of Kaido's strike and regained his balance.
But Kaido had already seized the momentum.
Without giving him a moment to breathe, Kaido lunged forward again in pursuit.
He had no intention of wasting time here.
The sooner he defeated Garp—The sooner he could break through the Marine blockade.
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