BIGMOM's voice suddenly rang out, catching everyone off guard.
But when Kaidou lowered his head and saw the pink Den Den Mushi wriggling in Charlotte Amande's hand aboard the pirate ship, a trace of disdain flashed through his enormous dragon eyes.
"Old hag, if you want to stop me, come here yourself!"
"Mamamama, you brat. More than ten years have passed, and your temper is still just as unattractive to women as ever!"
At that, Kaidou's brow tightened, and a look of irritation crossed his face.
"But you seem to have gotten something wrong. I'm not here to stop you."
"Hm?!"
"Mamamama, if you can kill that brat, then kill him. If he can't even get past you, then miracles would be far too cheap. Mamamama…"
The instant he heard that, Kaidou's expression turned furious. His eyes darkened as he roared,
"Old hag, what do you mean by that…?"
But the Den Den Mushi gave no answer, only BIGMOM's excited laughter.
"Mamamama… Mamamama…"
Just then, another voice rang out across the sea.
"Let me tell you, Kaidou. What she means is that you might not be able to beat me!"
"!!!"
In an instant, everyone's attention was drawn to that voice. Kaidou's huge dragon eyes, dark with fury, locked onto Yemu on the Twin Goddesses, who had spoken those words with an easy, composed expression.
"Brat, what did you just say?"
"Didn't hear me clearly? Then I'll say it again. Right now, you might not be able to beat me. And in the future, you definitely won't either…"
"Boom!!!"
A terrifying aura erupted from Kaidou's dragon body at once, turning into a violent hurricane that blasted outward in every direction.
On the deck of the Twin Goddesses, Yemu stood in the gale and could not help but sigh inwardly.
Mythical Zoans really were absurd.
Turning into a dragon was one thing, but breathing fire, controlling wind, and flying too?
That really was enough to make anyone jealous.
Thankfully, his Mera Mera no Mi was no worse.
"Tiger, take the ship somewhere safe and wait for me!"
"Understood, Captain. Be careful!"
As soon as they finished speaking, Yemu sprang into the air and shot toward the sky.
Seeing that, Kaidou's expression darkened as he opened his dragon jaws, scorching flames gathering inside.
At the sight of it, Yemu could not help but admire it.
"That dragon form really is impressive. In that case, let me give it a try too!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yemu's body began to change, bursting into blazing flames. The fire grew fiercer and fiercer, lighting up the entire dark sea.
Then, along with a clear, resonant dragon's roar, a colossal dragon emerged from the flames. It was no smaller than Kaidou's azure dragon, and crimson fire flowed all across its body.
"Bolo Breath!"
Seeing this, Kaidou snorted in contempt and unleashed a roaring torrent of flames.
But what happened next left even Kaidou, who was still in the middle of unleashing Bolo Breath, completely stunned.
The Bolo Breath struck the fire dragon, yet instead of destroying it, the flames seemed to be absorbed by it, making the fire dragon grow even larger.
Then, the dragon extended its claws.
"Fire Dragon's Hiken…"
A massive flaming fist crashed straight into Kaidou's head.
"What?!"
Kaidou's head was knocked sideways by the blow, his entire dragon face instantly engulfed in flames.
At first, he didn't care. As a Mythical Zoan, he naturally had control over fire and a degree of immunity to it. There was no reason for him to fear being burned.
But the moment the flames actually touched him, he realized something was wrong.
"Hot… so hot…"
His enormous dragon body twisted violently in the sky as he thrashed his head, trying to shake off the flames.
It wasn't just Kaidou who was stunned. Several members of the BIGMOM Pirates were equally dumbfounded.
"Hey, this has to be a joke. That monster Kaidou is actually yelling in pain!"
"Is that really the Mera Mera no Mi?"
"That temperature isn't normal…"
Charlotte Oven, who had been thinking about comparing his Netsu Netsu no Mi with the Mera Mera no Mi, immediately abandoned the idea the moment he saw this.
"Perospero, have they started fighting?"
"Yes, Mama…"
"Use the Den Den Mushi to record everything. I want the entire battle captured…"
"Understood… Mama…"
On the deck of the Twin Goddesses, the crew was just as shocked.
"We knew the captain's Devil Fruit had changed somehow, but this is ridiculous. That level of control over fire… is this what he meant by Devil Fruit evolution?"
Tiger said, glancing at the others before turning to Enel.
"Enel, has your Goro Goro no Mi changed at all?"
Enel's expression darkened slightly as he replied,
"No."
Ever since Yemu woke up and explained that his Mera Mera no Mi had undergone changes after colliding with the Sunlight Tree Eve and absorbing some kind of energy, every Devil Fruit user in the Sky Pirates had tried the same.
But so far, aside from Yemu's Mera Mera no Mi, none of the others had reacted at all.
Their conclusion was that it likely had something to do with the fruit's own consciousness.
Yemu had made it clear that the absorption and evolution weren't his decision. It was the Mera Mera no Mi itself that initiated it.
That realization stunned everyone.
Because among all their Devil Fruits, only Yemu's seemed to have developed its own awareness.
Do Devil Fruits really have consciousness?
For Zoan types, that idea was easier to accept. After all, they were tied to animals.
But Logia and Paramecia types? That was much harder to explain.
In the end, they could only attribute it to Yemu's unique nature.
There were hints pointing in that direction.
According to Yemu, the Netsu Netsu no Mi he possessed in Tengoku also seemed to have developed a faint sense of awareness, though not as pronounced as the Mera Mera no Mi.
Perhaps the truth would only come to light once Yemu revealed his true identity.
For now, the only noticeable effect of this "consciousness" was that it allowed Yemu to wield his abilities with greater freedom and precision.
Even so, what they were seeing now was already astonishing.
Just then, in the sky, Kaidou's massive dragon body twisted as countless whirlwinds formed around him, blowing away the flames.
His durability and recovery were truly terrifying.
Even heat approaching 5,000 degrees had only caused minor burns, and those wounds visibly healed within moments.
Still, Kaidou was now genuinely enraged.
"You've got to be kidding me. I actually got burned by a fake fire dragon like you!"
Compared to Kaidou's Mythical Zoan azure dragon form, the fire dragon created by Yemu using the Mera Mera no Mi was indeed artificial. It didn't even possess a real physical body.
But what did that matter?
Facing the furious Kaidou, Yemu's fire dragon opened its jaws.
"Try my dragon breath, Kaidou!"
Flames gathered visibly within his mouth, swirling and compressing into a deep crimson sphere of heat.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Kaidou froze for a split second.
He had used Bolo Breath to defeat countless enemies and kill countless foes.
He had never imagined that one day, he would be on the receiving end of a similar attack.
And this time, he didn't dare let his guard down.
The earlier burn hadn't done much damage, but the pain was still fresh.
"This feeling… now this is exciting!"