"Boom..."
Kaidou's kanabō slammed into Yemu with unbelievable speed and force.
Blood burst into the air, and Yemu was blasted away like a cannonball. He smashed straight into the mountain behind him, bringing it down in a roaring collapse as broken rock poured down like an avalanche.
Even though the hit had clearly landed, Kaidou froze when he saw the fresh crimson blood running down his kanabō.
Because in that instant, he had sensed it clearly. Yemu could have blocked that strike with his weapon, but at the last moment, he had given up on defending and chosen to take the blow head-on with his own body.
"Why!?"
He stared at the collapsed mountain in the distance, unable to understand it at all, and went completely still.
"Cough, cough..."
Through the smoke and dust, Yemu slowly walked out, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. Yet his face actually carried a look of enjoyment.
"As expected, that move really packs a punch. It does hurt a bit. But it looks like you still haven't mastered Conqueror's Haki coating. An attack like that isn't enough to beat me."
Kaidou was completely dumbfounded.
What kind of joke is this?
He had actually taken a Raimei Hakke without even using Armament Haki.
What kind of monster was this guy?
Kaidou had always been the one others called a monster.
But at this moment, he could only give that title to Yemu.
Just then, a powerful sense of danger suddenly rose in his Observation Haki.
"It'd be rude not to return the favor. My turn now, right?"
"I haven't mastered Conqueror's Haki coating either, but this move should be worth trying."
"Tengoku: Inferno Prison Dragon Slash."
In an instant, blazing, dazzling flames surged across Tengoku, wrapped in black Armament Haki, and then Yemu brought it down in a single slash...
A massive dragon's roar rang out, and in that moment, the entire deserted island was cut cleanly in two...
...
Wano Country was a powerful nation in the New World. Because of its policy of national isolation, very few outsiders knew anything about the country.
With its formidable military force known as the samurai, even the World Government did not dare enter lightly.
In terms of terrain, Wano Country was more like an island towering high above the sea, surrounded on all sides by rushing waterfalls. There was no ordinary outer coastline to approach. To enter Wano Country, there were only two methods. One was the official route, using a specially made lift to raise an entire ship from below into the country. The other was to rely on the power of giant carp to haul a ship up the waterfall and into Wano Country directly.
Wano Country was divided into seven regions in total: six villages and Onigashima.
Although the six villages were separated by rivers and did not directly connect to one another, bridges allowed the people of Wano Country to travel between them.
Only Onigashima floated alone to the due south of Wano Country.
Two years ago, Wano's residents could still sail there by ship. But ever since the pirate crew known as the Beasts Pirates occupied the island, it had become forbidden ground for the people of Wano Country.
By any measure, Wano Country could be called the first stop in the Beasts Pirates' conquest of the world.
Strictly speaking, the Beasts Pirates had not been established for very long, only five or six years at most. So up to now, aside from the pirate underlings, Kaidou only had two companions he truly considered reliable and worthy of trust.
They were King, known as the Wildfire, who possessed the Ancient Zoan Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Pteranodon.
And Queen, known as the Plague, who possessed the Ancient Zoan Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Brachiosaurus.
As Kaidou's base in the New World, these two were naturally the best possible choices to guard the place.
In terms of personality, King preferred quiet, while Queen loved noise and excitement.
You could tell that much just from the fact that ever since the Beasts Pirates took over Onigashima, Queen had been throwing banquets every day with the underlings while King simply watched coldly from the side.
However, the usual lively banquet did not take place today.
Both King and the fun-loving Queen stood on high alert.
The reason was simple. Their boss, Kaidou, had left Onigashima today.
Ever since Kozuki Oden returned to Wano Country, the open and hidden conflicts between the Beasts Pirates and Wano's samurai had never stopped.
Although their ally, the current shogun of Wano Country, Kurozumi Orochi, had used schemes and the lives of the citizens as leverage to force Kozuki Oden to perform humiliating naked dances every day, greatly weakening the samurai who opposed him, those samurai had never truly gone quiet behind the scenes.
On top of that, Kurozumi Orochi was far from a simple puppet who obeyed orders. The situation in Wano Country remained extremely complicated for the Beasts Pirates.
Under such circumstances, Kaidou, as the captain, should not have left Wano Country so casually.
But the ability to extract Devil Fruits from Devil Fruit users was simply too tempting. For Kaidou, who dreamed of building a crew centered around Zoan-type abilities, it was an irresistible opportunity.
So after receiving the information, Kaidou had secretly left Wano Country today without anyone noticing.
Under the pitch-black night sky, at the highest point of Onigashima...
Inside a Japanese-style pavilion atop the giant skull.
King and Queen sat there, bored, gazing out at the brightly lit Wano Country in the distance.
No one else was around.
A place like this naturally belonged only to Kaidou, King, and Queen.
"It won't be long before this land belongs to our Beasts Pirates."
With a cigar clenched between his teeth, Queen looked out at Wano Country with excitement.
Whether day or night, it was a beautiful nation.
But more importantly, it possessed Seastone mines and the technology to process them.
If turned into weapons, the wealth and military strength they could gain would be enough to push the Beasts Pirates to the very top of the New World.
King wasn't one for words, but he shared the same determination to claim this country.
Ever since Kaidou rescued him from Vegapunk's laboratory ten years ago, he had come to see Kaidou as the one destined to change everything. As long as it meant helping Kaidou become the Pirate King, he would do anything.
Just as both of them sat there, each with their own thoughts but the same goal...
Suddenly, the sound of something cutting through the air and crashing down from above rang out.
Before they could react, they saw their captain, Kaidou, smash through the roof and drop from the sky, landing directly on the throne.
In that instant, both of them froze.
It wasn't his entrance that shocked them. With Kaidou's personality, this kind of thing was practically routine.
What truly stunned them was what they saw as he fell.
On Kaidou's chest, there was a fresh, crimson scar.
It definitely hadn't been there before he left.
Which meant...
"!!!!!"