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Chapter 292: Stop Acting Tough, Kaido! I Could Kill You and Be an Emperor Myself!
The smoke of gunpowder dissipated. The sea breeze, carrying the suffocating stench of blood, swept across the devastated barren island.
At the bottom of the massive crater, Kaido leaned heavily on Hassaikai, gasping for air in great, heaving breaths. The dense web of sword wounds covering his body was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. This was the terrifying recovery ability of a Zoan Awakening User. Even after being nearly carved into sashimi by four Emperor-level combatants... As long as he wasn't dead, give him a little time, and this guy would be jumping around again.
"Jihahahaha!"
A burst of wild laughter, filled with mockery and triumph, drifted down from above. Shiki the Golden Lion. Looking like an old man who had just finished watching a monkey show, he floated down leisurely, stopping less than five meters in front of Kaido. He crossed his arms, his eyes—now restored with black and white pupils—filled with ridicule.
"Hey, Little Azure Dragon."
"Shouldn't you say something?"
Shiki tilted his head, his long golden hair dancing wildly in the wind.
"Like, for instance..."
"'Thank you, Lord Shiki, for saving my life'?"
"If not for my Gravity Suppression just now... If that thick skull of yours had slammed into it..."
Shiki pointed a finger toward the sky above the distant Foosha Village, where the transparent barrier had already faded. The smile on his face turned somewhat ferocious.
"You'd probably have been crushed to a pulp by that Lord already, wouldn't you?"
"You bastard..."
Kaido snapped his head up. His dragon eyes, filled with bloodshot veins, radiated a fierce light.
"What did you say?!"
"Saving my life?!"
"Wororororo!"
Kaido laughed with a deafening roar, as if he had heard the world's biggest joke.
"Don't flatter yourself, Shiki!"
"If you bastards hadn't meddled in my business!"
"I would have smashed that broken shield long ago!"
"What bullshit God!"
"What absolute defense!"
"In this world, there is nothing I cannot break!!!"
Even though he was beaten bloody. Even though he had just been rubbed into the dirt. As long as he still had a breath left. This mouth of his would never go soft! This was the Ninja Way of Kaido of the Beasts!
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Shiki shook his head, wearing a look that said 'you're hopeless.'
"Truly a frog in the well."
"Even after getting chopped up like this by that Marine woman..."
"Your mouth is still this hard."
Shiki suddenly wiped the smile from his face. A hair-raising chill instantly enveloped the entire field. That chill didn't stem from Haki. It was... the ocular power of the Mangekyo Sharingan!
Hum—!
In Shiki's eyes, the eerie windmill pattern rotated slowly. The surrounding space actually began to emit the creaking sound of being overwhelmed.
"Kaido."
"Do you really think I wouldn't dare to kill you?"
Shiki's voice was light. As light as if he were chatting with an old friend. But the hand with which Kaido gripped his iron club tightened violently in that instant!
Danger! Extreme danger!
This feeling was countless times more intense than facing Gion's blade just moments ago!
"You..."
Kaido stared dead at Shiki's eerie eyes.
This power... What the hell is it?!
"Since you want to die so badly. Then I don't mind sending you on your way."
Shiki grinned, revealing a row of ghastly white teeth. There was not a hint of joking in that smile.
"Anyway..."
"One more Emperor in this world, one less Emperor..."
"Makes no difference to me."
"If you die..."
"That seat..."
"I might just sit in it for fun!"
BOOM!!!
The moment his voice fell. A surge of energy condensed frantically in Shiki's palm! Killing intent! Naked, unabashed killing intent! The surrounding air instantly solidified to freezing point!
Red Hair and Whitebeard, who had just begun to relax, saw their expressions change once again.
Damn it! This old madman! He really wants to do it! He was breaking up the fight just a moment ago, how did he switch to murder in the blink of an eye?!
"Wait!!!"
Just at this critical juncture between life and death. A hoarse voice, punctuated by violent gasping, abruptly cut in!
Thud!
The charred black figure who had been blocking in front of Kaido... Without any hesitation... Knelt directly on one knee in front of Shiki!
"The Conflagration" King!
At this moment, the wings on his back were burnt and tattered. The bloody hole in his chest where Gion had stabbed him was still bubbling with blood. But as if he couldn't feel the pain. He lowered his head deeply!
"Lord Golden Lion!"
"Please quell your anger!"
Although King's voice was weak, it carried an unquestionable firmness.
"Just now... We were disrespectful!"
"Thank you for... your assistance!"
No matter how unwilling he was. No matter how humiliating it felt. In this moment. To keep Kaido alive, to preserve the Beasts Pirates... This proud Vice-Captain chose to bow his head!
"King!!!"
Kaido looked at King blocking him, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets.
"Who told you to kneel to this bastard?!"
"Stand up!"
"I don't need this kind of charity!!!"
"Lord Kaido!!!"
King suddenly turned his head back. In those eyes exposed outside his mask, for the first time, he revealed anger toward his own captain!
"Will you please wake up?!"
"Do you really want to die here?!"
"Die in a meaningless place like this?!"
King's voice was trembling. From urgency, and from anger!
"Have you forgotten our dream?!"
"Didn't you want to change this world?!"
"Didn't you want to build a world with no nobles, where only strength matters?!"
"Joy Boy has not appeared yet!"
"The war that will overturn the world has not yet begun!"
"If you die now... Then there really will be nothing left!!!"
King grabbed Kaido's massive arm. His fingernails dug deep into the dragon scales.
"Look around you, Lord Kaido!"
"Whitebeard! Red Hair! Even that Golden Lion!"
"Why are they here?!"
"Why are they so wary of that Foosha Village?!"
"Even..."
King pointed at Shiki's eerie eyes, then pointed at the various impossibilities displayed in the battle just now.
"That power that can make even a legend like the Golden Lion bow his head..."
"The secret that allowed him to regrow his legs and skyrocket in strength..."
"It's right there in that tavern!"
"If you miss this opportunity now because of such boring pride..."
"Then you are the true loser!"
"That would be... a betrayal to all of us who follow you!!!"
Silence.
The entire crater fell into a deathly silence. Only King's heavy breathing echoed.
On Kaido's ferocious face, expressions shifted rapidly. Anger. Unwillingness. Struggle. Finally... it transformed into a deep helplessness.
He looked at his subordinate, covered in blood yet still stubbornly protecting him. Then he looked up at the Golden Lion overhead, who wore a look of amusement. And the two other Emperors in the distance who had remained silent.
Huff—
Two streams of white steam sprayed from Kaido's nostrils. It was the sign of the tyrannical rage in his body being forcibly suppressed.
"Hmph!"
Kaido let out a heavy, cold snort. Although his eyes were still fierce. The killing intent on his body had quietly dissipated.
He shook off King's hand. Though the action was rough, it used no force.
"So noisy..."
"I don't need you to teach me about my business!"
Kaido leaned on his iron club and slowly straightened his body. In that moment. The aura belonging to an Emperor returned to him. Only this time. It had a little less madness, and a little more depth.
"Shiki."
Kaido looked up, staring dead at the Golden Lion in mid-air.
"Since you want to be the good guy. Then I'll give you this face."
"But..."
"I'm marking this account down!"
"Wait until I get that power too..."
"Then we'll settle this properly!"
This was Kaido's compromise. Although his mouth was still unforgiving. This was the biggest concession this stubborn donkey could make.
"Tch..."
Shiki curled his lip, dispersing the energy ball in his hand with a look of boredom. The Mangekyo Sharingan in his eyes also faded away.
"How boring."
"I thought I could finish you off in passing, then go show off to that old geezer Sengoku."
Shiki yawned, returning to his lazy demeanor.
"Alright, alright."
"Since you don't want to fight, then get lost."
"Don't block my path to pilgrimage."
Shiki couldn't be bothered to spare Kaido another glance. He turned directly and floated toward the direction of Foosha Village.
However, as he passed by King. He paused slightly.
"Kid."
"Those wings of yours..."
"If you don't want them anymore, you can sell them to me."
"It just so happens I've been wanting to make roast wings recently."
With that. Shiki let out a burst of neurotic, weird laughter.
"Jihahahaha!"
"Let's go!"
"Time to find Lord Blake and see if I can farm a new dungeon!"
"These eyes of mine..."
"Are already thirsty!"
Watching Shiki's receding figure. King's tense body finally relaxed completely.
Thump.
He collapsed limply onto the ground.
I won the gamble... This life... has been snatched back.
"King."
Kaido's deep voice resonated.
"Can you still walk?"
King struggled to stand, but found his legs heavy as lead.
"I apologize, Lord Kaido..."
"I..."
The next second. A large hand grabbed his shoulder. And lifted his entire body up.
Kaido didn't speak. He simply hoisted King onto his shoulder like a little chick. Then he took large strides, walking toward the village that drove all strong men mad.
"Don't die."
"That power that can make people stronger..."
"I'm going to get a portion too!"
"If even you can't compare to that old cripple..."
"Where would I put the face of the Beasts Pirates?!"
Watching this scene. Red Hair and Whitebeard exchanged a glance in the distance. Both saw a touch of complexity in each other's eyes.
This was the sea. One second, enemies fighting to the death. The next second. For a common goal, they could tacitly retract their fangs.
"We should head over too."
Whitebeard put away Murakumogiri. Those old eyes looking at Foosha Village shone with an unprecedented light.
"Let's go, sons!"
"Let's go meet that... God!"
"Yes! Pops!"
With Whitebeard's order. The strongest force on this sea finally took that step.
And Red-Haired Shanks touched the famous sword at his waist. The corner of his mouth hooked into an expectant arc.
"Blake..."
"Let me see just what kind of surprise..."
"You have prepared for this world."
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