...
"Momo, what are you dawdling for! Fly already!!"
Luffy's voice at this moment replaced Yamato's memories, appearing on the light screen. The scene shifted—right now the two still hadn't set off and were still lingering in the same spot.
Watching Onigashima gradually recede into the distance, Luffy was truly dying of anxiety. That island, crawling with monsters, burning with the flames of war, and bearing blood and tears, was heading toward the Flower Capital.
Everyone was fighting desperately up there. Luffy's sharp intuition could even sense his comrades' shouts…
The aftershocks of battle came through the clouds, sounding like muffled thunder, like an earthquake, and even more like countless hearts beating at the same time.
But at this critical moment, the pink giant dragon beneath Luffy's feet still couldn't overcome the hurdle in its heart…
Right now Momonosuke was sprawled on the ground, his limbs as if nailed in place. His dragon body was stiffly spread out but didn't dare to move.
His dragon pupils were wide open, pupils violently contracting…
He was having another bout of acrophobia.
This "shogun of Wano Country" who had just instantly grown from eight years old to a sturdy young man, this newly awakened "artificial Azure Dragon," this body carrying all the hopes of the Kozuki family…
At this moment it was like a dried salted fish, completely motionless.
"Fly already!"
Luffy was so anxious he stomped on the dragon's head: "Onigashima's about to disappear!"
"This one… this one… this one is psyching himself up!"
Momonosuke's voice squeezed out from the dragon's mouth, even carrying a hint of crying: "Fine, I give up! I can't do it! It's too scary! I'm afraid I'll fall!!"
"You're a dragon now! How could a dragon fall!!"
"But in my heart I'm still that eight-year-old kid!!"
Hearing Momonosuke's excuse, Luffy was silent for half a second. Then he took a deep breath…
"Momo!!!"
"Think of Kin'emon! Think of those samurai of Wano Country! Think of Wano Country!"
Hearing Luffy's words, Momonosuke's dragon body trembled. It seemed that at this critical moment, it still had to be Luffy guiding Momonosuke in using this power…
"They're all waiting for you to fight! You're lying here right now—who can you face!!"
Momonosuke closed his eyes and silently waged an internal struggle…
"Fine!"
"I'll go all out! Let's charge!"
Momonosuke suddenly snapped his eyes open. Immediately after he let out a loud shout, and his dragon body finally began to move!
The first flap was crooked and unsteady.
The second flap, he barely steadied himself.
The third flap…
The pink giant dragon shot into the sky like an arrow released from a bow!
Except he kept his eyes tightly shut the entire time.
"Left! Left! Not that way!"
Luffy's commands scattered in the wind. Momonosuke's flight path was like a wavy line drawn by a drunkard—sometimes tilting left, sometimes diving right, occasionally spinning in a random circle for no reason.
Momonosuke's eyes were tightly closed, but his eyelids kept twitching nonstop. He was completely relying on his ears to catch Luffy's voice to adjust direction.
But Luffy's voice in the sea wind was sometimes far, sometimes near, sometimes left, sometimes right…
"No no! That's the right side!"
"Which… which… which way?!"
"Up! Up!"
"Which way is up aaaah!!!"
Just like that, the pink giant dragon with its eyes closed, carrying an anxious Straw Hat boy who was jumping in place, plunged headfirst into the interior of Onigashima in a completely out-of-control manner.
At this moment in the banquet hall.
The battle was raging.
Queen's mechanical arm had just sent two samurai flying. Sanji's Hell's Memories had just kicked in and shattered a warden's jaw. Leopard Goro had just used Ryou to repel a wave of attackers…
Marco's blue flames had just healed a row of wounds…
Right then the ceiling exploded.
It wasn't a "boom" that blew open—it was a "crash" as something forcefully smashed a huge hole through it.
Rubble rained down, smoke and dust billowed.
Everyone stopped moving.
Queen's mechanical arm froze in midair. Sanji's foot hovered three inches above the ground. Leopard Goro's fist locked in place…
In the smoke and dust, a massive silhouette slowly appeared.
"A dragon?"
"A pink dragon!"
"And there's a person standing on its head!?"
"A straw hat?"
...
One Beast Pirates member's mouth fell open, his voice sounding like it was squeezed from the depths of his throat: "Is that Lord Kaido?!"
"No!"
The person next to him slapped the back of his head: "The color's wrong! Lord Kaido is blue!"
"Then who is it?!"
"Did Lord Kaido get drunk again?!"
"Look! There's someone on its head! It's the Straw Hat kid!"
That sentence exploded in the banquet hall like a bomb.
Everyone's gazes simultaneously shifted upward, focusing on that boy grabbing onto the dragon horn, looking dizzy and disoriented…
Sanji's cigarette slipped from the corner of his mouth.
"That dragon…" His voice was hoarse as he curiously watched the giant dragon that had shot into the sky. "Could it be…"
"Lord Momonosuke?!"
Kawamatsu's voice was almost breaking.
This kappa samurai who had always protected the Kozuki family now had weak legs and nearly fell to his knees.
Marco stared blankly at that pink giant dragon, at that dragon face that was exactly like Kaido's yet completely different in color. He hadn't known there were two dragons in this world…
"How could there be two dragons!!"
Queen's shriek broke the brief silence.
His mechanical arm pointed at the pink giant dragon, fingers trembling.
As one of the Beast Pirates' "All-Stars," he definitely didn't believe something like this, yet the dragon before his eyes was so real.
Momonosuke didn't hear any of these discussions. He still had his eyes closed, his dragon body stiff as a rock.
There was only one person whose gaze passed over the rampaging giant dragon and firmly locked onto the person between the dragon horns.
Zoro.
His body was wrapped in bandages, blood continuously seeping from deep wounds, but the corners of his mouth were smiling—because that person had returned!
"Luffy…"
His voice was very soft, soft enough that only he could hear it.
But at this moment, the slight upward curve at the corners of his mouth was clearer than any words.
Without giving everyone more time to react, Momonosuke's dragon body rampaged through the banquet hall like an out-of-control pink meteor.
He didn't know where he was flying, didn't know what was ahead, and didn't even know he had already charged into the interior of Onigashima!
He only knew to charge forward with his eyes closed.
Then…
"Bang!!!"
He crashed headfirst into a tower. Rubble collapsed, wooden beams snapped, and the entire tower trembled.
"What the hell are you doing, Momo!!"
Luffy grabbed the dragon horn, barely steadying himself amid the violent shaking.
Momonosuke finally opened his eyes. His dragon pupils were full of spinning dizzy circles, and his head felt like countless bees were buzzing inside.
He had no idea what had just happened to him. He only knew the world was spinning and everything was shaking.
"This one… this one… this one feels a bit dizzy!"
"Whatever!"
Luffy cut him off and looked upward, sensing the violent Conqueror's Haki Kaido was releasing. His eyes were full of fighting spirit, and the corners of his mouth curved into a smile: "This works too! Charge straight up in one go!"
Although the route was wildly off, although the process was a bit twisted, although that crash just now had nearly sent both of them flying…
But heaven rewards the diligent. Luffy keenly sensed that Momonosuke's current flight direction was precisely toward the top floor!
That direction was exactly where Kaido was.
"Momo, charge upward! Don't stop!"
"Up… upward?!"
"Yeah! Upward!!!"
Momonosuke gritted his teeth.
He was still afraid. He still wanted to close his eyes.
But he heard Luffy's voice. He heard that voice that would never give up.
So he moved his body and continued charging.
The middle levels of Onigashima.
Big Mom's battle against Kid and Law was still ongoing.
"Mam-ma-ma-ma! Annoying little brats!"
Big Mom's Emperor Sword swept across, cutting the metal giant Kid had just assembled in half at the waist.
Kid wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his mechanical arm frantically reassembling.
Law gripped Kikoku tightly. The cooldown on his Op-Op Fruit hadn't ended yet.
Both of their breathing had become heavy. At this critical moment…
A pink streak of light whistled past from their side.
"Hm?!"
Kid abruptly turned his head.
He only saw a massive pink dragon tail sweep past in front of him, and on the dragon's head—that figure he was all too familiar with.
"The Straw Hat boss!"
"Straw Hat?"
Law's voice rang out almost at the same time as Kid's. The two exchanged glances, their eyes full of disbelief.
Big Mom also froze.
"Straw Hat kid?! Kaido?"
Her pupils suddenly contracted. That brat she had thought would definitely die after falling into the sea was now standing alive right in front of her…
And a pink giant dragon exactly like Kaido's was roaring past right before her eyes!
"How are you still alive, Straw Hat kid? Kaido, what the hell are you doing!"
Before Big Mom could finish speaking, Momonosuke had already charged past, leaving only a gust of wind behind.
Kid was silent for a second.
Then he laughed.
It was the kind of laugh that was fierce yet incomparably carefree.
"That idiot…"
He didn't finish, but Law understood what he wanted to say.
That idiot was still alive. That idiot obviously referred to Luffy.
Luffy really hadn't died. He had returned. The samurai below also gradually reacted. When they saw Luffy return, they were all overjoyed and their morale surged once more!
The dome of Onigashima.
Kaido's kanabo and Yamato's kanabo clashed once again. Father and daughter's figures retreated at the same time, plowing two deep grooves into the rubble.
Yamato had already exited her Ōkuchi no Makami form.
Her breathing was heavy. Every movement from the wounds all over her body made her grit her teeth.
But she still stood, still gripped her kanabo tightly, still blocked Kaido's path. Kaido had also returned to human form at this moment, exiting his dragon-man form…
Not because he was tired, but because he wanted to tell his daughter in this way: even without using dragon form, you still can't beat me.
"It's so noisy down there… Is that Linlin? That old hag of yours is really something. Looks like after this is over, I'll have to redecorate the castle again!"
"Are you going to keep going?"
Kaido's voice held no emotion. He blamed the chaos caused by Luffy and Momonosuke's reckless rampage on Big Mom, but his expression didn't change much…
Whatever. He could rebuild anyway!
"Until I fall." Yamato's voice was equally calm.
She didn't know if it was because she was too weak and her reactions had become dull, but Yamato completely failed to notice Momonosuke and Luffy charging out from behind her…
But she didn't notice. Kaido, however, could see everything clearly from his position.
His gaze fell on the pink light point growing larger and larger behind Yamato. Looking at that dragon in the distance, he was also very surprised.
"What the hell is that thing?"
Kaido grumbled inwardly, but right now he wanted to deal with things one by one. First was to beat down this unfilial child of his!
"Kaido's over there! Momo, let's charge over!"
Luffy's voice passed through the howling wind and clearly reached Momonosuke's ears. Hearing that Kaido was over there, Momonosuke's eyes instantly opened wide, filled with resolve!
His pupils reflected that monster who had dominated Wano Country for years.
"AAAAAAAH——!!!"
He roared. His body flapped with all its strength. The pink figure shot toward Kaido like a comet!
"White Snake Drive!"
Yamato's kanabo, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki and cold currents, smashed toward Kaido from the front!
"Gomu Gomu no Daija Cannon!"
Luffy stood on Momonosuke's head and instantly gathered Haki, entering Gear Fourth: Snake Man form. His rubber fist shot out like a cannonball!
Kaido's pupils contracted sharply. He wanted to dodge, but after experiencing so many rounds of battle, his battle-hardened body suddenly went soft. That split-second opening meant he couldn't avoid this wave of attacks!
"Bang!!!"
Two forces struck at the same time.
Yamato's kanabo slammed hard into his face. Luffy's fist also smashed into his face. That force even made Kaido feel somewhat overwhelmed.
Kaido's body flew out like a cannonball, plowing a dozens-of-meters-long groove through the rubble before finally crashing into a pile of broken stones.
Blood sprayed from the corner of his mouth and splattered on the ground.
There were dozens of meters of rubble between Luffy and Yamato, but for the Snake Man Luffy at this moment, that distance was nothing more than the blink of an eye.
In Gear Fourth: Snake Man form, his body took on a strangely streamlined beauty!
This wasn't the bloated swelling of a rubber man—it was the lean sharpness unique to a hunter.
Steaming vapor rose from the surface of his skin!
Attack and speed were both maxed out. This was the most terrifying aspect of Snake Man form!
It wasn't overwhelming power—it was the ultimate in speed.
Every punch was like a viper flicking its tongue, so fast the trajectory was invisible. Every slide was like a snake moving through grass—silent yet everywhere at once.
So at the exact same instant Yamato's kanabo struck Kaido's face and sent that Yonko flying, Luffy's fist also arrived.
Yamato panted heavily, gripping her kanabo tightly. She didn't immediately pursue. Instead, she finally sensed something and slowly turned her head…
Then she froze.
The pink giant dragon coiled in midair. Its scales gleamed with a warm luster amid the smoke and dust. Its dragon pupils reflected the direction Kaido had been sent flying.
And on the dragon's head, that straw hat was being blown about by the wind!
When she saw that familiar face and those eyes brighter than ever before, Yamato was overjoyed!
"Luffy…!"
The joyful voice squeezed out from the depths of her throat.
Luffy instantly canceled Gear Fourth form. The steam dissipated and his body returned to normal, the entire person shrinking like a deflated balloon…
He grinned and thanked Yamato for holding off Kaido in his absence so he wouldn't go harm his comrades in the banquet hall.
Luffy looked at the white-haired girl before him, at the scars all over her body from fighting Kaido, at those eyes that were clearly holding back tears yet still stubborn.
He remembered the first time they met—this strange woman who called herself "Kozuki Oden," wearing a mask, swinging a kanabo, and saying things he completely didn't understand.
Back then he thought she was annoying, inexplicable, and a waste of time.
But now Luffy already considered Yamato his friend…
Outside the light screen, watching his own child send him flying, the young Kaido's heart was truly filled with mixed emotions!
Roger's child wasn't like Roger. Rocks' child wasn't like Rocks. Dragon's child wasn't like Dragon. His child wasn't like himself…
This strange feeling was really quite something. At the very least, Kaido now felt that being this "father" was truly quite a failure.
...