At that thought, Doflamingo, who had already fled far away, steered Thundercloud Zeus in an arc and charged back toward Kaido.
Kaido was thoroughly drunk. Even when chasing Doflamingo, he had been lurching wildly in every direction, and the distance between them had widened considerably.
If Doflamingo had wanted to escape, he could have left long ago. In fact, throughout the entire Beasts Pirates, only King might have been able to catch him. That was why Doflamingo had crippled him ahead of time.
As for Kaido's Azure Dragon Fruit, it had never been known for flight speed. The Azure Dragon's so-called flight used clouds to support its body. Rather than riding clouds and mist, it was more like climbing clouds.
It was only because Kaido was so powerful that, if he had not been drunk, even with that cloud-climbing technique, Doflamingo probably would have struggled to outrun him.
As he drew close to Kaido, an eerie light flickered in Doflamingo's eyes. Powerful illusion-based Mental Energy flowed from them, entered through Kaido's eyes, and poured into his brain.
In an instant, Kaido seemed to return to the battlefield of that day. Before him stood Kozuki Oden and the Nine Red Scabbards, joining forces to besiege him.
"Roar!" Amid his furious bellow, the Azure Dragon rolled through the air and spewed terrifying Heat Breath from its mouth, blasting it toward the Beasts Pirates' camp in the Flower Capital.
"Aah! Lord Kaido, it's us!"
"This is bad! Lord Kaido is drunk! Everyone, run!"
"Help! I don't want to die!"
Caught completely off guard by Kaido's terrifying Heat Breath, the Beasts Pirates suffered grievous losses. More than a dozen pirates were reduced to ash on the spot, while even more suffered severe injuries.
"Lord Kaido, why now...?" A shocked expression appeared on King's face.