A night passed, and Teach was still training when he suddenly lifted his head and looked toward the sky outside. "They're here," he murmured to himself.
"Hm? Who's here, Boss Teach?" Mobius had woken up and looked puzzled by what Teach had said.
"Mm!" Pito suddenly shuddered in her sleep, as if she had sensed something terrifying. She jolted awake and looked outside. "S-scary!" she said, fear in her eyes. She jumped out of bed and ran to Teach's side. Only then did she calm down; she felt safe beside him.
Teach gently patted her head, brushing her naturally white, wavy short hair. "It's okay. They're not coming for us."
"Boss, what's going on? It feels like I'm the only one who doesn't know," Mobius asked. Even Pito had sensed it.
"Just wait. Look out the window, and you'll find out soon enough," Teach said with a smile. He hadn't told Mobius about his plans. Mobius wasn't at a level where he could get involved in something like this.
They looked out the window. Before long, the sky changed and darkened. A gust of wind swept through as clouds gathered overhead. When they looked up, flashes of lightning flickered and vanished within the clouds.
Everyone in the royal city turned to look at the sky, some even stepping out into the streets. They were curious, but most of all they feared the unknown. What was happening? Weather this eerie had never occurred before.
Suddenly, a scream rang out. Nearly everyone in the royal city shuddered, and many cried out in fright.
Mobius's eyes widened, his mouth hanging open as if he could fit a basketball inside. "Th-this is...?" He recognized it and turned to Teach for confirmation. "That's right. Kaido. Kaido of the Beasts."
He was the mightiest Great Pirate below the legends, renowned across the seas for his nearly immortal body.
Between the thick clouds, a blue dragon's head emerged. Everyone was terrified.
But that was only the head. The divine dragon's body gradually appeared, fully revealed to everyone in the royal city. Hundreds, perhaps nearly a thousand meters long, the massive blue dragon coiled above the city.
Shock and fear seized the people. "Hey! That's terrifying! What kind of power is that?" Mobius swallowed hard. "Gulp!" Struggling to contain his shock, he turned to Teach.
"Zehahaha! Scared, huh? I've only seen him like that a few times myself!" Teach laughed. Mobius's reaction was just what he'd expected. Then he explained, "Zoan, Mythical Zoan: Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon."
Back when they were aboard the Moby Dick, Kaido had often come to challenge Pops, roughly once every few months. But he always fought in human form. He had only appeared in his Azure Dragon form in the sky when visiting them. Teach could see that Kaido's Azure Dragon form was bigger and longer than before. That meant Kaido had grown even stronger.
"So this is a Mythical Zoan—a creature that exists only in fantasy," Mobius said, unable to keep the longing out of his voice.
"Wh-what kind of monster is that?"
"That's ridiculous! How can a creature like that exist?"
"Isn't that something from mythology?"
Kaido had barely moved, yet his appearance had thrown the whole royal city into chaos. The tamed pets were even more frantic, overcome with fear. It was an innate suppression between different levels of life, and they seemed ready to submit.
Pets ran amok through every street and alley. The venomous snakes and beasts were worse still: they broke free of control and began killing people at random. Many died beneath their claws.
"Is that a dragon?" Inside the palace, Prince Laimer knew better than to mistake it for an ordinary creature. He recognized it as a powerful warrior and couldn't help feeling ridiculous. In front of such a terrifying foe, his title of Dragon King felt like a cruel joke.
He could clearly sense that this warrior was far stronger than his father—far stronger.
There were even more beasts in the palace than elsewhere, but most had already lost control. After spending so much time around them, he had gradually learned to sense their emotions: fear and terror.
Kaido's gaze fell directly on the palace. Looking down from above, he spotted King Brady, whose presence was the strongest, as well as the Beast Kingdom inside the palace. Brady had tamed all of those beasts—thousands of them. Kaido's presence did exert some innate suppression over beasts, but these were only slightly affected. They were full of fighting spirit because they had submitted to Brady willingly, not been controlled.
Kaido saw all of this, and it made him even warier of Brady's ability. He recalled that Brady's power could tame Zoan Devil Fruit users, and grew more cautious.
Seeing the beasts and the thousands of black-armored guards inside the royal city, all radiating powerful auras on par with the subordinates who trained alongside his own beasts, Kaido knew he had made the right choice by not bringing his men.
He said nothing. He had already made up his mind, and attacked at once. "Dragon Breath!" Kaido's voice rang across the heavens and earth, announcing the start of the war. The dragon opened its fearsome jaws and sucked in a huge breath. Powerful air pressure and gusts of wind seemed to be drawn into its belly as a dense, crimson-gold energy gathered.
"Not good! Run!" The people inside the palace paled. They could sense the terrifying power of the attack from afar. The beasts had even sharper senses. Sensing the danger, they fled in every direction.
The others tried to escape, but it was already too late. Scorching Dragon Breath descended from the sky. The palace was vast, and the blast shot straight toward its depths. A powerful shockwave spread in all directions. One palace after another was struck, collapsed, and burned to ash.
The Dragon Breath fell straight from the sky like a meteor, right before the eyes of the entire city. Its terrifying power stunned everyone. The royal city stood on high ground, and from a distance, a third of the palace buildings had collapsed. At the blast's epicenter, everything was charred black, even the buildings melted.
The whole city fell silent. "Kaido, what are you doing here? Are you challenging the Kate Kingdom?" King Brady flipped a pillar aside amid the ruins. It crashed to the ground with a bang, kicking up a cloud of dust.
He looked battered, his clothes torn and blackened, but he was unharmed. Kaido's Dragon Breath had a wide range and appeared powerful, but it wasn't enough against a warrior like him, who had mastered Haki.
Brady roared, clearly furious. He looked at the ruins all around him. This was an insult to him. He had returned from the sea and been king for a long time. Though he rarely handled affairs of state, he had still developed the bearing of a man in a high position. Nothing like this had ever happened before.
Brady knew Kaido was a monster, incredibly powerful and stronger than him, but he wasn't afraid. He was an ability user.
"You're the king of this country, then. I don't know your name, but your power makes me uncomfortable. So does your title." Kaido, in his dragon form, had a voice that boomed across the heavens and earth. "So, you can just die."
As soon as he finished speaking, Kaido's massive body plunged from the sky toward the palace. If a monster that huge crashed down, the palace would soon be reduced to rubble.
"Move! We can't stay in the palace!" The eldest prince left the palace under his guards' protection. His residence was near the outer edge of the palace, so it had been affected but not damaged.
The other two princes fled the palace as well. This was no fight they could interfere in; anyone who went in would only be throwing their life away. But the outcome could affect the future of their country, so they watched the battle unfold. It would be a valuable lesson for them.
The eldest prince sent guards throughout the royal city to keep order and prevent even more panic. The people were fleeing as fast as they could. They would be safer away from the city. If they stayed, they might be caught in the fighting and never even know what killed them.
This had happened before. Several years ago, a pirate crew had looted a small town on the border of the Kate Kingdom. Their greed was unsated, and they wanted more, so they headed for the royal city. The battle took place in the wilderness outside the city. The palace had evacuated some people to prevent them from being accidentally hurt. Because of the king's power, the tamed beasts charged straight into the wilderness and wiped out the invading pirates. Along the way, they smashed countless buildings. Many people were accidentally injured by the beasts or simply trampled to death.
Though the beasts obeyed the king's orders, they were still beasts by nature and didn't care whether ordinary people lived or died. The incident had eventually passed, but the people of the royal city had never forgotten it.
Now another powerful enemy had arrived, and had attacked the palace directly. The entire royal city would soon become their battlefield, and their king's Beast Army would appear once again.
"Damn it!" King Brady's face darkened. He couldn't withstand an impact that powerful, so he leapt aside to avoid it. At the same time, he used his power to send orders to the powerful beasts in the Beast Kingdom.
"Roar!" "Roar!" One after another, thunderous roars rang out. From far away, great beasts could be seen charging toward them.
"Wow! This is huge news!" Hidden from view, a News Bird flew through the air. Unlike the other News Birds, this one wore an image Transponder Snail around its neck. It was a Reporter Bird, which flew constantly between islands across the seas, looking for major news and recording it. The creatures in this world were intelligent, and such a simple task was no problem for a News Bird.
The footage was transmitted directly through the Transponder Snail to the World Economic News headquarters. There, an albatross dressed in a suit and top hat watched the footage he had received and shrieked with excitement.
This was Morgans, vice president of the World Economic News.
Morgans was thrilled. He immediately located the Reporter Bird, then sent it a message through a small Transponder Snail. "This is huge news! Get good footage. If you do a good job, I'll give you a huge bonus when you get back."
At Morgans's words, the Reporter Bird grew so excited that the footage shook. It quickly steadied itself and became even more focused. A huge bonus meant it could support several pretty hens and live the good life. It was a dream come true.
Then Morgans grabbed the footage and excitedly rushed into the office of the newspaper company's president. "President! President! We've got huge news!"
The president was a sixty-year-old man with graying hair and glasses. He sat composed at his desk and scolded the large bird that had burst in. "Morgans, stay calm. You're my successor. No news should ever make us lose our composure."
"Yes, you're right, President." Hearing his words, Morgans came to his senses, straightened up, and bowed deeply.
"All right. What's the news? Let me see," the old president said, clearly pleased with Morgans's attitude.
"Here's the footage. It's a battle on Pet Island in the New World." Morgans handed the image Transponder Snail to the old president. The president took it calmly and turned on the footage. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
He shot up from his seat, his eyes shining. "This is huge news! The battle between the king of the Kate Kingdom and Kaido of the Beasts!"
"I've already thought of a headline: 'The War Between the Beast Kings.'" The old president laughed and looked at Morgans, who was standing there dumbfounded. "What are you standing around for? Go notify everyone. Drop whatever you're doing and gather for a meeting about this story."
"R-right away." Morgans finally reacted. He grumbled inwardly: So much for staying calm. I handled it far better than you did. But he hurried off even faster.
The news agency worked efficiently. Soon, everyone had gathered, and the image Transponder Snail was playing the footage. "Gather all the information we have on Kaido and Pet Island, then analyze what started the war. Everyone else, hurry up and draft your articles. Make this battle sound exciting. This is huge news. The Kate Kingdom is a powerful country and pays a lot of Heavenly Gold every year. The Marines certainly won't sit idle. This will be tomorrow's headline, so get to work!" Though the old president was elderly, he was full of energy, and he fired up every worker.
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