The battle began inside the palace. A huge crater had been smashed into the floor by Kaido's dive, and from it emerged his enormous, nearly eight-meter-tall body. He walked forward slowly, each step seeming to shake the ground as he steadily approached Brady.
"This monster..." Brady had naturally heard the rumors about Kaido. But when he had returned from sailing the seas, Kaido had only just emerged as a rising star, so Brady had never formed a clear impression of him. Now that he saw him for himself, he could only think of one word: monster. A true monster.
"But you dared to provoke me. This will be your grave." Brady sneered. Around him, enormous beasts began to gather, each standing at least ten meters tall, with the strongest reaching twenty meters.
From a distance, the sight was spectacular and awe-inspiring: giant elephants, giant snakes, giant apes, and all kinds of terrifying creatures, including prehistoric beasts. It was a fearsome force. Nearly a hundred giant beasts had been found by Brady on various Beast Islands and brought here. Besides them, thousands upon thousands of smaller beasts were gathering as well, including all the ones he had tamed.
Pet Island was a large island. Apart from the royal city in its center and the coastal towns around its perimeter, most of the island was uninhabited wilderness and dense forest. The climate was favorable, and many of the trees in the forests grew dozens of meters tall. To keep the beasts from disrupting the kingdom's normal operations, Brady had stationed them in those forests. Now, they had all answered his call and were converging on the royal city.
Surrounded by countless beasts and the giant creatures at Brady's side, Kaido seemed to be facing an army of thousands. But he only grew more excited. War—a grand war. This was the kind of battle he craved.
"I hope you put up a decent fight! Hahaha!" Kaido roared with laughter, pulling a spiked club from who knew where before charging straight at them.
"Kaido, die! I'll hang your head over the city gate!" Brady bellowed. He stood atop a giant elephant's head. "Attack! Crush him!" At his command, all the beasts surged forward. Boom! A giant ape swung its fist at Kaido. Thunder Bagua! Facing the blow, Kaido didn't back down. His Thunder Bagua sent his lightning-wreathed club sweeping forward at high speed, meeting the giant ape's fist.
The giant ape's arm shook from the impact. Overwhelmed by Kaido's superior strength, it was driven backward. It failed to keep its balance and crashed to the ground, crushing several beasts beneath its backside.
The sight of strength greater than that of the beasts sent a shock through everyone watching. The battle continued, with no sign of ending anytime soon. Beast after beast pounced on Kaido, but he met their attacks with a disdainful sneer. His enormous club swept out in a powerful Thunder Bagua, smashing the beasts' heads apart. Their bodies flew dozens of meters away.
"Boss Teach, what's happening? He didn't even touch them, so how did he kill those beasts? When Kaido and the giant ape clashed just now, they didn't seem to make contact either." As he watched Kaido fight, Mobius had keenly noticed that some invisible force seemed to accompany Kaido's attacks.
Teach saw that Mobius had noticed and gave him an admiring look. "This isn't something you can learn yet, but there's no harm in telling you about it." He spoke slowly, looking toward the battle by the palace. "You could call it the second level of Armament Haki: flowing Haki. If the first level is hardening your skin to increase your attack and defense, then the second is like putting on a suit of invisible armor. It can flow. In Wano Country, they call it 'Ryou.'"
Mobius couldn't help feeling curious. "Is there an even higher level of Armament Haki? What does it do?"
"Of course there is, but it's too soon for you. I know very little about it myself. Learn Haki first, then we'll talk." Teach chided him. He was getting ahead of himself. Knowing too much wasn't always a good thing. Teach didn't tell him more, though he had let slip enough to give Mobius something to wonder about.
Mobius awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.
Teach stood up. "Stay here. I'm going out for a while." "Is something wrong?" Mobius asked.
"Of course. I'm going to wipe out this kingdom's nobles." Teach sneered, a terrifying aura radiating from him.
"I'm coming too." Mobius's eyes lit up with excitement. He had been itching to go. Hearing that Teach was going to kill people, he knew it had to be connected to the country's practice of raising human pets. He hated human pets too, and now that Teach was taking action, he didn't want to be left behind.
"Mobius, are you sure? This isn't just a dozen or so people. We're talking about killing hundreds, even thousands. Are you sure you can handle it?" Teach doubted Mobius's ability to withstand it.
"I can handle it." Mobius nodded resolutely. He wanted to do his part. If he was going to become a pirate one day, he would have to kill plenty of people. It was something he would have to face sooner or later. If he didn't even dare to do it this time, then he wasn't much of a man.
"Let's go." Teach opened the door and called to Pito nearby. When Teach was about to leave, Pito instinctively slipped inside his coat.
Teach's Observation Haki had already locked onto every noble in the royal city. They lived in a dedicated district to the west of the palace, where all the kingdom's nobles resided.
In Teach's eyes, they were the source of all evil. Once he had learned that the country bred human pets, he had begun investigating and discovered that the nobles and royals were responsible for raising them. Teach had found several human-pet breeding facilities. Some had been in operation for nearly a hundred years.
The kingdom's commoners knew nothing about it. In other words, this wicked practice had persisted among the country's ruling elite for nearly a century.
The nobles' district lay in the western part of the royal city, home to a large number of nobles. The Kate Kingdom's royal family held absolute power, and the nobles indulged in pleasure. Combined with the kingdom's tradition of taming pets, it had gradually led some of them to think of raising human pets—and then put the idea into practice.
Eventually, the royal family had been drawn into it too.
The battle continued. Most of the city's residents were fleeing toward the outskirts, but countless beasts were charging out of the forests beyond the city and rushing toward the battlefield.
Commoners were continually killed by accident as they fled. So many had already died that the rest no longer dared to run outside, hiding instead in their homes as beasts charged through the streets and alleys.
The war seemed to have nothing to do with the nobles. They made no move to flee, merely shutting their gates and setting their guards to protect them.
This was due to the location of their district. The palace stood at the very center of the royal city, while the area behind it, to the southwest, was sparsely populated and had been turned into a beast park. The park lay near the west and close to the nobles' residences, making it easier to keep the nobles in check.
The nobles had considerable power, but they were all subject to the royal family. A large river ran between their district and the palace, giving the nobles a geographic advantage. Yet after years of royal and kingly oppression, they had all submitted to the royal family. They were extremely loyal and knew the king's strength and influence well. They had great faith in his power. Kaido might have made a name for himself on the seas, but they knew little about him, and he meant far less to them than their king.
So the nobles had stayed put on their own estates, waiting for the battle to end and for news of victory.
What they hadn't realized was that a nightmare awaited them—or rather, something worse than a nightmare.
Teach and Mobius entered the nobles' district and began going from house to house. "Who are you? How dare you come here—" The moment Teach stepped inside, a guard spotted him and shouted, pointing his weapon at him. Before he could finish, Teach grabbed him by the throat. He didn't want to hear the man's blather, so he crushed his neck.
The remaining guards saw how easily their comrade had been killed and shuddered. They tried to shout for the others, but no sound came out. They only saw their own bodies in front of them—no, their heads flying away.
The massacre was about to begin. In the courtyard of the first noble's estate, a noble boy held a bone in his hand. In front of him, a naked young man stared eagerly, his tongue hanging out and saliva gathering in his mouth. He crawled on all fours like a dog, circling the noble boy.
"Haha! Go fetch it!" the noble boy laughed, tossing the bone into the distance. The human-pet youth raced after it like a dog. When he reached the spot where the bone had landed, he sniffed it, then crouched down, lowered his head, and picked it up in his mouth. He ran back excitedly.
"Haha, this is so much fun! I'm going to ask my brother to give me a few more. One day, I'll raise some myself." The noble boy laughed to himself.
Teach hadn't expected to see such a thing the moment he entered. He clenched his teeth, killing intent radiating from him—a fierce hostility.
"Who are you? How dare you break into my home?" the noble boy said when he saw Teach. Teach didn't answer. The youth beside the boy sensed the hostility. "Woof! Woof, woof!" He barked at Teach, readying himself to fight.
"Quick! Bite him! Bite him to death!" In the nobles' eyes, all life besides their own was worthless. Seeing how his human pet reacted, the boy knew Teach was hostile toward him. He pointed at Teach and ordered the youth to attack.
At the boy's words, the youth put on a vicious expression, fixed his eyes on Teach, and charged forward, opening his mouth to bite him.
Teach couldn't help sighing inwardly. He's so devoted to protecting his master. There's no saving him; he's been completely tamed. If that's the case, I'll set him free here and now.
Blood sprayed violently, splattering across the ground. Some of it landed on the noble boy's head and trickled down his face. For the first time, he felt fear. Teach had cut off the human pet's head with a single slash. The noble boy trembled and tried to scream, but Teach gave him no chance. His blade rose and fell, and another head dropped.
Teach entered slaughter mode. His blade rose and fell, and this was just some weapon he'd found. He didn't want to reveal his identity, so he rarely used martial arts, and he didn't want his precious sword stained with the blood of this scum.
Teach killed quickly, taking less than half a minute to clear out an entire noble household. Even so, he still witnessed things that sickened him. Every noble kept at least seven or eight human pets, and some had dozens. There were all kinds of human pets, each specially trained to imitate a particular animal.
It disgusted Teach. Most of these human pets were beyond saving, having completely lost their humanity and been reduced to animal instincts. Even when some might have been saved, Teach didn't have the time to help them all. It was better to end their suffering as soon as possible.
On the other side, Mobius wasn't doing badly either. He wasn't as efficient as Teach, but he had already taken dozens of lives.
His expression was a little twisted, and his face had gone pale. There was bile at the corner of his mouth; it was clear he had already thrown up once. But more than anything, he was sickened by the nobles. He charged into one noble's courtyard, his long blade now stained red. He felt reluctant to attack the human pets, but still brought his blade down.
Every so often, though, a few would slip through, and Teach had to help him deal with them.
The air was thick with the stench of blood. At last, the nobles seemed to realize that something was wrong. They still visited one another, after all. As soon as they entered a house, they found guard after guard lying dead—and familiar faces sprawled in pools of blood.
Teach had turned the district into a hunting ground. None of them could escape. Only a few realized something was wrong, and whenever Teach noticed them with his Observation Haki, he dealt with them first.
The thick stench of blood made the pets they kept uneasy and restless. This confused the nobles who knew nothing about what was happening, but they didn't think much of it. The same thing had happened earlier when that monster had fallen from the sky.
The guards were merely strong commoners, so they posed little difficulty for Mobius. The beasts some nobles kept were more troublesome—especially with the air so thick with the stench of blood. Some animals went wild. Teach didn't even need to act; the beasts helped him kill some of the people.
The nobles were the kingdom's ruling elite, and though they made up a small portion of its population, years of growth had brought their numbers to several thousand. Add the guards, servants, and human pets in each household, and the total was well over ten thousand lives.
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