Sinking the Land, Going All Out

[Survival of the Fittest Level 9: You possess extremely strong adaptability to any environment and disaster, as well as extremely high resistance to any abnormal condition.]

Lin Ye could feel his resistance to lightning damage growing stronger.

Lightning strikes that had originally required Armament Haki Infusion to withstand were having less and less effect on him now.

It was just that Kaido had flown into the sky, which made things troublesome for him.

He did not know Geppo. His ability to walk through the air was achieved by using brute force to stomp on the air.

It worked at low altitudes for short periods, but high-altitude, prolonged combat was impossible. It was not flexible enough either; if he went up there, he would be taking a beating for sure.

Still, if he wanted to take to the sky, some Devil Fruit abilities and Geppo could both do the job. He could put that on the agenda.

Kaido in the sky also noticed the change in Lin Ye.

The lightning strikes actually seemed to have no effect at all.

Was this brat's physique really that absurd?

Kaido was somewhat dumbfounded.

Even he could not withstand being struck by lightning continuously.

But what was going on with that brat down there?

As he wondered, Kaido saw Lin Ye turn around and leave below.

That scene left Kaido stunned.

Was he running away?

No, the battle had not yet been decided.

With a thought, Kaido immediately understood Lin Ye's situation.

He had no means of attacking targets in the air.

This was Lin Ye's weakness.

But this weakness?

The thunderstorm Kaido controlled stopped.

When Lin Ye below noticed that no more lightning was falling, he looked up at Kaido within the clouds, a mocking smile appearing on his face.

With Kaido's eyesight, he saw the mockery on Lin Ye's face with perfect clarity.

In an instant, Kaido's hackles rose.

This brat was mocking him.

Did he think Kaido was avoiding the fight?

Did he think Kaido was afraid of him like this?

At that thought, Kaido's eyes became bloodshot. His massive body burst from the clouds and charged down at Lin Ye.

Sensing Kaido's movement, Lin Ye abruptly turned around and shot into the sky.

One rose while the other descended, both moving at incredible speed.

In the blink of an eye, Kaido saw Lin Ye appear before him.

"Get down here!"

Leaping into the air, Lin Ye violently drew back his right fist. Full-power Conqueror's Haki Infusion wrapped around it.

The space around his fist seemed like a black hole.

With a furious roar from Lin Ye, his fist slammed heavily into Kaido's brow.

The instant the fist landed, Kaido's enormous dragon head turned black.

But it was useless. Lin Ye's punch sent Kaido crashing down.

His huge, elongated body was dragged along by his falling head like a ribbon.

Watching Kaido plummet, Lin Ye stomped the air hard with both feet, flipping over as he dove downward.

Kaido's massive body crashed into the ground.

Then a figure followed close behind, full-power Conqueror's Haki once more wrapping around his fist.

Like judgment descending from heaven, this punch streaked through the air in a black line with black lightning flashing around it, striking Kaido's head again as he hit the ground.

The earth trembled as violent shockwaves spread outward.

Kaido's massive body twisted along with the shockwaves.

Lin Ye's fist remained a meter away from Kaido's head, black lightning bursting between them.

Kaido's formerly bloodshot eyes had been knocked blank by Lin Ye's previous blow.

Now, his enormous eyes were filled with gravity.

Lin Ye's Level 10 Conqueror's Haki was clearly superior to Kaido's. Although Kaido used Conqueror's Haki to resist the blow, his head was still being forced down into the ground.

The surrounding dirt, rocks, and mountains were blasted into the air by the shockwaves.

Kaido was shocked. He gritted his teeth as he stared at the enormous pressure overhead.

This brat's Conqueror's Haki was stronger than his.

Previously, Kaido had felt they were evenly matched, and that he even held a slight advantage.

But the Conqueror's Haki he felt from Lin Ye now was stronger than his own.

For a moment, he felt as if he were seeing Gol D. Roger's silhouette again.

Over the past twenty to thirty years on the seas, he had only encountered this kind of Haki a few times.

And every one of them had been a top-tier powerhouse of these seas.

Like Roger, like his former captain Rocks.

"You let your mind wander!"

Lin Ye said coldly, suddenly increasing the force in his hand.

Full-power Conqueror's Haki combined with the strength of Mighty Arms as Lin Ye's Haki-wrapped arm abruptly swelled.

Boom!

Kaido's head suddenly sank down, and a black line tore through space.

The entirety of Wano Country shook violently. Then, Ringo split apart completely.

Ringo, once seamlessly connected to Wano Country, slowly broke into dozens of landmasses, with the land near the coast sinking into the sea.

Standing in midair by stomping the air, Lin Ye looked down below, breathing slightly heavily.

Wisps of white vapor rose from his body.

Seawater surged into the cracks splitting the land below, concealing Kaido's dragon form beneath the water.

Devil Fruit users feared seawater, but Kaido was different.

The Fish-Fish Fruit had strong adaptability to seawater. Lin Ye suspected that this guy could retain a portion of his strength even in the sea.

After all, powerful Devil Fruit users possessed some degree of resistance to seawater, let alone someone with the Fish-Fish Fruit.

The seawater below turned bright red, boiling in an extremely short time.

The orange-red seawater looked as though a massive volcano beneath it was about to erupt.

Lin Ye fixed his eyes on the seawater below.

Then Kaido's Heat Breath pierced through the seawater and shot into the sky past Lin Ye.

The surrounding seawater was directly pierced through and vaporized.

The pushed-back seawater revealed Kaido standing on the seafloor below.

Having already withdrawn his Beastification form, Kaido transformed into his half-dragon form again.

He held a spiked club in his hand and looked up at Lin Ye.

This scene was exactly like before.

Only, Lin Ye had been below then, while Kaido had been in the clouds.

Now, Lin Ye was above, while Kaido stood on the seafloor.

Kaido leaped up, swinging his spiked club and sweeping up the seawater rushing down again, forming a massive waterspout.

Kaido emerged alongside the waterspout, striking it with his spiked club.

Seawater measured in tens of thousands of tons came crashing down toward Lin Ye head-on.

Lin Ye stopped stomping the air beneath his feet, then shifted direction. After avoiding the rushing seawater, he landed on a patch of land.

By now, Ringo had changed from one complete landmass into dozens of reefs and islets protruding from the sea.

Kaido also landed on another reef not far away.

"I underestimated you!"

Kaido planted his spiked club against the ground. One of the two horns on his head had broken off.

He breathed lightly, his eyes fixed firmly on Lin Ye.

"If you don't fight with everything you've got, you might die."

Lin Ye replied coldly.

"Brat, you really have a big mouth. Your Conqueror's Haki is indeed powerful, and your Armament Haki is strong too, but I fought my way here step by step."

Kaido flew into a rage at those words, but soon calmed down.

Able to become an overlord of the seas and one of the future Four Emperors, Kaido was actually quite intelligent, at least far smarter than most pirates.

This time, he had to go all out.

What Kaido was thinking about now was no longer how to defeat Lin Ye, but how not to lose.

From their clash just now, he had already realized that Lin Ye's strength was absolutely no weaker than his own.

That was only because Lin Ye lacked sufficient combat experience and was not yet proficient in using his Haki.

All out!

Kaido thought.

After noticing Kaido's gaze, Lin Ye immediately understood what he meant. A hint of fervent excitement appeared once more on his cold face. Then the two leaped up simultaneously and charged at each other.