Kaido's Resolve

The battered pirate ship heaved violently amid the waves, its hull creaking and groaning.

Several sections of the deck had collapsed, the planks charred and curled. Cannon fire and crushing fists had torn savage gashes into the ship's sides.

Broken timber, snapped ropes, and the remains of pirates blasted away by Zephyr's fists rose and fell with the waves like a silent graveyard.

Kaido knelt on one knee in the middle of the deck, breathing heavily.

Only by driving his massive spiked club deep into the planks could he barely steady his swaying body.

Bruises from Armament Haki's crushing force still lingered on his shoulder, and his bones were still screaming with pain.

He slowly raised his head.

Above, the storm clouds had been forcibly torn apart. Lightning and tremors intertwined into a scene of destruction that defied nature.

White cracks spread through the clouds as though the sky itself were collapsing.

A bolt of lightning suddenly crashed down—

Rock descended from the sky with a Lightning Blade in hand, clashing head-on with Whitebeard's vibrating blade.

The thunderous impact swept across heaven and earth. Sea and sky seemed to split in two, while a distant barren island suddenly sank, its rock layers collapsing as seawater surged backward.

Kaido's pupils abruptly contracted. His Adam's apple bobbed as he rasped, almost too quietly to hear, "So this is... the true strength of monsters at the top..."

There was no anger in his voice, nor any unwillingness.

Only naked shock, and a clearly rising sense of helplessness.

His gaze slowly shifted and landed on the young figure wrapped in lightning.

Blue-white lightning streaked through the air. Rock faced Whitebeard head-on without yielding an inch, even forcing that monster of a man to unleash Conqueror's Haki!

Kaido's expression hardened as he stared fixedly at that figure. "Rock..."

He clenched his spiked club until his knuckles turned white. A certain obsession quietly took shape in his heart. I've got to get my hands on a legendary Devil Fruit...

"Otherwise, I'll never catch up to these monsters!!!"

Buckin held onto a slanted railing, her entire face turned pale beneath the lightning's glow.

After a brief daze, she suddenly came to her senses and nearly roared, "What are you idiots standing around for?! Get us closer!!!"

The surviving pirates snapped awake as if from a dream. Scrambling and crawling, they tightened the ropes, adjusted the ship's heading, and steeled themselves as they veered toward the edge of the battlefield.

Buckin turned around and saw that the demon they could not shake was still pursuing them relentlessly.

The battle-damaged warship cleaved through the waves like a wounded yet even more ferocious steel beast.

On its deck, Armament Haki surged over Zephyr's entire body, his killing intent almost solid enough to touch.

Buckin's eyelids twitched wildly as she screamed herself hoarse, "Damn it!! Did Zephyr eat explosives today?!"

"Isn't he supposed to be the one who doesn't kill?! What the hell is this, smashing a whole group of pirates to death with one punch!!!"

Recalling Zephyr's merciless punch when he had charged aboard earlier, a chill ran down her spine and her legs went weak.

Kaido could not help shuddering as well. Images flashed through his mind of Zephyr grabbing him by the head and slamming him into the deck again and again.

If Buckin had not released her poison mist in time to cover him, he knew full well—he might already have sunk beneath the sea.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

The Marine warship was equally scarred, smoke still drifting from its cannons.

The deck was covered in cracks and bloodstains, yet no one retreated.

Zephyr stood at the bow, looking at the split barren island and the distorted sky in the distance as he took a deep breath.

"Destructive power on the level of a natural disaster..." His voice was low, carrying undisguised shock.

His gaze fell on Rock, who was battling Whitebeard in midair. "Rock... just how strong are you going to become..."

The next second, Zephyr abruptly reined in his emotions, and his eyes turned cold again.

"Move in!!"

"Don't let that pirate ship get away!!!"

The order fell, and the warship's engines roared. Its bow split the waves as it gave chase at full speed.

The fleeing pirate ship pitched violently amid the waves, its hull groaning under the strain.

On the deck, Kaido and Buckin were practically screaming into each other's faces, their voices torn to pieces by the sea wind.

Veins bulged on Buckin's forehead as she cursed, "Damn it!! Why the hell was it you who came?!"

"If it had been anyone else, I'd have turned around and taken them on already!!!"

Kaido glared back with bull-like eyes, saliva flying as he roared, "How the hell was I supposed to know you sent the signal?!"

"I thought something had happened to Big Brother Newgate, so I rushed over!!!"

Even as they screamed at each other, they had to cling tightly to the ship to keep from being hurled into the sea by the violent rocking.

Yet amid their argument, the ship unknowingly drifted closer and closer to that barren island.

In fact, today was the day the Rocks Pirates had planned to hijack the International Charity Alliance Temple, Fotocoloni.

The roles had long since been assigned, and Newgate's fleet had set out first as the vanguard.

But no one had expected him to run head-on into Zephyr and Rock during the voyage.

Thus, a battle that should never have happened erupted upon the sea.

Relying on instincts nearly as sharp as a beast's, Buckin sent out a call for help at once.

But the other members of the Rocks Pirates were either busy with their own affairs or simply too lazy to care.

—Newgate?

—Whitebeard?

—In trouble?

What a joke???

Only one person believed it.

Only Kaido, that hulking brute who was "simple to the point of foolishness," truly believed Newgate might be facing a life-or-death crisis.

So without giving it another thought, he led his fleet charging all the way here.

What greeted him, however, was not a comrade in need of rescue, but Zephyr's nearly tangible killing intent.

The instant the iron fist struck his body, Kaido finally understood what the Marines' "Black Arm" truly meant.

Had Buckin not reacted with incredible speed and forcibly released poison mist amid the chaos to block the Marines, the two of them might truly have died in these waters today.

At that thought, Kaido's anger was gradually replaced by a chill.

Just then, another deafening explosion came from the direction of the barren island ahead.

Lightning pierced the clouds. It was as if the earth had been shaken apart from within, and the outline of the entire island visibly collapsed by another section in the distance.

Kaido abruptly looked up, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints. "Hey... Buckin..."

"That island ahead... isn't it about to blow up?!"

Buckin's throat tightened. She swallowed instinctively, her voice dry. "D-Damn it..."

"What kind of insane level are those two fighting at!!!"

The shattered barren island no longer resembled its original shape.

The mountains had collapsed into slanted broken faces. Rock layers had been repeatedly shattered and overturned, as if countless invisible giant hands had torn at them.

Massive cracks crisscrossed the island, steam constantly spewing from their depths. Lightning, fire, and the remnants of tremors lingered as the entire island groaned beneath a low rumble.

Newgate and Rock stood facing each other.

Whitebeard's chest was covered in charred marks and fracture-like wounds. Pale lightning burns remained across muscles as hard as steel.

The cloak that symbolized his majesty had long been shredded, leaving only a few strips snapping in the raging wind.

Rock's Lightning Armor flickered repeatedly between dimming and reigniting. Arcs of electricity danced across his shoulders and back, while blood that had only just seeped out was vaporized by the scorching lightning, turning into wisps of white mist around him.

Just then, both their Observation Haki stirred one after the other.

Newgate raised a brow, his gaze unconsciously sweeping toward the distant sea.

His pirate ship was being chased to the point of nearly falling apart. Its hull was warped, its mast slanted, while the warship behind it clung close like a beast with its prey in its jaws, leaving no room to breathe.

"Gurarara..."

Rock noticed it too.

Instead, he grinned wildly, lightning flashing through the depths of his eyes.

"Hey—"

Lightning violently stretched out in his palm.

His original lightning blade instantly collapsed and reforged, the electric light forcibly compressed into a straight, razor-sharp line that became a Lightning Spear standing tall enough to pierce the heavens.

"Where are you looking?!"

"Boom—!!!"

Lightning Flash!

Rock turned into a bolt of lightning that tore through space, thrusting straight ahead with the Lightning Spear. Lightning Roar rang out like divine punishment as it forcibly ripped open the air!

Newgate's pupils suddenly shrank. Almost on instinct, he raised Murakumogiri horizontally.

"Clang—!!!!"

The Lightning Spear slammed viciously into the blade!

Vibrations, lightning, sparks, and electric arcs exploded between them at once. Blinding white light instantly swallowed their vision, while the violent shockwave blasted away every remaining rock nearby!

A low roar escaped Newgate's throat as he stomped down hard—

"Air Quake!!!"

Invisible vibrations exploded in place like a wall expanding in reverse, forcibly blasting Rock backward!

The Lightning Spear scattered on the spot, lightning spraying in every direction.

Rock flipped through the air to bleed off the force before landing heavily. His feet plowed two deep trenches through the ground, and the current ground the rubble into powder.

Before the dust could settle, the two stood firm once more, staring at each other.

Killing intent, fighting spirit, and the desire to determine a victor remained locked in silent confrontation through the air.

The ground beneath their feet suddenly shook violently.

The cracks spread madly. Vast portions of the island's edge collapsed, and seawater poured in from every direction with a deafening roar.

—This barren island would not hold out much longer.