An enormous hand suddenly appeared to Kaido's right.
"Hm?"
While Kaido was still thinking about having a fight with Whitebeard, the massive fist slammed into him and drove him into the ground.
"Uwah."
The giant hand vanished. One of Luffy's feet then took an absurdly long step at an incredible speed toward the spot where he had been knocked away, before springing back with the elasticity of rubber.
"Hahaha, Kaido, you bastard, where did you suddenly come from?"
Luffy laughed. In this state, he felt happy no matter what, with an endless stream of power surging from within his body.
"I thought that guy Su Lin had come back."
"Didn't expect it to be you in person."
Luffy spoke toward the crater.
The next second, the ground behind Luffy bulged slightly.
Then—
Kaido leaped out, raising his spiked club overhead with both hands.
"Thunder Bagua!"
Duang~!
Luffy was hammered straight into the crater Kaido had fallen into earlier.
"So that guy's called Su Lin. Thanks."
"Ow, that hurt!" Luffy clutched his head and jumped out of the ground, still wearing an exaggerated grin.
As the three sides faced off—
Everyone finally realized that this Kaido did not seem to be an imitation.
"It's the real Kaido!"
"Another real Yonko showed up!"
"How is this war even going to end?"
Even the members of the Whitebeard Pirates were somewhat dumbfounded.
Shichibukai like Gecko Moria and Doflamingo no longer knew what to say. They merely moved away from the heart of the conflict and watched from the sidelines.
They had come to help the Marines fight the Whitebeard Pirates, not to risk their lives for the Marines.
The level of battle over there was already beyond what they could join without getting hurt.
Watching the spectacle was fine too.
Doflamingo's expression darkened. His plans had been thrown into disarray by this group.
Boa Hancock watched Luffy fight with complete focus, fantasizing about Luffy defeating Kaido and proposing to her.
The Marines seized the opportunity. With Kaido tangling with Straw Hat, they could focus on hunting down the Whitebeard Pirates.
The situation seemed to be changing once again.
"Not bad. Looks like I won't be bored."
After discovering how strong Luffy was, Kaido transformed into his Azure Dragon Form and began battling him.
Surging lightning and flames erupted, while rampant Haki echoed across the battlefield.
Luffy, in Nika Form, charged through elemental attacks and ignored the lightning as he began his second clash with Kaido.
Luffy had fought Kaido once before.
But this Kaido had gone all out from the very start, so the circumstances were somewhat different from before.
Thanks to the experience from their previous battle, Luffy still held the upper hand. No matter whether Kaido used Flame Bagua or any other technique—
Wounds began appearing on Luffy's body, and they healed more slowly than new wounds accumulated.
The two traded injuries for injuries. The aftermath of their battle made the ground of Marineford tremble without end, and every exchange was accompanied by flames, lightning, and violent winds.
Su Lin, who had transformed into a Marine soldier and was recuperating in the rear, watched the scene with a racing heart.
If he got swept into that, there probably would not even be ashes left of him.
His system points had reached the threshold of 7,000.
Rather than directly exchanging them for something, he opened the Bicycle to Motorcycle interface.
"System, lottery!"
This system's lottery differed from ordinary lotteries. It was a range-based lottery.
For example, the minimum investment was 1,000 points. There was a 45% chance of drawing an item worth less than the invested points, a 30% chance of drawing something of equal value, and roughly a 25% chance of drawing something worth more. The higher the value, the lower the probability.
But people always had to take a gamble.
Especially a young man like Su Lin, who had gotten rich overnight in one battle. He was already fired up enough to put in 3,000 points.
The lottery interface was utterly unremarkable. A single gray streak of light appeared, then entered Su Lin's body.
[Sequence Three Scholar of Yore Historical Projection]: Free ride, nesting dolls, escape, the price of a gift—you have already paid it. PS: Don't even think about exploiting system bugs.
This was good stuff. Wait, wasn't this from the world of Lord of Mysteries?!
Su Lin searched for it in the catalog, but there was no such item.
It seemed the lottery pool contained a wider variety of things.
This ability was pretty good. It suited him perfectly.
As the ability was instilled into him, Su Lin gradually mastered its use and sensed roughly how many times he could use it. Projecting different things consumed different amounts.
He had no spirituality, so the consumption was fixed from the start.
Since it was merely an ability, there was no bodily mutation.
Following his heart, Su Lin immediately hid within the gaps of history, leaving his former self outside.
Tch.
So he really could not exploit the bug.
His Historical Projection and true body shared the duration of system items.
Pocket watch. Unable to materialize.
Forget it. It was about time for a glorious final appearance.
"Hey, you two old men over there!"
Sensing that this was an opportunity that could not be missed, that it was time to give everything he had, Whitebeard stopped holding back. Ignoring his old injuries, he gave Marco a few instructions before leaping straight into the center of the chaos with an unstoppable bearing.
The center of Marineford's conflict was now like a raging storm.
Anyone careless enough to get drawn in could only pray for their own luck.
Garp and Sengoku went after Whitebeard.
Aokiji and Kizaru also stopped holding back as they fought the many commanders.
Perhaps in a one-on-one fight, aside from Marco, few could battle an Admiral for long, much less defeat one.
But there were many people on this side, as well as many Devil Fruit users. More or less, they could restrain the Admirals somewhat.
The Marine higher-ups had all joined the battle, and the morale of the Marine elites returned once more under these circumstances.
"Whitebeard's defeat is only a matter of time." Su Lin used a telescope in the clouds to observe the situation below.
At the same time, he changed his Historical Projection into a stylish outfit for its entrance.
[Grand Entrance] 1 point: This book has summarized and constructed over a thousand entrance methods for different occasions. (Supporting abilities must be purchased separately.) — A thunderous boom from the sky
"Kaido showing up was quite unexpected, but even if Kaido hadn't appeared, getting away like this would have been difficult."
"Red-Hair's ship will still take some time to get here."
"Whitebeard's remaining ships definitely can't carry that many people, and they can't escape Kizaru and Aokiji's pursuit either."
Red-Hair's ships had already appeared within the telescope's view, though they were still some distance away.
"Admirals really are formidable."
Akainu looked like he was about to recover as well. Was the sit-up technique just an ordinary skill for people in the Pirate World?
That move was called Life Return, wasn't it?
(End of Chapter)