Kaido watched Gern, who had dodged at the very last instant and, despite his wounds, was burning with an even fiercer will to fight.
The crazed laughter on his face gradually faded, replaced by a slight curl of his lips. He did not immediately pursue.
Instead, he planted his Spiked Club on the ground. No longer simply roaring, he spoke in a low voice that almost sounded like he was reminiscing.
"Gern... you're a Devil Fruit User too, aren't you?
'Heavenquake'... hmph. The exact same power as that bastard Newgate."
As he spoke, his gaze swept over the faint ripples surrounding Gern, which made even space itself tremble.
It was as though he were looking through time at another figure who could shake the world.
"In that case..." An indescribable anticipation crept into Kaido's voice, along with a hint of challenge.
"Let me see just how much of Newgate's glory in his youth... a newcomer like you can live up to!"
His gaze finally settled on the bandage-wrapped Black Blade: Eight Desolations in Gern's hand, and his eyes grew deeper. "After all...
the sword you're holding belonged to that lawless bastard!"
At this point, a fierce curiosity was actually surging within Kaido.
Back when he had been a hot-blooded young fighter aboard the Rocks Pirates' ship, he had witnessed Edward Newgate unleash the world-shattering power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit countless times.
The sight of him summoning tsunamis and splitting the earth with casual movements, effortlessly destroying an entire country, had been seared into his mind.
In his youth, he had envied that power more than once. He had even asked Whitebeard about it outright, hoping he might one day obtain an ability just as powerful.
But that towering man had merely patted his shoulder and told him with rare seriousness,