The New World, Qibu Island.
Long after Kaido had disappeared, light shimmered near the spot where the two had fought.
The modified Mihawk, equipped with the Clear-Clear Fruit's invisibility, appeared alongside Carol.
Carol gazed in the direction Kaido had left, sounding rather wistful:
"How pitiful..."
Sakazuki chuckled and stopped looking in the direction Kaido had fled:
"What's pitiful?"
Carol smiled:
"The poor bastards who make an enemy of you..."
"Even Kaido of the Beasts, one of the Four Emperors, had his convictions shattered. I doubt anyone would believe it..."
Was Kaido strong? Of course he was.
The title of Four Emperors wasn't just for show. They stood at the very pinnacle of the seas.
Sakazuki could indeed overpower Kaido, but there were limits. Fighting two Emperors at once would still be difficult...
The reason Kaido had taken such a one-sided beating was that Sakazuki had thrown his mind into turmoil.
From childhood, Kaido had served as his kingdom's war machine, fighting his way through life until he joined the Rocks Pirates, who ruled the seas, and continued fighting.
After Rocks fell, he had continued carving his own path.
Strength, influence, shrewdness, cunning-Kaido lacked none of them.
Anyone who could fight his way to the position of Emperor possessed extraordinary talent. Yet in that brief clash, Sakazuki's words had broken through his psychological defenses.
Were there holes in Sakazuki's story? Yes, plenty.
But Kaido had no time to think them through, and those events had all really happened.
If his memory had been sharp enough to recall Sakazuki's first remark, he would have realized that Queen really had fallen before him under bizarre circumstances back then...
Why had it been such a coincidence?
The seed of suspicion had been quietly planted...
Then Sakazuki's words had linked together, drawing everything Kaido had