"P-P-Pops, Kaido... K-Kaido has been defeated by someone!"
"What!"
At just this shout, the deck exploded into an uproar, and voices of disbelief and shock rose one after another.
Marco moved the fastest. He rushed over and snatched the newspaper away, only to find a large, exceptionally clear picture right on the front page.
In the photo, a bloody Kaido lay in a huge pit, looking an absolute mess, while at the edge of the crater stood a young, handsome man in a clean white shirt, looking down at Kaido in the pit with complete indifference.
Next to it was a large, bold headline: [OBLITERATED! FOUR EMPERORS KAIDO SUFFERS TOTAL DEFEAT!].
Just this single photo and headline were already packed with an enormous amount of information. After reading it, Marco was completely dumbfounded, while the people nearby swarmed over to his side, stretching their necks out just to catch a glimpse.
Those who saw the photo fell into the same daze as Marco, their eyes wide as copper bells. Their sanity seemed to have been blown away by this explosive news, and for a moment, the deck that had been filled with noisy chatter just seconds ago grew so silent that only their heavy breathing remained.
What had they just seen? That was Kaido! Did they know what the Four Emperors were?! Those were the four strongest standing at the very peak of this vast ocean! Yet now someone was telling them that Kaido had been defeated?! And not only defeated, but utterly crushed?!
They really didn't want to believe it. After all, Kaido existed on the same level as their Pops, but the news agency reporting this was the most authoritative one of all, so they had no choice but to believe it!
"What are you making such a fuss about! Hand the newspaper over!"
Even Whitebeard was taken aback upon suddenly hearing this news, but having eaten more salt than Marco and the others had eaten rice, he quickly calmed down.
Whitebeard's majestic voice gradually pacified the restless hearts of Marco and the rest. Regaining his composure, Marco hurriedly handed the newspaper in his hand to his Pops.
The newspaper, which was fairly large to begin with, looked diminutive against the backdrop of Whitebeard's massive hands.
Whitebeard carefully flipped through the newspaper, reading the news about Kaido from start to finish without missing a word. Afterward, he frowned and remained silent for a long time. Seeing Pops like this, Marco and the others naturally didn't dare make a sound, and the atmosphere instantly turned solemn.
Whitebeard was very familiar with Kaido. In fact, many people didn't know that the two of them had once been on the same ship. Not only Kaido and Whitebeard, but their crewmates during that period also included BIG MOM, one of the Four Emperors, and the legendary pirate Golden Lion Shiki.
It was truly hard to imagine that a single ship could simultaneously house three of the future Four Emperors, plus a legendary pirate who rivaled the Four Emperors!
Moreover, besides these individuals, there were actually several other ruthless characters, only they weren't as famous as these four.
The man who commanded this unbelievable pirate crew was named Rocks D. Zebek. Decades ago, he was a maritime overlord in the truest sense, but today probably very few people remembered this name. This was because Rocks had openly opposed the World Government back then and truly possessed the strength to overthrow it. However, unlike the Revolutionary Army's goals, he sought to overthrow the World Government for his own ambition-to become the King of the World.
Nearly forty years ago, Rocks led his Rocks Pirates in an attempt to attack the Celestial Dragons, but they were jointly intercepted by Garp and the future Pirate King Gol D. Roger. It was precisely during this incident that the Rocks Pirates were annihilated, and because of his monstrous crimes, the World Government directly erased Rocks's existence from the world and history!
From then on, aside from the upper echelons of the World Government and the eyewitnesses of that event, no one else knew of Rocks's existence, and naturally no one knew the relationship between Whitebeard, Kaido, and the others.
However, if anyone thought that their relationship was particularly good just because the two had once been crewmates, they would be making a huge mistake. In truth, it was barely the level of a nodding acquaintance.
Therefore, seeing Kaido get brutally tortured by someone this time, Whitebeard felt zero sympathy for him, nor did he feel any sense of grief for a fellow peer. Instead, he was mostly astonished by the strength of the person who had defeated Kaido. After all, since he was called one of the Four Emperors, Kaido's strength was unquestionable. Even back in his own prime, at most the two of them would have fought until both were utterly exhausted, with Kaido suffering a narrow defeat while he himself secured a narrow victory. And as for the present, let alone winning, Kaido could simply wear him out until he died.
Precisely because he was also at the level of the Four Emperors, Whitebeard knew just how strong the Four Emperors were, and could better comprehend how terrifying the strength of Su Yu must be to have so easily crushed a Four Emperor.
Yet a person with such terrifying strength had possessed zero prior reputation, as if he had simply popped out of thin air.
Whitebeard didn't know it, but his intuition was actually correct. Su Yu really had arrived in this world out of nowhere...
What shocked Whitebeard the most was that, judging from the photo, Su Yu was far too young. Looking at his appearance, Su Yu was at most around twenty years old, which completely disproportionate to his off-spec strength. Whitebeard racked his brains but couldn't fathom how Su Yu had managed to possess such terrifying strength at such a tender age-it was utterly absurd!
However, Whitebeard wasn't overly worried, because he knew very well that with the strength Su Yu possessed to easily crush Kaido, Whitebeard simply wouldn't believe it if someone said Su Yu had no way to kill Kaido. Yet the outcome of this matter was that Su Yu hadn't dealt a fatal blow and had instead let Kaido go. Therefore, as long as his "sons" didn't provoke Su Yu, there shouldn't be any consequences.
As for whether Su Yu might have some connection to the World Government, Whitebeard didn't consider that possibility at all. That was even more absurd than a Celestial Dragon turning into a good person.
Thus, after the shock passed, Whitebeard smoothed out his frown, casually tossed the newspaper aside, and let out a hearty laugh.
Gurararara, it looks like my title of the [World's Strongest Man] is about to be lost!
Whitebeard didn't actually place much importance on this title, because it was merely a title after all. Having it wouldn't increase his strength by even a fraction, and without it, he was still Whitebeard!
With Whitebeard's laugh, the heavy atmosphere on the deck instantly shattered, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Yet upon hearing what Whitebeard said, they felt a lingering sense of unwillingness. Whitebeard might not care about the title, but they cared about it a great deal. Still, even though they wanted to refute it, when they looked at the miserable image of Kaido on the newspaper fluttering loudly in the wind, they felt they had no grounds to argue.
They opened their mouths, but in the end, nothing came out, wearing complicated expressions...
Before you continue