Kaido fell silent.
This was a truth he had consciously avoided, or rather, a truth he was mentally ill-equipped to handle. He was, bluntly, simple-minded.
So simple-minded that he couldn't conceive of preemptive scheming; he was forced to react in battle. People like Rowen, those bottomless, calculating types, were impossible to beat that way. Kaido could only defend and counter, which is why he trained a defense no one could shake. As the saying goes, the more you overthink, the more you err. Compared with striking first, reacting second is a hundred times easier.
Yonko are still human; they have their own flaws and temperaments. Expecting Kaido to be noble like Shanks was never realistic, that's not his nature. Whitebeard was fiercely loyal; Shanks was driven by fate; Big Mom was obsessed with sweets and cruelty, these are the human flaws of the Yonko.
Too easily read, that was Kaido's weakness.
When the gap in strength is huge, this flaw doesn't matter, Rowen is the same. When the difference is overwhelming, the opponent doesn't even deserve to be "read"; you simply crush them.
But when strength is closely matched, or when the other side intentionally targets this flaw, that weakness becomes lethal.
"Let go of me…"
Suddenly Kaido stopped struggling; his voice was heavy with resignation.
Rowen frowned slightly but removed his foot, stepped back, and stood still.
gū lū…
Kaido's scale armor retracted back into his skin as he shifted from his Dragon-Humanoid form. He rose and dusted himself off.
"Hiss…"
A sting of pain hit him. Looking at the horrific wounds still fresh on his body, he paused, then turned his head.
"You're strong."
"Nonsense."
Kaido had clearly lost interest in continuing the fight. Rowen relaxed out of his Thunderous Titan mode and took a cigar box from his pocket.
"Want one?"
Kaido silently shook his head, turning his back to Rowen to look toward the dawn rising on the horizon.
"I'm nearly seventy. Few pirates live to that age, and those who do have long since retired. But as the 'strongest living creature,' I don't care about lifespan."
Kaido spoke with a trace of weary wonder; Rowen's mind drifted. Rowen realized Kaido was indeed from an older generation, there were only a handful of living legends left, the ones closest to him in age being Sengoku and Zephyr. The rest had long been dead.
"When I was your age, I'd only just begun to stand in the New World. The Marines hunted me like a mad dog. We fought every day, breakouts, skirmishes, fleeing for our lives. Not a single peaceful day. I went a month without sleep once, commanding the fleet in retreat."
"So I swore to get revenge. I'd make them taste the disgrace of being hunted, never let the World Government have a moment's peace."
"So that's your reason for wanting to start a war?"
Once war begins, there is no true peace.
Take the present, for example. Although the news that Kaido disbanded his crew hadn't yet reached pirates fighting in the first half of the seas, any large-scale conflict spreading across the Four Seas won't be cleaned up in one or two years. If pirates only want to flee and not fight, the ocean's vast expanse means it could take ten or twenty years to sort out, who would be left in peace then?
Rowen exhaled a perfect ring of smoke. "Then why did you go to sea in the first place?"
Kaido paused, then said, "I killed someone at home, was wanted."
"That's your own fault!" Rowen looked incredulous.
"I killed a corrupt official, he stole my money. A year's wages!" Kaido roared in frustrated, righteous anger, then sighed and shook his head.
"I'll come back, Soryu (Azure Dragon). I'll fight you fair and square, no running, no hiding… but not now."
Kaido glanced toward the Holy Land, his expression cooling. "Using me as a disposable weapon while you two hide in the rear, there's no way I'll swallow that insult."
With that, he stomped hard and leapt high.
"Tell Orrick the alliance is over, he can clear out!"
A beastly roar echoed from the sky. The colossal form scattered the clouds and, bathed in the early dawn light, vanished beyond the horizon.
So the real reason he didn't want to keep fighting was his anger that Orrick still hadn't acted?
Rowen's face twisted with cold amusement as he watched Kaido go.
"As if I'd let you walk away that easily…"
"But it works out for me right now."
Rowen clenched his fist, gauged his body's condition, and smiled faintly.
"After I grind you down, even if I survive, I'll have practically no strength left, why rebuild the place just for someone else to benefit?"
Whoosh… thud!
At that moment Kong flew in on Geppo, his face etched with a deep frown.
"Rowen, why did you let him go?!" The situation had been clearly in Rowen's favor just moments ago.
"Let him go?"
A rather apt phrase. Rowen sneered. "What good would killing him do? There's still a little of the Holy Land left, if we say it needs repairs, it sounds better. If I kill him, it'll mean total reconstruction. Which sounds better for public relations: 'Kaido's invasion caused serious damage and needs repair' or 'Kaido's invasion destroyed the Holy Land and it needs total rebuild'?"
"Allied Kingdom members care most about the Holy Land's face. The Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars) are also people obsessed with saving face… Kaido invading the Holy Land and being repelled? That alone preserves their pride."
"I'm afraid… the Five Elder Stars won't be able to hold onto that pride for long."
Kong's expression suddenly hardened as he replied.
"What happened?" Rowen raised an eyebrow. "Orrick?"
"Not sure, but… it's probably him."
Kong gave a brief, grim answer, then dropped to one knee. His broad government-issued cloak, marked with the World Government's cross, draped over his thick back as he bowed his head.
"By order of Lord Im, we are to welcome the new Gorōsei who will preside over the world's affairs!"
That was an emergency appointment… and a blatant betrayal of the secret understanding between the two men.
Rowen's face instantly darkened. If he was being made the presiding Elder Star, then what about the others?
"I told you not to go too far, Orrick!"
But what truly unsettled Rowen was the sheer confidence Im had just displayed through this dramatic move.
A panicked Sea King suddenly froze mid-swim, her heart turning icy cold. Feeling the distant pulse of a familiar, dreadful power, she looked back in disbelief.
"Impossible…! How could he have restored his power?!"
Then she shook her head sharply.
"No… no, that's not right!"
"It looks similar, but… this isn't his original strength. I see now, he's taken a Fruit!"
BOOM… RUMBLE!
An explosion echoed behind her. The Sea King snapped back to awareness, gritting her teeth.
"I can't keep this up… this body won't last."
Her eyes darted left and right, and suddenly lit up.
"Wait… that crevice over there!"
In the pitch-black seabed rock wall, a deep fissure gaped open. Amid the chaos of explosions, countless frightened fish darted into the trench and vanished in an instant.
It was their desperate escape route that caught the Sea King's attention.
"Finally, an opening!"
Her expression went cold. She flicked her tail and dove toward the fissure.
…
On the surface, Momousagi, who had been issuing bombardment orders, was suddenly interrupted as a communications officer approached with a grave face and saluted.
"Vice Admiral Momousagi! The control room reports, contact with the Sea King has been lost!"
"What?! Impossible! She was barely three thousand meters from us just now!"
Momousagi's beautiful face darkened, fury twisting her features. Seeing her like that made Akainu and Bald Zero twitch at the corners of their mouths, this furious woman was worlds apart from her usual elegant, composed self.
"But… we really can't locate her." The messenger shivered involuntarily, answering with a miserable expression.
"You idiots! I'll go see for myself!"
Shoving the officer aside, Momousagi stormed toward the control room.
The three men stood on the deck, wind whipping their coats as they watched her go. On this Pluton battleship, Momousagi held absolute authority, unless she died in battle. Command could not be arbitrarily transferred; that was Akainu's personal order. So the men didn't even have the right to stop her, they could only stand outside and face the sea breeze.
After a moment's thought, Bald Zero spoke: "Could she have hidden in one of the seabed rock fissures? The Marines' sea maps probably don't have data that deep for this area, right?"
The region around Marineford, including the seafloor, had long since been mapped. But this was the New World, the Marine forces had only been here for a few years.
Akainu shook his head silently. "It's not that simple. With the power of Pluton's deep-water bombs, even the most complex rock layers would be blown apart. The Sea King isn't that stupid."
At that, Masked Zero stroked his chin. "According to our pursuit route, not far ahead lies… the Adrian Sea."
At those words, Akainu and Bald Zero exchanged a look, both faces turning grim.
"The Adrian Trench!"
Without another word, Bald Zero leapt into the air and dashed toward the control room.
"Vice Admiral Momousagi! What's the maximum depth our Pluton deep-water bombs can reach?"
"Thirteen thousand meters. Any deeper, and the water pressure destroys them. Why, what's wrong?" Surrounded by rows of tense soldiers, Momousagi didn't even look back as she monitored the Den Den Mushi projections on the control screen.
Thirteen thousand meters was already an extraordinary number, Vegapunk's original deep-water bombs could only go a thousand meters. This was ten times stronger!
"There is a problem!" Masked Zero took a deep breath.
"Up ahead lies the Adrian Trench, a region so deep even Fish-Men can't reach the bottom!"
(End of Chapter)
This novel is finished, and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395