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The plasma cannon coalesced in Arthur's palm, a dense sphere of destructive energy. He locked onto Kaido and fired.
A temperature of terrifying intensity sheared through the air. A blinding, searing white pillar of light flashed forward, leaving behind nothing but the acrid stench of burnt ozone in its wake.
Feeling the sheer power contained within that beam, a single thought surfaced in Arthur's mind.
'Who could possibly withstand a strike like this? As Vegapunk said... maybe I really am... invincible!'
No matter how powerful Kaido's physique was, there had to be a limit. The fact that he was "unkillable" only meant that the current methods available on the seas were insufficient—it didn't mean he truly couldn't be killed.
Arthur didn't believe anyone could block the destructive annihilation of the plasma cannon. The temperature that erupted in that split second was hot enough to vaporize the entire island.
The thousand meters separating them meant nothing. Constrained by electromagnetic fields, the plasma cannon shot from his palm like a laser beam!
"It's coming... that attack..."
On the deck of the Queen Mama Chanter, Katakuri—who maintained a stoic, cool facade before anyone—suddenly underwent a drastic change. His face went pale, and his chest heaved violently like a bellows, gasping for air.
"Big Brother Katakuri, are you okay?"
"What's wrong?"
"Brother!?"
His two brothers and sister looked at him with intense worry. In their memories, Katakuri had never lost his composure. They knew of his supreme talent in Observation Haki; he must have foreseen a scene so shocking that it shattered even his iron will.
What kind of horrific vision could make the Masterpiece of the Charlotte Family lose control like this?
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On the desolate island, Kaido had been charging wildly toward Arthur, every step shaking the earth. But the instant Arthur released the plasma cannon, Kaido slammed to a halt.
Kaido was moody, suicidal, and loved to crush enemies with brute force. He had the personality of a mad dog. But he was also the King of the Beasts, leading a legion of monsters, and he possessed a terrifying intuition comparable to a wild animal.
'If I tank this... I'll die? You have to be kidding me!!'
His inner voice roared in madness, his eyes bulging with rage. He began to twist his massive body, trying for the first time in his life to flee from an opponent's attack range.
But it was too late. Arthur's plasma cannon was simply too fast. Before Kaido could even process a reaction, that dazzling, blinding pillar of white light slammed into him.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
There was only a heatwave that swept out in all directions. The rock beneath his feet turned instantly to magma. The surrounding seawater boiled violently, then vaporized into nothingness...
"AAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!!"
A gut-wrenching, heart-rending scream echoed through the clouds. Kaido's colossal body crashed into the sea, thrashing wildly as he clutched his abdomen in agonizing pain.
The battle ended the instant Arthur fired the cannon. The terrifying attack had landed on Kaido, who had nowhere to run. The cross-shaped scar on his abdomen had been burned pitch black, and faintly, one could see a massive hole punched clean through from front to back.
After the blood-curdling scream, Kaido—the man who could fall from a Sky Island 10,000 meters up without a scratch—fell completely unconscious, sinking into the depths of the ocean.
"This... impossible?!"
"It has to be fake... you're joking, right—"
On the Queen Mama Chanter, the four Charlotte siblings were so terrified by what they had witnessed that they were frantically swallowing their saliva, cold sweat pouring down their faces, rendered completely speechless.
One hit.
One hit had broken Kaido's absolute defense. His old scar had been completely pierced through...
The myth of the Immortal Kaido had been shattered by the Thunder Emperor!!
The Navy had exhausted every method, and even Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit couldn't do it... but Arthur had.
Only those who truly faced the soul-shaking power of that plasma cannon could understand the horror gripping their hearts!
"I didn't actually kill him, did I?" Arthur lowered his arm, frowning.
A corpse had zero value. Although Kaido was a mad dog and incredibly annoying, Arthur didn't want to kill him just yet.
Arthur wanted to wait until he acquired the Op-Op Fruit (Ope Ope no Mi).
Then, he would capture Kaido alive, strap him to a lab table, and dissect him to unlock the secrets of the strongest physique in the world—so that he, too, could become that strong, or even stronger...
Unconscious, Kaido sank deeper into the ocean. The endless seawater began to cool the horrific wound on his abdomen.
Suddenly, pink granulation tissue sprouted from the pierced area, drilling through the charred, dead skin. A regeneration ability visible to the naked eye began to cover the wound, slowly restoring it to its original state.
However, on that hideous cross-shaped scar, a new hole the size of a human head remained—a permanent, shocking testament to the terrifying strike he had endured. It would never fully close.
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On the singing ship, the four Charlottes finally snapped out of their shock. They exchanged glances, seeing the lingering fear in each other's eyes.
"Big Brother Katakuri, this invitation... should we even deliver it? He never accepts them anyway." Brûlée looked at Arthur in the distance, who seemed lost in thought. She was already retreating in her heart.
Faced with such a terrifying monster, she would rather face her own mother's wrath.
"Why wouldn't we send it? If we leave now, he might think we..."
"Think you what?"
An indifferent voice suddenly sounded from behind them. Perospero, Oven, and Brûlée froze instantly, turning around mechanically like rusted puppets.
Katakuri, however, had stopped speaking a moment before, as if he knew Arthur would instantaneously arrive on their ship from ten nautical miles away. He turned his head, his fluffy scarf covering the lower half of his face, and finished his sentence to answer Arthur directly.
"...He might misunderstand that we have ulterior motives."
Having regained his composure, Katakuri exuded the aura of a General. His calm voice managed to soothe his three siblings simultaneously, smoothing out their expressions of terror.
"Lord Thunder Emperor, this is an invitation to the Tea Party from Mama..." Perospero handed over the exquisite, gold-stamped envelope with trembling hands.
"Tea Party? Another wedding... Does Big Mom have nothing better to do than eat, drink, and breed? I'll repeat what I said before—if she doesn't change, sooner or later, she'll be knocked off her throne by a newcomer!" Arthur sneered, glancing at the contents of the invitation before tossing it aside like trash.
"That is not something Lord Thunder Emperor needs to worry about!" Katakuri said coldly. In the vision flashing through his eyes, he had seen that Arthur wouldn't be angry at the provocation, but rather intrigued.
Arthur wouldn't even bother looking at an ant that provoked him. But if someone with potential challenged his authority? That got him excited.
If a person faced an invincible opponent and became submissive and timid, that kind of trash had no potential for growth.
Arthur shifted his gaze to Katakuri, a man whose talent he greatly admired. "Katakuri, have you forgotten what I once said about taking Big Mom's throne for yourself?"
"You have massive potential and exceptional talent! But as long as you submit to Big Mom, you will never unleash it... You don't want to see yourself and your siblings die at the hands of a mad Big Mom, do you?"
"The fundamental drive that makes a person strong is ambition. Once you have that ambition, you will inevitably surpass her!"
"Think about it carefully. Look out for yourself!"
Leaving those words behind, Arthur's figure vanished abruptly.
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