Chapter 377: King Against King, General Against General
Before the flames in the sky had even dispersed, Yamato descended from above, crashing heavily onto the ocean's surface.
The instant she landed, fine white fur had already grown across her body's surface. Ribbons formed from white mist swirled around her.
Though a Devil Fruit user, at this moment Yamato had completely conquered the sea.
From her landing spot, white crystalline ice spread outward, freezing the entire surrounding sea.
"The battlefield is ready!"
Yamato raised her kanabo, pointing toward the newly rebuilt Onigashima ahead. "The decisive battle begins!!"
Zoan Dog-Dog Fruit, Mythical Model: Okuchi-no-Makami. Wielding this ability, Yamato possessed powers similar to Aokiji's.
Aside from not transforming into ice itself, her ability resembled his—freely releasing cold air to create ice. At her current strength level, freezing the surrounding sea was effortless.
"Ohhhhhhh!!"
The samurai roared, leaping onto the ice, charging desperately toward Onigashima.
Victory in this war would reclaim this nation, free the people from daily terror, from exhausting themselves just to survive.
"Prepare for battle!!"
At Onigashima's edge, King gazed up at the red dragon confronting Kaido in the sky, his voice incomparably grave. "Everyone understand, right?! This enemy is stronger than ever before!"
The Wano samurai or Zou's Minks didn't matter. The only enemies were Brett and Yamato!
Even Yamato barely counted—before Brett, her power seemed insignificant!
Only this man was the Beasts Pirates' greatest enemy!
King had personally experienced this man's strength!
Brett had easily severely wounded Kaido. King himself had been casually defeated by that man with one blow. Even Onigashima had completely crumbled during that battle, requiring complete rebuilding.
Kaido-san—we can only depend on you!
King ground his teeth internally.
They couldn't participate in the sky battle at all. Besides Kaido-san, anyone facing Brett would be crushed with one strike, absolutely unable to resist. The strength gap was overwhelming.
"Hahahaha! Then let's test my new weapons first!"
Watching the samurai surging like a tide across the frozen sea, the corpulent Queen grinned widely.
"Boys, fire the cannons!"
The massive cannons positioned along the shore now aimed at the ice.
These cannons weren't loaded with ordinary bombs, but plague rounds specially developed by Beasts Pirates chief scientist Mr. Queen.
Anyone caught in the blast would immediately contract a lethal virus, transmissible through physical contact—a terrifying weapon!
The next moment, accompanied by a series of dull thuds, cannonballs launched skyward with sharp whistles, crashing toward the samurai.
"Hahahaha!!"
Queen danced excitedly. "All become zombies for me!!"
However—
"Don't you dare!"
Yamato had clearly prepared for Queen's tactics.
She inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "Namuji Hyoga!"
Earlier, Brett and Kaido in the sky had simultaneously breathed flames. Now Yamato exhaled mist.
White vapor swept across the sky as she turned her head.
The spreading mist resembled lasers, but lacked lasers' terrifying destructive power.
The incoming cannonballs weren't detonated but frozen solid.
When the cannonballs landed, they'd become massive ice chunks—unusually solid. They smashed into the ice surface, creating holes, but didn't crack themselves.
"Tch!"
Queen snorted with dissatisfaction. "Damn! If we'd known this girl would betray us, shouldn't have let her eat that fruit!"
"Don't talk nonsense."
King snorted coldly. "Kaido-san never intended to give her that fruit!"
Since age eight, Yamato had constantly escaped around Onigashima, fleeing from one place to another.
Anyone who dared help her faced Kaido's merciless slaughter.
Yamato remained always alone, growing stronger through constantly challenging Kaido.
She'd obtained her Devil Fruit by chance during this process and eaten it. Of course, whether Kaido had secretly facilitated this remained unclear.
However, this question no longer mattered.
"Fufufufu! Perhaps this is fate?"
Doflamingo—squatting on a reef like a street punk—grinned. "Fate chose her."
"Fate?"
King snorted. The next instant, flames behind his head vanished. His body had already shot skyward like lightning.
"The only fate I know is victory under Kaido-san's leadership!"
He crashed toward Yamato like a meteor. "Yamato's mine!"
"Hmph, impatient bastard."
Queen snorted. "Better not get flattened by that girl."
"Oh, king against king, general against general? Quite reasonable."
Doflamingo laughed, body also rising into the air. "Then I'm launching too."
"Should be someone who really wants to fight me."
He looked down, meeting a certain man's gaze.
Tesoro still stood at the ship's bow. He'd spotted that man rising skyward, still wearing that flamboyant pink feathered coat.
"Hey, Doflamingo!!"
Accompanied by loud laughter, Tesoro instantly pierced through the air, shooting skyward like an arrow released from a bow.
Mere Moonwalk from the Six Powers was naturally no difficult technique for Tesoro.
"Finally meeting again!"
Tesoro's face showed excited laughter. "Ready to have your head twisted off?!"
Tesoro and Doflamingo shared no deep grudge. But who told Doflamingo to be a former Celestial Dragon?
Though saying this sounded harsh—unable to directly attack proper Celestial Dragons, he could only vent on Doflamingo for now, right?
"Fufufufu."
Doflamingo grinned. The frozen sea below began transforming. Massive amounts of thread already started winding upward like countless sea snakes.
"Tesoro, your awakening can't assimilate the surrounding environment. So how much gold did you bring this time?"
With enough gold, Tesoro's awakening could destroy heaven and earth. But without enough—quite awkward.
Tesoro's lips curved slightly. "Won't need it this time!"
Invisible waves wrapped around his fist.
Simultaneously, Kawamatsu, Denjiro, Ashura Doji, and others led the samurai charging toward the shore.
"Prepare to engage!!"
Queen roared. His body had already transformed into a massive brachiosaurus.
Standing behind him were the Beasts Pirates' officers.
"Crush them!!"