Rumble!
A terrifying explosion, a raging inferno, instantly consumed the entire sea. Warships nearby, caught in the blast, shattered like glass. Screams of countless soldiers rose in the sea of fire, only to be abruptly silenced.
"What… what happened?"
"Is that Adrian's reinforcements?"
"Akainu and Kizaru... could they be...?"
The sudden, cataclysmic scene changed the expressions of everyone on the battlefield. Soldiers of the World Government looked on with trepidation. If two admirals had been killed, then this battle would truly be over.
"Interesting!" Adrian thought. He hadn't expected Kaido to strike the Marines first, let alone attack the two admirals. The behavior of this lunatic was truly impossible to predict.
Swish!
Swish!
Two figures shot out from the center of the explosion. It was Akainu and Kizaru.
"Kaido, you vile bastard!" Akainu roared, his voice thick with fury. The right half of his body had been torn apart by the heat blast, but immediately, molten magma rolled and churned, and in the blink of an eye, his body was back to normal.
Just as he had told Ace at Marineford, flame attacks were meaningless to him. But the indignation of being attacked so brazenly was something he couldn't calm.
"Hic... Sorry, hiccup!" Kaido's drunken voice boomed from the clouds above.
Then, in the astonished eyes of the crowd, a gigantic blue dragon, hundreds of meters long, emerged, its majestic body swaying. The terrifying pressure it exuded instantly swept across the battlefield, leaving everyone breathless. Such a sight was truly appalling.
This was Kaido of the Beasts, the one known as the "strongest creature in the sea, land, and air." He had the ability to transform into a dragon!
"But Akainu, me and you Marines are natural enemies!" Kaido's huge dragon head slowly descended. He looked at Akainu with a sinister smile and said, "Is there really a need to distinguish between 'vile' and 'noble' when dealing with an enemy?"
Even Adrian couldn't help but applaud Kaido's words. When treating an enemy, shouldn't you use every means at your disposal? Adrian suddenly realized his previous understanding of Kaido had been one-sided. Hooligans weren't scary; it was the cultured hooligans you had to watch out for.
Kaido's words left Akainu and the others speechless. The man was right; they were enemies. Why did it matter if he ambushed them?
Unleashed without warning, Kaido once again spewed a terrifying heat blast that could melt a mountain in an instant.
"Insolent fool… Great Eruption!" Akainu's right arm instantly transformed into a huge lava fist, colliding with the oncoming blast.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion shook the sky. The scorching air waves instantly enveloped the entire sea in a blistering heat.
"What… what a terrifying attack!"
"Is that the power of Kaido?"
Everyone on the battlefield was stunned. Kaido's power was far beyond their imagination. A casual attack from him had the world-destroying power of a natural disaster. They feared that aside from a handful of other admirals or emperors, no one would be his match.
"Betty, withdraw all our people immediately. The real show… is about to begin!" Adrian said, his eyes fixed on the bottom of the sea, where he could feel extremely powerful, ancient auras.
The Giant Sea Kings... had they finally arrived?
"Yes!"
Betty was a little puzzled by the sudden decision. She knew that a sudden retreat on the battlefield was a military taboo. But out of her trust and admiration for Adrian, she didn't hesitate. She waved the battle flag and relayed the order.
Since everyone's attention was on the shocking battle between Kaido and Akainu, Adrian's army was able to retreat without any hindrance. Soon, everyone had returned to the coast.
Zzzzzzt!
In the sky, two beams of magma fire clashed. Akainu clearly had the upper hand. The magma, heated by Kaido's blast, became even more ferocious. Soon, it was upon the dragon Kaido.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Suddenly, Kaido spat out a volley of sharp wind blades. The oncoming lava giant fist was instantly torn apart.
"Tch, long time no see. You mad dog is still so good at fighting!" A look of surprise flashed in Kaido's giant eyes, but it was quickly replaced by his previous grimness. "But I didn't come here just to find you this time!"
As his voice fell, his tail, as thick as an ancient tree trunk, suddenly turned into an afterimage, wrapped in crackling blue lightning, and mercilessly bombarded Akainu's body.
Boom!
Akainu was caught off guard, flew backward and crashed into a huge ship with a dull thud. The entire audience erupted in an uproar.
Kaido's massive figure then slowly descended. In the blink of an eye, he transformed from a dragon to a human. He was as tall and burly as a hill, with a shawl of black hair and a pair of dragon horns on his head. He had a large dragon-scale tattoo engraved on his left arm. His upper body was bare, revealing a huge "X"-shaped scar on his right abdomen.
Just by standing there, the terrifying aura emanating from Kaido was enough to make the people around him tremble with fear. The power of a Yonko was truly extraordinary.
"Are you the kid who took Doflamingo's territory and then had the gall to demand negotiations with me?" Kaido ignored the crowd and walked toward the coast, his mace resting on his shoulder. "Do you not know how to spell 'death'?"
Although rumors about Adrian had been circulating in the New World since Marineford, Kaido hadn't taken the news to heart. As former teammates and enemies who had checked and balanced each other, he knew a lot about Whitebeard. That was why he had so brazenly gone to seize Whitebeard's territory after the war.
Kaido had predicted Whitebeard's defeat. However, because of the interference from Red-Haired Shanks, his plan didn't work out. But he wasn't very optimistic about Adrian, who had killed the old Whitebeard in a head-on fight. However, the rumor of his multi-fruit ability made him extremely greedy. This was also the reason he hadn't made a move earlier.
"That's right, it's me." Adrian nodded slightly, a sly smirk on his face. "Kaido, there's something I have to tell you in advance. Doflamingo has been killed by me. If you want to continue building your Zoan army, the new rules must be set by me!"
"Oh?" A hint of surprise appeared on Kaido's face. "Damn it, that useless bastard, died so quickly."
"However... you dare to threaten me, kid!!"