-Real World-
Although Kaido was undeniably a warmonger who reveled in combat and conflict, he conducted himself according to a strict personal code of honor. He rarely engaged in deliberate conspiracies or elaborate intrigues, and—perhaps most tellingly—he absolutely refused to desecrate the bodies of the dead. He had even provided proper burial for his deadly rival Kozuki Oden, despite their bitter enmity.
Within Onigashima or throughout Wano Country—anywhere within his vast sphere of influence—after killing an enemy, Kaido would either arrange for burial or simply cast the corpse into the sea. Using human tissue as toys or engaging in grotesque performance art with dead bodies would be completely unthinkable. If such behavior occurred within the Beasts Pirates organization, the perpetrator would face universal contempt and likely severe punishment.
"Ganzui… John." Kaido's voice emerged heavy with complex emotion as he gazed upon the reanimated corpses of his former comrades. "I never expected to meet you again in this manner after so many years. It's truly... heartbreaking."
Seeing these old acquaintances from the legendary Rocks Pirates reduced to shambling zombies, Kaido couldn't help but reflect on how swiftly time flowed. He hadn't fully appreciated how many years had passed since the catastrophic Battle of God Valley. He himself had grown from a young apprentice into an Emperor of the Seas who could stand independently as one of the world's most powerful individuals.
The once-mighty Rocks Pirates had fallen apart completely. Captain Rocks D. Xebec and the majority of the crew had died during the apocalyptic battle at God Valley, and only a precious few crew members had managed to survive and gain something from that devastating conflict. The Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu (Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon) that currently resided in Kaido's body had been obtained directly from the Valley of the Gods. He counted himself among the winners of that earth-shaking battle, one of the survivors who had claimed victory's spoils.
The seriously wounded John and Ganzui had managed to escape the battlefield with their ships after the Battle of God Valley concluded. Unfortunately, these once-formidable warriors could not cheat death indefinitely. They had fallen somewhere within the Devil's Triangle like brilliant meteors burning out, and had been lost to the world ever since—until now, when they stood before him as grotesque puppets animated by stolen shadows.
Memories of drinking and celebrating on this very ship emerged in Kaido's mind frame by frame, playing like scenes from a theater production. Before the crew departed for God Valley, the Rocks Pirates had held one final grand party. That banquet had been the first and only time that so many legendary faces had gathered together in one place.
Captain Rocks D. Xebec at the head of the table. John with his perpetual greed. Ganzui demonstrating his weapons. Shiki the Golden Lion boasting about his ambitions. Charlotte Linlin—still slim and beautiful before gaining her tremendous weight. Edward Newgate, who still possessed a full head of hair on his head rather than his later distinctive mustache alone. And so many others, scattered to the winds or dead now.
Thinking about it now, everything had changed so dramatically. So much had been lost.
"We sailed the same ship. We survived life-and-death battles together." Kaido's voice dropped to something approaching reverence. "Let me free you from this disgrace."
The Azure Dragon began circling continuously in the air above the massive vessel, his serpentine body moving in deliberate patterns. He started systematically disturbing the airflow around the entire area, creating imbalances in pressure and temperature. Within moments, Gecko Moriah felt the dramatic change in surrounding air pressure—a sudden drop that made his ears pop painfully.
The Shichibukai could only issue a desperate order for general attack to his remaining zombie forces. They existed for precisely this moment, after all—to serve as cannon fodder protecting their master.
"Tatsumaki! (Tornado!)"
Due to the Azure Dragon's masterful manipulation of atmospheric conditions, a genuine tornado began forming spontaneously above the earth. The horrific natural disaster caused air pressure to plummet even further, and then devastatingly powerful green wind blades erupted from the dragon's enormous maw in a continuous stream.
Under this large-scale area-of-effect clearing technique, the zombie army numbering in the thousands was systematically cut into countless pieces by the relentless barrage of wind blades. No zombie was spared the onslaught. No zombie remained intact. Even the ship's deck itself was torn open by the cutting force, wood and metal alike shredded like paper. Such an overwhelming natural disaster was completely unstoppable by ordinary human power.
Even though Gecko Moriah possessed Armament Haki, he absolutely did not dare attempt to withstand the wind blades created by Kaido's devastating technique. He could only rely on his Observation Haki to predict the attack patterns, grab both his subordinates—Perona and Brook—and desperately dodge through the chaos. It was embarrassing and undignified, but at least they survived the initial assault.
However, the zombie army he had painstakingly developed over more than a decade suffered a far worse fate. They served as nothing more than pathetic cannon fodder, completely destroyed in a single move by his enemy. Gecko Moriah's years of careful planning had been rendered worthless in one day, obliterated in moments. In the face of such absolute strength, playing with zombies and shadows was utterly futile. The weak could never defeat the strong by relying purely on external forces rather than personal power.
The devastated and frustrated Gecko Moriah cursed bitterly as he surveyed the carnage: "Damn it! Why did Kaido become so impossibly strong?! I'm so unwilling to accept this!"
Watching the zombie army he'd built with such effort disappear before his eyes, Gecko Moriah felt his heart shatter into pieces. Many years ago, he had been able to fight Kaido on relatively equal terms—not as equals, perhaps, but as legitimate opponents. Now he didn't even possess the basic qualifications to engage the Emperor in combat. And this was achieved without Kaido employing any advanced Haki techniques! If the monster decided to use Raimei Hakke (Thunder Bagua) and strike him directly in the skull, Moriah would literally see his own brains splattered across the deck.
The power gap had become insurmountable.
"Where did you come from, insect?" King's voice cut through the air with cold disdain. "Do you think I cannot see you simply because you're invisible? Don't disturb the Captain's righteous fury."
At some point during the chaos, King had positioned himself directly below the Azure Dragon's circling form. Without any apparent warning, he drew his massive blade and thrust it forward into seemingly empty air. There was nothing visible before him to the naked eye, but the Lunarian warrior's sword pierced directly into solid flesh. Blood immediately stained the weapon's length—a direct hit to a vital area.
A man resembling a lion in facial features suddenly materialized before King, his invisibility negated by the wound. This was Absalom, user of the Paramecia-type Suke Suke no Mi (Clear-Clear Fruit). He had not expected that the very first step of his carefully planned sneak attack would fail so catastrophically. The enemy's officer had detected him before he could even approach Kaido himself.
"How... how did you find me?" Absalom tightly grasped the sword currently piercing through his body, blood flowing freely around his clutching fingers. This loyal subordinate wanted desperately to buy time for his captain, even at the cost of his own life.
King regarded him with an expression of profound contempt, as though observing a particularly stupid insect. "Did you somehow not know that Observation Haki exists in this world?" His voice dripped with mockery. "Devil Fruit abilities mean nothing when confronted with properly applied Haki."
The author note here: Where exactly did the Hero of the Marines' Observation Haki go during the incident at Hachinosu? Vice Admiral Garp was actually stabbed by Shiryu wielding this same Suke Suke no Mi. His reputation was truly diminished far too severely by that showing. He was forced offline afterward to serve as a metaphorical sedan chair carrier for the deserter Coby, highlighting the latter's supposed heroism.
While King dealt with the failed assassin, Perona was secretly making trouble from her concealed position. She employed her Horo Horo no Mi (Hollow-Hollow Fruit) to create multiple spirit clones. These were her favorite weapons—Negative Hollows. After being passed through by one of these ghosts, opponents would become severely depressed and lose all will to fight, rendered harmless through psychological attack alone. Like the Hobi Hobi no Mi (Hobby-Hobby Fruit), certain Paramecia-type abilities possessed almost bug-like power that bypassed conventional defenses.
The Negative Hollows encountered no physical obstructions in the air and approached both Kaido and King at extremely high speed. The spirits passed directly through both enemies' bodies in rapid succession. But what Perona confidently expected to happen... simply didn't occur. Neither target displayed any negative psychological effects whatsoever. Both continued to radiate murderous intent as though nothing had touched them at all.
"Why doesn't it work?!" Perona's voice emerged tinged with panic and confusion. "Let me try several more times!"
The Negative Hollows repeatedly passed through the enemies' bodies, phasing through flesh and bone without causing any apparent harm to either Kaido or King. Could these two possibly be particularly negative people already, immune through existing depression? But no—the overwhelming aura of confidence and aggression they both exuded completely contradicted that hypothesis. Perona directly dismissed that explanation as impossible.
The Azure Dragon finally grew annoyed by the ghosts constantly swaying before his face, blocking his view. His massive dragon claws became wrapped in gleaming black Armament Haki, and he crushed the Negative Hollows effortlessly in one decisive motion. Kaido had absolutely no intention of playing parent and engaging in games with a young girl. He simply wanted to overturn the table and smash skulls today.
Gecko Moriah understood the principle behind the failure all too well. The power of Devil Fruits was not omnipotent across the seas. When encountering someone with sufficiently overwhelming Haki, most fruit abilities became largely ineffective. In the past, Perona's Negative Hollows had always succeeded against their targets, but the opponent she faced today was Kaido of the Beasts—one of the Four Emperors. Without equivalent hard power and advanced Haki to serve as a foundation, she was definitively no match for such a monster.
The overweight Shichibukai glanced toward Absalom and saw that his subordinate had been tortured almost beyond recognition by King. Several transparent holes had been punched completely through the lion-man's body, revealing glimpses of the deck behind him. If this particular subordinate's body hadn't been constructed from assembled pieces by Dr. Hogback, anyone else would have died immediately from injuries to so many vital organs.
Facing the current catastrophic crisis, continuing to fight was certain suicide. Moriah could allow the zombie army to be sacrificed—they were just corpses and stolen shadows, after all—but in his heart, he felt profound attachment to his actual living subordinates. He genuinely regarded these people as family. If even the slightest hope existed of saving their lives, he desperately wanted to pursue it.
Even if it meant kowtowing to his former enemy and admitting total defeat, Moriah could swallow his pride. The fat man forced the words out: "Kaido! Order your subordinate to stop immediately!" His voice cracked with desperation. "I can surrender to you! And I have information that directly concerns you—it's not a coincidence that you arrived here. You were deliberately led into a trap."
Kaido was not a purely reckless brute despite his love of combat. If Moriah possessed valuable intelligence and was willing to surrender, the Emperor could potentially extract extensive information about the World Government's schemes from this Shichibukai who officially worked for them.
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