"Still able to move… huh?"
"Impressive. Truly impressive."
"As expected of a monster worth over four billion berries. As expected of the so-called 'strongest creature.'"
"Under Lord Renzo's 'sloth' suppression, a power capable of rewriting the very rules themselves, you still managed to forcibly defy heaven through nothing but instinct and willpower…"
As he spoke, Rehn slowly rolled his wrists, his knuckles cracking loudly.
His body lowered slightly.
That formerly round belly of his had actually shrunk a bit, a sign that every muscle in his body was tensed to the limit.
"Right now, in order to resist Lord Renzo's decree, just to move that club even a single centimeter…"
"Every muscle, every nerve, every drop of Haki in your body is running beyond overload, isn't it?"
"You're like a snail trying to crawl while carrying Mount Sumeru on its back."
"You're strong. Ridiculously strong."
"But right now…"
"You're nothing but a defenseless, slow-moving turtle covered in openings, "
"A LIVING TARGET!!!"
The moment the words fell, BOOOOM!!!
Rehn moved.
Within this gray domain where everything but Kaido stood still, Rehn, as the wielder of the decree, was the only being possessing "freedom."
The ground beneath him exploded instantly as he transformed into a streak of golden light too fast for the naked eye to follow!
"Since you like moving so much…"
"Then let me help you… loosen those bones up!!!"
Whoosh!
Rehn appeared before Kaido in an instant.
He didn't even bother paying attention to the kanabo still slowly descending.
He didn't dodge.
Didn't care.
He simply raised his gigantic leg, thicker than an elephant's trunk, wrapped in crackling high-voltage lightning and jet-black Armament Haki.
"GET YOUR FACE OVER HERE!!!"
"Thunder God Style, Two Hundred Million Volt Axe Smash , BIG FAT LEG!!!"
BOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!
A dull, heavy impact exploded through the silent world, like a giant hammer smashing rotten leather.
At that moment, time itself seemed to resume flowing.
Everyone clearly saw it, Rehn's heel, capable of shattering mountains, smashed directly into Kaido's face without missing by even an inch!
CRACK!
The sound of a broken nose bridge echoed out.
Kaido's terrifying willpower, which had been resisting the law itself, faltered for an instant under that unreasonable kick.
His gigantic head snapped backward violently.
Even his seven-meter-tall body staggered back a step.
The supposedly lethal kanabo lost balance and slammed weakly into the ground.
"Nice catch!"
After landing the kick, Rehn didn't retreat this time.
Instead, an unprecedented thrill surged through him.
A twisted sense of conquest from trampling the "world's strongest" beneath his feet instantly ignited every violent impulse in his body!
"So this is what a Yonko's face feels like?!"
"Sure is thick! My damn foot went numb from kicking it!!"
Using the recoil from the kick, Rehn twisted acrobatically in midair and,
Instead of landing, he landed directly on Kaido's broad shoulders!
Like a cowboy riding an untamed wild beast.
"But-"
Rehn clamped his legs tightly around Kaido's neck and raised both fists high overhead.
Golden lightning compressed into liquid-like substance swirled around them, radiating terrifying destructive power.
His eyes were bloodshot.
Drool hung from the corner of his mouth.
At this moment, he looked more like a pirate than any pirate.
More like a demon than any demon.
"No matter how thick your face is-"
"I'LL SMASH IT TO PIECES!!!!"
"DIE FOR ME!!!"
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Rehn's fists rained down like a storm!
This wasn't some refined martial art.
Nor some profound technique.
It was the most primitive, savage, and straightforward,
Street-brawler punching!
Except every punch carried two hundred million volts of electricity, advanced flowing Haki, and every ounce of strength Rehn could muster!
"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!!!!!!!"
As he wildly punched away, Rehn even screamed like a JoJo character!
Every punch exploded into blinding lightning on Kaido's face, skull, and chest!
Every hit came with the sound of bones cracking and flesh tearing apart!
"So YOU'RE the one called Kaido?!"
BAM!!
A vicious punch slammed into Kaido's eye socket, instantly turning it into a giant black eye!
"So YOU'RE the one called Governor-General of the Beasts?!"
BAM!!
An uppercut exploded into Kaido's jaw, sending several bloodied teeth flying through the air!
"Acting tough! Acting tough!!"
"You dare act tough in G-5?! Do you even have the money for that?! HUH?!"
BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!!
Rehn was completely drunk on battle now.
All the frustration he'd ever endured in life exploded out at this moment.
Fear of the strong?
Respect for a Yonko?
To hell with that!
To Rehn right now, Kaido was just a giant, durable punching bag that couldn't fight back!
"Ghh… ugh…"
Kaido was stunned.
Completely stunned.
He had already been concentrating everything on resisting Renzo's decree.
Every inch of muscle in his body screamed merely to move a millimeter.
He had no strength left to defend.
No strength left to counterattack.
He could only watch helplessly as that fat bastard sat on his shoulders, beating his face like a madman!
Pain!
Piercing agony!
Even with his nearly immortal body, Kaido felt unbearable pain from the lightning paralysis and internal-destruction Haki embedded in every strike.
But worse than the pain, was the humiliation.
He, Kaido, the strongest creature of sea, land, and air,
Was being ridden like a horse by a fat man getting slapped and punched in the face?!
"Bas… tard…"
Kaido tried to roar.
Tried to explode with fury.
But every time he gathered strength to retaliate,
"ORA!!"
Rehn predicted it and smashed another punch straight into his throat, forcibly cutting off the breath he was gathering!
"You still dare glare at me?! I'll fix those eyes for you!!"
Rehn had fully entered "rabid dog mode."
He didn't even need to breathe anymore.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit inside him operated like a perpetual-motion machine, endlessly supplying energy.
His punches became faster and faster until countless golden afterimages filled the sky.
It looked like hundreds of arms attacking Kaido simultaneously!
"THIS IS FOR THE REPAIR BILL!!!"
BAM!
"THIS IS FOR EMOTIONAL DAMAGES!!!"
BAM!
"THIS IS FOR LOST WORK HOURS!!!"
BAM!
"THIS IS INTEREST FOR SCARING ME EARLIER!!!"
BAM! BAM! BAM!
"THIS IS FOR THOSE NEW RECRUITS YOU KNOCKED OUT!!!"
"THIS IS FOR THE FLOOR TILES YOU BROKE!!!"
As he punched, Rehn never stopped talking either:
"Weren't you acting all mighty?!"
"Weren't you gonna kill people?!"
"Didn't you say money meant nothing?!"
"WHY AREN'T YOU TALKING NOW?! HUH?! ANSWER ME!!"
"You broke-ass drunk! Violent maniac! Publicly-pissing alcoholic!!"
"APOLOGIZE TO ME!!!"
BOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!
Rehn clasped both hands together, forming a gigantic lightning hammer.
With the strongest strike of his life, he slammed it directly into Kaido's swollen pig-like skull!
"Thunder God Guillotine!!!"
This blow was earth-shattering!
Kaido's massive body could no longer endure it.
Under the combined pressure of the Sloth Decree and Rehn's relentless barrage, his consciousness finally collapsed.
The exhaustion sinking into his bones.
The dizziness caused by repeated lightning impacts to his brain.
The world before his eyes blurred, spun, and darkened.
"Ren…zo…"
At the final moment before unconsciousness, the figure in Kaido's mind was not Rehn's savage face,
But the man who had never even appeared personally.
The man who had pushed him this far with nothing more than a single tool.
"Monster…"
THUD!!!
Like a collapsing mountain.
Kaido's knees buckled.
He crashed heavily onto the ground, forming two gigantic craters.
Then his enormous body toppled forward with a world-shaking impact that sent dust everywhere.
He stopped moving.
Completely motionless.
The world's strongest creature, Kaido, before countless witnesses on the ruins of Dressrosa, had been knocked unconscious…
By G-5's steward…
Using the most primitive and straightforward method imaginable, beaten unconscious with his bare fists!
"Huff… huff… huff…"
Rehn jumped off Kaido's back and staggered upon landing.
The lightning around him had vanished.
His fat body was soaked in sweat, heaving violently with every breath.
Both hands were swollen and bloody.
Several knuckles had split open.
But he didn't care.
He raised his head and looked around with one swollen eye barely open.
As Kaido fell unconscious, Renzo's decree finally began fading away.
Color returned to the world.
Sound returned too.
But, nobody spoke.
Everyone remained frozen in place, mouths hanging wide open, eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.
Their gazes shifted back and forth between Kaido's unconscious body and the fat man standing beside his head.
It was the expression of someone witnessing an ant trip an elephant.
A sheep bite a wolf to death.
Pure absurdity.
Shock.
And the collapse of common sense.
"I-is this real?"
Usopp pinched his own thigh hard enough to yelp in pain.
"That Kaido… really got knocked out?"
"And by that fat guy… using his fists…?"
Law's sword Kikoku slipped from his hand with a clang.
He stared at Rehn with an incredibly complicated expression.
He had always thought G-5's strongest member was Renzo, followed by Mihawk.
Rehn?
At most, he figured Rehn was a decent Logia user and a butler who relied on Renzo's reputation.
But today…
"This guy…"
Law inhaled deeply, his voice dry.
"His strength… is probably no weaker than a Marine Admiral's."
"And that insane fighting style…"
Remembering Rehn sitting on Kaido's neck delivering that merciless barrage of ORA punches made Law shiver.
"Madmen… everyone in G-5 is insane…"
…...
At the center of the ruins, Rehn ignored everyone's stares.
Slowly and somewhat painfully, he bent down.
From Kaido's enormous purple rope belt, he untied an old-looking wine gourd.
Shaking it slightly, he found half a jug still inside.
"Tch… broke-ass drunk."
Rehn clicked his tongue disdainfully, but still uncorked it and took a huge gulp.
The burning liquor scorched his throat, making him bare his teeth in pain, but it finally calmed his wildly pounding heart a little.
"Haa…"
Exhaling a mouthful of alcohol fumes, Rehn planted one foot on Kaido's head.
"That felt AMAZING!!"