Chapter 188
In a frozen wasteland, 7 people covered with injuries are lying on the ground in front of a giant man with a club in his hand.
"It would be a waste to kill all of you, so surrender and join me. If you join me, we could easily conquer this sea. But if you refuse, I'll kill all of you right now."
"Don't waste your breath. I'm sure that I speak for all of us here when I say that we'd rather die than bow our heads to you," said Law as he slowly stood up. The rest also started standing back on their feet.
"Kaido, I'm going to defeat you no matter what!" screamed Luffy.
"So be it then." Kaido started walking towards them with his club in his hand. He hardened it with Haki, but before he could attack them, he got kicked in the face by Tani, who appeared out of nowhere, stopping him from advancing. "Another pest!"
"Shark Tile True Punch!"
Jinbe appeared in front of Kaido and punched him in his stomach, sending a shockwave through his body, which made Kaido winch. But he quickly recovered and tried to punch Jinbe.
"Soul Parade!"
Brook appeared in between them and blocked Kaido's punch while holding his sword in a backhanded grip. The moment Kaido touched Brook's sword, his arm suddenly got covered by a layer of ice that started spreading all over his body, but Kaido easily broke it off by flexing his gargantuan muscles.
"Who does that bastard think I am! Why does he keep sending these weaklings!"
"I am sorry that we aren't up to your standards, but you'll have to just fight with us today," said Jinbe.
"Ey Kuzan, it isn't much of a competition if you're down like this," said Tani.
"Just give me a couple of minutes, and I'll be ready to fight again."
"You might as well stay down then because I'll have him beat by then." Tani disappeared from his place and suddenly appeared in front of Kaido's face and kicked him right on his nose. He suddenly disappeared and appeared behind him and kicked his legs. He disappeared again, and Kaido received a kick on his chest. Tani kept using his speed to appear all around Kaido and attack him. Kaido tried to hit him, but he missed every time.
Kid, Killer, and Law all looked shocked at Tani's speed. They've never seen someone this fast. They had trouble keeping up with him even though they were spectators.
"What are you guys gawking at? Let's use this chance to all attack together," said Laffitte. Everyone nodded, and they charged at Kaido together, trying to take down the monster with their combined effort.
---
"Captain!"
Ken, who is still sitting at Ryuma's grave, looked behind him, seeing Mura down on one knee.
"Oh, Mura. What are you doing here, aren't you supposed to be enjoying the festival? Looking at these dark skies, it could start at any moment."
"Something happened. Like you asked, we kept an eye on Onigashima and didn't do anything when it got attacked by Luffy and his alliance, but it seems like we have underestimates the Beast Pirates' strength. Ace is fighting together with Marco against King, and Sabo is fighting together with Chopper against Queen. They seem to be doing fine, but the problem lies with Kaido. Luffy, Zoro, Kid, Killer, Law, Laffitte, Kuzan, all of them are on the brink of defeat. But Brook, Jinbe, and Tani went out there to back them up."
"And you came here because you didn't think they could win?"
"Unfortunately, yes. It has already been almost an hour since I split up with them, so I don't know what the current situation is. And since the Den Den Mushi don't seem to be working here, I can't contact anyone."
"Sigh, I guess I have to go out there myself then." Ken stood up and put Shusui back on his belt. "Where are Robbert and Perona?"
"I don't know. They ran off together to go shopping."
"Go and find them. Have Robert pick up all the injured people and bring them to safety. And have him take you and Perona to Onigashima to help out there."
"But sir-"
"I'll be fine. You finding Robert might be the most important thing right now, so go and leave the rest to me."
After a little hesitation, Mura nodded. "I'll definitely come back for you if I see that you need help." She disappeared.
"So you were serious about fighting Kaido," said Gyukimaru who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"Of course I was serious. He stands between me and my goal. And I'm the only one on this island that can compete with him. Oh, and before I leave, make sure to take better care of Ryuma's grave. If I find out that something happened to it again, I'll know where to find you."
Gyukimaru shivered and quickly nodded. Ken disappeared from the gravesite.
---
"Isn't this dress cute, Robert?"
"Yeah, it looks really cute on you."
"Really! I'll take it then."
'I thought that Captain was over exaggerating when he said that shopping with a woman is more tiring than fighting for a week straight. But I'm beginning to believe him,' thought Robert.
"And what do you think about-" Perona suddenly stopped talking and had a horrified look on her face. Robert felt his back turn cold and slowly turned around to see the usually calm and collected Mura, standing there with a furious look.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"W… what do you mean? W…. weren't we allowed to have fun?" asked Perona while shivering.
"Everyone has already left to fight, even Captain is going, and you two are here having fun on your date. But I'll make sure to have Laffitte lecture you two later after we're done here. Robert, Captain wants you to save all the injured people. And take Perona and me to Onigashima."
"Righ away! Shadow Portal!" The three jumped in and disappeared from the shop, making the shop clerk who wasn't paying much attention to them fall down in shock when they suddenly disappeared.
---
Back at where they're fighting Kaido, the same scene as earlier has happened again, but this time most of them are already unconscious. The only ones that are still conscious are Luffy, Law, Kid, and Laffitte.
"Haha, I guess this time we're really fucked," said Kid.
"Haha, I guess so," said Luffy.
"Tsk, if I could still use Room, I might have been able to get us out of here. But why are you still here, Laffitte? You're the only one here who can still run away," said Law.
"Even if I might be extremely cruel to my enemies, I would never even think about abandoning my comrades, no matter what."
"Are you weaklings done praying?" asked Kaido as he started walking towards them.
"Yes, and it seems like my prayers have been answered," said Laffitte as someone suddenly appeared in front of him. His cape fluttered into the air, showing the word Captain and the Azure Pirates' Jolly Roger.
"You're finally here! I can finally get rid of the itch on this scar you gave me!"
"Sorry for making you wait so long. Some girl called Yamato that was cosplaying as Kozuki Oden, invited me to her bed. But don't worry, I still have more than enough stamina to fight you even though we went 20 rounds. She sure was a crazy one."
"YOU BASTARD!"
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(Don't let Celine catch you saying that.)
Quotes (don't know from who):
"Every weak person can change into the strongest monster."
"I know it's over, and it never really began, but in my heart it was so real."
"There's always a little truth behind every 'Just kidding', a little knowledge behind every 'I don't know', a little emotion behind every 'I don't care', and a little pain behind every 'It's okay'."
"I'm not insulting you. I'm describing you."
"I have found so much beauty in the dark as I have found a lot of horrors in light."