Chapter 204: Volume 2 – Chapter 106: You’re Ganging Up on Me!?

That voice...

Kaidou's pupils shrank to pinpoints, his heart hammering in his chest as a bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

Beside him, King and Queen instantly froze, overwhelmed by a chill that surged up from their feet, crawling up their spines and piercing straight into their skulls.

A gust of wind blew away the thick smoke. Through the flickering flames, they finally saw the scene unfolding on the sea.

To the left, a medium-sized warship had already crashed straight into the harbor.

At its front was Zephyr, charging ahead with a massive force of Marines storming the island in full assault.

To the right, Sengoku and Borsalino's warship was sweeping in at high speed, circling around to form a pincer attack as it bombarded their position without pause.

And in the middle... was a bizarre-looking warship shaped like a dog's head!

Atop the canine figurehead stood a man with an overwhelming presence. Wearing a dog-head hat, he spun his arms like windmills as he hurled one cannonball after another toward the island, laughing heartily.

Explosions rocked the ground, sending pirate after pirate flying before they could even react.

"It's Garp!!"

"The legendary Marine!!"

"The 'Strongest Marine'!!"

"'Hero' Garp!!"

"He's here too!?"

"How is this even happening!?"

...

The members of the Beasts Pirates were deathly pale, clutching their heads and letting out panicked, broken screams like they'd just watched their world collapse.

Shells rained down in a dense barrage, igniting a chain of deafening explosions as roaring flames engulfed the battlefield.

Kaidou's expression had turned pitch-black. Fury boiled in his chest as he mentally roared:

What the hell is going on!?

That brat Daren is just a Marine Commodore!!

How could he bring out these three monsters to rescue him all at once!?

Just what the hell is Daren's background...?

Is he a Celestial Dragon!?

No way—even those swine wouldn't get this kind of treatment!

Kaidou ground his teeth so hard it felt like they'd crack. His bloodshot eyes burned with uncontainable rage.

Zephyr and Sengoku were one thing. They were strong, sure—but not enough to make him afraid.

But that bastard Garp...

Unbidden, Kaidou's mind was flooded with memories from long ago.

Scenes from the Battle of God Valley played before his eyes—when he'd still been a greenhorn on the Rocks Pirates crew, witnessing the terrifying strength of their captain, a man like a walking catastrophe...

Crushed by a blood-soaked Vice Admiral with a dog's head cap—Garp. The way that man tore through the battlefield back then still haunted him.

Those shadowy memories flashed rapidly in his mind, and sweat began to bead in the palm gripping his kanabō.

"Bwahahahaha! Daren, my boy! Where are you!? I've come to pick you up!!"

From the dog-head warship, Garp laughed as he scanned the area. When he didn't see Daren, he turned and glared at Kaidou in annoyance.

"Kaidou! Hand over Daren already! He's my adjutant!!"

Zephyr and Sengoku, on the other two warships, both paused mid-action, turning with fury to shout in unison:

"No! Daren is my adjutant!!"

Garp burst into laughter.

"Oh yeah? Then how about this—let's make a bet."

"Whoever rescues Daren first, he becomes their adjutant!"

"—Like hell we're betting with you!!" *2

Zephyr and Sengoku shouted back at once, faces red as they argued with everything they had.

...

"That... did I hear that right? Three legendary Marines fighting over who gets Daren as their adjutant...?"

Queen's jowls trembled with disbelief, his face full of shock.

As if something dawned on him, his eyes lit up and he mumbled under his breath,

"Kaidou-sama really stirred up a hornet's nest this time... Daren's not someone you can mess with..."

"So it's not my fault this time... The boss nabbed the wrong guy... It's Kaidou-sama who should take the fall—"

BOOM!!

A massive kanabō slammed down out of nowhere, smashing his head straight into the ground. Only his lower half—still wearing those black-and-white overalls—was left sticking out, two chubby legs twitching in midair.

"Shut up!!"

Kaidou, gripping the kanabō tightly, panted with bloodshot eyes.

King's expression was grim.

"Kaidou-san... what do we do now? That Garp... he was there at God Valley—"

"That was back then!!"

Kaidou snapped, cutting him off with a roar.

He cast a glance toward the sea, then looked around at the trembling subordinates surrounding him, clenched his teeth, and growled:

"I'm not that rookie brat from back then anymore!!"

As the words left his mouth, the dragon-scaled legs beneath him suddenly kicked down with tremendous force.

BOOM!!

A massive crater split open across a hundred-meter radius, the ground fracturing as debris shot into the air. Kaidou launched into the sky like a cannonball.

"Wororororo!! Come on, Garp!! I've got a score to settle from back then!!"

His crimson eyes gleamed with madness, and his aura surged wildly upward. Black and red lightning burst from his body and instantly coiled around the black kanabō in his hands.

At full power, he moved like a thunderclap—crossing hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye.

Gripping his Hassaikai, trailing arcs of black-red lightning, he brought it down hard toward Garp!

"Bwahahaha!! You were just a shivering little punk back then!!"

Garp's eyes lit up with battle-lust. With a grin, he leapt from the deck.

Black lightning spiraled around his massive fist.

One punch—like a tidal surge from the sea itself—roared forward!

"Raimei Hakke!"

"Blue Hole: Fall!!"

BOOM!!

In an instant, club and fist collided midair!

For a moment, the world seemed to freeze.

Countless streaks of lightning erupted in all directions, and the black and red Conqueror's Haki compressed into a ball of annihilating force. A storm exploded outward, centered on the two of them, engulfing the entire island.

Howling winds surged forward, tearing through buildings, earth, trees, and pirates alike.

King's eyes narrowed. He drew his blade and drove it into the ground, bracing against the overwhelming force of the blast.

Queen, dragging his head out from the crater, clung tightly to a massive boulder, staring ahead in horror at the hellscape before him.

All color had vanished. The world was drowned in a sea of lightning... and those two monstrous silhouettes.

The colossal storm soared into the heavens, smashing apart the thick clouds and ripping open the sky in jagged rifts.

"They're clashing with Conqueror's Haki... without even touching..."

Queen stared in disbelief.

"There's actually someone on this sea who can go toe-to-toe with Kaidou-sama..."

"...Huh?"

Before he could finish, the deadlock shattered.

Queen's eyes widened, jaw dropping like he'd seen a ghost.

BOOM!!

A shockwave burst from the overcompressed energy sphere—Kaidou's body was sent crashing into the ground at even greater speed than before, blasting up a wave of dust and debris like a rampaging dragon.

A massive chunk of the island tore apart, seawater rushing in behind it as sand and soil churned into a colossal wave.

"Bwahahaha! You've got some strength—but your fighting spirit's still way too soft!"

Garp landed steadily back on the warship, digging in his nose as he let out a loud laugh.

"Damn it..."

Kaidou staggered back to his feet from the massive crater, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

He was injured.

But before he could catch his breath, two powerful figures burst through the swirling dust and appeared right in front of him in a flash.

"Kaidou! Hand over Daren!!"

"Give me back my adjutant!!"

Kaidou's pupils shrank, his face shifting instantly.

Reflected in his eyes were two dazzling white Marine cloaks fluttering dramatically.

"Black Arm – Crushing Impact!"

"Great Buddha – Impact Wave!"

Zephyr's fist gleamed with a harsh, pitch-black armor, while Sengoku instantly transformed into his towering Buddha form—both of them attacking at once!

"You Marines are seriously ganging up on—"

BOOM!

BOOM!

Two bone-crunching hits landed simultaneously.

Sengoku's golden fist smashed into Kaidou's stomach, folding him like a cooked shrimp.

Zephyr's iron-hard punch slammed into his face with such force that ripples visibly spread across Kaidou's skull.

BANG!!

A shockwave of compressed white air exploded behind him as their Armament Haki burst a second time.

"Shhhh—!"

Queen gasped, eyes twitching wildly.

Then, with a gurgle of blood, Kaidou was sent flying like a broken kite, crashing back into the ground with a massive shockwave that kicked up a dust cloud hundreds of meters tall.

"Did we get him?"

Sengoku and Zephyr landed at the same time, locking their eyes onto the smoking crater.

But their expressions quickly changed—as if sensing something.

A gale tore through the dust as a colossal black silhouette burst forth with a furious roar.

A dragon!

Kaidou, now in his full dragon form, was drenched in blood, eyes blazing with fury as he bellowed:

"Marines! One day, I'll make you pay for this!!"

With that, the dragon coiled into the sky, stirring a mighty storm.

Queen and dozens of elite Beasts Pirates clung tightly to his body.

"He's trying to escape!" Zephyr's eyes narrowed.

"Borsalino!!" Sengoku growled.

A lazy voice floated over from the warship.

"Understood... Even though you're thinking of switching adjutants, you still order me around like this. So heartless, Sengoku..."

Sengoku's face darkened.

A brilliant burst of golden light surged into the sky, forming a tall silhouette.

The Marine cloak whipped in the wind as Borsalino smiled wryly, eyes locked on the fleeing, badly wounded Kaidou.

He opened his arms wide.

"Yasakani no Magatama!"

In an instant, a torrent of golden light bullets, brimming with searing destructive energy, tore through the sky and rained down like a golden storm upon the soaring dragon.

"Think again!"

A cold, sharp shout cut through the air.

A dark figure streaked across the sky, wings of black flame trailing behind as it blazed forward.

Crimson fire surged around a massive katana—and with one mighty slash...

"Karyudon!!"

ROAR!!

A massive fire dragon erupted from the blade, its burning jaws wide open as it collided head-on with the barrage of light.

BOOM!!

Explosions roared across the heavens. The fiery dragon's wings spread like a blazing curtain, licking the stormy black clouds above.

Borsalino touched down lightly, and in the reflection of his sunglasses, King's silhouette was already disappearing into the distance.

He let out a small, amused snort.

"A type I haven't seen before..."

He glanced over at Sengoku.

"Admiral Sengoku, want me to chase them down?"

Sengoku stared at the vanishing dragon, then shook his head.

"Forget it. If it's just you, I'm worried something unexpected might happen."

"And besides..."

He turned toward Zephyr, who was walking over quickly, and said in a low voice:

"Daren really isn't on this island."

Zephyr and Sengoku exchanged a look. Their Observation Haki had confirmed it—Daren was nowhere nearby.

Zephyr took a deep breath, his voice mixed with frustration and disbelief.

"That kid... actually escaped from Kaidou."

...

(70 Chapters Ahead)

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