Chapter 48: Looks Like I Messed Up

Upon hearing the doctor's words, all the Bloodsworn Guards present changed expressions at once, horror overtaking their faces.

When they first saw Ryan and Winter unconscious, they already understood how terrifying and monstrous Kaido's power was. But only now, after listening to the doctor, did they realize—they had still underestimated the horror that was Kaido.

That level of strength… it might very well be on par with the legendary Marine hero, Garp.

And they knew for a fact that Winter had fought alongside them during the siege on Garp. Yet even then, Garp's attacks hadn't left Winter in such a miserable state.

What they didn't realize was that although Garp was monstrously strong, he wasn't as vicious as Kaido. As a Marine, Garp had his limits—he wouldn't strike to utterly destroy a person. So even when going all out, he held back.

Kaido? He didn't care one bit. He crushed enemies like bugs, his strikes often turning people into paste without a second thought.

Earlier, he viewed Ryan and Winter as annoying little flies, so that punch he landed on them was practically all his strength. Had it not been for Rosinante's "Healing Seal" holding their lives together by a thread, both men would've been obliterated on the spot.

Besides, when they fought Garp, Winter had been empowered by Rosinante's "Self-Restraint Silence" technique, which drastically boosted his strength. Back then, the main attackers had been Rosinante Katakuri, Raelmann, and Jack. Winter had been barely involved.

"Kaido is too strong. Can His Majesty really handle him alone?" Shaxiya asked, frowning deeply.

"In the current situation, there's no way we can intervene," Bins said gravely. "All we can do is hope His Majesty has the strength to overcome Kaido. That said, you and the snipers need to be ready at all times. I'll keep eyes on the battlefield. The moment His Majesty shows any sign of danger, you provide cover and extract him immediately."

"Understood!" Shaxiya and the snipers responded in unison.

Bins had made a sound tactical plan—but even he had underestimated the destructive scale of the battle between Kaido and Rosinante

"Kill me, or I'll kill you!" Kaido roared, launching a punch wreathed in fury.

"As you wish! Attack Release + Extreme Critical!" Rosinante shouted, channeling Kaido's own force against him by compressing it just slightly and returning it via a brutal elbow strike.

Their attacks collided, and the resulting explosion shattered the White Sea across a hundred miles around them. The two plummeted from the sky, then resumed their battle right on the remains of the White Sea.

Unfortunately, Bins couldn't open a wormhole from long range without a proper lock-on. And now, with the White Sea broken, there was nothing for him to use as a reference point.

His face twisted with urgency as he acted. Bins opened a wormhole and had Shaxiya lay down a Cloudpath to reach the battlefield. Together, they descended rapidly, but by the time they arrived, Kaido and Rosinante had already vanished—leaving only shattered clouds in their wake.

Of course they couldn't find them.

After crashing into the White Sea, Rosinante and Kaido had utterly destroyed it. And from there, they both fell once more—plummeting downward again.

But even falling from the sky didn't stop the two monsters.

Rosinante had the levitation powers of the Silence Gravity Fruit. Kaido was the so-called strongest creature across land, sea, and sky. Both of them could battle mid-air. And that's exactly what they did.

"Wrath of the Beasts!!" Kaido howled as dragon scales across his body lit with heat. A fearsome, unparalleled power erupted from within him.

"Attack Silence!" Rosinante gritted his teeth, forcefully withstanding the monstrous force using the Healing Lock to keep himself from being crushed. Then—

"Attack Release + Extreme Critical!" he screamed, gathering all his strength into a compressed counterattack.

"DIE!!" the two roared simultaneously, their fists and elbows colliding.

An unfathomable explosion rippled from the impact point. It was like a nuclear blast had gone off.

Rosinante was launched away like a shooting star under an overwhelming force.

Kaido wasn't spared either—his massive body was also flung backward like a streaking comet.

…

For The Rabid Pirates, this was a day they would never forget.

Today was supposed to be their great day—charging off to challenge the Grand Line. Their entire crew stood proud aboard their brand-new warship, a vessel painstakingly constructed for the purpose of conquering the Grand Line. Their hearts were ablaze with ambition—dreams of ruling the seas, of becoming Pirate King!

Then, from the horizon… a beam of light shot toward them.

Before anyone could react, the light slammed into their ship with catastrophic force.

The warship—built with a fortune—was reduced to splinters in an instant. The Rabid Pirates were sent flying into the air, then dropped unceremoniously into the sea.

"My ship! What the hell was that?!" The Rabid screamed, staring at the splinters of his once-mighty vessel. His anguish nearly caused him to pass out on the spot.

"Captain… I think… I think that thing… was a person!" the lookout stammered.

"Bullshit! Don't talk nonsense! How could that possibly be a person?!" The Rabid Pirates Captain snarled, glaring at the lookout.

"But I swear, Captain… it looked like a human shape inside the light. If it wasn't a person, what else could it be?" the lookout insisted.

"No! This is the Grand Line fighting back against me!" The Rabid declared, utterly convinced of his own grandeur. "It fears that I'll conquer it… that I'll become Pirate King! That must be it!!"

"Wow! The captain's incredible!" the crew echoed, feeding his delusions.

"Captain… uh… um…" Suddenly, another crewman shouted in panic.

"What?!" The Rabid snapped, still lost in his own glory.

"S-Sea King!!" the crewman screamed.

The Rabid spun around—and his face went pale.

A massive Sea King was charging straight toward them.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?! Jump! Everybody jump!!" The Rabid screamed in terror.

The crew scattered, leaping overboard in a frenzy. But they were just ordinary pirates. This wasn't Rayleigh we were talking about—they had no hope of out-swimming a Sea King.

…

Meanwhile, Rosinante's body—after smashing through The Rabid Pirates' ship—skimmed across the sea like a skipping stone.

He didn't even know what he'd hit, only that it was obliterated on impact. Then came the water. Rosinante bounced and tumbled across the ocean surface endlessly.

He had no idea how far he'd flown. No idea how long he'd been drifting. Half his body had sunk into the seawater, sapping his strength and dulling his senses.

His consciousness began to fade.

Finally, he collided with something hard.

His battered body came to a stop.

And then… darkness.

"Looks like I really pushed it too far this time…"

That was Rosinante's last thought before everything went black.

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T/N:

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