The spiked kanabo crackled with fearsome lightning as it howled through the air toward Linlin, the wind itself screaming around it. The blow landed squarely on her body.
Boom.
Her massive frame visibly twisted under the strike, yet her smooth, moist skin did not show so much as a scratch.
Her defense was truly second to none.
Even so, the terrifying force carried by the kanabo still sent Linlin flying. With a thunderous crash, she slammed into the buildings by the harbor, her body flattening a three–story house in an instant.
Dust exploded outward, swallowing her figure.
"It's… it's Ape Demon Kaido, we're saved!"
"With Ape Demon Kaido here, he will definitely stop that monster!"
The sight of Kaido lit a spark of hope in the hearts of pirates who had fallen into despair.
Moments ago they had feared this savage beast of a man more than anything. Never would they have thought that the blood–soaked tiger who killed without blinking would, at this moment, become their savior.
Kaido ignored all the grateful shouts around him. His tiger eyes were locked firmly on the center of the dust cloud. With how well he knew Linlin, there was no way that one Thunder Bagua would knock her out.
Within the dust.
A pair of scarlet eyes lit up, like two giant red lanterns, radiating a soul–piercing glow.
"She took a full Thunder Bagua head–on with zero guard and still has not come to her senses. Losing her kids hit this woman harder than I thought." Kaido's grip on the kanabo tightened.
He knew what was coming.
This was going to be a slog.
"Where are my children?!"
"Where are my children?!"
The rampaging Linlin roared to the sky. Her voice surged out in waves, each shout stirring the air into a visible shockwave.
As that sound crashed in all directions, the stone walls and flagstones all around them split open with jagged fractures.
It was terrifying.
The surviving pirates at the harbor clamped their hands over their ears, yet even then some felt their eardrums rupture. Blood trickled from their ears.
"This freak Linlin…" Kaido frowned and muttered, "That scream really is something. No wonder Rocks used to say she had the scariest talent he had ever seen."
"But that was back then. After Big Bro Ares showed up, she is not at the top anymore."
After unleashing that monstrous shriek, Linlin raised her fists, each as big as a boulder. They turned jet–black as Armament Haki hardened over them. She swung wildly at Kaido, no form, no technique, just pure instinct and brute power.
Clang.
Kaido raised his kanabo to block. Metal rang out, sharp enough to sting the ear.
He stopped the blow, but the barrage was like a storm. Punch after punch hammered down, giving him no chance to breathe.
In this berserk state, Linlin's attacks were brutally direct. With her talent, even fighting on pure instinct, with nothing but raw physical strength and Haki, she could still dominate a sea full of monsters.
Kaido did not evade at all. Instead, he laughed like a madman. "This is exactly the kind of fight I crave!"
"Big Bro Ares kept challenging terrifying monsters again and again. That is how he became someone everyone has to look up to in such a short time!"
With Tengetsu Ares as his goal, Kaido feared no battle.
He wanted to grind himself sharper through combat. He wanted to become stronger.
In just a few short minutes, Kaido and Linlin had clashed dozens of times. Each collision thundered like a storm from the heavens. The noise was enough to make the soul tremble.
…
The scene shifted.
Deep in the prison.
With Garp leading the charge, the marines cut through resistance like a hot knife through butter. In a very short span, they had already taken several levels of the prison.
Countless prisoners were freed from their cells.
Just as Garp stepped into the fourth level, a massive figure barred his way.
"Edward Newgate…"
Garp's expression hardened. The solid muscles across his body tightened on instinct, like a beast scenting danger.
Behind him, the marines stiffened as well the instant they saw the man standing in their path.
Whitebeard.
Their faces went pale. Cold sweat broke out on their foreheads and temples, running down their cheeks.
"Gurararara…"
Newgate gripped Murakumogiri and laughed, his eyes flashing sharply. With a faintly mocking tone, he greeted Garp. "Garp, I hear you had a bout with Ares and that brat gave you a proper beating."
"Were you not always so proud of your iron fists?"
"So how did you end up losing to Ares…"
Garp's mouth twitched, but he snorted and shot back, "When did you get so long–winded, Newgate? If you want to know whether my fists are still hard, come over here and try them."
Whitebeard laughed twice in triumph, his voice full of heroic swagger.
"We have been old rivals for years, but for all kinds of reasons, we have never settled who is stronger."
"This time, you and I will finally decide a winner."
Garp flexed his wrists. They cracked loudly as he grinned. "I have been waiting for this day for a long time."
Their gazes met in the dim corridor, and it was as if sparks exploded in the air between them.
Swoosh.
Garp moved first. His figure vanished from where he stood as if he had teleported, reappearing three meters in front of Whitebeard. His blackened fist carried a dense, crashing force as it hurtled straight for Whitebeard's face.
Before the fist landed, the fierce pressure of the punch pricked at Whitebeard's skin like needles.
Fist Bone… Meteor Impact.
In that instant, Whitebeard threw his own punch. A thin layer of white light shimmered and crackled over his fist.
Boom.
The moment fist met fist, heaven and earth shook.
It was as if the entire prison had been hit by a magnitude–ten earthquake. The floor tilted; marines, pirates, even prisoners in the passages lost their footing.
Some dropped to their knees, some rolled helplessly across the ground.
Everyone in the prison was dragged into that earth–shaking clash.
In the monitoring room.
Shakky staggered, grabbing for balance.
She stared at the surveillance screens. Seeing Whitebeard standing in Garp's way, she finally let out a long breath. "With Newgate there, Garp will not be able to break through the prison."
"And that means I am safe too."
"Shakky."
The sudden voice behind her made her break out in a cold sweat.
Someone had appeared behind her without making a sound.
She had barely started to turn when something icy pressed against the back of her head.
A cold voice followed. "Shakky, if you move, this bullet will definitely go through your skull."
Shakky's eyes shifted, trying to catch a glimpse of the person behind her, but she could not clearly see their face.
Even so, she already had a good guess in her heart.
And the other party did not bother to hide it either. They openly revealed their identity: an agent of CP0, the World Government's secret intelligence agency.
No one knew their true faces or names. Every one of them wore a different mask. The only thing the world knew was that CP0 answered directly to the World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons. They were known as the strongest shield of the Celestial Dragons.
Not only were their identities shrouded in mystery, each operative was exceptionally powerful.
For pirates, it was better to run into marines than to run into CP0.
Shakky quickly forced herself to calm down and asked carefully, "You are here for me because you want information on the Celestial Dragons… is that right?"
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