As Rosinante's words echoed through the plaza, the atmosphere instantly grew suffocating once more.
Seriously, today was supposed to be the grand opening of Nightless City. Couldn't you watch what you say just a little? You're basically asking for trouble at this point.
Forget whether you can defeat Kaido or not. If two Sea Emperors really start fighting here, do you even want your Nightless City anymore?
Doflamingo was seething inside, but there was nothing he could say. His strength simply wasn't enough for him to have a voice here.
Kaido stared at Rosinante with an ugly expression on his face.
"Rosinante, you've got guts. I like that," Kaido suddenly laughed.
Hearing this, Doflamingo and the others finally let out a breath of relief, while Sengoku and Garp flashed looks of disappointment.
"But don't think this settles things," Kaido added coldly.
Everyone's hearts jumped straight back into their throats.
"What do you want?" Rosinante asked calmly.
"Linlin said you have a move that's pretty strong. Let me see it. If it satisfies me, we'll call it even. Otherwise, don't blame me for turning your Nightless City upside down," Kaido said.
"So in the end, you still want to fight," Rosinante replied lightly. "Fine then. This punch is for you. I've been ready for it all along."
As Kaido finished speaking, Rosinante stepped forward.
With that single step, he slowly threw a punch.
The punch was incredibly slow, slower even than a normal person's punch.
Yet the moment Rosinante raised his fist, Kaido's expression changed.
Because as the fist lifted, an overwhelmingly tyrannical aura began to spread from it. And as Rosinante's punch advanced inch by inch, that aura grew stronger and stronger, continuously condensing and stacking.
The punch looked slow, but the momentum behind it grew heavier with every fraction of movement.
An increasingly oppressive and domineering presence pressed down on Kaido. Against such pressure, even an ordinary Marine admiral would likely lose all fighting spirit and collapse under it.
But Kaido was different.
Instead of retreating, his ferocity was ignited.
A savage expression twisted across Kaido's face. Veins bulged along his arms, and the dragon scales on his chest glowed with heat and light.
"Roar!"
Like a ferocious beast letting out a howl, Kaido swung his fist violently toward Rosinante.
That massive fist crashed down from above, colliding head-on with Rosinante's comparatively small fist.
Domineering. Violent. Berserk.
Shockwaves exploded outward in all directions.
The platform beneath them began to shatter inch by inch.
"Up you go!" Rosinante shouted.
The force on his fist detonated even more violently.
The explosive shockwave lifted Kaido's feet off the ground.
Boom!
The terrifying burst of power completely collapsed the platform, and at the same time sent Kaido rocketing into the sky.
As the platform fell apart, Sengoku, Garp, and the CP0 agent instantly retreated from it, staring in shock at the ruins and at Kaido being blasted upward.
Even Sengoku and Garp's expressions changed dramatically at the power unleashed by that punch.
Through his continued study of the King's Punch, Rosinante had subjected his body to special training and modifications, allowing his cells to store far greater amounts of power.
In the past, Rosinante's punches had tremendous burst force but lacked sustained follow-through. After mastering the principles of the King's Punch, his cells could now accumulate and release far more power, compensating for that weakness.
As long as Rosinante was given time to build momentum, he could unleash strength capable of making heaven and earth tremble.
"Amazing…"
"Kaido was sent flying!"
"Long live the king!"
"Even Kaido got blown away with a single punch. Rosinante has gotten even stronger!"
"Heh heh heh, truly a monster. Rosinante, just how far do you plan to grow?" Doflamingo muttered.
Cheers and shocked cries erupted around them, but Rosinante himself showed no sign of satisfaction.
"Seriously, every single one of you is a freak," Rosinante said calmly.
As mentioned before, like the Shock Punch, the true killing power of Tyrant Burst lay not only in its explosive force, but in its terrifying penetrating power.
Only when his force failed to pierce an opponent's body would Rosinante rely on raw explosive impact.
If his power could penetrate, it would erupt inside the target's body, causing damage many times greater than an external explosion.
But Kaido's defense was despair-inducing. Layer upon layer of monstrous durability blocked Rosinante's penetrating force, leaving him no choice but to rely on pure explosive power.
It looked spectacular, but the actual effect was far less decisive than it appeared.
Sure enough, not long after, Kaido crashed back down from the sky, smashing the ground into fragments. Yet he stood up as if nothing had happened.
"Very good, very good. That punch really hurt," Kaido said with lingering excitement as he looked at Rosinante, his expression one of eager anticipation, as though he wanted to keep fighting through the pain.
In truth, Kaido himself had been surprised by that punch.
Had he not known beforehand that Charlotte Linlin had suffered from it, he would not have gone all out with his strongest defensive state from the start. Otherwise, he truly would have taken serious damage.
Even so, the pain from that punch still lingered intensely in his body.