Flashback:
Kaido had experienced betrayal at a young age.
Betrayed by the country he had served for years—the king, desperate to gain eligibility to join the World Government as an allied nation, had sold him out to the Navy like livestock.
Kaido was deeply resentful.
He was the strongest warrior in the kingdom, so why should his fate be decided by that weakling king and some pompous government officials?
Relying on his superhuman strength, Kaido managed to escape during transport and became a pirate.
Although he was captured multiple times afterward, he always found a way to break free.
With his immense power, Kaido could even freeload meals at some less competent Marine branches.
When he ran out of food, he would intentionally get captured, eat his fill in the prison canteen, and then break out.
Eventually, he joined the legendary Rocks Pirates, where he met Whitebeard and Big Mom, witnessing battles between the strongest monsters on the seas.
Yet even someone as powerful as his captain, Rocks D. Xebec, was defeated at God Valley by the combined efforts of Garp and Roger.
Thinking of this, Kaido felt immense dissatisfaction.
That battle back then was truly regrettable—they were so close.
Just one step away.
Rocks was on the verge of overthrowing the World Government and restoring "freedom" to the world.
In that world, anyone could gain power through effort and freely obtain resources through that power.
The strong would no longer have to kowtow to weak rulers.
"Free and fair."
And Kaido had upheld this belief all these years.
He continuously strengthened his army, desperately enhancing his own power.
He vowed to overthrow the World Government and reshape the world order.
He abandoned his humanity, constantly accumulating strength, all for that goal.
But unfortunately, today he encountered a deadly obstacle in his path.
…
Back to the present.
As the flashback ended, Kaido looked at the Diamond Storm about to strike him.
He instantly reverted to his human form, accepting his fate.
"Ah... it's over."
WHOOSH!
In an instant, the terrifying tornado of diamond blades completely enveloped Kaido.
RIIIIP!
Even his body, reputed to have the strongest defense in the world, couldn't withstand such horrific cutting force.
"Cough... That really hurts." Kaido kept vomiting blood.
His muscles and bones were gradually turning to dust under the diamond tornado's relentless slicing.
"Ray... I once... cough... said..."
"The one who can... defeat... me... must be Joy Boy."
"Cough... But my instinct tells me... you're not him."
"It seems... I'm still not the strongest in the world after all."
"Damn you, Ray... making me realize this... cough... cruel reality before I die."
"Very well. I'll leave the task of changing the world... to you all."
With these final words, Kaido's body completely disintegrated, turning to dust and vanishing within the raging diamond tornado.
The Strongest Creature.... was no more.
…
From a distance.
Black Maria witnessed the entire process, her face pale.
This world-destroying scene temporarily frightened away her ambitions of climbing the ranks.
Though she marveled at Ray's terrifying power, her most urgent concern now was ensuring her own survival.
'Should I immediately flee and hide? Or seek refuge with Ray?'
In this terrifying New World, a beautiful woman without backing would likely meet a bad end.
Especially someone like her, who had long relied on Kaido's support and frequently tortured men for amusement—her enemies were everywhere.
If Kaido died, those pirates who wanted her dead would surely issue capture bounties for her in the underworld.
Though she wasn't weak, there was no guarantee some powerful fighter needing money wouldn't actually capture her.
Then whether she lived or died would depend entirely on the employer's whims.
'But what if when I seek refuge with Ray, he looks down on me and kills me instantly?'
Even someone as experienced with men as Black Maria couldn't guess the true thoughts of this white-haired god.
With no expression at all on his face, how could she possibly guess what he was thinking?
At this moment, Black Maria fell deep into nervous contemplation.
…
On the rooftop.
Queen, King, Yamato, and Chouchou all saw what happened in the distance.
Yes, Chouchou had regained consciousness.
After fighting Queen for so long, expending energy and getting injured, he had vented all his frenzied frustrations.
The moment he woke up, he witnessed his Master displaying magnificent power to erase the dragon.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOFFFF!"
Chouchou proudly raised his head, showing a human-like mocking expression to Queen.
"Just a mere little lizard... my Master cut it down with ease."
"Long-necked dinosaur, you should surrender now."
"Become the pet of me, Chouchou-sama. Hehehehe."
While speaking telepathically, Chouchou charged toward Queen, who was still in a daze from seeing Kaido die.
This wasn't Chouchou taking advantage of the dinosaur's misfortune—who told Queen to be inattentive during a fight?
"Soul-Scattering Iron Claw!"
SLASH!
Three golden flashes streaked through the air, piercing Queen's thick chest.
However, they barely drew any blood.
CLANG!
Because inside Queen's chest cavity were mostly steel, machinery, weapons, and other modern technology.
Only when he felt the pain did Queen finally snap out of his shock at Kaido's defeat.
"You damn mutt! I'll shoot you dead!"
But before Queen could counterattack...
CLICK.
A glowing white collar suddenly appeared and fastened around his long neck.
Chouchou laughed triumphantly.
"In a battle between monster, one wrong move leads to another. This is your first lesson from your master Chouchou-sama."
By the time Chouchou finished speaking, the usually talkative Queen's eyes had already gone vacant.
Having reverted to his human form, the fat scientist stood obediently behind Chouchou like a bodyguard.
...
However, Yamato wasn't as clever (or underhanded) as Chouchou.
She genuinely waited until King refocused his attention on the battle before resuming her attacks.
One reason was that she still held some complicated affection for King—over these 26 years, she had received help from him to varying degrees (like sneaking her food).
But the main reason was that she had already grasped King's combat characteristics.
When the flames burned on his back, it represented nearly invincible defense.
When the flames extinguished, it meant he entered a high-attack, high-speed, low-defense mode.
Therefore, to defeat King, she had to attack when his flames disappeared.
Of course, there was another method—simply exhaust King's stamina.
Those Lunarian flames consumed energy.
If King remained in his flame-covered turtle state, it would continuously drain his stamina.
Moreover, in this defensive state, King's attack power was quite ordinary.
If he wanted to defeat Yamato, he would naturally need to exert full effort, which would consume even more stamina.
In this situation, Yamato only needed to counterattack with intensity equal to King's attacks.
For example:
If King wanted to deliver effective damage in defensive mode, he would inevitably incur high stamina consumption—losing 10 stamina points per minute.
Facing King in this state, Yamato would consume at most 1 stamina point, and her Mythical Zoan state allowed for quick recovery.
So if King didn't intend to enter attack mode, Yamato could simply outlast him.
Whenever King wanted to resolve the battle quickly, his flames would extinguish, and then it would come down to who was truly stronger between Yamato and King.
If we had to evaluate, Yamato, who had mastered advanced Conqueror's Haki infusion, undoubtedly possessed greater attack power.
The freezing ability of her Okuchi no Makami form could also counter King's innate fire.
As long as she dragged out the fight, King was bound to lose.
Clearly.... Yamato's strength had certainly surpassed that of the three All-Stars.
...
"Namuji Hyouga!"
Yamato prepared to initiate the next phase of battle with a long-range freezing slash.
Just as she was about to launch it, King, who appeared to have returned to normal after the shock of Kaido's death, suddenly charged madly toward Ray's location in the distance.
"RAY! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Yamato felt somewhat speechless at this moment.
Her only disadvantage compared to King was aerial mobility.
She felt there should be a way to fly with her fruit ability, but she hadn't figured it out yet.
There was no way she could catch up with King, who had transformed into a blazing Pteranodon flying at high speed toward Ray.
However... Yamato didn't intend to pursue anyway.
She just sighed, lamenting King's tragic fate.
"He could still survive if he's defeated by me."
"But seeking revenge against Ray?"
"Wasn't that just fastening your own death?"
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