The scene must go back two days. That was the exact time when Monkey D. Luffy had just arrived at the gates of the great undersea prison, Impel Down.
Far away from that chaos, in the sea region known as Totto Land, a crucial event was unfolding. Using the power of her Memo-Memo Fruit, Charlotte Pudding had successfully probed the mind of Kozuki Sukiyaki. She extracted every single one of his memories related to the Road Poneglyph. The process was shockingly easy, even more so than Kaido himself had anticipated.
But the extraction yielded more than just the Poneglyph's location. It came with an unexpected, world-shaking surprise.
This single piece of information was enough to change everything. Charlotte Linlin, who had been hesitant about forming an official alliance with Kaido's Beasts Pirates, immediately made up her mind. The secret was simple but powerful: the Ancient Weapon, Pluton, was hidden somewhere in Wano Country.
BOOM!
High above Totto Land, a massive island floated unnaturally in the sky, held aloft only by Kaido's powerful Flame Clouds. The night was pitch-black, broken only by the continuous, deafening roar of thunder that seemed to shake the world.
On this floating battlefield, the two Emperors clashed.
Kaido was in his imposing Hybrid form, a monstrous combination of man and azure dragon. He was battling Charlotte Linlin, who had unleashed her own full, terrifying form. Kaido gripped his massive spiked kanabo, the Hassaikai, his feet planted firmly on the Flame Clouds that allowed him to defy gravity. A crushing aura of Conqueror's Haki radiated from his body, warping the very air around him.
Charlotte Linlin was not about to be outdone. Her three special Homies exerted their power all at once. Prometheus, the sun, engulfed her in searing flames. Zeus, the thundercloud, served as her flying mount, crackling with electricity. And Napoleon, the bicorne hat, transformed into her massive great sword.
Neither of them held anything back. They were fighting like two unstoppable forces of nature, like absolute madmen.
"Die, you brat! Maser Sword!" Linlin screamed. She swung Napoleon, unleashing a terrifying slash infused with both Prometheus's fire and Zeus's lightning, sending it hurtling toward Kaido.
Kaido, moving with impossible speed in mid-air, just showed a sinister grin. "Old hag, you don't have the strength to kill me!" he roared back. "Thunder Bagua!"
BOOM!
The two attacks collided. The full power of the two strongest Emperors in the New World met in an explosion that defied description. The impact instantly caused the surrounding weather to go haywire. The heavens and the earth seemed to convulse. High above, the sky itself split in two, torn apart by the sheer force of their Haki. Far below, the waves of the sea churned violently. Even the massive island, held up only by Kaido's Flame Clouds, began to crack and crumble under the immense strain.
These two monsters had been fighting like this for a full four days and four nights.
The reason for this destructive battle was, in their minds, very simple. They were forming an absolute alliance. Outwardly, they would be on equal footing. But how could one small sea accommodate two tigers? In this vast ocean, one of them had to be the true boss.
So, Kaido and Charlotte Linlin chose this floating island as their battlefield to decide who would lead. Unfortunately for them, and for the island, the fight had already lasted four days and four nights with no clear winner.
As the Emperors of the New World—Kaido of the Beasts and Big Mom—neither of them showed any obvious sign of defeat. They were still standing, still fighting. But a closer look told a different story. Just by looking at Charlotte Linlin's mad, frowning expression, you could tell her mood was becoming very complex. She was frustrated.
As the battle dragged on, what started as an evenly matched fight was beginning to shift. For the first time, Charlotte Linlin was starting to feel a sense of powerlessness.
She was not young anymore. She was already sixty-six years old.
It was true that she was a natural-born destroyer. Her body was a fortress, possessing terrifying strength comparable to a giant. But years of living in absolute luxury, combined with the strain of ceaseless childbirth, had taken their toll. Her body had become outwardly robust, but inwardly, it was hollow.
But Kaido was different.
He was only fifty-seven years old, a full decade younger than her. And it wasn't just his age. During the grueling battle, Linlin's Observation Haki was screaming at her. She could clearly sense the changes in Kaido's aura. His power didn't weaken as the fight dragged on. Instead, impossibly, it seemed to be growing stronger and stronger.
More importantly, as a user of the Soul-Soul Fruit, she could sense things others couldn't. She clearly sensed peculiar, unnatural changes in Kaido's very soul.
In fact, for several terrifying moments, Charlotte Linlin even had an illusion. It was as if the man in front of her wasn't the fifty-seven-year-old Kaido she knew. It was as if she was fighting the fifteen-year-old Kaido she had first met on the Rocks Pirates, decades ago. That kind of boundless youth and raw vitality... it simply shouldn't be in Kaido's body anymore.
"Could this be related to Wano Country?" she wondered silently, her mind racing even as she fought.
Linlin remembered what she had learned from Kozuki Sukiyaki's memories. The legendary Ancient Weapon, Pluton, was hidden away in Wano. What really concerned her was Kaido's reaction. When they were both there, watching Pudding pull those memories, she had been watching Kaido's face. He didn't show any surprise at the news. Not a single flicker.
In other words, Kaido already knew that Pluton was in Wano.
"Has that bastard already obtained the power of Pluton?" she thought frantically. "No, that's impossible!"
Kozuki Sukiyaki's memories were very clear on one point: Pluton's devastating power could only be controlled by a true successor, someone with the Kozuki Clan's bloodline. But if that was true, what was this new power she was sensing from him?
Since she couldn't find an immediate answer, Charlotte Linlin, in her typical fashion, decided she didn't care anymore.
It was true that pirates often betray and exploit each other. It was the nature of their world. But despite that, Charlotte Linlin still trusted Kaido, at least for now. And Kaido had shown behavior that she would describe as trustworthy. Sharing the location of this Road Poneglyph was the best gift he could have given her.
Therefore...
High above the cracking island, the battle suddenly stopped. The raging flames covering Charlotte Linlin's body extinguished. Prometheus returned to his normal, inert cloud state. Napoleon, the great sword, reverted back into a simple hat on her head. Only Zeus remained active, serving as Linlin's mount, keeping her floating in the air.
"Tch! I'm not fighting anymore, you brat!" she shouted, her voice rough with exhaustion. "This old woman is hungry and needs to eat!"
With that final declaration, she descended from the clouds, leaving a confused Kaido behind.
Kaido was surprised for a moment, but then he understood. After four straight days of fighting, he had also felt it. Linlin's power had definitely begun to decline.
It was clear from one thing alone: her Haki.
Her Haki was far less potent than it had been when she was younger. Unlike Kaido, who could still use his Haki freely and coat his attacks, Linlin had started to rely more and more on her Devil Fruit abilities in the fight. This wasn't because she was weak or just depended on her fruit. It was because her Haki reserves, her very spirit, could no longer support such a prolonged, high-level battle.
In her fading power, Kaido even saw the shadow of his old rival, Whitebeard.
But even so, Kaido had to respect her. For four full days, Charlotte Linlin had managed to match him, blow for blow. It made Kaido somewhat envious of her sheer physical prowess and the incredible power of her Soul-Soul Fruit.
Kaido's own physical body was already ridiculously strong. At this point, apart from attacks infused with advanced Conqueror's Haki, ordinary weapons and attacks couldn't even scratch him. But his durability was nothing compared to Linlin's. Her natural defense was so powerful that she was famously called a 'steel balloon'. Against that kind of innate toughness, his own defenses still felt far inferior.
In addition, her Soul-Soul Fruit's ability just seemed so much more convenient to use. Kaido had to admit it. His own Mythical Zoan, the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon, could also use the powers of elements like fire, lightning, and wind. But compared to Linlin creating special Homies with her fruit, letting them fight for her, Kaido's use of these elements was limited by his body's form.
For example, his Heat Breath. The Heat Breath Kaido shot in his Hybrid form was far less powerful than the one he unleashed when he transformed into his full animal form as a giant azure dragon. The same rule applied to his other powers. His strongest ultimate move, the Fire Dragon Torch, could only be used in his full dragon form. It was completely unusable in his human or hybrid forms.
But Linlin was different. Her created Homies—Prometheus, Zeus, and Napoleon—could be used anytime, anywhere, in any situation.
However, Kaido quickly dismissed the thought. He didn't really care.
While Linlin's Soul-Soul Fruit was, in some ways, more convenient than his own fruit, the main point was simple: his fruit was cool. What man could possibly refuse the temptation of transforming into a divine, azure dragon?
Besides, whether it was convenient or not didn't matter in the long run. Perhaps all of these small problems and limitations would be solved once Kaido finally awakened the true power of his Mythical Zoan fruit...
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