The next instant, a titanic shockwave a hundred meters across descended from the sky and swallowed the entire castle.
Before Kaido and the others could even react, they thought Garp had lost his mind—planning to wipe out the Celestial Dragons inside the castle with a single punch.
The sphere of air that had enveloped the castle suddenly exploded outward, transforming into a vast ring of force that swept in every direction.
In an instant, it blasted the hundred-odd pirates outside the castle clean off their feet!
"Fist Bone! Guard! Comet Impact!!"
Within the colossal shockwave, the pirates coughed blood and went flying, faces ashen.
Yet several indomitable silhouettes, battered and bleeding, still smashed through the castle walls and stormed inside.
"Not good!"
Seeing Kaido gripping his spiked club with a savage grin, Garp's face darkened as he prepared to give chase.
But the sky behind him was swallowed by a titanic slash.
Golden Lion's furious roar sounded at his back.
"Garp, you meddling bastard! Give back my azure dragon fruit! Take this—Flying Slash!!"
"You're the one in the way! Get lost, Shiki!!"
"Fist Bone! Meteor!"
Inside the castle.
Spitting blood, Kaido hoisted his spiked club and, under the terrified stares of the Celestial Dragons, shattered the doors with a grin.
"Oro-ro-ro-ro! Tell me… which of you is a Celestial Dragon?"
"Low-born pirate! Out, now, or else—" A Celestial Dragon of the Rosward family raised a golden flintlock with shaking hands.
Kaido's ox-eyes narrowed; he shot out a massive hand, seized the oddly-shaped noble like a chick, and lifted him up.
"Or else what?"
"I'll… I'll have an Admiral arrest you! You filthy—"
Bang!
A black blur shot across the hall and slammed into the wall above the nobles' heads.
They spun around in horror to see the Rosward who'd been shouting now plastered to the stone—a blooming flower of blood and gore.
"Wrong answer!!"
With a blood-thirsty grin Kaido yanked his club free and swept it through the packed nobles.
"So what if an Admiral comes? Think I'm scared? Rocks killed one, Carlo killed one—hell, I want to try it too!!"
Between his reach and the club's length,
the swing cleared the grand hall in front of him.
Three or four dozen Celestial Dragons were pulped into flying bone and gore.
Gold-crested identity plaques spun from the carnage—some crushed beyond recognition.
Unconcerned, Kaido snatched them out of the air and stuffed them into his coat.
Boom!
The right-hand wall exploded.
Young Byrnndi World burst through, long knife in hand, and hacked the nearest noble from crown to crotch.
The clean flash of steel split the Celestial Dragon in perfect halves.
With a wet tear,
the member of the Donquixote family stood stunned for seconds before toppling apart.
Rancid blood showered World, drenching him like a demon.
After the first kill he laughed wildly, blades whirling left and right.
"Wahahaha! I used to think you World Nobles were gods, the way the papers kiss your asses."
"But look at you—spit! You're just trash like the rest of us!"
"Celestial Dragons are still human! And humans die!"
"Sooner or later, so let's make it count—I'll trade your heads for an azure dragon fruit and make my name in the New World!!"
As World's laughter echoed, walls burst one after another and ferocious pirates poured in.
In moments the nobles' makeshift refuge became a blood-soaked slaughterhouse!
More than three hundred Celestial Dragons from nineteen founder families were butchered by a few dozen pirates.
World sheathed his crimson blade and counted the blood-slick plaques in his hands.
"Fifty-two… only that many?"
His voice was ice, eyes brimming with cruelty.
He hadn't personally slain every one of those fifty-two.
Some he'd taken by cutting down rival pirates mid-fight.
What of it?
Break the rules, you say?
Among pirates, strength is the only rule!
Plundering plaques from comrades wasn't unique to World.
In fact, most of the pirates were doing it.
Without Golden Lion's overwhelming might,
the remaining killers were roughly equal in power,
so they watched one another warily and refrained from all-out battle.
"Oro-ro-ro-ro!"
Blood-drenched, Kaido—like a demon out of hell—clutched a fistful of coveted plaques and roared with laughter.
"Carlo said there are only three hundred nobles here, but I've got over a hundred plaques—more than a quarter! First place in this hunt is mine, no contest!"
"Heh-heh-heh, time to collect my azure dragon fruit from Carlo!"
Grinning, he stepped across the gore-slick floor toward the exit.
But Silver Axe's mocking voice stopped him.
"Not so fast, Kaido. That's not how the math works."
Behind him, the ten-meter giant Silver Axe spread his huge hands.
Beside him, Kilpstad, Black Charcoal Cicada, and other Senior Combatants of the Rocks Pirates cheerfully piled their plaques into his palms.
Counting them, Silver Axe shot Kaido a sneer.
"We're counting who holds the most plaques, not the average. Beating the mean doesn't make you first. If you're truly strong, you'd own all three hundred-plus plaques."