Chapter 250: Kaido's Late Arrival

Boom—

Like a meteorite crashing to earth, a massive crater was smashed into the harbor entrance of Syrup Village; seawater surged back in, and the entire island trembled.

"A tsunami? Or an earthquake?"

"Am I seeing things? I just saw a dragon fall from the sky!"

The Going Merry, which had just left port and hadn't gone far, was swept up by the backflowing seawater and slammed into the shore of Syrup Village's island.

Dust filled the air, waves churned.

At the bottom of the crater, a dark shadow seemed to be rising upward.

"We just set sail and already ran into a natural disaster, soaked through—what a pain!"

The Straw Hat Pirates stumbled out of the cabin one after another,

The whole cabin was leaking; Nami was drenched all over, her hair plastered against her pale cheeks,

And further down, droplets quietly rolled down the peaks, making Sanji's nose bleed.

"It's not a natural disaster."

Zoro's face was grave. He had seen it clearly just now—a dragon-shaped shadow had plunged straight down from deep within the dark clouds and slammed heavily into the ground.

Usopp's teeth chattered as he said nervously, "Even if it really is a dragon, falling from that kind of height, it must be dead, right?"

Even steel dropped from the sky would be flattened into an iron sheet—if this thing is still alive, just how terrifyingly strong must its defense be?

Swallowing all of Syrup Village whole would be child's play.

"Wow, awesome!"

Luffy picked up a dead branch and, as if teasing a caterpillar, squatted at the edge of the deep pit, probing with the branch, and laughed loudly, "If it's really a dragon, we can eat dragon meat—the Pirate King eats the biggest piece of meat!"

As his words fell,

The edge of the deep pit began to tremble, pebbles and碎屑 rolling down.

Suddenly,

A gigantic, ferocious azure dragon head emerged from the water. The entire Going Merry wasn't even as large as a single Dragon Scale on this azure dragon—its outstretched whiskers alone stretched for hundreds of meters.

Everyone was so frightened they froze in place.

The current Straw Hat Pirates hadn't yet experienced the Summit War or the great battle of Tuolante Kingdom,

Although through the Samsara Game they had seen battles between top-tier players, being this close to a monster comparable to those top-tier players—the mere aura it exuded made people tremble.

A hurricane swept across the sea, churning the surface.

Thick dark clouds blotted out the sky, with purple-black lightning flashing.

"The weather... suddenly changed?"

Nami swallowed. She possessed extremely keen perception, able to sense changes in the weather innately.

The sky that should have been clear had actually changed because of the appearance of a single creature.

What on earth was going on?

"Brat, have you heard of the Game Merchant? Tell me where he is?"

The azure dragon gradually transformed into human form,

Two horns sprouting from his head, scale-like patterns coiling around his arms, and a massive wine gourd at his waist.

As he spoke, faintly scorching air puffed from his mouth.

It was none other than the captain of the Beasts Pirates, Kaido, who had left Ghost Island and headed for the East Blue.

Even without knowing Kaido's true identity,

An ordinary person seeing such a sight would have been scared silly long ago, but Luffy, thick-headed as ever, shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"Is that so?"

Kaido nodded, took off his wine gourd and drank a couple of mouthfuls, then staggered as he turned to leave.

He had come to the East Blue to find the Samsara Game; nothing else could pique his interest.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Zoro's face was utterly grave,

He now commanded the power of the Ghost God, his perception sharper than anyone else's.

The aura emanating from Kaido was extremely powerful—though there was a slight gap compared to top-tier players, wiping out the Straw Hat Pirates probably wouldn't be difficult.

With an enemy like this, it was best not to clash with him.

"Hold on, brat."

The burly figure that had already turned away suddenly stopped, twisted his head to look at the captain wearing the straw hat, and asked, "What did you just say? What kind of king did you want to become?"

To hear such grating words in a tiny backwater like the East Blue.

What a brazen little brat.

Kaido's gaze dropped, looking at the dead-serious Caomao Lufei, thinking he must be hearing things.

"I'm Monkey D Luffy, the man who will become the Pirate King!"

Luffy likewise raised his head, looking up at the towering figure gazing down at him.

Without hesitation, he repeated what he'd just said.

"What kind of joke is this? You're clearly this weak!"

A terrifying eruption of Haki burst forth, sweeping across Syrup Village's coastline like a hurricane; even the ocean waves froze in place.

Usopp fainted on the spot.

Zoro, Sanji, and Nami only felt their bodies suddenly grow heavy, enveloped by an immense pressure.

Kaido swung his massive Wolf Tooth Club, slamming it toward Luffy standing at the edge of the deep pit.

"Explosive Flame Heating Furnace!"

Nami moved first, a blazing orange-red Flame Pumpkin leaping out of her pocket.

The Flame Pumpkin rapidly expanded, wrapped in all manner of mechanical devices, and in an instant transformed into a giant heating furnace.

Burning red-hot flame stones kept spewing from the top of the furnace, producing violent explosions.

Those that flowed into the seawater evaporated it on the spot.

"Ghost Slash of Spirit Devouring!"

Zoro lowered his stance and drew his sword.

A phantom of a ghostly god coalesced, and a current of air wrapped around a ferocious evil ghost surged toward Kaido.

Boom.

The giant heating furnace was struck by the massive Wolf Tooth Club; it did not shatter on the spot, only developing fine cracks.

And Kaido, slashed by Ghost Slash of Spirit Devouring, felt a faint heat in his chest.

"This is... there's no Haki at all, how is that possible?"

Kaido lowered his head in disbelief and reached out to touch his chest.

His skin was perfectly intact, not even his defense had been breached, yet a faint wisp of Ghost Qi lingered there, as if it had pierced through the defense he was so proud of and was directly harming his insides.

Hum.

Armament Haki wrapped around him, and Kaido's chest turned pitch-black like inked iron.

But the chill of that Ghost Qi invasion still had not faded.

Kaido was greatly shaken, and said in astonishment: "Is this the skill of the Samsara Game? Even Armament Haki can't dispel it?"

He had left Wano Country and come to the East Blue to search for traces of the game merchant,

but had gotten lost again and again along the way, until now he had barely drifted to the East Blue, having only seen some exciting clips inside an Image Den Den Mushi.

Now, after fighting this power in person, he realized it truly was extraordinary.

"This big guy isn't a Game Player!"

Nami discovered that the Explosive Flame Heating Furnace couldn't deal any damage to Kaido, so she hurriedly interrupted the skill and retreated to a safe position.

But she also noticed that the other side didn't seem to know much about game skills.

He looked more like an original powerhouse who had never come into contact with the Samsara Game.

Hearing this,

the Straw Hat Pirates all breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, although there was a gap in strength, players who possessed skills and equipment were, at the same level, stronger overall than non-player experts.

This was the advantage the Samsara Game had given them.

Even if they couldn't win, there was still a chance to struggle.

"Interesting. Though weak, you've got enough value to become my underling!"

Kaido suddenly burst into mad laughter.

He had long grown weary of the dull, boring world, so he had attempted suicide countless times, deliberately charged alone against the other Four Emperors Pirate Crews, and provoked Marine Headquarters—all in search of amusement.

Or to gather Pirates who caught his eye as underlings.

The fellows before him were, at least, barely passable.

"No."

Luffy shook his head in refusal, his face deadly serious.

A guy who attacks his own companions is an enemy; besides, the freest man on this sea would never become someone's underling.

He took a deep breath and said: "I'll hold him off, you guys run!"

(End of this chapter)