Chapter 174: Beast Kaido

"Set sail."

As Saint Saint Saiwen issued the order to attack, several figures draped in black capes leaped straight from the Donghai Dihuang, aiming directly at the target below—

Wano Country, Flower Capital.

Crew members without flight capes arrived at the streets of Flower Capital through the spatial gate opened by Jin Ni.

Saint Saint Saiwen made no loud clamor to avenge his companions.

Although it is important to have a righteous cause before starting a war, and important to occupy the moral high ground,

Oden was not worthy.

If Oden were replaced by Harald, Saint Saint Saiwen would not mind using the excuse of avenging a companion to seize the entire Wano Country.

However, if it were Harald...

What could Kaido use to win?

When Saint Saint Saiwen's group appeared openly at the Shogun's residence, Kaido clearly froze for a few seconds, then laughed in extreme anger.

"Wu-la-la-la-la~"

"You truly are heavy on emotion."

Damn it!

Why could someone like Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen appear on Roger's ship, a person so heavy on emotion?

To rescue the captain's son, he did not hesitate to attack the Marine Headquarters at Marineford, and for his former companion Oden, he ran all the way from Marineford to Wano Country.

In this cruel pirate world, there actually exists such a person who is heavy on emotion and righteousness.

And yet, he is not Kaido's friend.

And Charlotte Lingling, who also hails from the Rocks Pirates, refuses to cooperate no matter what she says.

This is the difference between friends and friends.

Kaido merely sighed twice, then without wasting a word, pulled out his spiked club, Hakkai.

He, Kaido, could reach this point not by crying and wailing or mourning the autumn, but by fighting his way through battles all along.

Since it cannot be avoided,

at this point, there is only one choice: fight.

"Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen, draw your blade."

"Let me see how strong you are."

Saint Saint Saiwen drew Mengxiang Yixin from his heart, told Master Tenghu to capture Blackie Orochi alive, then raised his sword and leaped toward Kaido.

He did not like the style of this Shogun's residence.

It would be better to overthrow and rebuild it.

Lightning condensed to the extreme around Kaido's body was like a nuclear explosion; red-black lightning wrapped around his spiked club, Hakkai, in his right hand.

"Daikido: Thunder Bagua."

Without any probing, Kaido directly used the enhanced version of Thunder Bagua to block Saint Saint Saiwen's purple-bladed nodachi, Mengxiang Yixin, as it slashed toward him.

Thunder Bagua must be matched against the opponent!

Voom~

The raging shockwave rushed outward first, instantly smashing and collapsing the entire Shogun's residence, and only then came the clash sound between Hakkai and Mengxiang Yixin.

Clang~

"Wu-la-la-la-la~" Kaido laughed wildly without stopping.

Two completely different types of Conqueror's Haki shot straight to the sky, like two distinct armies colliding violently, even splitting the sky open.

Kaido standing on the left and Saint Saint Saiwen on the right,

resembled kings of two separate spaces, with purple lightning descending from the heavens behind both of them.

Kaido's strength needs no further elaboration.

Even the old traitor Oda had to turn the Gomu Gomu no Mi into the Nika Nika form, frantically buffing Luffy, while also making Kaido fight the entire match before finally falling.

Kaido was born in the Kingdom of Wano; at ten years old, he became the strongest warrior in that kingdom.

The king of the Kingdom of Wano sold Kaido to the Marines to gain qualification to attend the World Conference.

Afterwards, Kaido escaped easily.

He was bountied at 70 million Berries; only when hungry would Kaido walk into a trap, gorge himself at a Marine base, and then escape again.

During the God Valley Great War, he ambushed from behind, snatched the Uo Uo no Mi, Mythical Zoan: Azure Dragon form, from Charlotte Lingling, and swallowed it without a second word.

He also faced Imu, who possessed Satan Saint, alongside Rocks and Whitebeard.

Thus was born the world-famous painting of the Azure Dragon on the left and Whitebeard on the right.

The true protagonist of the Pirate King.

Now thirty-nine years old, Kaido is tall and burly, with black hair flowing over his shoulders, rugged and unrestrained.

He is completely different in style from the nineteen-year-old Saint Saint Saiwen, whose figure is balanced and whose white hair dances wildly.

Perhaps the only similarity is—

both are extremely shrewd.

And their vision is surprisingly consistent.

Kaido used Blackie Orochi to plot for many years.

In one stroke, he eliminated Oden, stole Wano Country—a place easy to defend but hard to attack, rich in resources, and possessing Gao Chao's advanced Sea Prism Stone processing technology—to use as his base.

Saint Saint Saiwen did the same, but directly reclaimed Inazuma from Kaido's hands.

Even before that, he used the undercover Vergo to deceive Kaido into slaughtering all the nobles of Wano Country, completely cutting off any possibility of Wano's restoration.

When the Conqueror's Haki clashed, Kaido still did not forget to make one last attempt.

"Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen."

"Our cooperation is enough to dominate the world."

A brief clash made Kaido realize: he was likely no match for Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen.

That previous collision of blows,

the strange strength transmitted from the spiked club made Kaido's arm tremble uncontrollably even now,

Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's strength surpassed his.

The clash of Conqueror's Haki seemed evenly matched, but in truth, the opponent's Conqueror's Haki led by a vast margin in both intensity and quality.

Kaido possessed the Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon form,

while Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen possessed the Mythical Zoan Lei Shen form, which should also have awakened based on the liquid thunder magma.

Worse still, after just one exchange, the Eight Precepts of the spiked club was covered in dense cracks; continuing would only shatter it.

With strength, Haki, and weapons all inferior to the opponent, Kaido knew the defeat was too obvious.

Saint Saint Saiwen said with a brilliant smile.

"Mr. Kaido,

the last person who wanted to dominate the world with me is now my Honorary First Mate."

"The Donghai Dihuang is big enough—

will you come?"

Whether Kaido could board the ship was unimportant; what mattered was that Saint Saint Saiwen had indeed opened his mouth to try.

Even if rejected, it was within Saint Saint Saiwen's expectations.

If Kaido were currently the Broken Dragon, facing the temptation of the Complete Dragon, he might have agreed to board.

Pity, there was no if.

Although he could forcibly create conditions, Saint Saint Saiwen did not intend to do so; Kaido starting his own venture benefited Saint Saint Saiwen more than joining the Morning Star Pirates.

"Wu la la la la~"

"I am the Beast Kaido!"

Kaido directly switched to the Azure Dragon form, a green dragon blocking the sky and sun, coiling above the Flower Capital, estimated to be about five hundred meters long.

The massive dragon head was covered in red-black Haki, and the dragon body was quickly wrapped in Xiong Xiong flames.

As the Flame Azure Dragon coiled and danced, it suddenly rammed its head, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, into the ground.

"Rising Dragon: Flame Eight Trigrams."

If this strike landed, the entire Flower Capital would instantly become ruins.

Saint Saint Saiwen simply disliked the Shogun's residence; the architectural style of the Flower Capital was extremely similar to Inazuma City, so he naturally would not allow Kaido to run wild.

Amidst flashes of lightning and thunder, a purple Lei Ting giant over a hundred meters tall suddenly appeared.

"Iron Thunder!"

The Lightning Squirrel, which had been waiting for a long time, leaped at extreme speed into the Lei Ting giant's hand, transforming into a giant hammer form.

"Divine Fall."

A flicker of panic flashed through the massive dragon eyes; Kaido immediately thought of the move Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen used to annihilate Marineford, which was very likely Divine Fall.

This move must not be met head-on.

In a split second, Kaido forcibly twisted his body, turned, and leaped into the air, narrowly dodging.

Just as he breathed a sigh of relief,

seeing Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's mocking gaze, Kaido instantly realized: he had been tricked; that move had only momentum but no actual damage.

"Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen!!!"