[TL/N: New Book -
Anime Group Chat in a Doomsday World!]
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"Ah!!!"
Linlin's piercing scream echoed across the battlefield, shaking the air with its terrifying volume.
The Entei Pirates, who had already retreated to a safe distance, instinctively frowned. Wrapping Haki around their hands, they covered their ears and watched Linlin with serious expressions.
This lone female among the Four Emperors—a natural-born monster—was going berserk once again.
Her berserk state amplified her destructive strength to such a degree that the pirates could only retreat and avoid her rampaging attacks.
However, despite her fearsome display, the Entei Pirates weren't worried.
After all, the one facing her now was Ace.
---
"Fwoosh!"
Ace's figure suddenly appeared above the rampaging Linlin, as if materializing out of thin air.
Looking down at her, he let out a calm yet domineering chuckle, his lips curling into a faint smile.
"So noisy."
He extended his hand, and a burning muzzle appeared in mid-air, flames licking its edges.
Nika—Imagination!
"Oof!"
With a swift motion, Ace hurled the blazing muzzle toward Linlin's gaping mouth. It clamped down over her lips, cutting off her frenzied screams.
"Mmph! Woooooo!!!"
Her cries ceased abruptly as the flaming muzzle sealed her mouth shut. Even more horrifying, the flames began to spread, assimilating her mouth and setting it ablaze.
Linlin instinctively tried to pull off the muzzle with her hands, but the moment she touched it, her palms ignited with fierce flames.
"Old woman! You idiot! Don't touch his flames with your bare hands!"
Kaido roared in frustration, swinging his massive mace to knock Linlin's hands away. His strike, coated with Conqueror's Haki, landed directly on the fiery muzzle.
"Bang!"
The impact shattered the burning muzzle, causing it to vanish as mysteriously as it had appeared.
Linlin staggered, stars swirling in her vision. The force of the blow, combined with the effects of Ace's power, left her reeling.
"Linlin! You idiot!"
Kaido's face twisted with rage as he stared at his dazed ally.
Before they could even harm Entei , Kaido had inadvertently incapacitated Linlin himself.
"Creating things out of thin air… such overwhelming, omnipotent abilities…"
Kaido's thoughts churned as he gazed at Ace.
"Is this the power of Nika?! What kind of exaggerated power is this?!"
"Hahaha, interesting," Ace laughed mockingly, his gaze fixed on the groggy Linlin, who swayed on her feet from Kaido's strike.
"Don't get so arrogant, Entei!" Kaido bellowed, his anger surging.
Activating his full power, Kaido's Fish-Fish Fruit: Mythical Beast Model—Azure Dragon form reached its peak. His massive body radiated a blinding white light as he transformed.
In the next moment, Kaido's colossal dragon form emerged, its size blotting out the sky.
"Roar!!!"
With a deafening cry, Kaido unleashed his attack.
"Demolishing Wind!"
Kaido opened his gaping maw, manipulating the wind elements. Countless razor-sharp wind blades materialized, shooting toward Ace with deadly force.
"Tch."
Ace watched the oncoming storm of wind blades with a calm expression. He crouched and grabbed the ground beneath him with one hand.
In an instant, the earth itself ignited, transforming into a massive, burning shield that rose to block the attack.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The wind blades struck the flaming shield, their destructive power dissipating harmlessly upon contact. Even an attack strong enough to slice through mountains was nullified in the blink of an eye.
"What an absurd ability… Damn it!"
Kaido cursed under his breath, his anger growing. No matter what technique he used, Ace's strange, overwhelming power seemed to counter it effortlessly.
Worse still, Kaido's Observation Haki was completely ineffective. He couldn't predict Ace's next move, nor could he penetrate the mystery of his current form.
"Old woman, wake up! We're fighting!"
Kaido roared, his voice infused with Conqueror's Haki. The sheer force of his shout jolted Linlin back to her senses.
Linlin, still seeing stars, clutched her head tightly. "Ugh, my head... so dizzy."
Kaido's previous attack, though incredibly powerful, failed to pierce Linlin's "steel balloon" body. However, the sheer force of the blow had struck her face directly, sending violent vibrations through her head and leaving her brain in a disoriented haze. While her body might be as tough as steel, her brain wasn't so impervious, and this level of shock left her reeling.
The dizziness lingered, making it impossible for Linlin to regain her composure in a short time.
"Damn it! Useless old woman!" Kaido growled under his breath. He couldn't hide his anger. Not only was Linlin temporarily out of commission, but her current state was entirely his fault. His own attack had rendered her unable to fight effectively.
But even Kaido couldn't have predicted how bizarre and overwhelming Ace's powers would be. The ability to create things out of thin air was now at Ace's fingertips, turning the tide of the battle. Though this wasn't the destructive Remnant Flame Style Ace had unleashed in previous battles, the power he wielded now was even more formidable.
Ace's attacks had transcended the limitations of mere energy. They were deceptively subtle yet lethally effective.
Kaido glared at Ace, his expression serious as he began accumulating power. He recalled their earlier clash, realizing something that sent chills down his spine.
When Ace had first struck, Kaido couldn't even see how the man had appeared in front of him so suddenly. Now, even with preparation, he could barely trace Ace's movements. He finally saw what was happening.
Every time Ace launched an attack, the ground beneath him turned into flames, propelling him forward like a jet platform. The incredible force behind this motion made Ace's speed even more terrifying than the enhanced agility Kaido himself gained from lightning.
Ace's speed was now comparable to the fastest Devil Fruit users, like those with the Sparkling Fruit ability.
No weaknesses. No openings.
Kaido broke into a cold sweat. For the first time in his life, after years of dominating the seas, he felt utterly helpless. This man's combat style wasn't just powerful—it was oppressive. It turned the battlefield into Ace's playground, where Kaido and Linlin were little more than pawns.
Ace wasn't just fighting them. He was controlling the entire battle, dictating its pace and rules.
"It seems you've realized you're no match for me," Ace said calmly, his Observation Haki sensing Kaido's rising anxiety. A faint smile played on his lips as he stared down the dragon.
Kaido's eyes narrowed at Ace's taunt. "No match? Don't make me laugh!"
With that, Kaido let out a deafening roar, his massive maw opening wide. His gigantic blue dragon form began to rotate rapidly, flames swirling and consuming his body.
"Fire Dragon Great Torch!" he roared.
In this form, Kaido's body became a living blaze. Anything that touched him would be instantly reduced to ash.
At least, that was the case with most opponents.
Facing Ace, who controlled flames hotter than tens of thousands of degrees and whose Nika Flame Body made him impervious to fire, Kaido wasn't foolish enough to think this move could defeat him outright. However, Kaido had a different plan.
The Fire Dragon Torch wasn't meant to overpower Ace's flames. Instead, it was a defensive strategy. Kaido was betting that by wrapping his body in flames, he could mitigate Ace's terrifying assimilation attacks—the ones that turned even internal organs and bones into fire.
Such attacks were devastating even to Kaido's nigh-immortal Azure Dragon body. A few more direct hits like those, and even he wouldn't survive.
Kaido turned to Linlin, still dazed and clutching her head.
"Linlin! Snap out of it! Use everything you've got, or we're both going to die here!"
His voice thundered across the battlefield, thick with desperation.
Kaido wasn't underestimating the situation. The Ace standing before them now was far more powerful than the one they had encountered at the Sabaody Archipelago. His strength had surpassed even the legendary Rocks and Roger at their peaks.
Even if Kaido unleashed his full power, he knew he couldn't hold out for long.
For years, Kaido's greatest asset had been his Azure Dragon body, granting him near-immortality and the ability to withstand countless assaults. Yet against Ace, that very body—the source of his unshakable confidence—was practically useless.
Kaido's usual strategies, his arrogance, and even his resilience were failing him. For the first time, death seemed not just possible but imminent.
The attack that could pierce even the Azure Dragon body forced Kaido's nearly immortal form to rely solely on the enhanced recovery abilities granted by the awakened Mythical Zoan species .
If this man truly unleashed his full power, Kaido estimated he wouldn't last more than ten moves !
Joining forces with Linlin was the only chance they had. And even then, survival would depend on an immediate, all-out assault. Only by throwing everything they had into a desperate first strike could they hope to find a sliver of victory!
After all, even the Five Elders , who possessed quasi-immortal bodies, wouldn't be foolish enough to test their endurance against Entei.
As the most formidable Devil Fruit ability user in history, Entei, wielding the Mera-Mera Fruit , possessed strength that seemed limitless. While calling his stamina "infinite" might sound exaggerated, fighting for days and nights was as natural to him as breathing.
To engage in a drawn-out battle against this man was nothing short of suicidal.
Victory could only come through one option: an all-out, desperate assault right from the start!
---
"Kaido, stop barking orders at me!" Linlin snapped, her dizziness subsiding somewhat. Despite recovering, her anger remained.
Turning her bloodshot eyes toward Ace, she snarled, "You brat! How dare you injure me like this! I'll kill you!"
With a ferocious roar, Linlin raised her right fist high.
"Buzz!"
The power of the Soul-Soul Fruit surged to life. Her soul materialized in physical form, splitting and re-integrating itself into her weapon.
Moments earlier, Ace's Conqueror's Haki had roared through the battlefield, temporarily blowing away the Soul-Soul Fruit's influence over Napoleon , her sentient pirate hat, but it hadn't destroyed it. Now, as Linlin infused her soul back into Napoleon, the transformation resumed.
The pirate hat twisted and changed, grotesque eyes forming on its surface. The eerie transformation solidified.
"Mama!" Napoleon cried out, its voice brimming with new life.
"Emperor Sword!" Linlin bellowed. Napoleon elongated and reshaped into a massive, gleaming blade.
"Come on, Entei! Let's see how you handle our full strength!" Kaido roared.
Conqueror's Haki exploded from his massive form, wrapping his flaming blue dragon body in a crackling aura of raw power. Every ounce of Kaido's strength concentrated into his head—the strongest part of his Azure Dragon form , honed for this ultimate attack.
"Rising Dragon: Flame Bagua!"
Kaido howled, launching his immense, blazing dragon body at Ace like a meteor streaking through the sky. His attack combined the devastating might of the Azure Dragon Form , the elemental power of fire, and the intricate entanglement of Conqueror's Haki . His entire body became a weapon, and the full force of his power erupted in this one decisive strike.
At the same moment, Linlin struck.
"Ikoku! (Mighty Nation!)" she roared, slashing her Emperor Sword downward with ferocious might.
Her weapon, imbued with Conqueror's Haki and empowered by the full strength of the Soul-Soul Fruit , unleashed a devastating shockwave. Black and purple lightning crackled, locking the air around Ace with the destructive force of her Haki-infused blade.
The combined onslaught of Kaido's flame-cloaked dragon body and Linlin's Emperor Sword created a cataclysmic force aimed directly at Ace.
But Ace stood unshaken, his crimson eyes burning like miniature suns.
As the attacks hurtled toward him, Ace let a faint smile curl at the corners of his mouth.
"Do you know why I've been waiting for you two for so long?"
His voice was calm, his words laced with quiet confidence. The fire in his eyes flared brighter, as though the sun itself had descended into the battlefield.