Chapter 125

It's been a while, everyone. Lol, I said I would continue this fic, and yet, was focusing on the other one instead. The reason for that was primarily because Dr.Vegapunk is currently taking more than 8 chaps to spill the content, but anyhow, I think I began to gain a better idea of the big picture.

Now now, let's try to finish off this fic, shall we? I think at this pace, we'll see the end by chapter 180 or so.

Thanks for waiting!

p.s. I can bold or italicize now. This is gonna be even more epic.

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With the call having abruptly ended, Kaidou glared at the Den Den Mushi in front of him.

Then, being the aggressive man that he was, he smashed the snail to its death, earning a flinch from his subordinates situated nearby. Together with the remnants of snail, the table and floor underneath were unable to handle Kaidou's force. They powerlessly crumbled, and the entire building briefly shook from the stress.

"..."

Gritting his teeth, Kaidou stood up. In silence, he gulped down a bottle of sake before throwing the empty bottle away from him. His cheeks were blushed and his form swayed, which indicated that he was completely drunk.

No one could do anything but watch in fear as Kaidou's form slowly morphed into a gigantic azure dragon, one that was magnificent and alluring.

"SMOKER!!"

The azure dragon then ascended to the sky. Roaring with a depth that reached the ears of every single alive being in Wano, the dragon was about to begin its flight at a rapid speed, until,

"Kaidou! You must calm down... now isn't the time to be reckless!"

"..."

King, rushing onto the apex of Onigashima, brought Kaidou back to his senses.

"...What do you mean, King."

"White Hunter is an anomaly that needs attention, but is the matter involving him as urgent as this?!"

In King's hands was the newspaper that was just released. With Kaidou floating in the air as the gigantic azure dragon, King read what was written in the newspaper.

"'Whitebeard' Edward Newgate... suffers defeat at the hands of Pirate Alliance led by 'Strategist' Ochoku...!"

Kaidou's eyes became bloodshot, unable to believe what he just heard.

"What... what did you just say...?"

The tide of the sea was changing. Without the presence of the Strongest Man in the World, the New World has lost its rightful owner. On top of the upcoming war between the World Government and the Revolutionary Army, the sea has become even more chaotic,

"K-Kaidou-san!!"

and Kaidou, shocked to the core, fell from the sky to the ground. With the gigantic azure dragon crashing against numerous buildings of Onigashima, the island was immediately reduced to ruins. Some inhabitants were crushed underneath him. However, Kaidou didn't seem to care. He, while looking up at the sunny sky, muttered to himself,

"Whitebeard—no, Newgate... you're joking with me, right...?"

Kaidou was someone who thought that the reason why people strive to improve is to achieve the most epic death one can ever imagine. And Whitebeard, the man whom Kaidou acknowledged to be stronger than him... he died what Kaidou considered to be an abrupt and pathetic death.

"..."

For someone like Whitebeard to meet an end like this... brought rage in Kaidou's heart. At the same time, Kaidou felt a subtle fear, that he too might face a death as worthless as that.

BOOM!

Shrinking back into his human form, Kaidou slammed his fist on the hard ground. Standing back up, Kaidou looked at King who flew down and landed in front of him.

"King."

With a deep frown, Kaidou ordered,

"Prepare for a sail!"

King, thinking that Kaidou still wasn't at his senses, tried to refute,

"Kaidou-san! What—"

"It is because of that news that we must hurry!!"

King became silent.

'If Pirate Alliance can take Whitebeard down, then who knows what that White Hunter might be able to do...!'

The area around Wano was Kaidou's turf. At the moment, Kaidou held the advantage, and this meant that if more time were to be given, Smoker would be the one to gain more benefits than Kaidou.

Turning around, Kaidou gazed at the vast ocean ahead of him.

"...Instead of waiting for his arrival, we'll strike him first."

__________

[Dressrosa]

"Prodence. Meliana. Vastrode. These are the three kingdoms that are located in the east of Dressrosa. Those kingdoms, protected by Dressrosa and Calm Belt, have gotten accustomed to peace over numerous years. Their defenses were in a deficiency, and they were incompetent to fend off the invasion of Beast Pirates."

Smoker and Maynard listened as King Elizabello II of Prodence explained.

"Even now, they are still occupied by Beast Pirates. Having learned that they lost control over Dressrosa, a huge number of pirates will be sent over. And knowing Kaidou's nature... there also exists a chance for him to personally come here."

Currently, everyone was sitting around a couple of bonfires that were set to warm themselves up, with the remainder of Beast Pirates taken care of. In their hands were foods which they vigorously ate away, and it's been a while since they've got to fill their stomachs to the brim.

To get to rest in comfort without having to work endlessly... people couldn't believe that this truly was the reality.

In a single day, everything changed.

"So, in short, Dressrosa will be surrounded."

Smoker stood up, earning everyone's attention. Gazing at Elizabello II's arms that had no hands grimly, Smoker eventually stated,

"Then, preparations must be done."

"Like, building a wall?"

Maynard scratched his head as he spoke.

For some reason, the current situation reminded Smoker of the Buster Call that he encountered in Ohara. Back then, he tried to save everyone against the approaching cannonballs of marines, but his lack of strength prevented him from achieving his goal.

'Kaidou of the Beast...'

The sheer number of people who suffered because of this man was immeasurable.

'A Catastrophe indeed,'

Smoker couldn't help but think as he gazed at the sky.

The situation was complex yet simple. Pirates were preparing to reach for One Piece, and due to these preparations, people were suffering. If so, erasing those pirates off of this world... would solve all problems, wouldn't it?

'I'll be leaving Wano to you folks.'

Lowering his gaze, Smoker looked around him. Everyone was looking back at him expectantly, with hope glimmering in their eyes.

Smoker cracked a smile as he lifted his hand and then, clenched it into a fist.

The portion of ground which everyone lied above began to quake. Wondering what was going on, people yelped as they took cover or stared at Smoker wide-eyed.

"Oi, Smoker!!"

Maynard shouted in confusion,

"What are you about to do—"

Maynard was left speechless, and so were the others.

Cracks formed on the ground, before the portion of ground which they stood on top of began to levitate up.

Below said platform, there was a large mass of white cloud that relentlessly pushed it up to the sky.

"The plan is simple."

People watched in awe as they found themselves standing on top of a flying mini-island.

"Let them waste their time in Dressrosa. Meanwhile,"

Smoker's eyes gleamed as he gazed at the Eternal Poses that were laid nearby the campfire,

"Prodence, Meliana, and Vastrode. We'll be wreaking havoc in there."

__________

__________

[A week after]

Within the calm sea near Dressrosa, where nothing but a vast horizon could be seen, countless black dots appeared from afar.

Those were ships, which approached Dressrosa with malicious intentions.

Beast Pirates. This wasn't even the full might of their capability, and yet, it was far more than enough to surround a large island.

"..."

On the flagship, there stood Kaidou, who grimly stared at the island ahead.

Right in front of him, there were four Den Den Mushis. Among four, only one seemed to be active.

<<Ne, Kaidou-san, do ensure to give White Hunter the most excruciating death possible, will you?>>

It was the voice of Queen, the no.3 of the crew.

<<That damn White Hunter, ruining my project that took days to make...!! Whenever I think of him, feel nothing but anger!! Huff... huff... it, need cool it down. Hey you there, call in Komurasaki~>>

Kaidou stayed silent, and King by the side was the one who ended the call.

"Kaidou, the other three aren't responding. Prodence, Meliana, and Vastrode... they are the islands where Sheepshead, Ginrummy, and Babanuki are in charge of."

"...Shinuchis, you mean."

Within the Beast Pirates, there was a ranking system that was classified purely based on one's strength. Following the model of the wilderness, it was the stronger ones who were given the greater authority.

At the bottom of the ladder, there were thousands of goons.

Above them, there were 'Shinuchis', those who were given the right to lead goons.

Above Shinuchis, there were 6 Tobiroppos. Starting from this ranking, the members are considered the 'executives' of the Beast Pirates. Hibiki the 'Carnivore' was one of them.

Above Tobiroppos, there were 3 All-Stars: King the 'Conflagration', Queen the 'Plague', and Jack the 'Famine'. These three members were well-known individuals who were considered the might of Beast Pirates.

Finally, there was Kaidou—the Governor-General of the Beast Pirates.

"K-Kaidou-san!!!"

Then, Kaidou and King shifted their attention to a goon of Beast Pirates who hurriedly ran up to them. This goon, for some reason, seemed to have disbelief written in his eyes as he gulped in front of Kaidou.

In his hands was a pair of binoculars, and Kaidou didn't have a good feeling about what was going to be spoken out of said goon's mouth.

"D-Dressrosa..."

"Dressrosa what?!"

Impatiently, Kaidou growled.

"Dressrosa... the kingdom is empty!! There... There is no sign of White Hunter or civilians—none at all!!!"

"Ha?!"

King frowned as he looked at the trembling goon, refusing to believe what he heard.

Kaidou stayed silent for a moment. Then, he wordlessly snatched the pair of binoculars from the goon's hand and placed it in front of his eyes.

Nothing. There was nothing but the corpses of Beast Pirates, decomposing with nothing but silence around them.

The entirety of Dressrosa was devoid of life.

"HOW?!!"

There was an outburst. Kaidou roared as he crushed the binoculars in his grip.

"HOW THE FUCK DID THEY LEAVE WITHIN A WEEK?!!"

The Beast Pirates learned... that they were surrounding nothing but the corpses of their crew members.

And then, Kaidou flinched before his eyes widened. Having received a premonition, he hurriedly looked up at the sky.

Just a few seconds ago, it was a clear, sunny day. Now, there was a huge mass of dark clouds that swirled in an abnormal manner right above them.

It didn't take much for Kaidou to realize what was about to happen.

"WHITE HUNTER!!!"

Just when Kaidou roared,

"Arcane Judgement."

Countless rays of lightning descended from the sky, blasting away the ships belonging to Beast Pirates.

__________

"So this is Wano? Damn, rahahaha!"

"...Hina tired."

In the middle of the harsh sea, one ship was found swaying along the violent waves. Standing on top of its deck were Aramaki, Bastille, Hina, Rosinante, Robin, Senor Pink, and X Drake. They, while wearing raincoats to help themselves with the rain, looked at the huge waterfall that was falling from the land above, which was covered by fog.

"So,"

Rosinante asked reluctantly,

"How do we get up there? Climb?"

"Climb? Hina amused."

Hina snickered at that,

"Smoker's the only one who'd be willing to do that."

Bastille laughed,

"Daradara, true!"

"Well,"

Carrying the conversation, Aramaki began to operate his devil fruit ability,

"We can do... this!"

At the next moment, numerous roots suddenly sprouted from Aramaki's body. They, covering up the ship, had their other ends sticking onto the rocky cliff of Wano. After, upon Aramaki's control, they began to ascend the cliff vertically.

Onto Wano where Kaidou was no longer present, the group began the infiltration.