Chapter 147: Confident Believers

"Do you still want to keep fighting me?" Black Maria asked Hancock.

Their battle had gone on for a while.

Both sides were relatively unscathed.

"Your only chance now is to rush over and help your captain. Save him, and escape," Black Maria advised Hancock.

Throughout the fight, Black Maria could feel that Hancock wasn't fighting her with her full strength.

Hancock was clearly stronger.

Otherwise, Black Maria wouldn't have been unscathed.

"So you care about our captain? No wonder the captain was interested in you," Hancock remarked, giving Black Maria a sidelong glance.

It was exactly because of that reason that Hancock never went all out.

"I am fortunate to be favored... but sadly, it seems Kuke has lost," Black Maria smiled, without any sense of betrayal or jumping ship to the side of a defeated man.

Hancock couldn't even be bothered to explain. Instead, she pulled out a small mirror and began checking if her hair was still tidy and if she looked good.

The closest fight, in terms of equal power, was between Yamato and Sasaki.

Yamato had just acquired her Mythical Zoan abilities, and her body was still adjusting. She was far from reaching her peak potential.

Sasaki, on the other hand, had the Ancient Zoan Triceratops form.

After hours of battling, Yamato held an advantage but couldn't deliver a decisive blow to Sasaki.

Yamato's desire to defeat her opponent quickly and help her captain had failed.

"It's a good thing Sister Gion and the others are on the verge of winning. Even if that rotten old bastard wins, we can still make a safe escape."

On the rest of the battlefield, it was chaos.

The real battle was between the Numbers and the Sun and Moon Pirate crew.

Lily transformed into her giant form and fought against the Numbers, having already defeated one and now facing a second.

Belo Betty, casually dismantling a few subordinates with precision, was in complete control.

Kuina had taken down one enemy and, after being treated by Belo Betty, rejoined the battle.

Nico Robin used her Devil Fruit ability to restrain one of the Numbers.

Ulti, engaged with an Animal Zoan subordinate, was slightly ahead in the struggle.

Koala and Baby 5 teamed up to fight a subordinate, though they were on the back foot, they managed to hold their ground.

Hancock's sisters, transformed into their full animal forms, teamed up and defeated one subordinate together.

In this part of the battlefield, the Beast Pirates—with their Numbers and forces—held an overall numerical advantage.

But the possibility of seriously injuring any member of the Sun and Moon Pirates was non-existent.

Stussy was sitting leisurely on a small stool, sipping coffee, her gaze roaming across the battlefield.

Wherever she looked, the members of the Beast Pirates trembled in fear.

Several charred bodies lay scattered on the ground—Stussy's handiwork.

If anyone from the Sun and Moon Pirates was in danger, Stussy would instantly step in. The speed of lightning, something none of them could evade.

And because the Sun and Moon Pirate members were all women, if any possibility arose that they could be disadvantaged, Stussy would jump to assist them.

With her presence, the Numbers and subordinates of the Beast Pirates were nothing more than training tools to hone Kuina and the others' combat skills.

The apparent advantage was a source of silent suffering for the subordinates.

"Our boss has won! We no longer need to fear the queen!"

Despite their seeming confidence, deep inside, the subordinates laughed nervously.

They looked at Stussy with an odd mix of fear and defiance.

"The boss will surely come and put her in her place."

"The fun in battle is almost over," Stussy casually remarked to Kuina and the others.

"Kuke must have finished the fight too, I have to hurry," Gion said as her aura began to grow stronger.

"Are you preparing to deal with us first and then attack the boss later?" King, the Conflagration, seemed to "read" Gion's mind.

The flames on his back expanded.

"I will never give you that chance…"

"Phoenix Rebirth!"

Gion unleashed all the energy she had absorbed from her foes during the fight.

Combining it with her own power.

A phoenix-shaped slash flew out from Gion's blade, baking the ground beneath it.

Everywhere it passed, the rocky earth melted.

"There's no way I'll let the boss see that we've all lost."

"Guardian Fire Dragon Emperor!"

King, the Conflagration, used every ounce of his strength.

A massive flaming dragon burst forth from his blade.

The fire phoenix and the fire dragon clashed, biting and tearing at each other.

The phoenix instantly consumed the dragon. King watched in disbelief as the fire covered him.

Moments later.

King lay scorched, his body blackened.

He had lost.

He collapsed beside Queen, the Plague, who had managed to shakily rise to his feet.

Terrified, Queen glanced at Gion.

Quietly, he laid himself back down.

Two of the All-Stars had fallen.

Shakky, with her foot on Jack's head, looked at the pool of blood beside her, where another enemy lay defeated.

She had won her fight a while ago.

"Kid, I'll let you take one last look at your boss," Shakky said, her foot still on Jack's head.

She wasn't putting any force into it.

"I'm not dying. The boss will save me," Jack said defiantly, even with his life hanging by a thread.

Jack and Who's Who had been defeated.

"There's no time left."

Yamato was growing more and more anxious.

The battle at the back of Onigashima had ended minutes ago, and soon, that terrifying old man would arrive.

She was still held up by her opponent.

"I can't waste time here," Yamato decided, her Conqueror's Haki flaring to life.

In her hybrid form, it was as if boundless energy was bursting forth from her.

In an instant, Yamato vanished from where she stood.

"Where did she go?" Sasaki, in his triceratops form, looked around in alarm. Even with Observation Haki, he couldn't track her.

"If I can just endure this one attack, I'll win."

He hastily unleashed all of his Armament Haki, covering his vital areas.

Combined with the triceratops form's powerful life force and defense, he was certain he could withstand it.

"Divine Step—White Snake Rush!"

Yamato, who had seemingly disappeared, reappeared in front of Sasaki, her kanabo coming down swiftly.

BOOM!

She struck Sasaki down.

"I can't believe…" Sasaki muttered as his eyes rolled back. Though he tried to stay on his feet, his massive form collapsed heavily to the ground.

Sasaki was defeated.

"You've improved greatly," Gion and Shakky praised Yamato as they looked at her.

Her growth was visibly noticeable.

"Vice-Captain, let's hurry and help the Captain," Yamato said, running over to Gion in a rush.

If they teamed up, even if they couldn't win, they could at least escape safely.

"Yamato, why do you think our captain can't win? You are part of the Sun and Moon Pirates, you should have absolute faith in Kuke," Gion said, looking at Yamato seriously.

"But…"

Yamato began to say something, but Gion interrupted her, voicing what was in Yamato's heart: "You grew up witnessing Kaido's strength firsthand, so it's understandable to think highly of him. But just as you believe in Kaido, we believe in Kuke. There's no way our captain is the one who lost."

Yamato's face was conflicted.

She looked at Gion's confident expression.

Then at Shakky, Stussy, and the others, all of whom were stronger than her.

They were all so confident.

"Could it really be that the Captain won?"

Still, Yamato struggled to believe anyone could defeat Kaido in just a few hours.

It just didn't seem possible.

"Hahaha, there's no one in this world who could defeat the boss in just a few hours. When the boss fought Whitebeard in the past, it took five days before he was defeated," Jack shouted from beneath Shakky's foot.

His voice emphasized the words "past" and "five days."

The past—when Kaido wasn't as strong as he is now.

Five days—it took Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world, five days to win.

"Uncle Denjiro, who won?" Hiyori asked, her hopeful eyes on Denjiro.

Denjiro sighed. "As much as I don't want to admit it, no one could defeat Kaido in just a few hours. That's Kaido we're talking about."

"But… he was so strong…"

The initial battle had shattered Hiyori's belief in Kaido's invincibility, seeing Kuke push him so far.

Denjiro sighed again.

He remembered Kozuki Oden.

He had started strong, grievously injuring Kaido, but in the end...

"Lady Hiyori, in battle, it's the one who is left standing at the end who is the true victor."

The fighting on the frontlines began to pause.

Suddenly, a shockwave burst from the rear, cutting across the entire island.

It tore through mountains, through cities.

It opened a straight path from the rear to the front.

At the end of that path, a lone figure emerged, dragging someone in his grasp.

________________________________

DONT FORGET POWER STONE 

________________________________

P/S: If you are interested, you can read up 40+ chapters at patreon.com/Emik01.

________________________________