Marine Headquarters.
Having just ended a call with Tokikake, Sengoku leaned back in his chair and let out a rare sigh of relief.
Elior had clashed with Kaido. Both pirate crews were locked in a fierce battle near Hachinosu. The reason? It was likely that Elior had interfered with Kaido's operations on the island — perhaps tampering with something valuable. Now, it seemed, Kaido was aiming to erase him completely.
Sengoku knew well the threat Kaido and his crew posed. He had long dreamed of eliminating them. But in this case, Elior was the more immediate danger. If allowed to grow unchecked, Elior might very well rise to the status of Yonko.
That possibility was far too great a threat to ignore.
So with Kaido making a move against Elior, Sengoku couldn't help but feel that fate had handed him a knife — and Kaido was the one wielding it for the Marines. A perfect opportunity to let two monsters destroy each other.
For the first time in weeks, Sengoku felt a semblance of calm.
Meanwhile, Elior charged at Kaido and threw another devastating punch. At this moment, Elior was like a man possessed, his fighting style as raw and overwhelming as Garp's legendary fists.
"What kind of power is that?" Kaido grunted in genuine curiosity, swinging his kanabo down to meet Elior's fist.
"Surprised?" Elior replied coldly.
Their weapons me t— Kaido's spiked kanabo crashing into Elior's hardened fist. Sparks erupted from the impact, black lightning crackling as both men's Armament Haki clashed violently. The ice beneath them split open like thin glass.
If they kept fighting like this, would the entire frozen battlefield collapse into the sea?
It was starting to look that way.
"Thunder Bagua!"
Kaido roared. His club was now wreathed in purple lightning and Conqueror's Haki so powerful that the storm clouds above roared in response, crackling with thunder. This was the kind of force only top-tier emperors of the sea could wield—the kind that once tore the skies apart when Shanks clashed with Whitebeard.
In response, Elior gripped the air, summoning a ten-meter-long ice spear, its diameter nearly half a meter. It, too, was coated in Armament Haki — advanced level.
With Haki reinforcing it, even an icicle could strike harder than steel.
Kaido's kanabo descended like a god's hammer, distorting the air itself as it moved. Waves of force shattered the ice beneath them.
Elior met it head-on, sweeping the massive ice spear with brutal force—his unique weapon choice as unorthodox as it was devastating.
BOOM!
The impact shook the heavens. Lightning split the sky. The ice beneath them didn't just crack—it collapsed entirely in a sixty-meter radius, swallowed by the sea as massive waves surged up in its place.
"You little brat, I'm Kaido of the Beasts!" Kaido bellowed.
Both men were blown backward by the shockwave, thrown across the battlefield.
"Don't underestimate me!" Elior roared as he flew through the air.
Suddenly, just before he hit the ground, a blur caught him mid-flight—soft, warm, and familiar. The scent was unmistakable.
"Gion?"
It was Gion. She had rushed in, unable to stand by while Elior fought alone.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, visibly concerned.
"Do I look hurt?" Elior smirked.
"Ah—sorry, I'll let you go then—but still…"
Seeing the look in his eyes, Gion quickly released him and stepped back. Elior turned once again, charging back toward Kaido.
This battle was far from over.
Elsewhere on the battlefield...
The ruthless Ice Knights continued their bloody rampage. Their raw strength might not have overwhelmed Kaido's elite — especially the Zoan Devil Fruit users — but their ability to revive endlessly made them a nightmare to deal with.
The Beasts Pirates had already lost nearly four thousand men — and the number kept climbing.
Even the top combatants among Kaido's crew — like the Shinuchi, Numbers, Gifters, and those waiting to rise — were growing restless. They could destroy the Ice Knights easily, but they kept coming back. Again and again. Some had been forced to crush the same knight dozens of times.
Several of Kaido's men screamed in frustration, some nearly losing their minds from the repetition. At this rate, the Beasts Pirates would be left in ruins.
"What terrifying power..." thought Shiryu, eyes wide. Having followed Elior for some time now, Shiryu had seen enough to know—he had chosen the right path. Far better than wasting away as a warden of Impel Down. On Elior's crew, he was free to indulge his bloodlust. The sea was wide, and chaos was beautiful.
With that, Shiryu charged at Queen, who had transformed into a massive brachiosaurus. With a swift motion, Shiryu unleashed a violet slash. Queen blocked with his thick skull, reinforced with Haki. The explosion of energy lit up the battlefield.
A pirate worth over a billion berries wasn't going to fall so easily.
As for Bullet, he was arguably still stronger than Elior without using Time Freeze.
Had Bullet awakened his Devil Fruit fully — like in the later arcs — he'd be even more dangerous. In the original story, that awakening came after his escape from Impel Down.
At this moment, Bullet had just been smashed into the deck of the Mammoth —the personal warship of Jack.
Grinning through cracked teeth, Bullet looked up at King.
"I'm a Devil Fruit user too, y'know."
Suddenly, Bullet slammed both fists into the deck of the ship. The entire vessel began to compress and twist under his control.
To the shock of King and the surrounding crew, the Mammoth was rapidly reshaped—transformed into a massive humanoid colossus.
"I ate the Clank-Clank Fruit! I can merge with anything!"
His words might've been bold, but there was no denying it—Bullet was a beast.