"Ugh…" Yamato was already kneeling on the scorched battlefield.
She felt as if something vital had been ripped from her core—like a divine chain within her soul had been severed. Her eyes widened with an indescribable emotion, the sensation foreign, elusive. If she had to describe it, it was as though her very heart had been seized by Carl—crushed gently, yet held with care.
So the way she looked at Carl now was full of complexity: fear, awe, gratitude… and something else she couldn't yet name.
"Cough…" Carl cleared his throat, looking off to the side awkwardly. "The power you provided… was actually a huge help."
As he spoke, he swung the Vulcan Cannon back over his shoulder and leveled its massive triple-barreled muzzle toward the approaching storm—Kaido, in full Hybrid form, bearing the weight of a thousand storms on his shoulders.
From the abyssal black steel of the cannon's mouth, a visible chill swept out—a coldness more primal than winter.
"What kind of ridiculous toy is that, brat?" Kaido chuckled, his fangs glinting beneath the cloudy sky. "Running out of courage to fight with a sword?"
After yesterday's clash, Kaido had developed a newfound respect—and deep apprehension—for the blade Carl wielded. That black katana, engraved with the sigil of the Void King and enhanced by his fusion with the [Void Genome], had actually wounded his scaled hide. True danger lay not in brute force, but in such condensed killing intent.
So seeing Carl abandon his blade? That suited Kaido just fine.
"If you're so curious…" Carl's eyes glowed with a crimson gleam, his pupils spinning faintly like galactic vortices. "Come and experience it for yourself."
The cost of activating the Vulcan Cannon was steep—draining his stamina with every breath. But the price was always worth it when it came to destruction.
BOOM!!
A thunderous roar split the capital's sky as the Vulcan Cannon fired its first round.
From the muzzle, a blinding shell—coated in compressed flame and seismic pressure—erupted like a fire dragon howling straight from the pits of the underworld! The cannon's detonation ruptured the surrounding air, sending concentric shockwaves exploding outward.
The earth beneath Carl's boots cracked into spiderweb fractures from the recoil alone.
Kaido's eyes narrowed. In response, his mouth widened—and with a sharp inhale, searing heat began to condense.
"Bolo Breath!"
Kaido unleashed his signature move—a concentrated, explosive flame beam that had once reduced an entire mountain to rubble. It shot forth like divine punishment.
The two attacks collided mid-air.
BOOOOOOM!!
The collision of Carl's Vulcan shell and Kaido's Bolo Breath was like the eruption of a dormant volcano. A firestorm expanded with unnatural violence. Heatwaves twisted the air. Black smoke spiraled upward like a demonic serpent wrapping around the sky itself.
Flames churned, roared, and licked the clouds.
"Is this… my power?" Yamato muttered, staring into the inferno. The inherited strength of her Zoan—the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami, combined with Carl's Void resonance—had partially activated the Vulcan Cannon. She never imagined her latent energy could fuel something so destructive.
Carl remained composed, his body swaying slightly under the cannon's massive recoil. But he didn't stop.
If artillery was meant to break enemy lines, then it had to keep firing until nothing was left standing.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Fire dragon after fire dragon shot forth from the Vulcan Cannon, their roars overlapping like the drums of war. The air trembled, pressure compressing everything as a molten tide surged toward Kaido.
At this point, it was no longer just a clash of two powers.
It was a war between flame gods.
"Kaido… I bet you've never heard this one before," Carl grinned, biting down on a cigar. "Since ancient times… the left side always loses!"
"Hah?!" Kaido grunted mid-roar, confused by the nonsense—but his instincts flared. That kid was serious.
Carl's barrage of fire shells began pushing through Kaido's flame breath.
The tide was shifting.
Far in the distance, King the Wildfire—bloodied from his defeat at the hands of Yamato and now clashing blades with Carl's clone unit—paused for a breath. His gaze flicked toward the battlefield's core.
"…Monster," he whispered, as the sky burned red. "Two natural disasters… clashing head-on."
Ka-ka-ka—
The deadlock broke.
Carl's continuous bombardment broke through Kaido's breath. The balance tipped. The firestorm surged. A glowing shell burst through the remains of Kaido's Bolo Breath—
SKREEEEE—BOOOOOM!!!
The fire dragon struck Kaido dead-on, igniting his form mid-air.
The resulting shockwave shattered the nearby terrain. Rocks flew like bullets. Smoke enveloped the capital's sky as if a second night had fallen. It blanketed the battlefield in ashes.
Far away, in the rural districts of Wano—slaves, farmers, samurai—all dropped their tools.
Children screamed. Elders knelt. One man collapsed, tears trailing down his cheeks.
"We… why do we live in a world like this…?"
Under that wrathful dome of smoke and fire, they felt no different from ants beneath a boot. No chance to fight back. Not even to run.
So small.
Too small.
Back in the heart of the battlefield—
Carl silently dismissed the Vulcan Cannon, recording it back into the void of his right palm.
This was no simple Seastone-based arsenal. It was a weapon born from his [Void Genome], an ability that allowed him to extract and store weaponized manifestations of concepts, and summon them at will.
The Throne of the Void—the right of kings.
"The Void of the True King… that absorbs all, combines all, and reshapes the world into dominion…" Carl muttered.
He lit a fresh cigar, breathing out a long plume of smoke as if to ease the tension in his chest.
"Is he… dead?" Yamato's voice trembled as she stared toward the crater carved into the landscape.
Smoke drifted like a funeral veil over the fallen dragon.
"…" Carl sighed, glancing sideways at her. "You really should have more faith in your old man."
"If Kaido's good at anything… it's tanking a beating."
It was already the most outrageous physique in the world.
The Devil Fruit he ate was none other than the Mythical Zoan-type: Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu (Fish-Fish Fruit, Azure Dragon)—a fruit so powerful it was classified as legendary even among Zoans. And on top of that, Kaido possessed the monstrous physical enhancement typical of awakened Zoans—granting accelerated healing, a terrifying stamina boost, and near-unbreakable durability.
When fused with his mastery over Advanced Conqueror's Haki, capable of coating attacks and clashing without contact, and his inhuman vitality that had allowed him to survive dozens of suicide attempts, it truly painted him as a creature closer to a natural disaster than a man.
Such an existence could truly be called the undying cockroach—one who couldn't be killed, only delayed.
Otherwise, how could he have survived that aerial duel with the volcanic eruption triggered by Carl's Meteor Impact move?
"Uh…" Yamato tilted her head slightly, giving Carl a suspicious glance. "So… are you complimenting him or…?"
Who praises someone for how well they can take a beating?
Shouldn't they praise how powerful their offense is?
"Well—of course I'm complimenting him," Carl said, giving a half-smirk and shrugging. "I've always envied that absurd vitality."
If he had that kind of raw recovery, and fused it with his own [Tough Body]—a martial art born of the ancient Sky People—then maybe not even the Ancient Weapons could truly threaten his life.
It would take a god or something close to it.
"So, if you're not gonna die… why not keep fighting?" Yamato asked earnestly, confusion lingering on her face.
That made sense.
Carl blinked, then looked at her with amused warmth.
Was she telling him to go finish off her old man?
Still, he smacked his lips, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said slowly, "Because I can't fight anymore…"
"Look over there," Carl nodded with his chin into the distance.
Yamato instinctively turned.
Step… step…
Footsteps echoed across the ruined capital, gradually cutting through the chaotic air.
From the lingering smoke, a figure with a long cloak and familiar silhouette walked calmly forward.
"Red-Haired…" Carl stood up straighter, eyes narrowing slightly.
"So you've come, Solomon Carl. You tracked us this far," said Shanks, walking ahead of his crew with a casual air and a smiling gaze.
For a brief moment, silence drowned the battlefield of the Flower Capital.
Everyone knew what the arrival of a Yonko like Shanks meant—balance restored, or chaos deepened.
"It seems this battle cannot continue," said Fujitora, sheathing his cane-sword and strolling back toward Carl.
Behind him, King the Wildfire hesitated. His fingers twitched, itching for a fight, but he held back.
That blind Marine had monstrous strength.
A sensory ability that rivaled the Observation Haki of Katakuri and Enel, paired with gravity manipulation strong enough to counter even King's firestorm forms.
He didn't dare act rashly.
Buzz—
A shimmer of gold lit up next to Carl.
Borsalino (Kizaru) manifested in a flicker of photons, hands in his pockets as he took in the sight.
"Yo~ Carl, it's scary~ Did you do all this?" Kizaru mused lazily.
The land looked like a battlefield drawn by mad artists—sliced ravines, magma scorches, impact craters.
"Master, you came too?" Carl exhaled in relief. "Good. I didn't have a permanent log pose, so I couldn't leave even if I wanted to."
"Really?" Kizaru squinted. "No wonder you've been here for three days… I thought it was strange, since you're not the type to linger~"
Carl raised a brow, but didn't refute him.
Truthfully, he stayed because he was greedy.
There was a rare check-in reward he needed to activate in Wanokuni.
Otherwise, he'd have raided Onigashima on the very first day.
Without Kaido holding the reins, the Beasts Pirates were no longer a force that could contain him.
"By the way," Kizaru turned toward Fujitora, who was quietly observing everything with that calm smile.
"Would someone like you—who fights for true justice—be interested in joining the Marine ranks?"
Fujitora gently leaned on his sheathed sword, expression kind yet resolved.
"I intend to walk the path of justice in my own way," he replied, unmoved.
At first, he had been unsure.
But after seeing Carl's justice in action, he had made up his mind to join the Marines, bringing change from within.
Then, Shanks raised his hand as if to speak—but suddenly—
"ROOOOAR!!!"
A deafening bellow exploded from beneath them.
The sheer intensity of the presence shocked the air.
"Kaido…" Shanks frowned, spinning toward the epicenter.
From the deep cavern below, pierced by Carl's earlier Meteor technique, an enormous shadow surged upward, shattering through strata and sky.
Kaido of the Beasts—rising once again, his immense dragon form looming like a mountain.
On his right chest, a massive charred hole still smoked—evidence of the earlier attack.
But he lived.
"Little brat!!" Kaido snarled, eyes burning with unrelenting fury.
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