"Tch..."
At the sight of that, Kaido's expression instantly darkened.
What he wanted was to fight Roger and enjoy a glorious, satisfying battle, not get beaten senseless one-sidedly.
After all these years, he did not believe someone like Ozz had stayed at the same level as before.
He might even be as strong as Rocks by now.
Back when Kaido was young, he had taken plenty of abuse whenever Rocks came at him with one huge kick.
But Bullett showed no fear at all.
He shoved aside Kaido, whose face had gone stiff and ugly with tension, and grinned with excitement.
"So even an Emperor like Kaido can make that kind of face?"
"That nervous look on you is really ugly. So what if you're the so-called strongest creature..."
Clang.
Boom boom boom, crack crack crack...
Armament Haki covered his entire body, while Conqueror's Haki poured out of him like a demon from hell.
"Demon Form" Bullett!!!
"I told you more than twenty years ago, Ozz. Once you became the strongest in the world, I would challenge you again."
He clenched his fist, feeling the Haki power he had forged through decades of brutal training.
"So don't die too easily, Ozz."
Kaido: ???
Ozz: ???
Now that really was bold.
Ozz had no interest in fighting Bullett here. Bullett was one of those movie-monster level opponents. Killing him for real would be troublesome, but not killing him meant he would cling on forever.
So why not...
"Have you ever been teleported, Bullett?"
"Nani?!"
Bullett, already fully prepared for battle, froze for a moment when he heard that.
Then he saw the black figure appear right in front of him in an instant, along with the raised leg.
Teleportation Fruit ability???
A sinister grin spread across his face.
"As one of the world's top fighters, Ozz, you should know better than anyone that if your Haki is strong enough, you can negate Devil Fruit abilities."
Facing Ozz's kick, Bullett neither dodged nor retreated.
Maybe he could not avoid it, but more than that, he simply disdained the idea of dodging. Instead, the Haki around his body only grew denser and denser.
"Is that so?"
Ozz smiled too, then said nothing more. He simply kept pouring more force into the kick.
The moment the kick truly landed, Bullett's expression changed. But before he could react...
Bang!!!
Only delayed for the briefest instant, Bullett's monstrous body still vanished from the spot in an instant.
He had been sent straight to the New World.
Looking up at the sky as though following the figure that had completely disappeared, Ozz narrowed his eyes with a smile.
Kaido ground his teeth as he stared at the spot where Bullett had stood moments ago.
"It's true that Haki transcends all, I did say that..."
"But the premise is that your Haki has to be stronger than the other guy's, you idiot."
...
And so the battlefield situation became this:
Ozz had run into Kaido and Bullett.
Garp and Roger were fighting to their hearts' content.
The Whitebeard Pirates were fleeing in tears while being chased down by the Marines.
Sengoku and Redfield were locked in a stalemate.
The three brothers were escaping Akainu under everyone's cover.
Kizaru and part of the Seven Warlords were putting on a performance, while Aokiji was being tied down by Hawk-Eyes.
And right at this moment, finally no longer being watched, the Blackbeard crew quietly began to move.
Blackbeard clutched his stomach. Ozz's kick earlier had not been full force, but the sheer monstrous strength behind it had still left Teach in agonizing pain.
He forced himself back to his feet, and the rest of the Blackbeard crew did the same, including Hades, who had taken Ozz's shot head-on.
"Zeh... Zehahaha..."
Blackbeard instinctively wanted to laugh out loud, but then he abruptly realized that there were too many top-tier monsters in this battlefield. If he got too loud and drew their attention again, he might really die.
So he could only keep his "Zehahaha" low and subdued, still looking shaken.
"Come on. While those monsters aren't paying attention, let's begin our plan!"
Then the Blackbeard crew pulled out a huge black cloth from who knew where and draped it over Whitebeard's standing corpse.
"What is Teach trying to do to old man's body?"
"Zehahaha... now then, let the world open its eyes."
"The ultimate performance that will shock the entire world!!!"
With that, he slipped beneath the black cloth, drawing the attention of some nearby onlookers.
"What are you trying to do?!"
"Everyone, stay alert!!!"
Hades said nothing. He merely folded his arms and stared at the black cloth, Observation Haki operating at full power.
He was observing the entire process of this Devil Fruit transfer.
"Hahaha... ptoh ptoh ptoh... I'm really looking forward to this."
Draped in black-and-white striped prison garb and guzzling liquor from a giant sake jug, Vasco Shot the Heavy Drinker stood beside Hades, his face flushed red from alcohol.
"Hades, you're looking forward to it too, right? Once this succeeds, we'll become the strongest pirate crew in the world together..."
The other Blackbeard Pirates waited with equal anticipation, while also keeping an eye on the Marines.
But when Vasco Shot slapped him on the shoulder, Hades's expression remained strangely calm, as though he had become a different person entirely.
Then the Blackbeard crew tore away the black cloth, revealing Blackbeard once more.
"Zehahahahaha!!!"
Now Blackbeard could finally laugh as wildly as he pleased.
At last, he had stepped into Emperor-tier strength!!!
"Let the monsters of the world witness my power!!!"
The Whitebeard Pirates, who had been fighting while retreating, were instantly drawn to Blackbeard's mad laughter.
A dark force burst forth from him, dragging countless Marines into a black hole.
"This is the power of my Dark-Dark Fruit. And also..."
Crack crack crack...
With his backhand came a shockwave. Cracks spread through the air, and everyone's attention was immediately seized by that devastating large-scale destruction.
Marco broke out in cold sweat.
"That is... old man's power?!"
"How is that possible, Teach, you bastard?!"
The earth split apart. Marines and pirates alike tumbled and crashed under the natural disaster of the quakes.
"You did it, Captain!!!"
"That's amazing!!!"
Teach himself was flushed with excitement.
"Zehahaha!!! The darkness of gravity that can reduce everything to nothing, and the power of earthquakes that can destroy everything in existence!!!"
The Dark-Dark Fruit that completely countered Devil Fruit users.
And the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, with enough sheer destructive power to rival even the raw force of Haki and physical monsters.
"I've got them all now. That means there's nothing left that can stop me!!!"
Shockwaves in his left hand, darkness in his right, Teach felt that he no longer had any weakness.
And it was at that very moment that a voice came from behind him.
"Is that so?"
"Hm???"
Teach looked puzzled at the question. He was just turning around when all he saw were two black, gleaming axe flashes.
Slash.
"Pwah..."
The entire Blackbeard crew was horrified. They all turned at once to look at the culprit, Hades.
He covered his face as though stretching his body, a look of relief and a smile appearing on him.
"He finally took the bait..."
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