"Kong Tai, there's a ship to our front right. From the looks of it, it seems to be the Beast Pirates."
Just then, the others on their ship also spotted the vessel ahead.
Gu Yina raised her hand to her forehead, her eyebrows raised as she peered into the distance. Then, her body flickered like an electric current, instantly appearing to Kong Tai's left. She looked down at him and said,
"Yes! It should be the Beast Pirates. I can sense the unique, savage aura of the Beast Pirates emanating from it."
Retracting her gaze, Kong Tai looked up at Gu Yina and smiled, "Shall we go together, or should I go alone?"
"Let's go together! I also want to see if the Beast Pirates have any other strong fighters."
"Alright!" Kong Tai nodded, then stood up and turned towards A Luo and the others at the bow of the ship, shouting, "A Luo, you guys go ahead and wait for us below that dark, towering mountain ahead. We'll be back soon."
"Then you'd better be quick!"
Kong Tai then turned to Yisheng and smiled, "I'll be counting on you, Mr. Yisheng, to watch over this ship. Make sure it doesn't get wrecked by the whirlpools and reefs here."
"Don't worry," Yisheng nodded, his expression calm. He looked up towards Kong Tai and said, "With me here, there will be no problems."
"Thanks!"
Then, Kong Tai grabbed Gu Yina and, with a "whoosh," they shot up into the sky.
...
On the deck of the colossal sailing ship, two enormous figures stood.
"Queen, is Kaido truly dead?"
Even though almost a week had passed, Black Maria still found it hard to believe.
It was unbelievable that the invincible Kaido would perish in Dressrosa, and alongside Charlotte Linlin at that.
"It's all over the world."
Without turning around, Queen's face lacked its usual carefree and flamboyant expression. He was currently filled with solemnity and gloom.
"No matter how much we refuse to believe it, we have to admit that this is the truth."
Gazing out at the sea ahead, Queen's eyes seemed to carry a murderous intent, making him appear exceptionally unapproachable.
As for how much affection he had for Kaido, that was probably overthinking it.
He had joined Kaido midway. Originally, he was a member of Vegapunk's laboratory. After the lab disbanded because it couldn't continue, he went out to find a new patron, and that's when he joined Kaido.
He had lived a very comfortable life in the Beast Pirates over the years. His own strength, coupled with his status as a top scientist, allowed him to become one of the Three Disasters of the Beast Pirates from the start, with no worries about money or people (for human experiments).
But no one expected Kaido, King, and the reinforcements from Jack to all perish in Dressrosa. This suddenly made him the highest-ranking individual in the Beast Pirates.
As one of the Three Disasters of the Beast Pirates, no one understood Kaido's power better than him. Yet, such a Kaido died in the hands of that silver-haired man in such a short time, which was enough to show how powerful the silver-haired man was.
Therefore, after receiving the news of Kaido's death, he quickly made the decision to flee and sealed the news.
He wouldn't be able to bring along the ordinary grunts, so only the executives of the Beast Pirates were on board.
However, due to the haste and the fact that even taking only the executives took several days, they only set sail today.
He had considered that even if Kaido, King, and Jack died, the Beast Pirates' strength would be reduced by eighty percent. But with so many of them remaining, they could still suppress the entire Wano Country.
But who knew if the silver-haired man would come here to claim his spoils.
He had seen from the news that the silver-haired man's first destination after leaving Dressrosa was Charlotte Linlin's Whole Cake Island!
Furthermore, he had killed all the members of the Big Mom Pirates there.
He was now genuinely terrified of the silver-haired man. This was someone who was completely beyond his comprehension.
"Who?"
Just then, Queen suddenly looked up to his left, towards the sky. Without knowing what he saw, his body straightened, and his full aura erupted.
"What's wrong, Queen?"
Although Black Maria was very strong, it depended on who she was compared to. Therefore, she hadn't noticed anything unusual. It wasn't until she turned her head to look where Queen was looking that she understood why Queen's demeanor had changed so suddenly.
To their left, under the inky black low-lying clouds, two figures were rapidly flying towards them, their backs against the stark white lightning.
Due to the distance, she couldn't clearly see the appearance of the approaching individuals at first. However, they were fast. Within the one or two seconds she was stunned, they rapidly closed the distance, reaching a range where she could see them clearly.
When she saw the appearance of the two approaching figures, Black Maria had the same reaction as Queen.
Behind them, the executives of the Beast Pirates, who had been dormant on the ship, now erupted one after another, making the massive ship seem to transform from its previous slumber into a monstrous beast baring its fangs.
"Yo~ Are you welcoming us?"
Crack—!
At that moment, stark white lightning, like a pillar connecting heaven and earth, suddenly split from the clouds and struck directly in front of the Beast Pirates.
And Kong Tai, at an unknown time, had appeared with Gu Yina at the ship's bow.
Due to the blinding white light of the lightning, everyone couldn't truly see the faces of the two individuals. However, the brilliant azure pupils that seemed to shine under the light let everyone on the ship know exactly who had arrived.
"Silver-haired, are you really going to be so ruthless?"
Queen squinted his eyes, staring at Kong Tai, and said in a low voice, "We've already evacuated Wano Country and given up our territory."
His hand, however, was subtly brought behind his back, and without anyone noticing, he quietly opened a valve, releasing a colorless and odorless gas.
He wasn't a fool, nor was he naive. On the contrary, he was a formidable scientist with a brilliant mind.
The moment he saw Kong Tai, he knew he was likely doomed for the day.
But everyone had a will to survive. Even if he knew struggling was futile, who knew if a miracle might happen?
After all, this was a world full of miracles.
"I don't want territory, so it's meaningless for you to give it up."
Kong Tai shook his head, a mocking smile on his face.
"Silver-haired, don't get too arrogant. Even if you could kill Boss Kaido, there are so many of us here, and we're not all useless. We'll make you pay even if we die."
Just then, several people stepped out from behind Queen. The speaker was over three meters tall, dressed in a red suit and trousers, with a deep purple belt fastened by a gold circular buckle. He wore black gloves, had a pair of long horns on his head, and wore a red mask helmet and gold hoop earrings.