Onigashima, Wano Country
"Worororo... Is this the brat that little flamingo was crying about?"
Kaido the King of the Beasts put down his massive liquor gourd and snatched the newspaper out of King's hand.
"Yes, Governor. He is the one who completely dismantled Doflamingo's weapon factories in the North Blue. Joker warned us that this man's actions could severely impact our SMILE fruit supply chain," King replied, his face hidden behind his black mask.
"Hmph. That arrogant bird thinks too highly of himself. Not just anyone is qualified to demand my cooperation," Kaido snorted, alcohol fumes venting from his nose.
However, as he stared at the pictures of the ruined island and Cyrus's cold face, a fierce, bloodthirsty glint flashed in the Emperor's eyes.
'This kid... he definitely has the Conqueror's spirit.'
Kaido grabbed his gourd and took several massive, sloppy gulps of sake.
"When is Joker going to deliver what I actually want?" Kaido growled, his drunken eyes locking onto King.
"Caesar Clown's facility should be ready soon. The initial tests on the Artificial Devil Fruits confirm the technology works. It is highly likely based on Vegapunk's old blueprints," King reported smoothly.
"Have Jack keep a strict eye on Dressrosa. If this Cyrus brat shows his face in that kingdom, tell Jack to capture him and bring him to Wano," Kaido ordered, letting out a thunderous hiccup.
King stiffened, his eyes widening slightly behind his goggles. "Governor... Jack might not be capable of handling this man."
The intelligence was clear: Cyrus had stalemated an Admiral and was currently trading blows with Silvers Rayleigh.
King wasn't entirely confident he could take Cyrus down cleanly, let alone Jack the Drought.
"Worororo! Fine! If the mammoth fails, I'll just fly over there and smash the brat myself!" Kaido roared, waving his massive hand dismissively before chugging more sake.
Seeing the Governor's absolute confidence, King bowed his head and stepped away.
If Kaido made a move personally, there was nothing in the world that could survive.
...
Dressrosa, The New World
While Kaido was brimming with drunken confidence, the Heavenly Demon of Dressrosa was currently suffocating under a mountain of stress.
Doflamingo never expected that his brief, threatening Den Den Mushi call to Cyrus would provoke a monster of this magnitude.
He had been keeping a paranoid watch on every piece of news regarding the Pirate Hunter.
"Fuffuffuffu... this is getting out of hand," Doflamingo muttered, a vein pulsing violently on his forehead as he stared at the newspaper.
He had originally planned to use Kaido as a shield to crush Cyrus, but the Beast Pirates hadn't lifted a single finger.
Kaido was a natural disaster, if he didn't want to move, no one could manipulate him into doing so.
"Doffy!" Trebol whined, naturally sensing the Young Master's foul mood.
"Don't worry! Even if the Dark King is old, his Haki is legendary! This Cyrus brat might just get himself killed on Sabaody!"
"That's not going to happen, Trebol," Doflamingo said coldly, crushing the newspaper in his grip.
"Tell Caesar to accelerate the timeline. If that gas-bag can't produce the first batch of SMILEs in three months, I will personally separate his head from his shoulders."
"I'll tell him, Doffy! But... if Kaido won't act, can we use your World Government connections to send the Marines after him?" Trebol suggested eagerly.
"The fact that this monster still doesn't have a bounty tells you everything you need to know," Doflamingo sneered.
After the absolute massacre Cyrus had committed in the North Blue, the World Government should have slapped a billion-berry bounty on his head.
Instead? Total silence.
The Five Elders were clearly weighing the pros and cons of antagonizing him.
"Send our spies to Sabaody. The Celestial Dragons from Mary Geoise love taking vacations to the archipelago, don't they?" Doflamingo grinned, a twisted, evil smile spreading across his face.
"Send a premium batch of Fish-man slaves to the human auction house on Area 1. Make sure the news of the auction is publicized wildly."
"Neehehe! I get it! You want to bait him!" Trebol cackled.
"It might not kill him. Even if he attacks a Noble and summons an Admiral, the Marines clearly can't contain him. But it will buy us time to prepare," Doflamingo said, leaning back in his chair.
He still remembered Cyrus's chilling promise over the snail: I'll come looking for you.
It hadn't been an empty threat.
The Reaper was coming to Dressrosa!
...
The Edge of Totto Land, The New World
CRACK!
The apocalyptic clash of Conqueror's Haki physically tore the clouds above Totto Land in half, splitting the heavens.
A monstrously tall woman standing atop a living thundercloud gripped a massive Napoleon sword, glaring viciously at the red-haired man floating across from her.
"You damn brat! What the hell are you trying to achieve here?!" Charlotte Linlin screamed, her fury so absolute that her hair ignited into a crown of golden flames.
Red-Haired Shanks offered no reply, simply unleashing an even more suffocating wave of Supreme King Haki.
The sheer pressure flattened the ocean beneath them, completely clearing the sea of any warships foolish enough to get close.
Shanks gripped his saber, Griffin, kicked off the air itself, and closed the distance in a red blur.
"Divine Departure!" Griffin swept outward in a devastating horizontal arc, violently bleeding jagged trails of red and black lightning.
"Ikoku Sovereignty!"
Big Mom roared, swinging her massive blade down with the force of a falling meteor.
A colossal, cylindrical shockwave of compressed air and Haki exploded forward.
The two ultimate attacks collided head-on.
The sky shattered. Black lightning violently eradicated the shockwave, and Shanks's coated blade slammed brutally against Big Mom's iron-balloon flesh.
In retaliation, a massive fist coated in supreme Armament Haki smashed down toward Shanks's head.
The brutal stalemate continued.
Shanks was vastly superior in speed, mobility, and the sheer lethality of his Conqueror's Coating. But Big Mom's genetic constitution was utterly unfair.
Even with his strongest attacks, permanently injuring her was a monumental task.
Hours later, as the skies temporarily calmed, Shanks landed gracefully back on the deck of the Red Force.
"Captain. There's big news regarding your old vice-captain," Benn Beckman said coolly, holding out a newspaper.
"Isn't there always news?" Shanks chuckled, accepting the paper.
"This time is different. It looks like the Dark King is actually taking a beating," Beckman smirked.
Shanks froze.
His eyes immediately locked onto the front-page photo of Cyrus and Rayleigh.
"It's him!" Shanks gasped, instantly remembering the terrifying rookie who had stalled the Marines.
"And... wait, is that my drinking buddy traveling with him?"
Shanks flipped to the back page.
Sure enough, in the high-altitude photo of the ruined island, a familiar galleon was moored off the coast.
Standing perfectly still on the deck was Dracule Mihawk.
"Now this is getting incredibly interesting," Shanks laughed, stroking his chin as he read the article.
"Morgans claims there was no winner. But that can't be right... unless they intentionally called a truce."
He handed the paper back to his first mate. "What do you think, Benn?"
"I don't know the specifics, but this clearly wasn't a fight to the death," Beckman analyzed, taking a drag from his cigarette.
"Given Cyrus's track record, he's a pragmatist. He likely engaged Rayleigh for a sparring session or to steal a specific technique. Are you going to sail over and check on the old man?"
"Rayleigh is a monster," Shanks smiled fondly.
A massive portion of his own lethal swordsmanship had been drilled into him by the Dark King.
"He doesn't need my help. But... it couldn't hurt to ask."
Shanks pulled out his personal Den Den Mushi and tried dialing Rayleigh's number.
No answer.
"Strange," Shanks muttered.
He dialed a different number.
Ka-cha.
After a brief, highly illuminating conversation with Crocus, Shanks slowly hung up the snail and fell completely silent.
'So that's what he's doing.'
Shanks burst out laughing.
There was no need to overthink it. Rayleigh would survive.
He needed to focus on the raging Emperor in front of him.
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