Rhett sat high atop a throne formed from condensed blood mist, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.
Although the description makes it seem fast, any One Piece fan knows battles are measured in days. Unbeknownst to many, they had already been fighting on the open sea for four days.
"Charlotte Linlin, enjoy yourself," he murmured softly, his voice transmitted directly into Linlin's mind through the vibrations of the blood mist. Rhett felt it was almost time.
With a curl of his finger, the "Blood Prison Scroll" enveloping Linlin began to shift subtly.
The terrifying illusions tormenting her mind receded like the tide, but as they withdrew, they quietly twisted her sensory perceptions. Rhett's mist burrowed into every crevice of her brain, weaving intricate lies between her neurons.
In simpler terms: buddy, you're under a genjutsu.
"Vision... hearing... touch..." Rhett listed softly, tracing elegant arcs in the air with his fingers. "And most importantly—emotional resonance. I'm such a considerate opponent."
Just thinking about what he was about to do made Rhett want to laugh.
"Look now. There's the man you hate most. A former Roger Pirates crew member who invaded your Totto Land twice, destroyed your dream. Don't you want to kill him?" Rhett's voice echoed in Linlin's ears like a demon's whisper.
He precisely manipulated every wisp of mist, making them simulate every detail of his own fighting style—the signature tilted-head smirk, the crimson greatsword, even the slightly rising inflection at the end of his sentences.
Rhett also thoughtfully redirected all the anger, humiliation, and fear that Linlin had accumulated in the illusions toward this false version of "himself." He was insulting himself, even though that anger was rightfully his to begin with.
When Kaido let out his dragon roar, Rhett immediately spoke. Rhett, the capitalist, was about to enter the game. You're about to be manipulated by capital.
What Linlin heard were Rhett's taunting words: "Old hag, is that all you've got?"
"Rhett... you're not dead yet?!" Linlin's pupils contracted violently. After days of torment in the illusions, just as she had personally slain Rhett within them, seeing him standing intact before her finally snapped the last thread of her sanity.
The emotions deliberately amplified by the blood mist erupted like a volcano—the humiliation of being toyed with, the rage over her children's brutal deaths, and deep down, the madness of having her memories of Mother Carmel desecrated.
Rhett admired the scene like an artist appreciating his own work.
Rhett admitted that sometimes he was truly insane. Looking across the long river of isekai stories, hardly any protagonists associated with blood fought without a touch of madness.
When there was no threat, he might be his crew's biggest menace. But when danger arose, his blood mist became the sturdiest umbrella of protection, and the space around him became the safest exclusion zone.
He snapped his fingers lightly, adding the final touch to this performance—having "Fake Rhett" make a throat-slitting gesture at Linlin.
Then he suddenly raised his hand. The "Blood Prison Scroll" enveloping Linlin was abruptly lifted, though the illusion didn't fully dissipate.
"Rhett... you're asking for death?! I'll grant your wish!!!!" Linlin was now nothing but fury and madness.
"Mamamama—DIE!!!"
She leaped up, Napoleon wreathed in ferocious Conqueror's Haki, and brought it down hard on Kaido!
Kaido had been locked in fierce battle with Whitebeard. He was already losing. Whitebeard at his peak with no hidden injuries was too much for him.
He was barely holding on thanks to his azure dragon fruit's ridiculous physical resilience. He had been waiting for Linlin to finish off Rhett and come help him.
Because in his mind, there was no way Rhett could penetrate Linlin's iron balloon body. That was precisely why he had dared to return to battle after calling her.
With two Emperors against one Whitebeard, the advantage was his. A pirate crew with less than a dozen members, how could they possibly fight two Emperors?
But Kaido never dreamed that Rhett was a cheat. Did he not understand the value of a legendary golden card?
Rhett's response: At the Edd War, Shiki thought the same thing.
Every clash between Murakumogiri and Hassaikai made the sky tremble.
"Newgate!!" Kaido roared, spewing dragon flames, only to have them dispersed by Whitebeard's punch.
"Gurarara! Kaido, I have a big score to settle with you over Oden!" Whitebeard laughed, the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit condensing on his fist as he slammed it toward Kaido!
"BOOM—!"
Kaido was blasted back hundreds of meters, scales cracking, blood spraying.
He barely managed to steady himself when suddenly—
"Ikoku!!!"
A terrifying slash came from the side. Kaido's pupils contracted as he frantically raised his kanabo to block.
"Charlotte Linlin?! Have you lost your mind?!"
But all he got in response was Linlin's deranged laughter.
"Mamamama! Rhett, this time I'll tear you apart!"
Only then did Kaido realize. Linlin thought he was Rhett.
But he had no time to explain.
Linlin's greatsword came down again. Kaido was forced to take the hit head-on.
And Whitebeard certainly wasn't going to let this opportunity slip. Murakumogiri, wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, slashed from the other side!
"BOOM—!!!"
The collision of three top-tier Conqueror's Haki forces instantly collapsed the entire battlefield beneath them. The shockwave swept for kilometers, sending countless pirates and samurai flying, some even knocked unconscious on the spot.
Kaido grunted, scales shattering, blood trickling from his mouth.
"Charlotte Linlin! Look carefully! I'm Kaido!"
But in Linlin's eyes, his dragon body was still shrouded in blood mist, and that face still wore Rhett's mocking smile.
"Shut up! Your tricks won't fool me!" She cackled, Prometheus's flames wrapping around her body.
"Berserker Fire Thief!"
Prometheus continuously expanded into a massive fireball, descending near Kaido before exploding violently.
Kaido was forced to leap into the air to dodge, but Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor power had already sealed off his escape route.
"Gurarara! Kaido, it seems your ally isn't very reliable!"
Kaido gritted his teeth, his heart burning with rage. He had been completely outmaneuvered by Rhett.
At the edge of the battlefield, Rhett stood within the blood mist. The mist continuously corroded Kaido's body, forcing Kaido to keep his Armament Haki coating his entire body, or he would be the next Charlotte Linlin.
Kurozumi Orochi got two demons at his door. Kaido was about to get three. Could he handle that?
"Kaido, you like dying so much? Then enjoy yourself."
His mist continued to spread, draining the life force from fallen pirates, and even lively ones, converting it into his own power. One gulp was all it took. Of course, his number one donor remained Charlotte Linlin.
Meanwhile, Moriah's shadow corps was reaping like crazy. The number of zombie soldiers grew steadily, gradually overwhelming the Beast Pirates' foot soldiers.
Another high-level combatant on the pirates' side had finally been completely defeated.
"Crackle—"
Golden lightning carved a blinding trail across the sky above the battlefield.
Although Enel had been tied up by Queen, Cracker couldn't do anything about Enel flying up in the sky and had gone elsewhere.
No one could quickly finish off their opponent.
But Queen posed no real threat to Enel either.
Back when Enel was weaker, his lightning could already cover the entire sky island. And now?
It was no exaggeration to say his lightning could strike every position on this battlefield.
The Blood Dawn Pirates had no blind spots.