Kaido's dragon body was covered in wounds.
He gasped for breath, his dragon eyes fixed on Charlotte Linlin, who was still frantically attacking him.
"Linlin!!! Wake up!!!"
His Conqueror's Haki exploded. Kaido poured his last remaining strength into a "Thunder Bagua" aimed at Linlin. It was clear that this strike was laced with a lot of personal emotion. No technique, just pure feeling.
"Mamamama—!!!" Linlin's greatsword swung down, but at the last moment, it suddenly stopped.
Her pupils contracted violently. The "Rhett" before her gradually twisted and finally turned back into Kaido.
"Kaido?" She looked around in confusion and realized she had been attacking her own ally.
And the real Rhett sat leisurely on his blood mist throne, propping his head on one hand, a mocking smile on his lips.
"Oh, finally awake?" Rhett tilted his head, his tone light. "I thought you two could keep fighting a little longer."
Linlin shot up, Napoleon pointing at him instantly, her Conqueror's Haki erupting uncontrollably: "Rhett—!!!"
Rhett spread his hands, his smile unwavering: "Don't be like that. I actually helped you."
"Helped?!" Kaido growled, his dragon claws clenched tightly, blood dripping down.
"Of course." Rhett stood up, blood mist surging around him. "If I really wanted to kill you, you'd already be corpses."
Kaido coughed up blood, digging his claws into the ground to barely prop himself up: "Linlin... don't let him manipulate you!"
Rhett tilted his head, finding it amusing: "Too late."
He lightly snapped his fingers.
Both of their pupils contracted at the same time. They could feel it. Something had already taken root in their flesh. Something that couldn't be removed.
You didn't really think soaking in the mist for four or five days, covered in wounds, would let Rhett just behave himself, did you?
Hehehe. If Rhett didn't do something to them, he'd feel sorry for himself.
"A little gift," Rhett said with a smile. "Don't worry. As long as you behave, it won't have any effect."
But behaving wasn't exactly their style. That's why they would become the future Four Emperors.
Linlin's greatsword slashed down, but the blood mist scattered like water, and her attack hit nothing.
Kaido let out a low roar and spewed dragon flames, but they too were swallowed by the blood mist.
"Save your strength," Rhett's voice came from all directions. "You can't kill me right now, and I'm not interested in killing you. After all, you're more useful to me alive."
Whitebeard stood with his naginata in hand, his gaze deep: "Gurarara..."
Marco was confused: "We clearly could have killed them."
"Kill them, then what?" Whitebeard chuckled lowly. "The Navy would immediately turn their cannons on us. The New World would descend into chaos. And we would become the target of everyone."
Marco fell silent.
He suddenly understood Rhett's calculation.
The two Emperors had been defeated but not killed. Yet in the shadows, Rhett had already seized control of them. They could no longer pose a threat to him. The Navy wouldn't dare act rashly. The World Government would also be wary.
The Blood Dawn had actually become safer after this battle.
A double win. Rhett wins twice.
At the center of the battlefield, Rhett walked slowly toward Kaido and Linlin, blood mist surging behind him like waves.
"Listen up," he said, his tone light but carrying an undeniable sense of pressure. "From today on, the rules of the New World are changing."
Kaido sneered: "You think you can give us orders?"
"Of course not," Rhett shrugged. "But you're welcome to try going against my 'suggestions.' For example, allying with the Navy to hunt me down?"
He curled his finger slightly. Kaido suddenly grunted in pain.
Linlin's face also changed dramatically. The neural pathways of her food cravings felt like they were being squeezed by an invisible hand. Fragments of illusions flashed before her eyes again.
"Understand now?" Rhett smiled. "You can still do whatever you want. Just don't get in my way. Otherwise, I can kill you anytime."
That was a lie.
He had set the stage and inflicted plenty of wounds.
It was no exaggeration to say that Rhett now held their lives in his hands. He could do it here. The effect wouldn't last once they left.
But the seed was real.
For now, Rhett couldn't directly control them. If he could, instead of leaving just a seed, he wouldn't need to play nice.
From now on, without needing to wound them again, whenever Rhett wanted, they would instantly fall into a deep illusion.
Start the fight with them already weakened by half. To put it in perspective, they would no longer be on the same level as him.
Linlin's greatsword trembled and finally slammed heavily into the ground.
She stared at Rhett, her voice hoarse: "...What do you really want?"
Rhett turned around. Blood mist paved a path under his feet as he walked step by step into the distance.
"Who knows? I'm in a good mood," he said without looking back. "When the seas need chaos and when they need stability, that's my call now."
Kaido gritted his teeth. His dragon tail swept violently as he roared toward King, Queen, and Jack: "Retreat!!"
The remnants of the Beasts Pirates had already been shattered. After days of battle, they had gone from greed to bloodlust and finally to sheer terror.
The samurai of Wano were also losing momentum, but behind them stood their wives, children, and elderly mothers.
Rhett felt that if children were brought to the city walls to cheer, these samurai would go berserk.
Hearing the order, the two All-Stars immediately fought desperately to break through.
King's flame wings burned at their limit, tearing open the golden colossus's blockade. He grabbed the unconscious Queen and forced back the pursuing samurai.
Jack transformed into his mammoth form, withdrew from his fight with Moriah, and carved out a bloody path with his own body.
Kaido gave Linlin one last deep look before his dragon body soared into the air: "Old hag, if you don't leave now, that brat will drain you dry!"
The blood mist surged. Rhett stood in the center of the battlefield, the Black Tide Greatsword pointing at the ground.
"They run pretty fast," he sneered, then turned his gaze to the Big Mom Pirates.
Charlotte Linlin looked around. Her pupils contracted sharply.
Wherever the blood mist passed, her nameless and powerless children and ex-husbands fell one after another.
The weaker Homies had already dissolved. Lower-level officers struggled and suffocated in the mist. Ordinary pirates turned into dried-up corpses by the dozens.
"Mother... help..." One of her sons barely reached out a hand before being swallowed by the blood mist and instantly withered away.
"NO—!!" Linlin's Conqueror's Haki exploded, dispersing part of the blood mist. But it was too late.
She shot up, her eyes locked onto Rhett: "Blood brat... how dare you!!"
Rhett looked at her with a mockingly ridiculous face: "Oh, 'Blood brat,' Charlotte Linlin? What are you barking about?"
His mist continued to spread. But this time, Linlin didn't go berserk. Instead, she did something that surprised everyone.