"Ka… Kaido???"
Is froze for a moment. No matter how he looked at it, he hadn't expected Kaido to come knocking on his door like this.
Originally, Kaido thought Is would panic upon seeing him.
But what he didn't expect—
Was that Is actually smiled.
Not just smiled—
He looked… excited.
That alone made Kaido's anger surge.
"You've got a damn irritating look on your face," Kaido said, frowning as he tightened his grip on his kanabo.
"Is that so? Because you look quite pleasing to me," Is replied casually, still smiling.
"Let's see if you can keep smiling in a moment."
Kaido stared at Is sharply, as if he had already sentenced him to death a dozen times over.
Just as his words fell—
Another voice echoed from the side.
"Oh? I was wondering who it was. Isn't this the guy who played dead last time? What, didn't get enough of it? Came back for another round?"
At some point, Madara had already walked into the hall.
The moment Kaido heard that familiar voice—
His expression stiffened.
Ever since their encounter at Sabaody—
That voice had haunted his dreams.
More than once, he had woken up in the middle of the night because of it.
The shadow Madara left on him—
Wasn't something that would fade anytime soon.
Kaido looked at Madara again.
The stiffness in his expression eased slightly—
But what replaced it wasn't fear.
It was excitement.
"This time… I think you'll be the one playing dead."
Just as Kaido finished speaking—
Boom!
Another tall figure landed beside him.
Soon, her appearance came into view.
One of the Rocks Pirates' top officers—
Charlotte Linlin, with a bounty exceeding two billion.
Her arrival surprised Is for a moment—
But then he quickly understood.
No wonder Kaido dared to come here.
He had brought backup.
Before Is and the others could speak—
Linlin let out a disdainful laugh.
"So these are the two you want dead, Kaido?"
Kaido nodded, then added:
"You handle the long-haired one. The Celestial Dragon is mine."
"And Linlin—leave the final blow to me. Otherwise, I won't be able to vent this anger."
Linlin smirked, sounding slightly amused.
"Fine. If that's what you want, I'll leave him to you."
"But you'll owe me for this."
"Now let's get to work. The longer we drag this out, the harder it'll be to regroup with Captain Rocks."
"I know."
Kaido nodded, gripping his kanabo tightly before leaping forward—
Swinging it straight at Is.
"Whoosh—!"
In an instant, Madara appeared in front of Is.
Without hesitation, he drew his scythe and countered Kaido head-on.
"Napoleon!"
At the same time, Linlin drew Napoleon and rushed forward, intercepting Madara.
Clang!
Scythe and blade collided—
A violent shockwave erupted, sweeping everything around them.
"You're fighting me," Linlin said with a twisted smile.
Madara glanced at her expressionlessly.
He said nothing—
And didn't resist.
As for Is—
He wasn't worried.
He knew Kaido's strength very well.
Kaido circled around Madara, attacking from the side this time.
Is still stood in place—
Calm.
Smiling.
Without making a single move.
"Die!"
Kaido swung his kanabo down again.
But just as he was about to strike—
A green light suddenly flashed around his body.
The next second—
He was sent flying.
Boom!
His body slammed violently into the wall, kicking up clouds of dust.
Is looked toward the smoke and spoke calmly:
"You think this is a two-on-two, Kaido?"
As he spoke—
Behind him, Tatsumaki and Acnologia slowly walked forward.
"Everything handled?" Is asked.
"Mm. Just like you said—we moved them all to safety," Tatsumaki replied.
At that moment—
Kaido pulled himself out of the wall, cracking his neck as he stood back up.
His sharp gaze swept over Is—
Then shifted to Tatsumaki and Acnologia.
And then—
His expression darkened.
Because at that moment—
He could feel it.
From all three of them—
A presence.
Like wild beasts.
"…What the hell is this…?"
"It's one thing for those two… but that Celestial Dragon—why does he have that kind of aura too…?"
Kaido's face grew increasingly grim.
He knew—
Things had just gotten serious.
"Let me take Is," Acnologia said. "I haven't even warmed up since getting here. I've been losing at cards all day—perfect chance to vent."
"Let's just gang up on him," Is said calmly.
It wasn't that he didn't want to give Acnologia the chance—
It was just that…
This was his castle.
And more importantly—
He didn't want a repeat of Madara…
Turning the fight into entertainment halfway through.
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