"Well done…. Cough cough, I mean, what a pity! Looks like Father was just a little bit away from success."
Looking at Kaido collapsed on the ground nearby, Yamato instinctively spoke her true thoughts.
If Arceus hadn't been here, Yamato would've jumped in joy, but she quickly realized a problem. Kaido was actually injured on a physical level.
In the Dragon Dimension, no matter how severe the wounds she suffered, the worst outcome was just mental fatigue, and she'd be fine after some sleep. But never once had she sustained real, physical injuries.
"Dad, it's different for Father, isn't it?"
"Mm. What you tempered was your mind. Your father fights in a much more real sense, so the damage reflects onto his body. He only has a death-prevention safeguard."
Yamato's state was virtual reality. Even though she had enabled 100% pain simulation, it was ultimately still an illusion. Kaido, however, was an unfortunate player trapped in VR. If something went wrong in there, then his real body would also suffer.
"I see. Oh, right, Dad, I just remembered I've got something to do. See you later."
Yamato suddenly thought of something even more terrifying; whether Kaido succeeded or failed didn't really matter. If she ran into him, it would spell bad luck. To avoid future risks, she once again chose to slip away.
Theoretically, Kaido, having just been beaten up, shouldn't immediately come after her, so she still had time to escape.
Yamato acted quickly, leaping straight from the edge of Sacred Mountain. Using the momentum from her running start, she dove into free fall, then formed a wing-membrane out of lightning and ice to begin wingsuit flying.
Not long after she left, the collapsed Kaido climbed back to his feet.
"Rayquaza doesn't seem too fond of you. Looks like you picked quite the wrong time and place."
"Worororo, as long as I can fight, that's enough. There are fewer and fewer opponents to fight nowadays."
"Heh. Don't bother me again until you've defeated that child."
"You call that a child?"
A being that could fly at high speed through the starry sky and snack on meteorites was, in Arceus' eyes, just a child. But considering the reason for Rayquaza's appearance and Arceus himself, the statement wasn't exactly wrong.
Kaido also realized another goal of Arceus; with Rayquaza around, he had no reason to challenge Arceus to temper himself anymore.
"Well, that works too. Fighting it, I did learn a few tricks. I'll take time to digest them first. If I push it too often, I might actually anger it, and that wouldn't be good."
Kaido wasn't afraid of Rayquaza going all out; he was afraid that if Rayquaza lost its temper, it might just refuse to fight altogether. Given Rayquaza's speed, if it chose to avoid the fight outright, there was absolutely nothing Kaido could do about it.
He needs to find the right balance to keep Rayquaza engaged in battle without it choosing to avoid the fight.
Fresh from the battle, Kaido plunged into a new round of contemplation, a mentally draining task. Coupled with the adrenaline still coursing through him from the earlier fight, moments like these always made him crave a drink.
Usually, he drank with some moderation, but at times like these, Kaido had no intention of holding back. It wasn't long before he fell into a drunken state, which sent him into an unpredictable state.
In this state, no one knows where Kaido might show up, or what might happen.
Boom!
A crater appeared on the ground as Kaido crawled out, rubbing his head.
"Hic…guess I drank too much again. One moment I'm flying, next moment I'm falling. Worororo, I really am a fool. Hehehe..hic…"
It was clear Kaido wasn't fully sober yet. Strange noises slipped from his mouth, and his movements were bizarre.
Behind him, someone tried sneaking away quietly. If the drunken Kaido noticed, it would not end well. But Kaido wasn't blacked-out drunk…just drunk. In fact, his alertness was currently even sharper than when sober.
"Queen… hic… where do you think you're going?"
Grabbing hold of a braid, Kaido yanked the other person toward him.
"Boss Kaido, I—I'll go get you some more booze. You probably haven't drunk enough yet, right?"
At this moment, Queen slightly regretted keeping his hair so long. Then again, when he thought about it, it probably didn't make much difference. Since Kaido had already dropped right in front of him, whether he had long hair or was bald didn't matter at all.
This was Wano Country's laboratory. For Kaido to fall precisely in front of him, there was no way Queen believed it was an accident.
"Oh? Do you have good booze in your lab? But I've already had enough this time—hic. Queen, let's have a little practice."
"Uh… Boss, I personally think Miss Yamato is a much more suitable partner. I'll go look for her right now!"
"No need. That girl's soaking in the women's hot spring."
After leaping off the mountain, Yamato had gone straight to the hot spring bathhouse. Partly to relax, but also because it was a good place to avoid danger.
This trick couldn't be used too often, but every now and then it had miraculous effects; at least it had successfully forced Kaido to abandon pursuing her, leaving him with no choice but to settle for his second target.
Soon, strange noises came from outside the laboratory, and at that moment, one of the cards in Hawkins' hand slipped and fell to the ground.
"As expected, there are some things one just can't avoid."
Picking up his tarot card, Hawkins gently brushed off the dust. Looking at the pattern on the card, he turned his gaze toward Queen. For a moment, a faint trace of sympathy seemed to flicker in his dead fish-like eyes.
It's rare to encounter someone whose fate is so full of ups and downs.
"Ara ara, does this kind of thing happen often? The people around here don't seem to be reacting at all."
Kuzan was dressed like a youngster on vacation; sunglasses perched on his forehead, a sun hat on his head, a parasol slung over his shoulder. Behind him, Camel carried two oversized folding chairs and a massive picnic backpack.
The commotion Kaido and Queen stirred up wasn't small. Smoke and dust were visible even from far away. Yet the nearby residents acted as if they hadn't noticed a thing, calmly going about their daily lives.
The only effect was that a little girl nearly lost hold of her Swablu balloon. But before her tears could fall, Kuzan used his height advantage to retrieve it and even tied a neat slipknot around her wrist.
"It happens maybe every few months. But… running into you here really is surprising, Marine Admiral, Aokiji."
The voice answering Kuzan came from behind, but without much respect in its tone.
"That's all in the past. At most, I'm a former Admiral now. But aren't you the same? A CP9 member of the World Government defected here too. This place really is a melting pot."
The one answering Kuzan's question was Who's-Who. CP9's attitude toward Marines had always been like this. To them, Marines were nothing more than a subordinate force of the World Government. Even if an Admiral represented the Marines' greatest military might, they still had no authority to directly order them around.
Strength could make them rein in their arrogance somewhat, but it wouldn't inspire much respect. And if they bore the orders of the World Government, their arrogance would only grow.
But now things are different. Both CP9 and Marine Admirals were matters of the past.
The place they stood in was Wano Country, the stronghold of the Beasts Pirates. Their former identities had all become history. Who's-Who had even become Kuzan's senior.
It was just that Who's-Who had always been carrying out missions outside, so this was the first time he had met Kuzan face-to-face.
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