Gusion stood between the White Sea, his blade still dripping blood, as the currents on both sides slowly converged toward his position.
He raised his head and met Aramaki's gaze, giving him a smile that seemed cruel in Aramaki's eyes. "See you around."
With that, he turned and used Shunpo to instantly leave the gap in the White Sea, leaving Aramaki only his back.
Gusion had no intention of interfering in the fight between King and Aramaki. He wouldn't get cocky just because he killed Strawberry; that guy was at best an average vice admiral, while Aramaki was nearly admiral level.
Even though Gusion had powered up a lot, watching King and Aramaki fight was like staring at a row of question marks. The scale of their battle was such that any random move could wipe him out.
"You go ahead. Meet on Sky Island."
King shouted. Honestly, he was a bit surprised by Gusion's strength, but it was a good thing his comrade could take out an enemy—it meant he didn't have to worry about the crew.
Now he only needed to focus on dealing with Aramaki. Once he dealt with the green-haired man, he could head to Sky Island to investigate the truth.
As for Kaido, there was nothing to worry about. Given what he knew, Big Mom and Kaido would never fight to the death.
No matter what, the Navy couldn't threaten either of the Emperors. If everyone from the battleship came down, Kaido and Big Mom might even stop fighting each other and first wipe out the pesky navy.
Meanwhile, Gusion used Shunpo and soon caught up with the ship ahead, landing on the deck.
Snow Wind gave Gusion a strange look. There was no way the ship could have gone that fast, and with them being upstream, they'd seen Gusion's battle in full thanks to the firelight from King's fight.
That was Strawberry, a powerful rear admiral in the Navy, easily at the level of most vice admirals. Otherwise, he couldn't have seriously injured the Sun Pirates' captain.
Yet such a famous and formidable fighter fell in just a few minutes before Gusion, without suspense.
Snow Wind could see that Gusion's stats were clearly lower than Strawberry's, but Gusion was always on top during the fight.
It was crazy!
Now she felt justified for losing to Gusion in the arena. He was obviously an utter monster—whether it was the speed of his growth or his combat ability, both were way above normal.
"Brother Gusion is so strong! That long-hat guy was no match at all."
Only after the battle calmed did Page One dare to come on deck, exclaiming in awe.
"Hmph! I'll be even stronger in the future. Page One, you need to have ambition!"
Ulti, hands on her hips, struck a proud pose.
Gusion knocked Ulti on the head. "Save that talk for when you've grown taller."
The siblings were among the rare normal-height people in the world of One Piece—right now, just typical kids, and even when grown, only about 1.7 meters tall.
Ulti covered her head and squatted, pouting, angry but not daring to speak up. She secretly vowed to become a lead performer in the future and knock Gusion back then.
"Mr. Gusion, what should we do now?" Snow Wind asked. Although Gusion was Beasts Pirates' Calamity, most people called him Mr. Gusion, so she followed suit.
"You steer the ship straight for Sky Island. No need to wait for King."
Gusion ordered, planning to go rest in the cabin.
His fight with Strawberry had cost him a lot—using the Soul Devouring's power and Shunpo in midair consumed plenty of soul energy.
In this mission world, he planned to save resources wherever possible, so he wasn't going to use consumables when not fighting. Resting on a bed was good enough.
"We're not waiting for Mr. King?" asked Snow Cake, a simple-minded boy in Snow Wind's crew, who acted as the main tank and was now steering the ship.
He'd always advised against coming to the New World, thinking it too dangerous and that regular people couldn't handle the Sky Island situation. Their team could easily be wiped out.
But Snow Wind insisted that in this line of work and wanted to bet on the New World.
Earlier, he'd thought having the Beasts Pirates backing them up was reliable, but now King wasn't with them. Wouldn't they be on their own on Sky Island?
"It'll take King a while to get here. We can't just wait around. There's still Borsalino on that battleship—do you want him chasing you?"
Gusion almost let Borsalino's other name slip. They'd been locked onto by flashes of light earlier, which gave him quite a scare.
The Navy wasn't stupid. Since they'd come to interfere, they had to send strong people. Aramaki was one, and Borsalino, while not yet an admiral, was at admiral-level strength.
If Kizaru had killing intent, none of them would escape—not even King could arrive in time.
Gusion wasn't about to bet his life on Kizaru's personality, even if he was the lazy man type unlikely to chase them down. Still, better safe than sorry—best to get out of sight and be safe on Sky Island.
"We'll manage, anyway. There aren't many big threats on Sky Island," Snow Wind agreed.
Regardless of when King and Aramaki would finish, Kizaru's threat was real. With explorers' influence, the world had changed—who knew what reason Kizaru might have to attack them?
Better to leave now while it's safe. Sky Island had plenty to offer.
Not to mention Sky Island's unique resources, exploring this special map would greatly boost their world exploration percentage. Finding a Poneglyph would boost it even more.
For a solo like Gusion, exploration rewards were just okay, but for a team, it was huge—everyone gained exploration points, and the more people, the greater the payout.
Plus, there was a highly valuable fruit on Sky Island—the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Enel's.
As for killing other explorers for loot, that was secondary.
"You guys keep steering. I'm going to nap."
Seeing things were secure, Gusion handed the ship over to Snow Wind's crew and returned to the cabin.
The path to the Summit of High West was considered a near-death route, but that was only for the Straw Hats during the Grand Line era using Knock Up Stream, when people's knowledge was limited—it seemed dangerous.
For capable New World pirates, getting to Sky Island this way wasn't hard, especially with all the explorers' tricks. Gusion didn't have to worry for now.
…
Gusion's group was slowly approaching Sky Island via this route, while at the starting point below, the battle was reaching its climax.
"Thunder Bagua!"
"Shock Command Thunder!"
Kaido and Big Mom clashed, their roars echoing as colossal shockwaves flattened most of the starting point island.
By this point, most of both pirate crews had stopped fighting and found safe corners of the island to watch.
The space was too small—no one could fight properly, and a few steps could send you into the sea or get you caught in Kaido or Big Mom's attacks.
So both sides tacitly stopped, watching the two monsters collide.
"Linlin, let's stop for now!"
After an explosive clash, Kaido spoke first, halting his attack.
"Huh? Brat, are you surrendering?" Big Mom grinned smugly. Kaido was nearly ten years younger than her, and back in the Rocks Pirates she'd always seen him as a brat.
"Hm? You really want to die, Linlin?"
Kaido's face darkened. He wasn't afraid, but his mind wasn't on fighting Linlin.
He'd noticed, over ten minutes ago, that two people from the navy ship had come down and started fighting King.
This made Kaido furious, seeing it as a serious provocation by the navy.
Even though Gusion's ship escaped safely and it was the navy officer who died, he still held a grudge and wanted to crush the navy first.
"Can't you see? Your crew can't beat my Beasts Pirates—Fujitora alone could handle your whole crew. We should deal with the navy first."
Kaido, more clear-headed than Big Mom, stated the obvious.
"The navy's after your people, not mine," Big Mom said, smirking.
Kaido was exasperated. "They're using you, can't you see? If you weren't here blocking me, would they dare make a move?"
Big Mom frowned, considering, and realized he had a point. She turned to the navy ship, displeased.
On the battleship, Borsalino sensed Big Mom's gaze and his face changed slightly. "Scary. Looks like the Emperors got their eyes on us."
"Mr. Borsalino, should we fight or retreat?" a navy captain asked.
Borsalino glanced at him. "What are you saying? Facing such terrifying Emperors—we can't fight them. Set sail, get out of this area."
"But… what about Mr. Aramaki…"
The captain hesitated.
"He can handle himself. We'll retreat first."
Borsalino was decisive. Aramaki and King were now fighting above, and if Big Mom and Kaido wanted to chase, they'd have to prepare ships to reach the White Sea. The navy was in real danger.
If Kaido and Big Mom teamed up to chase them, even Borsalino would feel the pressure. Worst case, he'd have to abandon the ship.
He wasn't heartless—Strawberry's death saddened him, even if he didn't think much of him personally. If Strawberry hadn't died so quickly, maybe he'd have tried to help—but once he was dead, that was that.
If he used his light powers to kill Gusion, Kaido would hunt him to the ends of the earth.
Now, he decided to run, because while he could escape anytime, the battleship couldn't. If they didn't leave now, the navy would be wiped out.
As for higher-ups' anger or the Five Elders' complaints, he didn't care.
Promotion? He didn't care about being an admiral anyway.
"What are you waiting for? Set sail!"
Borsalino urged.
The officers didn't hesitate anymore, calling the crew to turn the ship. But that hesitation had already given the two Emperors a chance.
Kaido and Big Mom walked to the dock, standing side by side.
Big Mom wielded Napoleon, Kaido his kanabo. Conqueror's Haki surged around them—they were clearly about to strike at the battleship.
As they raised their arms, Borsalino's scalp tingled. This was the first time he'd seen the two Emperors attack together.
Worse, they'd once been shipmates—their teamwork could be terrifying!