Chapter 256: Luffy Defeated? A Nation on the Brink of Destruction
BOOM!
A blazing breath attack struck Blackbeard head-on.
"AAAH! That hurts! I'm here to help you, Kaido!"
Blackbeard rolled on the ground,
trying to lessen the pain from the breath attack.
This was a side effect of the Dark-Dark Fruit—
all damage taken came with double the pain.
Originally,
everything had been worth it for the Dark-Dark Fruit.
But the appearance of the Reincarnation Game left Blackbeard frustrated and bitter—
like all his careful planning had gone to waste.
The fruit he'd waited so long for?
Even ordinary game skills now easily outclassed it.
It was hard to accept.
Worst of all,
according to intel from the World Government,
even Luffy's Nika Fruit was stronger than his Dark-Dark Fruit.
Then what had all these years of waiting been for?
That's why—
even aside from the World Government's orders—
Blackbeard had a deep, personal desire to kill Luffy.
"If you can't even handle my heat breath, how are you supposed to help me?"
Kaido stared coldly at Blackbeard,
noting how, despite all the screaming, Blackbeard hadn't suffered any burns—
not even scorched skin.
"Of course."
Blackbeard laughed heartily,
not at all angry about the sneak attack.
Just like Luffy, he played the carefree fool.
But those who knew him understood—
Blackbeard and Luffy were complete opposites.
Luffy was pure-hearted.
Blackbeard? Pure evil.
He simply didn't let petty things disrupt his plans—
the most genuine form of a pirate.
"Monkey D. Luffy, by the authority of the God Clan,
I place you under arrest!"
Blackbeard's mad laughter rang out as dark mist billowed from his shoulders,
spreading across the area.
Video Den Den Mushi were already capturing the fight
that would decide the fate of the Oikot Kingdom.
Blackbeard's words reached the ears of every civilian—
"God Clan's emissary?!"
"But Kaido's the villain! He's the one destroying everything!
Why would the emissary of the Gods help someone like him?!"
They knew the God Clan was the new name for the World Government.
Oikot was a member nation.
Of course they were aware of the name change.
But still—
why would the government side with a monster like Kaido?
"Shut your mouths!"
"You weak, ignorant nobodies.
Good and evil? Look across the whole sea—you won't find a single clear answer."
Dark mist, radiating from Blackbeard's feet,
spread through the ruined coliseum.
Suddenly, a massive suction force—like a giant hand—grabbed Luffy by the throat,
pulling him toward Blackbeard.
"Dark-Dark Fruit, huh?"
Kaido, experienced as he was, immediately recognized the technique.
He saw Luffy—still in Gear Fourth—trapped, unable to move.
The dragon opened his jaws and fired another blast of heat breath.
"Hahahahaha!"
Luffy laughed uncontrollably.
Inside him, a power was awakening.
A pure white glow dyed his hair.
White clouds of flame formed around his body.
The Nika Fruit had fully awakened—
Gear Fifth.
BAM!
The heat breath was batted away like a rubber ball,
sent flying back toward Kaido.
Just before impact, it lost momentum—
crashing into the earth instead.
"So this is the Devil Fruit the God Clan calls
'the most chaotic ability'?
Truly… terrifying."
Blackbeard extended both arms,
his black mist trying to suppress the fruit's power.
The Dark-Dark Fruit's greatest strength:
it could nullify any Devil Fruit power
and even steal it.
Originally,
his goal was to steal the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
He had even orchestrated a war between the Marines and Whitebeard to do so.
But the world had changed too fast.
Still—
if he could take the Nika Fruit instead… that wouldn't be bad either.
"Rubber… White Judgment Hurricane!"
Luffy, in Gear Fifth, launched a mighty punch.
A brilliant white tornado spiraled upward,
turning everything it touched into soft, rubbery forms—twisting them endlessly.
"Normal fruit powers? I can counter those.
But if they're mixed with game skills… they're too damn tricky!"
Blackbeard frowned and retreated.
His black mist spread further,
trying to nullify the Nika Fruit's effects.
"Dragon Twister: Destructive Gust!"
Kaido's dragon form spun like a cyclone,
unleashing blades of wind from his roars.
The Judgment Hurricane was shredded in seconds.
"What an annoying brat.
Just started his journey and already fighting me head-on thanks to some game powers."
The more he saw, the more jealous Blackbeard became.
He had endured twenty years of pretending to be a good guy,
building connections with everyone—
only to be overtaken by a brat who'd been at sea for mere months.
It was maddening.
"Dark Vortex!"
Blackbeard slammed his hands into the ground.
Dark tendrils spread outward,
creating suction like miniature black holes—
trapping Luffy's legs.
"Ehahaha…!"
But Luffy just laughed.
His feet bounced like springs,
escaping the dark hole's grip with ease.
Now!
Kaido swung his body—
his massive dragon tail smacked Luffy mid-air,
sending him crashing into a deep crater.
"…Is it over?"
In the Game Shop, Fang Yi watched with keen interest.
Even with the World's Will favoring him,
Luffy still couldn't beat Kaido.
Not alone.
He might've lasted longer…
if Blackbeard hadn't interfered.
The sea's Will alone wasn't enough
to return fate to what it once was.
"It's over.
You're not Joyboy after all."
Kaido hovered in the sky,
staring down at the fallen Luffy—
now aged and drained, Gear Fifth deactivated.
No stamina. No energy.
No potions left.
It was over.
If not for the Reincarnation Game,
this fight wouldn't have had any suspense to begin with.
But even though he had won,
Kaido felt no joy in his eyes.
Not even the so-called "god-tier" Fruit,
the awakened Nika,
had produced the Joyboy he'd been waiting for?
So be it.
Let the evil dragon burn the world to ash.
Flame Clouds!
Purple flames rolled in,
engulfing the fractured battlefield.
The earth, shattered and full of rubble,
was lifted high into the sky.
In the blink of an eye—
a massive floating island of debris loomed above Oikot Kingdom.
Then—
It began to fall.
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