BOOM!
Several pirate ships were shattered on impact.
King staggered to his feet, disbelief written all over his face.
That last strike—infused with Advanced Conqueror's Haki—had far exceeded his expectations.
In his mind, such a technique shouldn't be something a mere old man could wield.
"King! Are you alright?"
Kaido roared furiously.
The sudden appearance of three powerful figures and the destruction they wrought had clearly caught him off guard.
"Don't worry, Boss Kaido," King wiped the blood from his mouth and drew his massive katana again.
"I was just caught off guard. That old geezer may know Advanced Haki, but with that frail body, I want to see how long he can hold me off."
"Heh, you're not wrong," Nagli chuckled, pipe in mouth.
"These old bones won't last long. But I'm not the one you'll be fighting next."
With that, he turned and walked toward the resting giants.
The scene was so strange that everyone stared in stunned silence.
Was he seriously tagging out mid-battle?
But before they could process it, a massive shadow fell over the battlefield.
Everyone instinctively looked up.
And what they saw made their scalps go numb.
A floating island was descending from the sky.
What shocked Kaido and his men the most—
They recognized it.
No—this wasn't just any island.
It was unmistakable.
"Th-that's… Onigashima!"
Queen's jaw dropped.
"Isn't Onigashima in Wano? How did our base end up here?"
"Wano was fine when we left!"
The cries of disbelief sent shockwaves through the ranks.
They had been stunned by the island's sudden appearance.
But now they realized—someone had stolen their home base.
And as the island settled onto the sea, the figures standing atop it sent another wave of panic through the crowd.
"Look! Those two in front—aren't they Fujitora and Ryokugyu? The ones who publicly rejected Fleet Admiral Sengoku's summons?"
A pirate shouted, eyes wide.
Behind them stood a host of powerful figures.
"Are these the so-called 'Special Forces of the Grand Line' everyone's been talking about?"
"Are we really attacking the 'discarded' second battlefield?"
"Why does this look more like the real HQ than Marineford?"
They had believed that with Kaido leading 120,000 pirates, they could easily crush Impel Down.
But this scene shattered their assumptions.
And worse—their panicked commentary was picked up by the live Den Den Mushi broadcast, echoing across the battlefield and the entire sea.
Even the Marines at Marineford were speechless.
Looking at Luo Yu's elite forces and the overwhelming scenes just moments ago, no one could argue.
This lineup… was undeniably more impressive than theirs.
"You bastards! You dare steal my base? I'll tear you all apart!"
Kaido roared, face twisted with rage.
He gripped his kanabō tightly, unleashing a deafening dragon's roar that echoed to the heavens.
With the situation spiraling out of control, Kaido knew there was only one way to turn the tide:
Crush everything with his own strength.
Only then could he rally his forces.
"Thunder Bagua!"
BOOM!
His massive body twisted, and his kanabō crackled with lightning as he hurled it like a bolt from the heavens—straight at Luo Yu.
"Brat! Let's see who can save you now!"
His voice boomed like thunder.
All eyes turned to Fujitora and Ryokugyu.
Would they step in?
But neither moved.
They stood still, unmoved by the incoming attack.
Then, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky.
A figure collided with Kaido mid-air, matching his force head-on.
"Thunder Bagua!"
BOOM!
The resulting explosion sent shockwaves in every direction.
The floating platform shattered under the force.
Kaido's charge was halted.
A slender figure was blasted back dozens of meters before skidding to a stop.
The sudden clash left everyone stunned.
They had witnessed Kaido's power firsthand.
They never expected someone to intercept him before Luo Yu even moved.
And that someone… was a stunning woman.
Though the clash revealed a clear power gap, the fact that she had blocked Kaido head-on was shocking.
Was she one of the special forces too?
"You brat! Yamato, why are you here? You're my son! Why are you standing in my way?"
Kaido's fury exploded when he recognized her.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
They stared at Yamato's striking figure and powerful presence—yet Kaido called her his son?
Was he blind?
Or just insane?
But what truly stunned everyone wasn't that.
It was the realization dawning on them as they looked at Luo Yu.
Did he just steal Kaido's daughter too?
If Luo Yu's infiltration skills were this good, no one's home was safe.
With the tide of battle completely reversed, everyone—pirates, Marines, even the recently escaped Catarina and her crew—gulped nervously.
Standing beside Blackbeard, Burgess couldn't help but mutter:
"Captain Teach… did we break into the wrong prison? These guys are way scarier than the ones we came to bust out. Why are we even here…"
Lafitte and the others were equally stunned.
Even Burgess—usually all brawn and no brain—had a point they couldn't argue with.
They had gone through all this trouble to build a fearsome crew.
But compared to Luo Yu's forces…
The gap was just too overwhelming.