"Waiting... Time..." Kaido suddenly leaned down. His eyes, already red from crying profusely, were now bloodshot, looking dull, vacant, yet radiating madness everywhere. He was like a psychiatric patient ready to lash out and harm at any moment, utterly delusional. "So, how long will it take? One year, two years, or three, five years?"
Doflamingo's smile vanished. "I can't say for sure. Fifteen years at the latest. Science is a very quiet and rigorous endeavor, and I must ensure there are no mistakes."
Bang!
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
A gigantic palm descended from the sky, raising a cloud of dust.
"Too slow!" Kaido roared. "Five years! Five years at most! I can't wait for fifteen years!"
"Done crying, now you're enraged?" Doflamingo flashed to Kaido's side, dodging his palm, his forehead veins bulging. His voice, however, remained calm. "You'll wait even if you don't want to. This isn't something you or I can control. The timing has to be right, and... stop taking out your anger on me as if I'm your subordinate. Who do you think you are?"
Graaaagh!!!
A roar like an ancient beast exploded, the sound barrier shattering the air, and violent winds raged.
"Who am I?! I'm 'Kaido of the Beasts'!"
The capricious Kaido, turning hostile faster than flipping a page, brought his tree-trunk-like spiked club down overhead.
Soru!
Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!
Mountains crumbled and the earth split.
"Overheat!" With a flick of his arm, Doflamingo's fingertips unleashed threads, a whip as sharp as a blade, unhesitatingly striking Kaido's neck. "Business is business! No one can strong-arm me into a deal. Not Big Mom, not Golden Lion, not the Gorosei or the World Nobles. And not you, 'Kaido of the Beasts'!"
Snap!
The whip-string accurately struck Kaido's neck with a series of crisp snaps, but... it left only a faint red mark.
"You bastard..." Kaido's eyes glanced down, then back up. "You actually dared to attack me!"
Doflamingo crooked his finger. "If attacked, one naturally retaliates. Do you think your reputation will scare me? Fufufufu."
"If you don't die, our cooperation is on," Kaido reached up to grab the whip-string on his shoulder, pulling it forcefully. With his other hand, he swung his spiked club, imbued with the force of wind and thunder. "Haa!"
Doflamingo decisively abandoned control of the whip-string. He knew he couldn't possibly contend with a monstrous genius in terms of pure strength. He allowed his body to fall, using the momentum to once again dodge Kaido's spiked club.
Whoosh!
Kaido, a battle-crazed maniac who had endured hundreds, even thousands, of life-or-death battles, reacted incredibly swiftly, smashing down with an improvised attack.
"Spider Web!"
"Spider Net!"
Kaido's massive physique also meant his attacks had a huge area of effect. It was too late to dodge again, so Doflamingo had no choice but to create a double spider web and reinforce its defense with Armament Haki.
Thump!!!
A muffled drum, a startling thunderclap.
Even though the silk giant was mostly made of the same material as a birdcage, with density and weight even superior to steel, Kaido savagely knocked it back several steps, the only good news was that it held!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Doflamingo's fingers moved faster and faster, creating a blur in the air, and the silk giant was already clad in a Tengu armor, with its third arm gripping an exaggerated Death God's scythe.
"You want me to surrender? Like hell that would happen."
Doflamingo looked down at Kaido, his expression as ferocious as an Oni.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
The ground shook. The silk giant charged madly, its Death God's scythe drawing a cold, shimmering arc.
Clang!!!
The clang of metal.
"Wororororo... Not bad," Kaido parried the silk giant's scythe, his mouth stretched wide in a grin. "But it's not enough! Graaagh—!"
Thump! Thump-thump! Thump-thump-thump!
Grinding his feet against the earth, Kaido ferociously pushed the silk giant backward, gaining speed with each step.
"Damn it," Doflamingo took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Despite having fantasized about the strength of the Emperors more than once, after truly engaging in battle, he still felt he had underestimated them.
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