King spread his arms, no longer caring about his boss's so-called son, Yamato. The flames on his back enveloped his katana.
'Fire Dragon Emperor'—a dragon-shaped flame flew toward the fleeing Moriah and Yamato following the slash from the sword in King's hand.
Realizing he had been locked onto by this technique, Moriah pulled Yamato behind him and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Armament Haki surfaced on his arms as he prepared to tank King's slash head-on.
"Long time no see, Moriah. Why are you still in such a pathetic state?"
A voice rang out from behind Moriah, and a sharp purple sword qi shattered the fire dragon King had unleashed.
Hearing that familiar voice, Moriah breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to turn around and greet Hera, he was sent flying by a figure crashing into him.
Perona, breaking her usual image, directly hugged Moriah, whom she hadn't seen for a long time. The immense impact even sent Moriah flying.
"Lord Moriah, I've finally seen you again! It's really been a long time. Where did you go? Where are the others?"
Ain's wind gently caught the flying Moriah and Perona, who was hugging him tightly, and blew them back.
"Loosen up, loosen up! I can't breathe!"
As if afraid Moriah would run away again, Perona held on extremely tight this time. Held by Perona, Moriah felt like he couldn't breathe at all.
Seeing Moriah's face turning pale and even foaming at the mouth, Perona quickly released her hug and started shaking Moriah's head instead.
"Lord Moriah, what's wrong? Don't die, Lord Moriah!"
Nami saw Moriah's head shaking so fast under Perona's movements that it even left afterimages. She quickly stopped Perona, who was still shaking Moriah incessantly.
"Perona, calm down. If you keep shaking him, Lord Moriah really won't make it."
Under Nami's intervention, Perona finally stopped her actions and released the battered Moriah.
Once Perona let go, Moriah, feeling like the world was spinning before his eyes, threw up directly.
Seeing this scene, Hera silently swapped the 'Fourth Bullet' in her hand, which could reverse time, for the 'Aquarius Bullet' meant for healing injuries.
Having escaped King's pursuit but nearly being solo-killed by his own beloved daughter, Moriah finally recovered under Hera's treatment. After waking up, he suddenly realized...
He actually couldn't easily break free from Perona's hug; her strength was no longer weaker than his own.
Moriah patted Perona's head. "Long time no see. Have you grown to this level? Letting go back then was indeed the right choice."
"Wano Country is too dangerous. I was afraid something would happen to you, so I came here. The other two didn't come."
"I didn't expect to run into Yamato. She also wanted to resist Kaido, so I rescued her. I didn't expect to be discovered by King immediately."
Hera said, "Kaido's daughter Yamato? Just as well, I was looking for her too."
Yamato popped out from behind Moriah and pointed at Hera, saying, "I know you. You're Ace's sister, right? I've heard Ace mention you."
Hera smiled. With a flash of saikū, the sharp spatial power severed the seastone handcuffs on Yamato's wrists. Two portals appeared next to the broken handcuffs.
They were directly teleported to King's side in the air.
With an explosion, the seastone handcuffs actually turned into bombs and exploded in the air. The immense power even blew a hole in King's mask.
Yamato looked at the scene in disbelief. "There were actually bombs in these handcuffs? Did Kaido really want to kill me?"
Yamato had always thought that the handcuffs, which would explode if she left the island, were just Kaido's way of scaring her. She didn't expect them to be real.
The joy of having just gained freedom vanished from Yamato's face, and tears flowed from her eyes.
Hera looked at Yamato somewhat speechlessly. She felt that since the relationship between these two had become like this, at this point, no one person could be blamed.
On one side was Yamato, brainwashed by Oden's journal, and on the other was Kaido, who only knew how to use Thunder Bagua when undecided. It was a complete mess.
Yamato seemed to have made a decision and continued, "I've decided. From now on, I am no longer Kaido's son Yamato, but Kozuki Oden!"
Hera sighed. Although Kaido wasn't a good person, Oden could only be said to be even worse than Kaido.
She waved her hand. "Come, come closer. Stand in a line with Moriah. I'll show you something."
Yamato looked at Hera in confusion but still followed her words, walking over while asking, "What is it?"
Hera took out her short gun, 'hour hand'. She loaded the 'Tenth Bullet', which she had never used before, into her short gun. The bullet passed through Moriah's head and shot into Yamato's brain.
The memories of the battle in Wano Country in Moriah's mind were transferred to Yamato's brain.
Yamato watched the battle between Moriah and Kaido. She saw her idol in Moriah's memories—the man who was supposed to save Wano Country—dancing in the streets.
Until Moriah's defeat, he didn't make a single move.
The huge discrepancy was hard for Yamato to accept for a moment. She knelt on the ground, clutching her head. "How could this be? It shouldn't be like this."
"That's not how it was written in the journal."
Feeling her faith collapse, Yamato hurriedly pulled out her treasured journal, pointed to the contents, and said to Hera:
"Look, it says this here. It shouldn't be like what I just saw."
Hera sighed and helped Yamato up. "I don't know what image Kozuki Oden has in your mind, but I can tell you what the real Oden was like."
"He was never what you thought. He went from a madman before going to sea to someone overly naive and blindly trusting of others after going to sea."
"Owning the Ame no Habakiri and Enma, two Great Grade swords among the 21 Great Grade Blades, and top-tier three-color Haki, Kozuki Oden was certainly a powerhouse, but the decisions he made were undoubtedly wrong."
"As someone who learned the truth of the world alongside Pirate King Roger and was the Second Division Commander of Whitebeard's crew, he was actually pushed to such a state by Kaido and that Orochi."
"It undoubtedly shows his incompetence as the Shogun of Wano Country. Is such a person really worth having as a role model?"
"There are countless strong people in the sea with loyalty and righteousness. Why must you worship this person?"
Listening to Hera's words, the facts Hera spoke of and the scenes she saw in Moriah's mind lingered in Yamato's head.
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