One Piece: The Legend of Beasts

From the moment Garp appeared from the sky, Kaido immediately fixed his eyes on him without any slackness. There was a peculiar color flashing in his eyes that only appeared when facing a strong man, and his hands holding Hachisaijie unconsciously clenched tighter.

Although they had never met before, Kaido had heard of Garp's reputation on the sea when he was still a lone ranger.

Although he was only a vice admiral in the headquarters of the navy, he destroyed thousands of famous pirates with just his fists. Even though there were many outstanding pirates with bounties of over 100 million among them, they were as small as the grains of sand on the beach in front of his unparalleled strength.

For most criminals, the name "Garp" has undoubtedly become a synonym for the devil. Even on Beehive Island, where the world's strongest pirate group is based, the mention of this name makes countless murderous pirates turn pale.

Kaido, who had come across death countless times, naturally had no feelings of fear or hatred towards Garp. Likewise, he did not have the slightest contempt for him.

The powerful aura released from the Marine at all times made Kaido quickly conclude that his strength was no less than Roger's. The fierce collision between the two men, who were evenly matched, further strengthened his idea.

It was extremely difficult for him to even keep his body steady, and there was an insurmountable gap between him and either of the two monsters.

——If that guy had been on Grassland Island that day, the final battle situation would have definitely changed dramatically...

With this thought in his mind, Kaido's desire to defeat the powerful enemy became stronger. No matter how big the gap in strength between them was, and no matter that the Rocks Pirates were gradually becoming disadvantageous with the arrival of enemy reinforcements, if he missed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight the powerful enemy, it would be a lifelong regret for him.

Having made up his mind, just as Kaido took a deep breath and prepared to declare war on Garp with a powerful roar, a dazzling black light suddenly appeared in his field of vision, causing the young man to subconsciously raise his broad palm to block his eyes, and then leave a tiny gap between his fingers to see what was going on, but the light coming through the gap was still so dazzling that he couldn't open his eyes at all. He could only hear the sound of people being blown away and sharp screams from time to time.

Without a moment's hesitation, Kaido gritted his teeth, desperately grabbed the mace and inserted it into the crack in the ground to prevent himself from being blown away by the violent air wave.

When the light gradually dissipated and the valley returned to peace, Kaido pulled out his mace, wiped the remaining sweat on his forehead, slowly raised his sore eyelids, and suddenly noticed that Garp and Roger were standing side by side, staring at the left front side motionlessly, with solemn expressions on their faces.

"What the hell is wrong with them...?"

Seeing that the expressions of the two men had become more serious than ever, Kaido scratched the back of his head and muttered something, then followed their line of sight.

The next moment, Kaido involuntarily widened his eyes, his pupils contracted rapidly, his face was full of shock and horror, and for a moment he even forgot that he was on a battlefield.

He saw a familiar yet unfamiliar figure standing on the ground.

There was no doubt that the man was Rocks who had woken up from his unconscious state at some point. The crazy and unbridled laughter from before also perfectly confirmed this.

The reason why the word "stranger" is used refers to his appearance and aura.

The hedgehog hair that was originally standing upright was dancing like a vine, and the long black hair had no luster at all. The muscles on his body suddenly bulged, and his skin gradually turned bronze, with dark lines on the surface. His rough face became more hideous, and his scarlet pupil began to slowly split to the left and right, forming two smaller pupils in the same eye, which looked particularly weird.

The gravels scattered on the ground seemed to be attracted by something, floating up into the air, and circling around him with a rotating force. The whole person exuded a lifeless black aura, causing the temperature around him to drop suddenly at an indescribable speed, like a Rakshasa wandering in a sea of ​​blood and swords, or like an Asura ghost king released from the depths of hell.

At this moment, he lowered his eyes to look at the slender and powerful fingers, then looked at the strange patterns appearing on his body with interest. A hint of surprise flashed across his expressionless face. He was very surprised by this sudden new look.

"Lock...X...?"

As if he had not yet gotten used to the amazing changes that had taken place in the man's body in just a few minutes, Kaido swallowed involuntarily and uttered a few words intermittently from his throat, his voice trembling uncontrollably as he spoke.

Hearing someone calling his name, Rocks slowly raised his head, and his eyes, which seemed not to be human, met Kaido's gaze at the same level.

Kaido, who has always been fearless, felt an invisible pressure rushing towards him the moment he looked into those eyes. He could hardly breathe, his brain went blank, and his whole body was shaking as if he would fall down at any time.

Perhaps because he had lost interest in the young man who had almost lost his will to fight, Rocks turned his eyes and scanned the scattered bodies lying on the ground. Seeing his subordinates who were full of energy not long ago now had lost their vital signs, his expression remained unchanged, and he did not even blink, as if he was indifferent to everything in the world.

Only a few cadres such as Newgate could feel that the man's heart was beginning to become restless, and a tearing sound was ringing.

Finally, Rocks's eyes suddenly fell on the two figures standing straight on the ground like gun barrels, and he never looked anywhere else. After looking at one of the new faces with a strong physique for a while, Rocks suddenly shifted his gaze to the red-robed man next to him, his eyes flashed with cruel and vicious light, and he said word by word: "Things have developed to this point, do you still have anything to quibble about?"

Even though he could sense the endless murderous intent from Rocks, Roger remained calm and said with a wry smile, "Since we haven't been able to find the real culprit behind this, the situation is irreversible. From now on, we can only rely on our strength to speak."

As if his answer was beyond his expectations, Rocks stared at him for a long time, and suddenly said: "Since this is what you want to see, I will grant your wish!"

With a deafening roar, and without any sign of him doing anything, the small stones around him suddenly shot out as if they had received some kind of command. Because these stones were flying too fast, they produced fierce friction with the air, emitting hot flames and dragging out long tails of flames, like an overwhelming meteor shower, whizzing towards Roger and Garp with a sharp sound of breaking through the air, bound to smash them both into pieces.

In an instant, the red light and the white light complemented each other, and those unstoppable meteor showers instantly lost their original power under the impact of the two powerful and domineering forces, and turned into ashes and dissipated in the air.

"Hey! Roger bastard! I was two seconds faster than you, so I win this fight!" Garp rolled back to the ground, pointed at himself with his thumb, and shouted excitedly at his old enemy, his face full of complacency, like a kid who won a game and is showing off his record.

"Haven't you learned arithmetic, kid? It was obviously you who was three seconds slower! So I won!" Roger pointed at Garp's forehead and retorted, his persistent look made Rayleigh and others on the side couldn't help laughing, but the severe situation surrounded by powerful enemies made them unable to laugh no matter what.

Seeing that his murderous attack was easily resolved by the combined efforts of the two men, Rocks' face suddenly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot, and his knuckles of his clenched fists made a crackling sound. The anger in his heart had reached a critical point.

Even so, he did not lose his remaining rationality. He looked at the two people who were still arguing and did not take advantage of them. He turned around and fixed his eyes on Kaido who was in a daze. He suddenly said, "Kid, you should still remember the heroic words you said in front of me that day, right?"

The man's words, in the same tone as usual, instantly brought Kaido back to reality. Perhaps the question was too abrupt, so Kaido didn't react for a short time. He just stood there blankly, and after a long while, he hesitantly squeezed out two words from his mouth: "...What?"

"Why did you become a pirate? And why did you choose to live under someone else's roof?"

Regardless of whether the other party's answer was in line with expectations, Rocks' face remained calm, staring intently at the young man in front of him. His cloudy and dark eyes seemed to see through his inner confusion, and he said word by word, "Everything you have done so far, isn't it all for your ambition that you have never given up even on the brink of death?"

His voice was neither very high nor very low, but it was like an epiphany that deeply shook Kaido's heart. The scene of his first meeting with Rocks appeared before his eyes again, and the words he said that day suddenly echoed in his mind.

——So, before I defeat you and take your place, I will stay here and live under someone else's roof, but that doesn't mean I will give up my ambitions halfway.

"...Even until the end of my life, I will prove to the world that I am the one who is above all living things!"

Unable to suppress his excitement, Kaido could not help but blurt out the second half of his words, his voice gradually changed from being barely audible to becoming high-pitched and passionate, shifting the attention of everyone on the field to him at this moment.

"Gululu...Puff! Is that kid serious?" Captain John suddenly spit out a wine arrow from his mouth, shooting through three soldiers lined up in a row, helmets and bodies, with a hint of doubt flashing in his blurry eyes. If he hadn't been concerned about Kaido's strength, he would have at least made a few sarcastic remarks.

"Is that kid out of his mind?! How can he still be holding on to such unrealistic fantasies at this hour?!"

Wang Zhi held the nunchaku and swung it around so tightly that the enemy dared not get close to him, and at the same time he roared in frustration. He had a grudge against Kaido, so naturally he would not put on a good face.

"Well, well, well! Why don't you take a look at your own weight before you say something so stupid that it makes people laugh!"

While Lingling was directing the rock-shaped Homies to attack the swarming soldiers, she looked through the crowd at the young man who patted his chest with a solemn oath, and a hint of intriguing smile appeared at the corners of her pink lips. "Only at times like this do I wish I could be a fool!"

"Roger, do you know where that kid came from? He has the same rebellious style as you did when you were young!"

Garp propped his chin with one hand, and looked at the young man who was much bigger than himself with interest. He frowned and muttered, "But I feel like I've seen him somewhere... What's his name...? Never mind!"

Roger couldn't help but glance at him. He was really curious about how such a foolish guy became a senior member of the navy, so he had to explain patiently: "His name is Kaido. He is a newcomer who has emerged in the New World in recent years. He has also had many dealings with your navy."

"Oh, I remember now! It's the guy who defeated Xiluk!"

Garp slapped his forehead with a look of sudden enlightenment, "Thanks to him, the headquarters has to provide maintenance fees for the prison ship every now and then... Fortunately, all the money comes from Sengoku's pocket, hahahaha!"

Roger looked at Garp, who was about to laugh until tears came out, and sighed helplessly: "Although he is far from being a match for you and me at the moment, you must not underestimate that kid."

At this point, Roger's eyes revealed confidence, as if he was stating an indisputable fact: "I have a strong feeling that in the near future, he will become one of the most dazzling new stars on the ocean!"

For a moment, the entire battlefield was in uproar, and the name Kaido became the focus of attention of the bigwigs.

Only Newgate remained silent, not even turning his head. As the only witness of that conversation, he knew exactly why Rocks suddenly mentioned the past to Kaido, and an unprecedented sense of heaviness rose from the bottom of his heart.

——Are you just going to leave like this, Rocks...?

With his arms crossed over his chest, Rocks ignored the discussions around him. After getting Kaido's answer, he grinned into an exaggerated arc: "Hahaha! It's exactly the same as what I said back then! If we can both survive this war, you'll be my right-hand man!"

Just like a drop of water falling into a pond and creating ripples, Kaido no longer had any hesitation in his heart. He suddenly raised his right hand holding the mace and pointed the mace at Rocks' head. His eyes regained their previous ferocity and sharpness, and he said word by word: "If you can't even deal with that kind of bastard, I will never forgive you!"

"Hahahaha! It's settled!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Rocks spread out his arms surrounded by black air, and the smile on his face had reached a nearly crazy level. He shouted in a voice loud enough for the entire island to hear: "Go forward! Fight! Go to where you should go! Crush all the enemies who don't know how to live or die and block your way!"

Kaido quickly understood the meaning of his words and nodded heavily to him. Then he turned to face the square, stomped his feet heavily on the ground, and shot out like a purple lightning, knocking away all the soldiers who tried to stop him along the way, leaving only a few afterimages on the ground.

"Bastard Kaido, do you want to take all those treasures by yourself?! I will never let you succeed!"

Amid a deafening roar, Linlin jumped onto the thundercloud Zeus angrily and rushed towards the direction where Kaido left like an arrow. Two sharp screams could be vaguely heard in unison, and then there was no trace in the blink of an eye.