After asking a few questions, Sakazuki nodded and said, "So that’s it. You encountered a battle between pirates on an island called Baizinbur, got caught in the crossfire, and nearly had your crew wiped out?" As he spoke, Sakazuki’s expression hardened. "Tell me, who were the pirates fighting?"
Facing the Marines’ aggressive interrogation, the tied-up pirates finally couldn’t bear the immense pressure and practically roared, "It was... it was Kaido of the Beasts!!"
On the warship, the eyes of the Marines narrowed. Sakazuki let out a cold breath. "Kaido, he’s on Baizinbur, right?" With a sidelong glance to his right, Sakazuki added, "This time, the credit goes to you, Kuzan."
If he had just wiped them out, he wouldn’t have gotten this crucial intel. Although Sakazuki was extreme, he wasn’t someone who shamelessly stole credit; it naturally belonged to Kuzan.
But Kuzan seemed indifferent to everything. Without answering Sakazuki, he walked forward with his hands in his pockets and asked, "What else? Who was the pirate fighting Kaido?"
The pirate with the red bandana replied, "I-I don’t know. We, we were half-dead with fright just seeing Kaido. We, we just focused on escaping. The person fighting him was knocked into the sea. We, we didn’t get a good look."
"Ugh, huh!?" Sakazuki grunted from his throat. Several pirates flinched at his reaction. "We, we’re not lying!"
"Please! Believe us!"
"Let us live! We’ve told you everything!"
Not getting the full intel, Sakazuki was furious. His palm transformed into magma, and he roared, "Useless trash, die!"
"Hold on! Sakazuki, I told you, they’re to be imprisoned in Impel Down. Don’t just kill them." Seeing Kuzan intervene, Sakazuki didn’t say much more, merely grunted "Tch," and withdrew his hand.
"Lock them up and keep a close eye on them. Helmsman, change course, head to Baizinbur." After Kuzan gave his orders, he turned to look at Garp.
Despite all the commotion, Garp was still snoring away. Although the Ice-Ice Fruit made Kuzan’s personality lean towards coldness, he’d picked up many lazy and sleepy habits, which were absolutely attributable to Garp.
"Wake up Garp-san! Everyone, go to Level 1 alert! Our opponent is Kaido of the Beasts!" Kuzan admitted to himself that he wasn’t Kaido’s match, even with Sakazuki added to the mix. Ultimately, they would still need Garp. He couldn’t keep sleeping.
After more than half a day, the warship finally reached Baizinbur. The moment they saw the cluster of whirlpools near the island, Kuzan activated his ability, freezing the sea. While he hadn’t yet reached the level he would achieve as an Admiral, freezing the sea around a single island was more than enough.
Garp, finally roused, leaped onto the ice and shouted to those disembarking, "Everyone, follow me! Our opponent is that hard-skinned brat Kaido! You can’t handle him! The rest of you form a perimeter around the island to guard against the Beasts Pirates’ arrival!"
Although Kaido preferred to roam alone, his subordinates carried his Vivre Card, often trailing behind him. So, even if they found Kaido, they still had to be wary of the Beasts Pirates appearing at any moment; it wouldn’t be surprising.
"Yes, sir!" Nearly a thousand soldiers on the ship quickly formed a patrol net around the island, always on alert for the Beasts Pirates.
"You brats, Sakazuki and Kuzan, come with me!" Garp led only two others into the jungle. All along the way, there were shattered ruins and broken trees, split rocks, and the corpses of many rare animals littered the roadside bushes.
"Arara, as expected of Kaido of the Beasts. It’s truly a mess." As Kuzan saw the dead animal corpses around them, he asked Garp’s back, "Garp-san, who do you think is fighting Kaido?"
Just as Kuzan finished speaking, the ground suddenly vibrated, followed by a roar that startled the vultures feeding on animal carcasses, sending them soaring into the sky.
"That’s Kaido’s voice." Garp quickened his pace. Sakazuki and Kuzan followed behind him. Kuzan remarked, "According to the pirates’ intel, they’ve been fighting here for at least two days and two nights. Not many people can push Kaido to that extent."
Soon, the three reached a mountain peak several hundred meters high on Baizinbur. Looking ahead, they saw a beast, half its body stained with blood, attacking furiously in the distance—it was Kaido.
Even Sakazuki couldn’t help but show a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He couldn’t believe it. Who could possibly wound Kaido ?
Soon, they saw another figure leap in front of Kaido’s face, raising a black gun and aiming for Kaido’s eyes. Kaido lifted his bloodied arm and violently smacked Alucard away, but Alucard immediately summoned Black Dog Baskerville anew.
Baskerville howled, extending its claws and fangs to block Kaido’s fist. Alucard could have used the black dog’s provided buffering time to attack Kaido, but unexpectedly, Kaido directly slammed his head into Alucard.
The bullet went wide, hitting Kaido’s cheek. At the same time, Alucard was sent flying, smashing through several mountains before finally stopping.
"That’s... Alucard." Kuzan had a bead of cold sweat trickle down his temple. He never would have imagined it would be him fighting Kaido. Shaking his head to regain composure, Kuzan asked Garp, "Garp-san, should we join the fight?"
"Wait, we should wait." Sakazuki crossed his arms and said in a deep voice, "Once those two are exhausted from fighting, that’s when we strike! We’ll reap the rewards!"
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