"These bastards aren't even taking us seriously."

Aramaki's face twisted with fury as he glared at Caesar and the others.

Ganzui, covered in dust, scrambled away in a panic.

"Hey! Kaido, you little brat, how dare you treat a commander like this? Forty years ago, you'd have been beaten black and blue by the whole crew, not just me! Caesar! Control your brother—he's a grown man, yet he still doesn't know how to respect his elders!"

"Grrraaah! You piss me off! Demolition Gust!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Dozens of razor-sharp wind blades shot from Kaido's mouth, clashing repeatedly with Ganzui's sword.

Caesar watched with amusement, releasing Linlin's waist and cracking his golden, spike-covered knuckles with a sinister grin.

"Old Zui, why'd you run off before the final battle? Do you know how pissed I was back then?"

Ganzui, still fending off Kaido's wind blades, paled at Caesar's words.

"Caesar, l-let me explain—"

BOOM!!

Caesar's golden body shot forward like a cannonball, instantly closing the distance.

Ignoring Ganzui's panicked slash with the Seven Stars Sword, he grabbed the blade with a crunch, his other hand already swinging toward the old man's head.

"Hey! Caesar, I came for your Tea Party! Is this how you treat a guest? Ow! Not the face—I'm an old man, ow—!"

Caesar gripped Ganzui's right arm and the Seven Stars Sword together, his other fist pummeling the old man's face relentlessly.

Nearby, Kizaru and Aramaki watched the farce unfold, their auras fluctuating as they nearly intervened on the spot.

After a moment, Caesar released the dejected Ganzui while wearing a satisfied expression.

"Wororororo, old ghost, this look suits you better than before, Wororororo!" Kaido laughed uproariously, his dragon maw wide open.

"Mamamama, Ganzui, you're even older than Newgate. How come you're not dead yet? No news for so many years, and now you pop up out of nowhere. What are you up to, you old ghost?" Linlin was equally blunt.

Ganzui touched his swollen cheek, wincing in pain, then shakily pointed at Caesar and the other two.

"You three... still the same bastards as before—no, even worse bastards now. Sss... you knocked out one of my teeth."

"Hmph! If the Rocks Pirates hadn't disbanded, I'd have shoved your head into a shithole" Caesar snorted, glaring at Ganzui with displeasure.

Ganzui opened his mouth but then closed it again.

He realized there was no point arguing with muscle-brained brutes.

Especially when there were three such brutes standing before him.

Times had changed.

He had aged, while these three inhuman beings had only grown stronger.

Especially Caesar—his aura alone was suffocating, leaving Ganzui no will to resist.

'That bastard Caesar... his power has surpassed even Rocks from back then!'

At this moment, Kizaru impatiently flicked his black-and-gold light sword and coldly addressed Caesar.

"Caesar! How about a one-on-one fight?"

Caesar looked at Kizaru in surprise and chuckled, "Kizaru, in such a hurry to die? Be patient. There are plenty more people on their way."

"Borsalino! Don't be rash. Something's off about Caesar right now. He already sent Blackbeard and Red Hair flying, and Kuzan... Kuzan might be... dead." Aramaki urgently tugged at Kizaru's sleeve, her voice tense.

"Kuzan is dead?"

Kizaru's body stiffened, his aura violently fluctuating as he snapped his gaze toward Aokiji, who lay atop Prometheus at Linlin's feet.

Aokiji, having forcibly awakened his Ice-Ice Fruit powers, had most of his consciousness assimilated by nature.

Had Caesar not severed the final assimilation with his blood flames at the last moment, Aokiji would have transformed into an ice.

Thus, only about one percent of Aokiji's soul and consciousness remained.

His life force was faint, nearly imperceptible.

More critically, Aokiji now lay on Prometheus—Linlin's soul homie, a direct manifestation of her soul with overwhelmingly intense spiritual fluctuations.

This completely masked Aokiji's barely detectable presence.

Kizaru expanded his Observation Haki to sense Aokiji's aura but found nothing.

His face twisted in shock as he glared furiously at Caesar while gritting his teeth.

"Caesar! Why did you kill Kuzan?! Wasn't he part of your Beast God Pirates?"

"Borororo, Kizaru, don't get worked up. You said it yourself—Kuzan was mine. So his life and death are none of your concern."

Caesar sneered dismissively at Kizaru, utterly unmoved by his outburst.

"Insolent bastard! Gamma Laser Beam!"

Kizaru could no longer restrain himself.

His half-black, half-golden body erupted with light as a thick black-and-gold beam shot from his surface, piercing through the void straight toward Caesar!

Caesar's golden wings folded forward, Armament Haki swirling around them.

BOOM!

The massive beam was deflected, shooting high into the depths of the sky and piercing a massive hole through the skies.

WHOOSH!

With a flap of his wings, Caesar vanished.

His enormous fist, covered in golden bone spikes, smashed directly toward Kizaru!

"Your speed is nothing..."

Before Kizaru's sneer could fade, an overwhelming wave of Conqueror's Haki exploded from Caesar's body like a sledgehammer slamming into his mind.

"AHHHH!" Kizaru's nose instantly gushed blood, his mind thrown into chaos.

"Borsalino!"

Aramaki paled in horror, her body radiating green light as she tried to envelop Kizaru with healing energy.

WHOOSH!

A golden streak flashed past her vision—Caesar's speed was so extreme that even Aramaki couldn't react in time.

His fist crashed directly into Kizaru's body!

Conqueror's lightning erupted, tearing fissures through the void that radiated dangerous energy.

WHOOSH!

At the last instant before impact, Kizaru's body shattered into countless motes of light, scattering skyward at a speed even Caesar couldn't help but admire.

"The Glint-Glint Fruit truly is one of the world's top-tier speed abilities. It's practically unbeatable for escaping," Caesar remarked coldly before turning his gaze towards the tense Aramaki.

"Run all you want, Kizaru. This woman here stays with me. Hm?"

Caesar suddenly paused, his expression shifting to confusion as he stared at Aramaki.

But soon, his lips twitched into a strange smirk.

"You're playing quite the game, aren't you? Marine Admiral Ryokugyu."

-----------------------------

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