CHAPTER 401: CHAPTER 44: HOW DID YOU GET SO STRONG?

The ornate dome of the palace shattered like glass, exposing the storm-tossed sky above—a roiling mass of black clouds and blood-red lightning.

Chunks of stone and ceramic tile crashed to the ground. Cracks split the palace walls. A choking cloud of dust billowed through the hall.

Panic erupted among the Beast Pirates. Warriors scrambled for cover, shielding their heads from falling debris while struggling to withstand the suffocating pressure of Kaido’s unleashed Conqueror’s Haki.

"Prepare for battle!" King bellowed, swatting away a tumbling slab of stone with one kick. Behind him, black wings erupted, blazing with crimson flame. "Queen, evacuate the palace and secure the Armory!"

Queen, already trembling, staggered upright with a panicked nod. His layers of fat jiggled with the motion. "Y-yes! Right away!"

Without waiting for a reply, King shot upward in a flash of fire. His wings beat once—twice—and he soared into the sky, his form shifting mid-flight into a toothless, pitch-black Pteranodon.

He raced after the colossal azure dragon already ascending into the heavens.

Rumble...

Far across the mountainous Kuri Region, an enormous plume of smoke burst upward, twisting like a furious dragon clawing at the sky.

The earth itself groaned as cracks veined across the mountainside, deep and jagged.

The massive military factory—hidden within the mountain’s bones—was engulfed in a sea of fire.

Steel beams and furnaces buckled under some unseen force. Machinery collapsed like tin, and the infernos raged with a hungry roar, consuming everything.

Crimson flames licked the clouds. Towers of black smoke blotted out the stars.

Kaido hovered above the devastation, his dragon eyes wide with rage. Veins bulged in his temples. His breath hitched in fury.

Over half the Beast Pirates’ weapons production was centered here, in the Kuri Region. It had taken years to build—years of planning, smuggling, and sweat.

And in mere seconds... gone. Annihilated by one man.

"Damn it!!"

In his Blue Dragon form, Kaido’s pupils narrowed. His gaze locked onto a solitary figure standing amid the smoke.

"Darren!!"

His roar split the sky.

But the man below didn’t flinch. He simply looked up, smiled, and gave a casual wave, as if greeting a friend.

"Yo, Kaido. Took you long enough."

He gestured toward the flaming wreckage behind him and tilted his head. "Impressive work. You rebuilt this whole production line pretty fast."

Kaido’s roar caught in his throat.

What the hell does he mean, ’Yo, took you long enough’?!

Since when are we on waving terms?!

Mockery burned deeper than any wound. Kaido’s fury reached a boiling point.

"YOU’RE DEAD!!"

His jaws stretched open, gathering gale-force winds into a swirling green vortex. In the next breath, he unleashed a barrage of razor-sharp wind blades.

"Bad Wind!"

The kamaitachi-like slashes roared through the sky, the air itself screaming as they tore forward, slicing through clouds and rock in a storm of destruction.

But just as they neared—

Violet sparks flickered deep in Darren’s eyes.

His form blurred, vanishing sideways with impossible speed. A trail of afterimages shimmered behind him like echoes.

The blades missed. Every last one.

The mountains behind Darren exploded into a mess of intersecting scars where the wind blades struck, carving through stone as if it were paper.

Kaido’s pupils constricted.

That speed... it’s not the same as Marineford. He’s faster. Much faster.

But it wasn’t just speed.

His presence was different. Sharper. Deeper.

Kaido’s scowl deepened.

"Your Observation Haki... How did it become this strong?!"

Darren grinned. "Beats me."

With a flick of his thumb, a silver coin flipped into the air, spinning endlessly between them. Its surface caught the light—two reflections: Kaido’s fury and Darren’s calm.

"Magnetic Overload: Railgun."

Snap.

BOOM!!

A beam of brilliant blue-white energy erupted from Darren’s hand. It screamed through the sky, sending concentric shockwaves tearing outward as it barreled toward the massive dragon.

The Railgun—a weapon too dangerous to use at Marineford, lest it harm his own allies—was now fully unleashed.

Against a behemoth like Kaido, it was the perfect tool.

Kaido’s eyes widened.

"Damn you, Big Mom! What did you do to him?!"

He roared and countered, unleashing a searing blast of fire from his mouth.

"Flame Breath!"

The two forces collided mid-air.

Blue-white energy clashed against crimson flame. The heavens lit up with a blinding, chaotic explosion.

For an instant, all of Wano fell silent.

Then came the sound.

A deafening roar. A shockwave that shattered clouds and split the air. The very sky trembled.

Through the smoke, Kaido’s titanic form reeled.

The once-dominant silhouette shrank visibly, losing altitude.

And then—he fell.

His massive body plummeted from the heavens, hair and scales whipping violently in the wind, his face twisted in disbelief.

This can’t be real...

Darren’s Observation Haki during Marineford had been far from overwhelming. Kaido had seen it himself. Even just hours ago, watching the battle with Charlotte Oven via Visual Den Den Mushi, Darren’s Haki hadn’t been anything like this.

And now... it was like facing a different man.

It’s impossible.

Unless...

Unless that lunatic Big Mom taught him directly.

Cold sweat prickled along Kaido’s neck.

Had they struck a deal behind his back?

Had Big Mom leaked intel on Wano to Darren?

Was this whole invasion part of her plan to cut him down?!

The deeper he fell into suspicion, the darker his rage became.

But there was no hesitation in his response.

He roared, snatching his massive black kanabo from the air and lunging like a bolt of lightning.

A demon of scale and fury.

Thunder cracked around him. Violet lightning danced across the weapon’s surface like serpents of light.

The distance between them vanished in a flash.

"Thunder Bagua!!"

To be continued...