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"Armament – Rampage!"
Atlas had already activated his two-meter-tall battle form, his entire body shrouded in powerful Armament Haki. Strange, flowing markings writhed across his skin.
With mastery over Life Return and deeper Haki training, Atlas had honed this form to a remarkable degree.
A barrage of punches rained down on Kaido's back like a storm, but Kaido didn't flinch.
Though his Observation Haki had already sensed Atlas behind him, the dragon saw Akainu as the bigger threat—Atlas's attacks, to him, were nothing more than a massage.
Boom boom boom!
Atlas's hardened fists thudded repeatedly into Kaido's scaled back, muffled impacts echoing through the fog.
"You brat! That massage hit the spot! Hahahaha!" Kaido laughed darkly over his shoulder, taunting with a savage grin.
"Is that so?" Atlas sneered, drawing the Sandai Kitetsu, its blade wrapped in Armament Haki.
"Ittō-ryū: Dragon Severance!"
Two crimson slashes in the shape of an 'X' tore through the air toward Kaido. Akainu didn't let the chance slip by—he hurled a Dark Hound straight for Kaido's face.
For once, Kaido showed restraint. He had no intention of taking a magma hound to the face, even if he wasn't exactly a pretty-boy pirate. Ignoring Atlas's slashes, Kaido focused fully on Akainu.
Shhk!
The blood-red slash tore through Kaido's thick scales, leaving behind two shallow gashes.
Though the marks quickly vanished, it proved something important—Kaido's defence hadn't yet reached the monstrous levels it would be in the next decade, when he'd become a living wall even the Fifth Emperor couldn't bruise while sober.
"Damn brat…!" Though Atlas's attack hadn't done serious harm, the fact that a mere Marine could leave a mark enraged Kaido, who took immense pride in his invincibility.
Infuriated, he twisted his body and swung his kanabo with a roar, generating a blast of force that tore the air apart.
"Whoa, whoa, chill out!" Atlas gritted his teeth, gripping the Sandai Kitetsu with both hands in a defensive stance.
Bang!
The kanabo collided with Atlas's blade. Veins bulged in Atlas's neck, and his jaw clenched tight as he was flung backwards like a cannonball.
Kaido moved in for the next strike, but Akainu wouldn't let him. The admiral's magma-infused fists exploded upward like twin volcanoes, the air around them warping from the sheer heat.
BOOM!
Kaido was forced to armour his body with Haki and take the blow head-on. His head shifted into dragon form, and he unleashed a torrent of heat breath.
Ssssshh!
Akainu immediately turned into magma, his elemental body clashing against the dragon's flames. Fire and lava rained into the sea below, raising the ocean's temperature drastically.
Swoosh!
Atlas quickly returned, having recovered from the earlier blow. Fights like this were rare—and incredibly valuable for growth. With Akainu restraining Kaido, Atlas could join in with surprise attacks.
"Kaido!! Life Return!"
Midair, Atlas's body expanded rapidly. He swelled to five meters tall, his markings glowing more vividly, the power within him threatening to burst from his skin.
"Worororo! Now that's interesting!" Kaido's eyes lit up at Atlas's transformed state, then he burst into laughter.
"Marine brat! Want to join me? I'll give you the Calamity title of Drought! Hahahaha!"
"Tempting offer," Atlas smirked, "but I'll have to pass."
"A shame. Then I guess you'll have to die!"
"Raimei Hakke!!"
A deafening storm of lightning enveloped Kaido's kanabo. The weapon swung with terrifying speed, pressure alone cracking the sky. Atlas braced himself and launched his counterstrike.
Boom!
Fist and club clashed. For an instant, Atlas stood his ground—but then the force overwhelmed him. He was launched like a cannonball in a perfect arc toward the distant sea.
Of course, Kaido had no time to celebrate. Akainu was always ready with a sneak attack in the name of justice.
The admiral believed in results above all else—victory was victory, no matter the method.
Kaido might act reckless, but that was only because he knew no one could truly kill him. If he was ever truly at risk, he'd run faster than anyone else—ask Kozuki Oden.
"Damn pests!" Kaido growled. With Akainu pinning him from one side and that Marine brat hounding him like glue on the other, Kaido was beyond annoyed.
Every time he tried to focus on one, the other would land a hit.
"Descending Three Worlds: Ragnarok!"
Kaido floated upward, his kanabo spinning at high speed, cloaked in black-and-red Conqueror's Haki lightning. From above, he slammed it down toward Akainu.
"Inugami Guren!"
A magma hound with a gaping abyssal maw surged upward to meet Kaido's club. When they collided, a shockwave exploded outward, vaporising the surrounding mist.
BOOM!
The roar echoed for miles. Even Atlas, still recovering from the Thunder Bagua, was shaken by the shock.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
First met flesh in a brutal barrage. The fruit powers were set aside—now it was raw, unfiltered strength. Kaido and Akainu brawled in the sky for a full day and night.
Atlas, undeterred, continued to join the fight. Each time, Kaido sent him flying with a single swing, but under the protection of the three talismans, Atlas always returned, unscathed and unrelenting.
At first, Kaido was shocked by the boy's regeneration and stamina. But now, he was numb to it.
As the battle dragged on, Atlas felt himself improving at an astonishing pace.
His body and the Rabbit Talisman were syncing faster than ever—he was absorbing every clash like a sponge soaking up water. Most thrilling of all, his Armament Haki could now be projected outward!
Boom! Boom! SSSHH!
In the mist-shrouded sea, three figures clashed—a hulking dragon and two Marines, one tall and one compact.
Kaido's body was covered in scorch marks. Purple lightning crackled around him as he spat jets of heat breath.
His kanabo, Hassaikai, gleamed with Conqueror's Haki, each swing laced with immense pressure. Weaker men would faint from the aura alone.
Akainu stayed at Kaido's front, arms transformed into giant lava fists, his core burning with volcanic power. He launched Dark Hounds at every opening.
Atlas, now back in his two-meter form, was wrapped in darker, denser Haki.
His face bore twisting black lines that reached his forehead, and his arms bulged unnaturally. His punches were so fast they lit the air with sparks.
Annoyed beyond reason, Kaido roared and swung at Atlas—only to strike a fading afterimage. The young Marine moved with dizzying agility, constantly shifting through the air with ease.
Atlas had his Observation Haki pushed to the limit. Even with Akainu holding Kaido's attention, Atlas never let his guard down. Kaido's Conqueror's Haki infusions were still clumsy, but even a stray hit from it could daze him.
"Dark Hound!"
Another magma hound struck Kaido's chest, tearing skin and scale, though the wound began healing instantly.
This scene had repeated countless times over the last 24 hours. Kaido's Mythical Zoan had fully awakened—his regeneration was absurd.
But what frustrated Kaido the most was Atlas. That boy was recovering like a Zoan user himself. The stamina, the resilience—it was monstrous.
"Brat! One last chance—join me as my subordinate!"
Kaido could truly be considered a model among pirates when it came to recognising talent. He had a habit of trying to recruit nearly anyone he encountered promising.
What? You refuse to join? Then enjoy a Thunder Bagua to the face and a one-way ticket to the mines.
"Kaido! Someone like you isn't worthy! I'm going to become the strongest man in the world!"
Atlas stared him down, eyes blazing with defiance as an overwhelming aura surged from his body and soared into the heavens.
"Whitebeard?" Kaido paused, then burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! Now that is some spirit!"
"Great Eruption!"
A massive magma fist rocketed toward Kaido, the scorching heat distorting the very air. Kaido narrowed his eyes and swept his kanabo, Hassaikai, in a wide arc to meet it.
"Kongo Kabura!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The impact forced both sides to retreat from the shockwave. But as Kaido regained his footing, Atlas's fist had already closed in.
Even before it landed, a surge of blood-red Conqueror's Haki blasted outward, causing Kaido to lose his balance and nearly fall into the sea.
Falling into the ocean wouldn't drown him like other Devil Fruit users, but it would still make him almost useless in combat—able to move at the seabed at best, but unable to fight properly.
"Brat! That's not enough! You think that kind of strength can dethrone Whitebeard as the world's strongest?"
Though Kaido wasn't afraid of Whitebeard, even he had to admit that the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's destructive power was one of the few things that could truly threaten him. If it came down to it, Kaido could always escape—but he'd rather not risk it.
Soon enough, Kaido and Akainu were locked in battle once again. Fights between top-tier forces in the pirate world were contests of endurance more than anything.
There was a slight difference between Akainu and Kaido's power, but neither could take down the other in a single blow.
Huff, huff, huff…
Hundreds of exchanges later, both Kaido and Akainu began to show signs of fatigue, although neither was anywhere near exhaustion.
Their earlier flurry of devastating techniques had taken a toll, but they were veterans—masters of conserving energy in prolonged battles.
What surprised both Kaido and Akainu was Atlas. Despite taking numerous blows from Kaido throughout the battle, he still looked relatively unfazed.
He wasn't the main force in the fight, but he had absorbed more attacks than either of them, and yet his aura only grew stronger. If his stamina hadn't significantly decreased either… that was downright terrifying.
"Galaxy Impact!"
Suddenly, a massive projectile blasted upward from below, aiming directly for Kaido midair.
"Garp!?"
Kaido's eyes widened. He hadn't expected Garp to arrive. It must've been a distress call from one of the Marines on Akainu's ship that brought him here.
Without hesitation, Kaido transformed into his full Azure Dragon form. His claws summoned the clouds, and with a powerful blast of heat breath below, he soared upward and disappeared into the clouds.
Kaido was no fool. If Garp joined the battle, the situation would quickly turn against him.
He might get captured by the Marines—and during a crucial time in the New World's power struggle, that would be disastrous.
If he were taken now, someone might destroy everything he had back home before he even escaped.
Akainu and Atlas made no move to stop Kaido. In his Azure Dragon form, if Kaido wanted to flee, no one could realistically stop him.
"Hahahaha! Atlas, kid! Haven't seen you in years, and you've gotten this strong already?"
As Akainu and Atlas landed on Garp's flagship using Geppo, Garp marched over with a wide grin, slapping Atlas's shoulder hard and repeatedly.
He was still munching on a doughnut, and the grease from his hands smeared all over Atlas's tattered Marine cloak.
"Hehe… Vice Admiral Garp, you flatter me. I was only able to hold out thanks to Vice Admiral Akainu's support."
Atlas replied politely, even as Akainu, bloodied and scowling, twitched at the comment.
Since there were so many people around, Atlas made sure to call him "Vice Admiral Garp" to show respect. He also subtly stepped aside to avoid Garp's greasy hand.
"Sakazuki! Return to G-5 base first—we'll debrief the battle there. Oh, and Tsuru's there too!" Garp turned to Akainu with a chuckle.
Right now, Garp was the commander of the G-5 base—and the Supreme Commander of the New World operation.
Of course, he only handled the combat side of things. The strategy and planning? That was all left to Vice Admiral Tsuru.
(T/N: Please give me some power stone, I hope it can at least reach top 100)
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