Chapter 591: Ian's Plan
At the moment when the soul extraction takes away one's vitality, the person subjected to the technique inevitably feels a sense of having "lost something important"!
This feeling was especially pronounced in Kaido.
The reason was that the vitality Ian had taken from him was simply too much!
In fact, even Ian was startled when he extracted this massive light orb. Having used this technique several times before, Ian knew very well that the soul extraction move of the Great Serpent card could seize ten percent of the target's remaining life. When the target's remaining life, or lifespan, was already low, the effect of the soul extraction skill was actually quite limited.
The size of the light orb indicated the amount of the target's remaining life. The light orb Ian had extracted from Crocodile, and the one from Perospero, were each about the size of a fist. However, this time, the light orb Ian extracted from Kaido was larger than a basketball!
Assuming Crocodile could live another thirty or forty years—let's say fifty years—the light orb taken from him back then represented about five years of lifespan. Then, the light orb taken from Kaido, which was about ten times larger in volume, represented about fifty years of lifespan. And this was merely ten percent of Kaido's remaining lifespan! That meant, as long as Kaido wasn't killed along the way, he could live at least another five hundred years!?
Doing the quick math, Ian felt a surge of disbelief. How could Kaido possess such immense vitality!?
Ian remembered that Sardine had once told him that the Giant Tribe was already considered a long-lived race in this world, with the oldest living only up to 300 years. Other races, like the Tontatta Tribe, had lifespans of around 150 years, and the Fish-Man Tribe was similar. No wonder Whitebeard and others suspected Kaido was not a naturally born human. Even among the long-lived races of this world, such an extended lifespan was unheard of...
Without time to dwell on it, Ian controlled his Flame Wings and thrust them forward sharply, causing his entire body to retreat a distance, dodging the massive hand Kaido had reached out to grab him.
Although Kaido didn't know what Ian had taken from his body, he had dealt with Big Mom before and could tell that the light orb in Ian's hand resembled the lifespan Big Mom took. So, he was now furious beyond measure.
It was that damned brat Ian again!
In fact, the grudge between Ian and Kaido was already deep enough. It was because of Ian that Doflamingo had been toppled from his position as a Warlord of the Sea, losing the protection of the World Government and the Marines. After losing the territory of Dressrosa, the supply of Artificial Devil Fruits had been interrupted. Although Doflamingo had since joined Kaido's ranks and found another place within Kaido's territory to produce Artificial Devil Fruits, the lack of the Tontatta Tribe's gardening skills from Dressrosa made the cultivation of Artificial Devil Fruits highly problematic.
This had severely disrupted Kaido's plan to build an army of Devil Fruit Users!
Moreover, Jack the Drought, one of Kaido's Three Calamities, had been thoroughly beaten by Ian in Dressrosa. While Kaido's brutal nature meant he wasn't particularly kind to his own subordinates, Jack was still his trusted subordinate. If Jack was beaten, where would Kaido, as one of the Four Emperors, put his face?
Kaido had joined this war partly with the intention of taking the opportunity to teach Ian a lesson. But frustratingly, he hadn't expected to underestimate this brat, who had recently made a name for himself in the world.
Not long after the fight began, Kaido was knocked unconscious by a powerful thunderbolt from Ian. Well, that was perhaps inevitable in a battle where one person was fighting a group, and Kaido had experienced this situation several times before.
But now, he had actually had his vitality directly taken away!? How could this be!?
Kaido knew his own situation best. His formidable body relied precisely on this surging vitality. Kaido had once provoked Big Mom and fought her a few times, but after understanding her ability, he had rarely provoked her again.
But now, there was another person who could take away lifespan and vitality!
He must be killed! That was Kaido's only thought about Ian!
After missing with his claw, Kaido transformed again. His true form, the Yamata no Orochi, was terrifyingly massive. When it appeared, it was like a mountain, with eight enormous heads that were neither fully dragon nor fully serpent. These heads all had curved horns, connected to necks covered in scales, and they opened their massive jaws filled with sharp fangs, lunging one after another at Ian in the sky.
Although Ian was flying in midair, he was surrounded by the shadows of Kaido's serpent heads. It felt like being in a rainforest of towering trees, forcing him to dodge left and right, squeezing through gaps while trying to fly higher to escape Kaido's attack range.
On the other side, Sengoku and Whitebeard were engaged in battle. Whitebeard's naginata, surrounded by a white halo and humming, slashed down at Sengoku, but Sengoku caught the blade with both hands clasped together.
As both men strained their arm muscles in a contest of strength, they saw Kaido's transformation.
Seeing this, Whitebeard couldn't help but grin, causing his mustache to curl up, and said, "Gurarara! That brat Ian has really pissed off Kaido!"
"Stop this, Newgate!" Sengoku gritted his teeth and said to Whitebeard. "Resuming the fight benefits neither side!"
"Hmph! Sengoku, you Marines are becoming more and more shameless!" Whitebeard snorted coldly. "Although Ian is a pirate, he has friends among you Marines. Yet you yourselves let your own subordinates fall into danger, and Ian had to step in to save them!"
"That was just an accident!" Sengoku argued loudly. "Believe me, no one wanted to see that happen!"
Whitebeard looked into Sengoku's eyes and, finding that Sengoku met his gaze without flinching, suddenly stopped exerting force with his hands and withdrew his naginata.
Sengoku also released his grip, and the two finally stopped fighting.
Whitebeard held his naginata horizontally, no longer looking at Sengoku. Suddenly, he crouched down, then leaped powerfully into the air, heading toward Kaido's position.
In the past, Whitebeard could hardly have made such a large jump! But after Ian had healed him, Whitebeard felt full of vitality all over, and the strength in his body had returned.
With immense force and a roaring sound, Whitebeard, still in midair, raised his naginata with both hands and then slashed down fiercely at one of Kaido's heads!
The blade of his naginata hummed with high-frequency vibrations, coated in powerful Armament Haki, making it far sharper than before. Like a high-frequency blade, it traced a straight vertical line through the sky!
Boom! The slashed naginata finally struck the ground, blasting the entire area with immense force. Amidst flying gravel and debris, several cracks appeared on the ground, spreading outward with cracking sounds.
At the same time, a massive object, gushing with blood, crashed to the ground!
One slash! Just one slash! One of Kaido's heads fell off!
Kaido's remaining heads immediately let out a series of agonized roars, sending powerful shockwaves in all directions, dispersing the dust around them.
"Whitebeard!!" Kaido's remaining heads turned together, their bloodshot eyes glaring fiercely at Whitebeard.
But Whitebeard stood there, leaning on his naginata, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth as he looked at Kaido, completely unfazed.
Bang! Ian landed from the air, dropping behind Whitebeard, and said with a sigh, "Old Man, why did you step in?"
"This uninvited guest needs to be driven away!" Whitebeard said, then glanced at the light orb still in Ian's hand and asked, "Why are you still holding that thing?"
"Heh heh!" Ian gently rotated his palm and smiled. "I could have crushed it right away to seriously injure Kaido, but I suddenly thought of a good idea! So I'll keep it for now!"
"Whatever makes you happy!" Whitebeard raised an eyebrow, snorted, then gripped his naginata with his right hand and pointed it at Kaido, shouting loudly, "Kaido!!! I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you off! Get lost! The farther, the better!"
"Impossible!" One of Kaido's heads spoke, glaring viciously at Ian behind Whitebeard. "I'm going to kill that brat today!"
"Oh, really?" Whitebeard laughed, then said with a strange expression, "If you don't want to leave, then don't bother trying to leave today. Take a look at the sea behind you!"
One of Kaido's heads turned around. Not just him, but many others, prompted by Whitebeard's words, also looked in that direction.
They saw a ship faintly appearing in the distance on the sea, sailing toward them. Although it was too far away to see clearly, for some reason, many people felt a sense of familiarity with that ship.
"Red... red-colored sides?" Unable to make out the ship's shape but seeing its color, a Marine Vice Admiral suddenly remembered and blurted out in surprise, "The Red Force!? It's... it's the Red Hair Pirates!"
Boom! The scene exploded like a bomb, immediately followed by a loud buzz of discussion.
"Another... another Emperor is coming!?" Koby clutched his head in terror, staring at the sea in disbelief alongside Helmeppo.
The entire battlefield erupted in chaos, impossible to stop. But the Marines were the most panicked, because whether it was Whitebeard or Kaido, both were enemies of the Marines. Now, another Emperor, also a pirate, was arriving. Although no one knew the Red Hair Pirates' intentions, facing three opponents at once was definitely a nightmare for the Marines!
"Hmph, see that?" Whitebeard said to Kaido. "I don't know how you managed to shake off Red Hair and get to this battlefield, but believe me, when Red Hair arrives, he'll be very happy to 'chat' with you! You should know that guy, though he usually looks cheerful and a bit foolish, he's not someone with a good temper..."
"..." Kaido fell silent. He was a madman, yes, but not a fool. As Whitebeard said, if the Red Hair Pirates landed, he might really not be able to leave.
"Grrr!" Kaido let out a frustrated growl from his throat, then transformed back into his original form. As he changed, the head Whitebeard had cut off disappeared!
"Brat!" Kaido pointed a finger at Ian and roared, "Don't let me catch you in the New World!"
With that, he turned and charged toward the coast, kicking aside any Marine soldiers in his path.
"Let him go!" Sengoku gave the order with a dark expression, and the Marines, already terrified of Kaido, quickly moved out of his way.
Kaido stepped onto the ice, reached the shore, and with one hand, pulled the nearest pirate ship out of the ice. Amidst flying ice shards, he let out a mighty roar and hurled the ship into the unfrozen seawater.
That ship had long been empty. Under Kaido's immense strength, it crashed onto the water's surface, shooting forward. Kaido then crouched down, leaped, and landed on the ship.
That bastard had finally run away, but it also made Ian realize that this guy really didn't want to die. If he truly wanted to die, he could have stayed and faced Whitebeard, Red Hair, and Sengoku head-on... and that would have definitely granted his wish.
"That head of his will grow back, right?" Ian looked up and asked Whitebeard.
"That's right!" Whitebeard nodded.
"With such strong regenerative abilities, how did he get that scar on his abdomen?" Ian asked. "To leave such a huge scar on him, could that person be stronger than you?"
"I don't know!" Whitebeard shook his head. "When I first met Kaido, that scar was already there. So it might be a wound he got before he obtained his Devil Fruit..."
"I see..." Ian nodded, then looked at the light orb in his hand, grinning slyly at Whitebeard. "Old Man, what do you think would happen if you could live a few more decades?"
"What do you mean?" Whitebeard was taken aback and asked, "Didn't you say your ability can't stop natural aging?"
"But this thing is different!" Ian tossed the light orb in his hand and said, "You saw it too. This is actually Kaido's lifespan. He came out of nowhere to cause a ruckus, so he has to leave some interest behind! I was going to crush it, but then I thought, why not see if I can use it for you! If it works, you could suddenly have a few more decades to live..."