The wooden dragon flew towards Kaido, its body winding.
“This guy uses some kind of strange ability!”
Kaido’s gaze narrowed slightly. He may seem like a brute, but he’s actually very shrewd.
The moment he saw Erik summon the wooden dragon, he immediately thought of the scene where Erik had transformed into a shadow.
What kind of Devil Fruit could have two completely different manifestations?
There was no time to ponder this doubt in his heart. Kaido swung his spiked club, striking the wooden dragon with a mighty blow. He couldn’t help but frown at the impact.
“Such hard wood…”
In an instant, Armament Haki enveloped the spiked club, multiplying its power.
With a single blow, he sent the wooden dragon flying. Kaido moved his foot, instantly teleporting over a hundred meters, appearing in front of Erik.
Erik raised his single arm, blocking above his head.
Dong!
A dull thud resonated, causing the ground beneath Erik’s feet to sink. The impact spread outward, cracking the earth.
“What a heavy club.”
Erik grinned.
In the next instant, he was enveloped in shadow, like a wisp of black smoke, disappearing from the spot in a flash.
He vanished along with Yamato and her mother.
They reappeared across the giant pit.
“Deliberately not dodging?” Kaido scoffed, “With that level of Armament Haki, your right arm is already useless, right?”
“Erik!” Yamato noticed Erik’s right arm hanging limp. Obviously, blocking that blow wasn’t easy.
“You two stay away, at least five kilometers!”
With a thought, Erik’s shadow engulfed the mother and daughter, sending them five kilometers away.
Then, he raised his left hand, a green bean appearing in his palm.
“Just testing my Armament Haki now. Don’t get so excited. You won’t even touch my clothes from here on out.”
Erik lightly tossed the bean into his mouth. His right arm instantly recovered.
Kaido was stunned by this sight. What was that green bean?
“Curious?” Erik remained calm. “Kneel down and beg me, and I’ll tell you.”
“Brat! You’re so arrogant!” Kaido laughed angrily.
“Not as arrogant as you, old man. Still trying to steal my daughter?” Erik clasped his hands together. “One wooden dragon wasn’t enough to catch you. How about another? Wood Style: Wooden Dragon Jutsu!”
Boom!
Another wooden dragon burst from the ground, two dragons, one after the other, attacking Kaido simultaneously.
“This technique, it can be used endlessly?”
Kaido’s face darkened.
His Observation Haki had reached the advanced stage, allowing him to see “a few seconds into the future”.
In that future, he was entangled by the wooden dragons, unable to escape for a while.
Bang! Bang!
Kaido swung his spiked club repeatedly, sending both dragons flying. But the next second, the wooden dragons adjusted their positions and wrapped around him again.
One man and two dragons were locked in a constant struggle.
Erik simply stood there, watching the spectacle, even having the leisure to taunt:
“Old man, kneel down and kowtow now. I’ll pretend the things you said about killing my wife and stealing my daughter never happened.”
He returned the same words, essentially helping Yamato get back at him.
Veins popped on Kaido’s forehead, his face black as ink.
“You little bastard, don’t get too cocky! Who do you think you are?!”
“Thunderclap八卦!”
With a spiked club enveloped in advanced Armament Haki, he suddenly smashed the head of one of the wooden dragons.
Then, seizing the moment before the other wooden dragon could get close, Kaido stomped his foot. With a loud boom, he left a deep footprint on the ground.
In a blink, he was above Erik’s head.
The spiked club rose high, ready to crash down on Erik.
Facing Kaido’s furious blow, Erik didn’t even bother to dodge.
Boom!
The earth trembled, splitting into countless fragments.
“Didn’t hit?” Kaido looked stunned.
“I said, you won’t even touch my clothes from here on out.”
The spiked club was enveloped in a patch of black shadow. From within the shadow, a head slowly emerged.
Erik stretched out his right hand, his fingers forming a claw. He suddenly grabbed towards Kaido’s chest.
Kaido immediately retreated, but the shadow clung to the spiked club, following his movement.
He made a snap decision, discarding the spiked club and retreating, putting enough distance between them.
“Predicting the future?” Erik’s attack missed, but he laughed. “Wise judgement.”
In his Shadow Man form, physical defenses were meaningless against him.
No matter how strong Kaido’s body was, it wouldn’t stop him from extracting the opponent’s heart from within.
“Strange… what exactly are you?”
Kaido’s expression turned serious. His instincts screamed danger from the previous move.
Not only that.
He had been constantly maintaining his Observation Haki, but he couldn’t sense the opponent’s aura.
“You have time to be distracted?”
Hearing this, Kaido suddenly looked up. The other wooden dragon had already caught up, swooping down from above.
He snorted and met the dragon head-on with a punch.
The fist collided directly with the wooden dragon’s head, unleashing a series of black lightning bolts, as if it were thundering on a clear day.
However, the next second.
The wooden dragon whose head he had crushed had already regenerated, its body restored.
It attacked from behind, like a python wrapping around Kaido’s body.
The wooden dragon’s restraining power was extraordinary. Kaido couldn’t break free for a moment. Then, the second dragon from above seized its opportunity, also wrapping around him.
The two wooden dragons held Kaido tightly, squeezing tighter and tighter.
“It’s not just restraint… this thing also absorbs stamina. Your stamina is their nourishment.”
Not far away, Erik stood with his hands behind his back, calmly reminding him.
“Roar!”
A dragon’s roar echoed through the air. Kaido transformed into a blue dragon. His expanding body broke free from the wooden dragon’s confinement, flying into the air in a flash.
His enormous eyes locked firmly on Erik. His dragon mouth opened, speaking in human language:
“Oh咯咯咯… I, Kaido, acknowledge you. Remarkable ability!”
“The news underestimated you, Proudmoore Erik!”
“Since you and Yamato have a child, join my ranks. You will be the vice-captain of the Beasts Pirates!”
Dong!
A wave of Conqueror’s Haki erupted suddenly.
Erik’s eyes narrowed slightly, his hands slowly forming seals.
“Conqueror’s Haki again?” Kaido was startled, but then he didn’t find it surprising. A man worthy of Yamato’s affection, having this kind of power made sense.
However, Conqueror’s Haki signified that the opponent possessed the will of a ruler, making him difficult to subdue.
“Oh咯咯咯, I like you more and more, good son-in-law!” The blue dragon joked.
“It’s cold up there. You should lie down.”
Erik murmured faintly: “Wood Style: Blooming Tree World!”
Boom boom boom!
The once barren land instantly transformed into a dense forest. Towering trees rose from the ground, huge flower buds bloomed, and countless poisonous pollen spread, enveloping a radius of ten kilometers!