Straw Hats Versus Two Warlords Part 1

"Cough! Cough!"

While on the air, Kaido couldn't help but spit out blood while flying away.

"That guy's attack. It still burns."

Compared to the sword slash on his chest, Kaido could still feel pain in his head.

That attack burned his insides. Even though his skin and muscles were healing quite fast, his skull was still injured heavily.

More importantly, Luffy could still launch this kind of attack once again. He couldn't retake this attack and continue fighting unless he used that move.

Because of this, Kaido decided to quit.

He wasn't fighting for territory, nor was he fighting for his life. Why would he risk getting killed by a bunch of children?

But despite that, he still had some expectations for the next battle.

"Worororo! Straw Hat Luffy, I am waiting for you in the New World. We will fight again. Let's decide the winner then."

Kaido roared with laughter as he flew towards the New World.

While he left, Luffy and Liam were recovering on the island. Because of the intensity of the previous battle, both were full of bruises and wounds.

But despite all that, they were feeling good.

They just fought an Emperor.

They didn't win, but they survived. He wouldn't care much about this survival if it were originally Luffy.

After all, he didn't have a bigger picture of strength in his head.

But this Luffy had that bigger picture. He knew even if his crew was here, they wouldn't be able to help him in this battle.

Because Kaido had some of the toughest defenses he had ever felt.

Luffy knew he would survive anything. From an early age, he was thrown into the deep forest, flown in some balloons, fought against monkeys, and even survived torture.

He knew just how tough he was. But he was vulnerable when he launched that attack, even more than when Slash attacked him.

That attack was melting his hand. He had compressed his fist with all of his Haki; otherwise, that compression would have melted it.

But Kaido simply just tanked that attack and continued fighting Liam as if nothing happened.

If he hadn't gotten new inspiration from that attack, he would've felt quite a huge blow.

After all, he almost sacrificed his arm for that attack, and it did nothing to his enemy.

Of course, Luffy didn't know his attack had burned Kaido's inside and it was Kaido standing on his sheer Willpower to continue fighting.

Not to mention, Kaido's recovery was also a major support for his strength.

If Whitebeard was known for his destructive powers, Shanks was known for his Haki, Big Mom was known for her invulnerable skin, then Kaido was known for his recovery.

Every Emperor was a monster in a human skin.

"By the way, Liam, were you going to use Devil Fruit to kill him?" Luffy asked curiously.

"I would've tried. At least, I couldn't let him kill us." Liam said as he shrugged his shoulders.

He wasn't even sure if this would work. After all, he didn't think Marines were dumb enough not to try this method.

Even Kaido didn't seem much threatened by this method, but rather, something else forced him to leave.

Suddenly, Liam's Observation Haki sensed something as he asked.

"Did you sense that?"

"Oh, you mean those people? Yeah, I sensed them a long time ago." Luffy nodded.

"I don't know why, but this method feels a bit similar."

Liam wasn't surprised by Luffy's Observation Haki range. Instead, he began to release his Observation Haki to sense deeper into the ocean.

Soon, he did get a full picture of several people underground. He didn't know whether they were humans or fishmen.

He didn't even know how they were underwater.

So, he decided to try something he had never thought of before. This was a special communication method used by one of the Emperors of the Sea, Shanks.

Because of that, he wasn't sure if it would work.

But he did have one advantage.

Control! His control over Conqueror Haki was perfect.

As he released his Conqueror Haki, it slowly turned into red lightning hovering above his head.

Slowly, he closed his eyes and used his Observation Haki to guide his Conqueror Haki.

"Woah! What are you doing, Liam?" Luffy curiously asked. He could feel the concentrated Conqueror Haki in the form of lightning.

But it also had its effect. Anyone nearby without enough mental strength would collapse even if that person wasn't targeted by this Haki.

"How about we meet?"

Liam didn't answer Luffy; instead left a message in his Conqueror Haki that struck the person underwater.

......

In Moria's Ship;

"Hey, what's going on? Why is another Warlord here?" Chopper asked with a shocked expression.

"To help Moria escape. Marines know that Moria can not win against us, but they need a Shichibukai to keep the sea stable. So, they send someone with a powerful devil fruit ability to keep him safe."

Vivi replied to Chopper while keeping her eyes on Kuma.

"I am given a mission to capture the weaker Straw Hats. Because of a recent event, Marines will soon go to war against Straw Hats, so it is better to decrease their forces before that war."

Kuma explained his reason. His words triggered some anger in Chopper and Franky.

"Who are you calling weak, you bastard?" Franky raised his hand and angrily shouted. He rushed forward without hesitation and shot out his right hand.

[Strong Right]

Kuma casually deflected his hand and suddenly appeared in front of Franky. He formed a large air bullet with his hand and shot it toward Franky.

[Sand Wall]

Crack! Bang!

A large wall made out of sand appeared between Franky and Air Bullet, blocking the attack. As the bullet collided with sand, it scattered sand everywhere.

"Franky, be careful! Liam has classified this guy to be one step below Admirals. Even I can't fight him on my own."

Vivi appeared next to Franky in her sand form and reminded him in a serious tone.

"It seems like your Vice Captain knows me," Kuma spoke with a cold tone.

"Our Vice Captain knows everything. But I don't understand something. He reminded us not to heavily damage or kill you. He also told us to keep you here until he returns."

"What secret are you hiding, Mr. Warlord?"

Vivi asked with a serious expression.

To defeat someone like Kuma, she had to be serious and fight with a killing intention. But Liam forbade her to do this.

After living with this crew for a while, she knew Liam's mentality.

He loved his crew and would do anything to improve their strength.

Kuma had one of the strongest Devil Fruits. There were still many people on the ship without a Devil Fruit.

If this fruit were given to their crew, it would be a huge boost to their strength. But since Liam didn't want to harm Kuma, it was naturally impossible.

But Liam would only do that in two situations.

First, they weren't enemies. Second, they could become friends.

Vivi knew Tyrant Kuma even before she joined Straw Hats. But that was just from the newspaper so she didn't trust it anymore.

But even so, she didn't classify him as a good guy who could become their friend.

"Is that so?" Kuma muttered. He couldn't help but remember his latest conversation with Dragon.

If he wasn't wrong, Revolutionaries were allies with Straw Hats, but even among allies, Dragon and others shouldn't have revealed his identity.

That meant Liam knew about him from other channels.

'So, that was true. The Vice Captain of the Straw Hats knows many things that are hidden from the public. So, that's why he doesn't want his crew to hurt me.'

'But, it doesn't do enough. There must be hidden information that he knows about me.'

Suddenly, a figure of a child appeared in his mind. Kuma couldn't help but shudder.

'Could it be that Liam knows about Bonney?'

That question didn't last long in his head as he noticed a massive sand spear coming his way.

He released another Air Bullet and shattered the Sand Spear into dust. In an instant, he appeared in front of Vivi and tried to punch her.

Seeing his hand coated in Armament, Vivi didn't try to rely on her Logia; instead moved to the side.

Kuma saw this and tried to change his direction, but his Observation Haki noticed another attack coming from the side.

[Heavy Kong]

Chopper roared and punched forward. He had entered his humanoid form where his right hand was covered in Armament Haki.

Bang!

Kuma and Chopper clashed. Their fist caused a powerful shockwave between them, but in the end, Chopper ended up flying back.

Bang! Thud!

He struck the walls and fell to the ground while coughing up some blood.

"Chopper!" Franky shouted and rushed to his side.

At this moment, Vivi got serious as she spoke.

"Although I don't understand Liam's intention, I can't let you harm my friends."

She raised her hand as a massive amount of sand traveled to every corner of the castle and slowly transformed it.

"Rise My Kingdom"

[King's Castle]