In the distance, Kaido noticed that King was being chased and felt a wave of relief.
"King dared to abandon me, so he deserves this," he thought.
At the same time, Kaido felt a bit more at ease. Even though Whitebeard was chasing after him, there was no way Whitebeard could catch up to him just by using Moonwalk. Earlier, Whitebeard had managed to get close because of King's betrayal, but now Kaido had put some distance between them.
King's current predicament also served as a welcome distraction for Whitebeard, allowing Kaido to inch closer to his escape. But something puzzled him: despite the clear gap growing between them, Whitebeard showed no sign of slowing down. Why was he so relentlessly chasing after Kaido? What was driving him?
The answer came swiftly.
Without warning, Kaido reverted from his dragon form back to his human body. The transformation was sudden—so sudden that Kaido didn't even realize it until he felt his body plummeting towards the sea.
Panic surged through him. Desperately, Kaido tried to shift back into his dragon form, but it was no use. He couldn't transform. It was as if he had never eaten the Devil Fruit at all.
How could this be?
Stunned, Kaido realized his Devil Fruit powers had failed. He had never heard of such a thing happening before, yet here he was, helpless. A thought flickered in his mind, taking him back to when he first received the fruit—when Charlotte Linlin had given it to him back when they were still part of the Rocks Pirates.
Could it be...?
Kaido's pupils contracted in realization.
"Linlin!" he growled to himself. "I knew it... You weren't being generous. You sabotaged the Devil Fruit!"
In his mind, Kaido blamed Charlotte Linlin for his sudden weakness, convinced that she had tampered with the fruit all those years ago.
As the sea loomed closer, despair began to settle in. He knew better than anyone the fate that awaited a Devil Fruit user who fell into the ocean. His eyes filled with bitterness. First, he had been betrayed by his subordinates, and now it seemed his former crewmates had set him up too. It was as though the world itself had turned against him.
But then, just as he braced himself for impact, a hand grabbed the back of his clothes.
Kaido was stunned. Could it be that someone hadn't abandoned him after all? Slowly, he looked up to see Whitebeard's cold, expressionless face staring back at him.
Whitebeard's silent but overwhelming aura made Kaido's heart race with fear. He felt like a child caught in the act by a stern parent. With his fruit powers gone, he had lost the will to resist.
"We can't let you fall into the sea," Whitebeard said, his voice calm but firm. "Salvaging you would be too much of a hassle."
Kaido froze. The next moment, Whitebeard effortlessly lifted him like a sack of garbage and hurled him toward the distant shore. There wasn't even a hint of concern that Kaido might escape during the process.
Boom!
Kaido crashed onto the beach, leaving a massive crater in the sand.
"Haa... Haa..."
Lying on the shore, Kaido was still reeling from the fear that gripped him. Facing Whitebeard—someone who could shatter his unshakable confidence in his near-immortality—was terrifying.
He couldn't stay like this. If he remained here any longer, he had a chilling feeling that today might be the day he would die.
With that thought, Kaido struggled to get up before Whitebeard could catch up to him. But just as he started to move, Whitebeard descended from above, his foot slamming down on Kaido's back.
Kaido was driven back into the sand, his face buried in the beach.
"Whitebeard, don't push your luck!" Kaido snarled, his teeth grinding with rage.
"Don't think I'm afraid of you!" he growled. "Out of respect for the fact that we once sailed together, I'm trying to avoid fighting you!"
Regardless of whether this was true or not, Kaido's momentum wasn't faltering at all.
From Kaido's perspective, he saw Whitebeard seeming to reminisce about something: "A ship? Why haven't I seen you before?"
Kaido's face twisted, as if he had just swallowed something foul.
It was like always viewing someone as your greatest enemy, only for that person to never acknowledge your existence.
Kaido was shocked. As a former member of the Rocks Pirates, Whitebeard had never even noticed him—not even as a trainee.
At that moment, Kaido saw something heavy falling from the sky nearby, crashing into the ground with a loud bang.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"
Kaido recognized the voice immediately.
Looking closer, he realized the object that had fallen before him was none other than Queen!
Queen wasn't dead!
Kaido's spirits soared.
At this time, Queen still hadn't grasped what was going on and was yelling in a panic. The large wound on his chest was still bleeding profusely.
Kaido, seeing a glimmer of hope, called out, "Queen! Save me!"
Startled by the familiar voice, Queen finally noticed Kaido being pinned under Whitebeard's foot. He couldn't focus on anything else but his captain, the pain from his chest wound momentarily forgotten.
Kaido thought salvation was at hand and shouted excitedly, "Queen, use your Devil Fruit powers and get me out of here!"
"Save you?" Queen growled, clenching his fists. "Save your mother!"
Without warning, Queen slammed his fist down on Kaido's head.
Kaido was completely stunned by the blow.
"Queen, are you crazy? I'm your captain! Why are you hitting me?"
"Puh!"
Queen sneered. "Captain? You think you're still in charge? Do you not see what's happening here?"
Whitebeard remained silent, observing the scene in front of him.
With a sudden thud, Queen dropped to his knees in front of Whitebeard, tears in his eyes. "Please, forgive me! It was all him! If you're angry, kill him instead!"
"Hey, Queen! What are you saying?!"
Kaido's face flushed green with rage at Queen's betrayal.