One Piece: The user of the Nen-Nen Fruit, who overturned the sea.

Roy raised Qiu Shui high above his head, and his entire demeanor changed drastically.

The Conqueror's Haki surged forth, completely enveloping the Autumn Water.

"Kaido, are you ready?"

As Roy finished speaking, an extreme sense of crisis enveloped Kaido.

He could sense the terrifying power emanating from the black longsword in Roy's hand—it wasn't just a simple Conqueror's Haki entanglement, but something more essential and sharper.

"To cut...space?"

Even with Kaido's vast experience, he couldn't help but be moved at this moment.

He had witnessed Roger's divine power, Whitebeard's earth-shattering strength, and Shiki's immense power to control the heavens.

I had witnessed the terrifying power of the monster Rocks, but this pure, sharpness that seemed to cut through the world itself was something I was facing for the first time.

"Heavenly Path Roy..."

"Hehehehe..."

"I acknowledge your power!"

Kaido's laughter suddenly erupted as he felt the deathly threat emanating from Roy's sword.

An overwhelming sense of excitement and wildness rose within Kaido.

He gripped the spiked club tightly with both hands, unleashing a torrent of Conqueror's Haki.

Black and red lightning bolts coiled and leaped across the rod, crackling and popping!

"Come on! Let me experience the power of your 'Heavenly Dao' Roy!"

Kaido roared and slammed his feet into the ground, causing the entire island to tremble.

Its seven-meter-tall body expanded once more, its muscles bulging like cast steel, and blue dragon scale patterns appeared on its skin—pushing the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit to its limit!

Roy's eyes flashed with a sharp light as he gripped the hilt of Shusui tightly with both hands, pouring all his spirit, domineering aura, and even his control over the concept of "sharpness" into this one strike!

The white light on the blade grew brighter and brighter, and as the Conqueror's Haki converged, the surrounding spatial cracks became more numerous and denser!

finally--

"Secret Technique: Break!!"

Roy's figure vanished instantly.

Before Kaido could raise his "Eight Precepts" to defend himself, Roy, who had disappeared, had already reappeared behind Kaido.

"What is that...?"

"Disappeared?"

"No, it didn't disappear; it just moved too fast, faster than the limits of visual perception!"

Jhin shook his head, just as Roy launched his attack.

He only saw a thin white line extending from where Roy had been standing, instantly piercing through the space where Kaido was!

That white line was so thin, yet so striking, as if it had left an unhealable scar on the canvas of the world!

Time seemed to stand still.

"laugh--"

A faint, almost inaudible cutting sound rang out.

A straight white line appeared on Kaido's chest, on the dragon scales covered with Armament Haki.

The thin line extends from the left shoulder to the right abdomen, running through the entire chest.

"Hmm..."

Kaido turned to look at Roy, who had appeared not far behind him. As he moved, the thin line slowly turned crimson.

Immediately afterwards, the skin and flesh on his chest burst open with blood, the wound so deep that the sternum was faintly visible.

Kaido tried to activate the self-healing ability of the Mythical Zoan type, but a thin white membrane at the wound stubbornly blocked the regeneration and reconnection of cells.

"Hehehehe..."

Kaido suddenly burst into laughter.

"Roy, is this your ability?!"

"This is truly...an eye-opener for me!"

Roy slowly sheathed "Autumn Water" and flicked his fingers to retract the power of rules that had clung to Kaido.

As Roy moved, the stubborn white membrane on Kaido's chest wound dissipated like mist.

Almost the instant the membrane disappeared, Kaido's powerful regenerative abilities from the Azure Dragon Fruit took effect.

Muscle fibers reconnect at a speed visible to the naked eye, skin and flesh heal, and even deep wounds that expose bone are rapidly closing and scabbing over.

In just a few breaths, the horrific wound that pierced through his chest had mostly healed, leaving only a hideous dark red scar.

"Brother Kaido! Are you alright!?"

"fine!"

Kaido shoved aside King, who tried to help him up, and strode over to Roy, his seven-meter-tall frame casting a massive shadow.

"Roy, what was the name of that stab you just made?"

"Secret Technique: Break".

"The blade of rules that 'sever' all concepts."

Roy calmly looked at Kaido in front of him and replied indifferently.

"Severing the concept... In other words, if I were hit by this strike, even a mythical beast like myself would lose my self-healing ability?"

"That's the theory."

Roy nodded.

"But maintaining 'conceptual severance' requires a continuous expenditure of mental energy."

With my current strength, I can only maintain this for a maximum of three minutes.

"and……"

"This strike consumed too much of my mental energy; I cannot use it a second time in a short period of time."

Kaido's eyes gleamed at Roy's honesty.

It has many limitations and consumes a lot of resources, but it is also very powerful—this makes perfect sense.

If there were no restrictions, wouldn't Roy be invincible?

"Hehehehe..."

Kaido laughed again.

"Even with limitations, this one strike is enough to decide the outcome at a crucial moment!"

"Roy, I approve of you!"

He stretched out his enormous palm.

"Tell me, how do you want to collaborate?"

Roy grasped Kaido's hand; the two were vastly different in height, yet at this moment they seemed to be looking at each other as equals.

"It's very simple."

Roy looked directly into Kaido's eyes.

"First, I need to establish a research base in Wano Country, and I will need the resources and Seastone you possess."

"Secondly, I need you and Jhin to cooperate and provide blood samples. My subordinate, Dr. Gracia, will conduct research on your bloodlines."

"In return, I can help you train your subordinates and provide you with our research findings."

Upon hearing Roy's terms, Kaido's face grew increasingly dark.

"Kid, I don't object to your wanting to establish a research base in Wano Country. You can have the resources and seastone too. But..."

Kaido's hand suddenly tightened.

"But you want Lao Tzu and Jin to be your research subjects..."

Before Kaido could finish speaking, Roy withdrew his hand, interrupting Kaido.

"Kaido!" Roy exclaimed earnestly.

"Having been through so much, you should know quite a bit, right?"

Kaido frowned slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean?" Roy chuckled.

"Having experienced so many battles, you should know that in this world, those who stand at the top all possess some inexplicable bloodline power."

"It's like..." Roy held up one finger.

"Just like Whitebeard, who possesses the blood of the giant race, even without the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, he would still be a top-tier powerhouse."

Charlotte Linlin, she's a prodigy with incredible talent.

"Not to mention those who bear the name D."

"Roger, Garp, and Rocks—which of them didn't have secrets!"

"Why are people with a 'D' in their names the natural enemies of the Celestial Dragons?"