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

Just as the Straw Hat Alliance was sharpening their knives and setting sail for Onigashima.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in the main hall of Ghost Island, Roy stood in the center of the hall, holding a cup of unsweetened black coffee.

He didn't drink it, but just watched the dark liquid slowly swirling in the glass, as if he were watching a game of chess that only he could understand.

Heavy footsteps echoed outside the hall.

Kaido pushed open the palace door and strode in.

He unusually refrained from drinking today, which is an extremely rare sign in itself.

Kaido probably sensed the impending battle as well.

"Roy, any news?"

"Um!"

"The Straw Hat Alliance's fleet has already departed from Kuri."

Eight hundred people and a dozen or so ships; it shouldn't be long before they reach Ghost Island.

The lead boat is the Straw Hat Boy's Sunny Lion.

Kaido remained silent for a long while, then let out a deep dragon roar from the depths of his throat.

There was no rage or killing intent in that dragon's roar, but rather a kind of long-suppressed joy.

He walked to the throne, bent down to pick up the wine gourd he had thrown on the ground, and gulped down the last half of the wine inside.

The liquor dripped down his chin, splashing onto the ground and creating tiny bubbles.

"It's finally here."

"Hehehe—I've been waiting for this kid so long I'm practically growing hair."

He smashed the empty wine gourd on the ground, the sound of it shattering echoing through the hall.

Then Kaido's body began to change.

Its skin was covered in blue scales, its neck stretched infinitely, and its entire face transformed into a majestic dragon head.

A blue dragon, over a thousand meters long, soared into the sky from the main hall.

The azure dragon shadow pierced through the clouds above the ghost island, its scales gleaming with a chilling luster under the moonlight.

The dragon's roar resounded for dozens of miles around, and all the members of the Beast Pirates on and off Ghost Island stopped what they were doing and looked up at the giant dragon that blotted out the sky.

The Azure Dragon circled several times in the clouds before hovering above the Ghost Island, its vertical pupils scanning the Skull Palace below.

Roy shook his head, picked up his coffee cup, and took a small sip.

"Still so impatient."

He wasn't as excited as Kaido, nor did he intend to follow him out; he simply carried his coffee cup toward his room.

The corridor was quiet, with only the sound of his footsteps on the stone floor and the occasional dragon roar from Kaido outside the window.

The duel between Kaido and Luffy is the core of this game, but not the whole story.

Law will hone the power of the Op-Op Fruit in this battle, Zoro will strive for a breakthrough in swordsmanship on the brink of life and death, and Kid will seek revenge for his imprisonment.

Everyone has something to accomplish in this battle.

But he also had his own things to do.

As soon as Roy pushed open the door to the room, a white figure rushed over from the end of the corridor.

Yamato. Her spiked club, "A-Jen," was slung over her shoulder, her hair was slightly disheveled by the sea breeze, and her eyes gleamed with an extremely bright light.

Roy was all too familiar with that light; it was the excitement that came from sensing the approach of battle.

"Roy! Why did Kaido suddenly fly away? Is an enemy coming?"

Roy leaned against the doorframe, holding a coffee cup, his tone as flat as if he were saying the weather was nice today:

"The Straw Hat Pirates are about to attack Onigashima."

Kaido went out to warm up.

Yamato's eyes instantly lit up like two searchlights. She gripped her spiked club tightly, the sharp points reflecting a cold glint in the light.

"Does anyone dare to challenge Kaido?"

Who dares to be so bold?

Straw Hat Luffy.

"That's the kid with the straw hat I told you about. He fought Kaido in the Flower Capital, lost, but is now back with his men."

"Straw Hat Luffy—"

Yamato muttered the name, a fighting spirit slowly spreading across his lips.

"You mean that guy you were talking about, the one who can make Kaido take things seriously?"

"It's him."

"Very good!"

Yamato slammed her spiked club into the ground, creating a crack in the stone slab.

"I'll go and meet him!"

She turned and rushed out, but after taking only two steps, she suddenly stopped.

She turned to look at Roy, a cunning glint in her eyes.

The radiance she exuded, combined with the excited expression on her face, gave her a somewhat Kaido-esque arrogance.

"Roy, if I secretly hit Kaido a few times while he's fighting that straw hat kid—you wouldn't mind, would you?"

Roy almost burst out laughing at her "filial piety" act.

How could he not see through the little scheme in that girl's mind?

What "meeting the Straw Hat Pirates"? It's clearly just a ploy to take advantage of the situation when Kaido and Luffy are fighting.

I'll find an opportunity to give Kaido a couple of whacks on the head and get revenge for all the years I've been imprisoned on Onigashima.

"Do as you please. As long as you're not afraid of being killed by Kaido."

Roy's tone was nonchalant.

"However, I must warn you, Kaido is very strong now."

With multiple bloodline enhancements and multiple heart transplants, his current physical strength is at least several times greater than when he was imprisoned.

Those few blows you gave him probably only tickled him.

Yamato snorted and picked up his spiked club again.

"Even if it's just an itch, I'll still hit you!"

"Since I've been training on Beehive Island for so long, it's a good time to see how much I've improved over the years!"

Before she could finish speaking, she had already rushed out of the corridor like a gust of wind.

The wooden clogs made a crisp clattering sound as they stepped on the stone floor, quickly disappearing at the end of the corridor.

Roy watched her figure disappear around the corner, then picked up his coffee cup and took another sip.

He walked to the window, looking at the azure dragon still circling in the clouds in the distance, and the faint shadows of the fleet of ships visible further away, a very faint smile appearing on his lips.

"Father and daughter are exactly the same."

·······

The night sky over Onigashima reverberated with the roar of Kaido's dragon.

The azure dragon, which blotted out the sky, circled in the clouds for a long time before slowly descending into the dragon's nest atop the Skull Palace.

The dragon's claws gripped the edges of the skull's eye sockets, and pebbles fell down, splashing up a small cloud of dust on the plaza below.

Roy stood at his window, watching the dark figures slowly approaching on the distant sea.

The moonlight wasn't bright, but with his eyesight, he could clearly see the simple patterns on the sails: the Kozuki family crest, the Mink Tribe's paw print flag, and the Sunshine, whose prow was a lion's head.

He put down his coffee cup and closed his eyes.

The psychic power spread silently outwards from the main hall of the Demon Island, like an invisible giant net.

This force pierced through the stone walls of the Skull Palace, passed over the Beast Pirates' camp where they were lined up, swept over the jagged reefs on the edge of Onigashima, and precisely captured the figure of the Azure Dragon circling around.

Kaido could feel that familiar Nen touch—like someone whispering in his ear, so soft that only he could hear it.

"Yamato said she wanted to come and join in the fun, and she's already looking for people everywhere."

She's planning to hit you a few times while you're fighting with the Straw Hat Boy. You'd better watch out.

Kaido was stunned for a moment.

Then the enormous dragon head looked up and laughed loudly, its roar shaking the clouds.

"Hehehehe—is that girl going to participate too?"

Exactly!

Let me see what skills she's learned from you all these years!