The Great Voyage Begins with the Celestial Dragons

One day later.

Luther brought Gion to the agreed meeting point as promised.

On the surface, only he and Gion came, but in secret, Absalom and Moria were also on standby.

Sakazuki is also leading Jack and Yamato this way, and they will arrive soon.

With this lineup, they could barely hold their own against a legendary pirate crew.

Facing the still-developing Beasts Pirates and the half-crippled Kozuki clan, even if he had to fight two against one, Luther was confident enough.

"How has Kozuki Oden been lately?"

Seeing Kozuki Oden, who had been waiting for a long time, Luther greeted him with a smile.

He was always incredibly tolerant of a dying person.

"You must be Luther! Thank you so much this time! After we rescue Shinobu, let's go for a drink together, the kind where no family members are allowed!"

When Kozuki Oden saw that Luther had arrived, his expression became slightly more serious.

At this moment, his hands were empty, and a new knife was hanging at his waist, which Luther did not recognize.

However, he could tell from Gion's eyes that this was also a Great Grade Sword of the Twenty-One, on par with Enma and Hiba Habakiri, but it might not be as suitable for Kozuki Oden as the other two.

When Kozuki Oden saw his sword hanging at Gion's waist, he made no attempt to ask for it.

No matter how absurd he usually is, he can still afford to lose a samurai duel.

Trading two hands and two knives for a life seems like a worthwhile trade.

Moreover, Kozuki Oden knew that Nekomamushi was not seriously injured; he had simply been assigned to mine in Udon, just like Ashura Doji.

"If there is an opportunity."

Luther remained noncommittal when asked to drink by Kozuki Oden, glancing behind him.

For this decisive battle, Kozuki Oden brought all the retainers he could.

There are seven in total: Kin'emon, Denjiro, Kanjuro, Raizo, Inuarashi, Kikunojo, and Kawamatsu.

Aside from the hostile gazes directed at them, Luther noticed something quite interesting from their positions.

Kin'emon and Kanjuro were closest to Kozuki Oden, while Raizo and Denjiro were slightly behind, but still within the inner circle.

As for Kikunojo, he stood to the side as if he were isolated, it was unclear whether he felt guilty or was isolated by the other retainers.

On the other side, Inuarashi, Nekomamushi's close friend, also seemed to be detached from the inner circle based on his position. Given his personality, he didn't seem like the type to betray his lord, so it was only possible that something had happened that caused a conflict between him and Kozuki Oden's inner circle.

The cause of the conflict... Luther knew without a doubt that it was related to Kiku and the cat viper.

Between Inuarashi and Kozuki Oden stood a fish-man warrior with a somewhat troubled expression and a large body, resembling a contracted fish-man samurai.

This is Kawamatsu. Luther had seen his portrait in the intelligence and was somewhat familiar with him.

Judging from his position and expression, he has a close relationship with Inuarashi, but he is not firmly on Inuarashi's side, and is somewhat caught in a dilemma.

With just a quick glance, Luther had a general idea of ​​who should stay and who should go with Kozuki Oden after this incident.

Without exchanging many pleasantries, the two began to head towards the place Kaido had prepared.

This time, Luther and Gion disguised themselves a little so that Kaido's side wouldn't recognize them immediately.

For Luther, the first half was mainly about watching the show.

After walking for about half an hour, the group arrived at a desolate plain.

Located at the border of Flower Capital and Udon, this area is almost entirely rocky plains, stretching as far as the eye can see without any obstruction.

Upon seeing this terrain, Luther chuckled.

In his view, Kaido is a person who is two-faced, seemingly arrogant on the surface but inwardly incredibly steady.

Most of the time, this person thinks about overcoming all obstacles with brute force, developing their strength fairly and squarely, and then defeating the opponent.

But there are always some people who cannot be defeated by simple means, so Kaido will use various methods to delay his own development and wait until he grows up before fighting again.

If that were all, it would be one thing, but Kaido will resort to some underhanded tactics to ensure his victory; he's incredibly shrewd.

If it were Luther, he would have used all sorts of underhanded tactics to weaken Kozuki Oden long ago, and then overturned the table against him.

You could say that doing this is risky, but nothing in this world is 100% certain.

A person who is too cautious will only seek to develop steadily, and Kaido's development over the next 20 years has proven this point.

For a full 20 years, even though he became one of the Four Emperors, he still lived in Wano Country, waiting for the right opportunity to come, a suffocatingly stable existence.

Of course, Kaido may have been arrogant in the past, but after being captured and escaping various times, he became as stable as he is now.

However, none of this concerned Luther; what he needed to think about was how to ensure that Kaido could not escape from here.

The open terrain not only means a direct confrontation, but also that Kaido can quickly escape through the sky if he is outmatched.

"Kaido!!!"

Upon arriving at the location, Kozuki Oden let out a loud and energetic shout.

As his voice rang out, figures descended from the distant rocky slopes, slowly walking towards Kozuki Oden, led by Kaido, who was nearly 7 meters tall.

Following closely behind Kaido were his two top lieutenants, Queen and King.

Following the two were five of the Flying Six, each of varying heights—some were thin and short, others tall and robust, and still others slender and tall.

Among these people, Vante was conspicuously present, yet, given his size, he was the least noticeable one.

Behind them followed a dozen or so real fighters, dragging all sorts of weapons.

This time, Kaido brought almost all of his officers and crew members; he didn't bring a single ordinary pirate.

Of course, even if he wanted to return to Ghost Island to gather forces now, he would only see a scorched earth.

As he got closer, Luther frowned slightly; even he felt a little nauseous at the sight before him.

Gion, standing beside him, wore an expression of disgust, as if she had seen something repulsive.

On the other hand, Kozuki Oden's side was flushed red, their anger practically written all over their faces.

"Shinobu!!!"

A roar filled with rage and grief erupted from Kozuki Oden's mouth.

He slowly knelt down, hot tears streaming down his face, his eyes filled with hatred as he stared at Kaido and the others.

"The bad qualities of pirates."

Gion casually uttered a dismissive remark, her gaze sweeping over the creature Kaido was carrying—a creature that could barely be considered humanoid.

The man, about 1.8 meters tall, was completely naked, his entire body covered in wounds, with two bloody holes in his eye sockets. His body was covered in scratches and signs of abuse, and his genitals were stretched and torn open, still oozing blood...

Luther nodded slightly, which was considered as agreement with Gion's words.

Even the Celestial Dragons wouldn't treat their slaves like this.

Even if there are a few oddballs, they will become the object of ridicule from the other Celestial Dragons.

The Celestial Dragons, who at least consider themselves gods, cannot be considered noble for tormenting mortals in this way.

Torture to death is common, but to torture someone to this extent and still not die is something only pirates and certain nobles would do.

When Oden's retainers saw Shinobu's miserable state, they all drew their swords, their faces filled with anger, ready to rush forward at Oden's command.

"Kill Kaido!"

Kozuki Oden slowly stood up, and a surge of Conqueror's Haki erupted from his body, soaring into the sky.

"kill!"

His actions served as a signal, prompting his retainers to rush forward.

The war has begun!

Chapter 105 A Tacit Understanding

boom!!!

Kozuki Oden's Conqueror's Haki pressed down on Kaido.

But even with just Conqueror's Haki, it's nothing more than a tickle to Kaido.

He accepted the attack without changing his expression, and a surge of Conqueror's Haki rose up in response, meeting Kozuki Oden's Conqueror's Haki head-on.

"Despicable and shameless!!!"

Upon seeing this, Kozuki Oden's eyes widened in fury, and he let out a furious roar.

"Me, shameless?"

Kaido sneered, his face full of disdain:

"Using Conqueror's Haki at your own people, aren't you the shameless one?"

Just now, Kozuki Oden's Conqueror's Haki wasn't directed at him, but at Shinobu, who had been tortured a thousand times in his hands.

As for why he wanted to protect Shinobu, his thoughts were the opposite of those of Kozuki Oden.

Kozuki Oden wanted Shinobu to rest in peace and to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Kaido, on the other hand, didn't want Kozuki Oden to succeed; Shinobu would be a valuable asset for him to defeat Kozuki Oden.

Even though Kozuki Oden was mostly crippled, Wano Country was still his home turf, and he had served in both Roger's and Whitebeard's crews, so he might have unknown allies.

Moreover, Orochi's situation is also something he needs to consider.

This time, Kaido believed he had succeeded without fail.

As the two clashed with their Conqueror's Haki, the others also clashed.

Kin'emon and Denjiro intercepted King and Queen respectively; in terms of strength, the two sides were not much different.

Inuarashi, Kawamatsu, and Kanjuro, on the other hand, took on all five members of the Flying Six, and even managed to achieve a slight advantage.

The slightly weaker Kikunojo and Raizo then charged into the real fighters' ranks, engaging in a chaotic battle with more than ten real fighters. This was the only battlefield where they faced considerable difficulty.

Sensing the change in the battle situation, Kaido looked expressionlessly at Kozuki Oden's side, where Luther and Gion were standing.

At this moment, he couldn't help but feel fortunate that he hadn't acted recklessly before.