The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

A visible, circular shockwave, a mixture of dark purple and pale white, expanded wildly outwards in a hemispherical shape from the point where the fist landed!

The moment they made contact, Kaido's tough skin and muscles, which were strong enough to withstand the bombardment of warships, rippled violently like waves, and the bones beneath emitted a tooth-grinding "crunch"!

The entire beach surface was lifted up and shattered like a fragile biscuit, then turned into dust!

The surrounding seawater wasn't pushed away; instead, it was directly shaken into a pervasive mist!

Even the thick clouds high in the sky were cut in half by this soaring shockwave, shattering into pieces like broken glass!

Kaido's massive, mountain-like body was forced into a breathtaking bow shape in a fraction of a second by this indescribable force!

With the punching point as the center, his back dented in dramatically with a loud "thud," as if his spine was about to be broken!

What's even more terrifying is that the shockwave contained in this punch far exceeds the limit that Kaido's body can absorb instantly!

The unresolved destructive potential was transformed into a torrent of domineering lightning, a mixture of crimson and black, bursting forth from his chest like a bursting dam!

"Boom—Whoosh!!!"

Kaido was like a boulder thrown by a catapult, or a meteor that had gone out of control.

With a series of sonic booms that tore through the air, it blasted straight towards a rocky mountain hundreds of meters high in the distance!

"Bang!!!!!"

The deafening impact arrived late, causing the entire rocky mountain to shake violently. A massive, spiderweb-like crater, over a hundred meters in diameter, was forcefully punched into the mountain's front.

The cracks spread like lightning to the mountaintop, and countless boulders tumbled down like a torrential rain!

........

In the distance, rubble tumbled down from a giant crater in the mountainside.

Kaido's massive body shuddered violently, shaking off all the rocks covering him.

He braced himself against the twisted and deformed mountain wall with one hand and stood up, somewhat unsteadily.

"Cough... Pfft!"

A mouthful of scalding blood gushed uncontrollably from his mouth, splattering onto the charred rocks, appearing particularly glaring.

This monster, known as the "strongest creature on land, sea and air," had its internal organs damaged by Gern's punch, which contained extreme shock and domineering force!

The excruciating pain emanating from his spine, as if every bone had been crushed and forcibly pieced back together, contorted Kaido's face, completely dispelling his drunkenness.

Then Kaido suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with disbelief and rage, staring intently at the direction of the beach.

The billowing dust and mist slowly settled, like a curtain falling on a final curtain.

And in that dim, yellowish dust, a figure is stepping out step by step.

With each step, the air vibrated slightly.

"You just said..."

Who do you want to challenge?

Kaido's pupils contracted sharply again.

Amidst the swirling yellow dust, a humanoid silhouette gradually came into focus. Dark purple lightning, like raging serpents, danced across the scene, and a pair of pupils glowed red.

Immediately afterwards, the dark figure drew a knife from its waist. The white bandage wrapped around it moved automatically without wind, fluttering gracefully, and the blade was also wrapped with domineering lightning!

"you......"

"What? Is it too windy in the New World, or are you, Kaido, unable to hear me?"

Chapter 351 One-on-One Challenge to the 'Strongest'

Faced with Gern's icy questioning, which seemed to carry a real killing intent, Kaido did not back down. Instead, he seemed to have been completely ignited by some kind of crazy excitement.

He was stunned for a moment, then went into an even more frenzied state.

An even louder, more unrestrained laugh erupted from the crater in the mountain, causing the surrounding rocks to fall in a rustling sound.

"Ooh lol lol lol lol...!!!"

Kaido laughed as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his enormous hand, his pained expression quickly replaced by an extreme ecstasy of finding his prey.

"It hurts! It really hurts!!!" He was savoring this long-lost agony, his voice filled with a twisted pleasure.

"How long has it been... since I've felt this kind of power that can shake me!"

With a maniacal laugh, Kaido's already enormous body underwent an even more terrifying transformation!

Its body swelled further, its muscles writhed and bulged like living things, and its skin surface showed hard, bluish-black patterns like dragon scales!

The curved horns on both sides of the head became even thicker and more ferocious, and scorching white breath spewed from its mouth and nose.

The lower body also vaguely shows characteristics of dragons.

A huge dragon tail covered in steel scales lashed out and smashed the mountain wall behind it to pieces!

[Zoan Type, Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Azure Dragon Form, Human-Beast Form!]

The moment he entered his strongest battle stance, a dark red Conqueror's Haki, even more savage and brutal than before, surged forth.

Like a blood-red tsunami, it surged into the sky from Kaido's body, colliding fiercely with Genn's dark purple Haki in the void!

"Fuck!"

At the center of the collision between the two supreme Conqueror's Haki, space distorted, and black and red lightning and dark purple arcs of electricity intertwined wildly, emitting a heart-palpitating tearing sound!

Kaido gripped the spiked club "Eight Precepts" wrapped in black and red lightning tightly with both hands, his gaze fixed on Guern.

A狰狞 smile, a mixture of pain, excitement, and extreme desire, appeared on his face.

"A guy who can fight me to the death and make me feel 'pain' so easily..."

There aren't many like that on this vast sea!

He seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps declaring to Gern: "That old guy Whitebeard... is starting to decay, there's no point in fighting him!"

Wang Zhi? He's nothing but a treacherous villain hiding in the shadows!

Lingling? Hmph, she won't really get serious with me. I still owe her a favor..."

Kaido's voice grew increasingly louder, his fighting spirit erupting like a volcano: "So..."

He suddenly pointed his spiked club at Gern and let out a deafening roar: "So it's only you left!!! Heavenquake!!!"

"Come on, let's fight!!! Let me see just how much pain you can inflict on me!!! Ugh hehehehehe!!!"

As Kaido fully transformed into his beast form, his aura surged, and his eyes burned with nothing but a frenzied fighting spirit, he became a formidable force.

The expression on Gern's face vanished completely, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity.

The black sword, Eight Desolations, which he gripped tightly in his right hand, seemed to sense the change in its master's state of mind. The purplish-black patterns on the blade suddenly lit up like awakened blood vessels.

It began to frantically devour and absorb the Conqueror's Haki surging within Gern's body!

The space around the blade distorted even more violently, emitting a chilling, dark light.

"There can be no hesitation whatsoever..." Gern thought to himself.

He knew better than anyone what the monster before him truly meant.

During this period, before Shanks made his debut and before the Emperor of the Sea's power structure was fully established...

Kaido may not be the most powerful in terms of influence, but in terms of pure individual combat strength...

He is undoubtedly the most fearsome "King of One-on-One" in this era!

Because, at this moment, standing before Gern is not the Kaido of more than ten years later, who has experienced numerous failures, become excessively decadent, and seeks death.

This is Kaido at his peak, in his prime, with his physical strength, energy, Haki, and Devil Fruit abilities all at their most perfect and zenith!

It is no exaggeration to say that it is recognized and called the "world's strongest creature" by everyone on the sea!

Because that means a terrifying life force akin to near immortality, the peak of the three-color Haki, coupled with the massive all-around physical enhancement brought by the Zoan-type Mythical Beast.

And the unique elemental manipulation abilities (wind, fire, lightning, etc.) of the Azure Dragon form...

This is an utterly flawless, all-around warrior!

Gern even recalled the "plot" he had read before his transmigration, realizing that if Luffy hadn't possessed an unreasonable "protagonist halo,"...

With his relentless "sit-ups"-like recovery and almost constant attrition warfare, it would be impossible for him to defeat a fully-healthy Kaido in a one-on-one duel.

That's absolutely a fantasy!

Now, without the protagonist's halo or the endless battles...

Only he, Gern Reginald Sigma, faced this "world's strongest creature" at its absolute peak!

"Come on... Kaido!" Gern roared, clearing his mind of all distractions, focusing his energy and spirit to become one with the Eight Desolations in his hand.

"Let me personally experience... the weight of the so-called 'strongest in one-on-one combat'!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Gern stomped his foot hard, unleashing a powerful shockwave that propelled him forward instead of backward.

Transforming into a dark purple lightning bolt that tore through space, it actively met the charging azure dragon shadow!

"Ooh lol lol lol lol!!!"

Kaido laughed, his dragon-man form shattering the ground beneath his feet, using the immense force of the recoil to...

He transformed into a destructive hurricane wreathed in black and red lightning and cyan wind pressure, crushing towards Gern with the most ruthless force!

The massive spiked club in his hand, "Eight Precepts," was wielded to its fullest extent, its shaft now imbued with more than just Armament Haki.

It completely fused that incomparably violent Conqueror's Haki with the raging lightning inherent in the Azure Dragon Fruit!

The black, red, and blue energies intertwined and boiled, making the entire iron rod seem to transform into a thunderous calamity from the netherworld!

"Thunder Wheel - Draw Naraku!!"

Kaido roared and slammed his staff, imbued with his peak power, down toward Guern's head!

Faced with this attack, Gern instantly stopped, his feet firmly planted on the ground.

He gripped the hilt of the Black Blade Eight Desolations tightly with both hands, the blade emitting a low hum as it absorbed too much domineering energy.

Just as the spiked club, carrying immense force, was about to strike...

Gern suddenly spun to the side, channeling all his power, vibrational energy, peak Conqueror's Haki, and Ryuo Armament Haki into this single strike!

"Soul-shaking!!!"

He roared, and the blade of the Eight Desolations, without dodging or avoiding, drew a perfect dark purple arc from bottom to top, slashing precisely at the falling thunderous wolf-tooth club!

"Clang—!!!!"

The moment the sword and the club clashed was not a simple metallic clang, but a destructive roar of collision!

The sound condensed into a tangible sound wave, spreading wildly outward in a ring, pressing a huge dent into the distant sea surface!

Then, something unexpected happened!

At the point where the blade of the Gern and the spiked club made contact

An extremely compressed, pure white spherical shockwave energy field, filled with countless shattered lightning patterns, suddenly formed and expanded!

"Boom!!" The spherical shockwave expanded violently from the point of contact!

The earth below seemed to be kneaded by an invisible giant hand, no longer simply cracking, but surging and arching violently like waves, and then breaking apart layer by layer!

In an instant, countless sand and rocks were shaken off the earth's gravity and floated into the air!

The surrounding air was completely expelled and shattered, creating a temporary vacuum zone!

Kaido's "Thunderbolt: Naraku," a power capable of shattering mountains and splitting seas, and Guern's "Heavenly Tremor," a power capable of destroying space itself.

At the core of this spherical explosion, there was a frenzied collision, annihilation, and compression!

At the point where their weapons clashed, space was distorted to its limit, as if it would collapse at any moment!

The dark purple, domineering lightning and the black-red, destructive thunderbolts were like two giant pythons, tightly intertwined and strangling each other!

For a moment, no one could advance an inch further!

Chapter 352 Confidence

Just before Kaido, relying on his penchant for "suicide," arbitrarily chose Rurogaka Island as his landing point and launched an attack on Guern...