Arceus in One Piece - Chapter 43

“Have you found what you’re looking for?”

After being overwhelmed by the surging torrent and then struck by Kaido again, Ochoku’s shoulder armor, along with his shoulders underneath, was crushed. The Thunder Bagua, enhanced by swordsmanship, made Kaido’s attacks far beyond what Ochoku could bear at the moment.

Every time Arceus obtained a new slate, various strange powers would emerge. The sea of flames released at the research institute, the peculiar abilities that interfered with emotions earlier, and now the control over water. Kaido had already noticed this pattern.

Seeing that the sea water was under Arceus’s control, he knew that Arceus was almost successful.

“Yeah, this guy actually created a space inside his body. No wonder we couldn’t find it before.”

“Then let’s deal with other matters, shall we? Let’s take care of these people first.”

“Deal with them? I thought you were going to recruit these people as subordinates. They’re all pirates from the New World, and their strength should be much stronger than those from the Four Seas and Paradise.”

Although Kaido said he wanted to recruit subordinates, during this time, the Beast Pirates remained the same. Queen protested every day, demanding to recruit more hands, but Kaido refused, saying there wasn’t anyone worthy enough. In their view, the courage of these people still couldn’t compare to the trainee Olga.

Now that John’s subordinates were almost dead, leaving only Ochoku and Ginbei’s people, Kaido wasn’t interested in them.

“No, there’s too much treasure here. We can’t take it all with us. It would be too troublesome if the news were to leak out. Besides, these people are their confidants, and it’s not easy to subdue them. Although it’s a pity, we’ll have to deal with them another time. Jin! Queen! Shaina! Get ready to leave!”

Saying so, Kaido once again transformed into a huge dragon and looked towards the upper rock wall.

If I break open the top, you should be able to control the flowing seawater.

Kaido wanted to avoid creating a passage himself and risk flooding the area below. Although he had horns, he didn’t have the lineage of the fighting fish.

“Don’t worry, it’s just seawater. It’s not like it’s a whole ocean up there. But should we just let these people fend for themselves?”

“Good point, we can’t underestimate the vitality of these guys.”

At this moment, Shaina and the others had also freed themselves from their opponents. Animal-based ability users against some already exhausted opponents meant they had already won in terms of physical stamina.

“Max Retsukou Rai!”

The sea water was pouring in, combined with Kaido’s released lightning, filling the entire underground cavern with lightning. The armor on Ochoku and Ginbei’s bodies was meant to increase their defense, but in this environment, it became a burden. Especially for Ginbei, who had already been submerged in the current, the lightning’s impact made it even more difficult for him to remove the armor.

“Stop. Stop. Stop, Kaido!”

After Kaido’s thunderous attack ended, there was no resistance from the enemies in the cave. However, along with that, they also gained an innocent victim—Queen.

Later, the surging seawater was indeed under Arceus’s control, but the previous batch was not. Shaina and Jin were able to dry themselves using their flame-manipulating abilities, but Queen did not have that ability. So his braids were soaked. Although they had just retreated under Kaido’s body, they were still affected.

“I think you look better this way,” Shaina squatted beside Queen, poking at his blackened form as if to see if he was intact.

“You woman. I told you that thing wasn’t my decision. Don’t blame it all on me. I also know the locations of several members of MASD. How about I tell you their whereabouts, and you go settle the score with them?”

Queen needed to solve this problem. In his view, shifting the conflict was the best solution. Since Shaina hated the people from the research institute so much, let her bother other people.

Such as Vince Smoke Judge, who had been annoying Queen for a long time.

However, at this moment, another voice rang out.

“You bastards.” Amidst the sea water filled with electricity, Ochoku stood up with a sword in hand. His originally slender beard had turned into a fried octopus, and his broken shoulder armor and bleeding face made him look miserable.

After being struck twice by Kaido, even though he hadn’t died, his resilience was remarkable.

“You’re still a tough one, junior. But it’s still troublesome if you die here.”

Kaido liked to recruit powerful fighters, but not just anyone. The people on Locke’s ship all had their own ambitions, and these people wouldn’t be content to be under others.

So he wasn’t interested in Ochoku.

“Just a mere trainee, kid. Don’t think you can do whatever you want with powerful abilities. Suigashira Kyushu!” The giant sword was surrounded by dominance, and the sword’s edge sliced through the surrounding seawater. The entire underground cavern was affected by Ochoku’s attack.

“But in terms of dominance, you’re still no match for me, Shouryuu Kaen Bagua!”

The flaming dragon head, filled with flames, wrapped around even stronger dominance and slammed into Ochoku. Ochokui’s final blow didn’t stop Kaido; instead, in the intense explosion, he sank into the gradually rising seawater.

Ochoku agreed with his final words very much. He had never relaxed in his pursuit of dominance. Although this thing required effort, talent was equally important. Some people might reach a realm in a few hours that others couldn’t achieve in their lifetime.

“Ready to rush out.”

“Wait, Kaido, with so much treasure, it would be a waste if we let the seawater rush in.”

Looking at the mountain of treasure, Queen found it hard to let go. With managing the household, one knows the value of rice and firewood. As the part-time financial manager of the Beast Pirates, his personal treasury had long been depleted. In any case, he urgently needed to replenish his assets.

“It’s just treasure. Let’s leave it here for now and come back for it later. As for now, let’s just take away some of the more valuable ones.”

They didn’t have the power of space like John, so only they knew the location of the treasure there. This place was simply a natural treasure trove.

These people were here to find treasure, carrying sturdy bags with them. Queen picked up two large bags of treasure and prepared to leave.

Then Arceus smashed the ceiling with a destructive thunderbolt, and the seawater poured into the underground cave due to the influence of gravity.

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