At the moment when his life force was extracted, the subject would inevitably feel as if they had lost something crucial.

This sensation was particularly intense for Kaido.

The reason was that Ian had taken a tremendous amount of life force from him.

In fact, even Ian was startled when he extracted the enormous light orb. Having used the ability a few times, Ian knew well that the Orochi card’s soul extraction could take up to 10% of the target’s remaining life. When the target’s remaining life or lifespan was already limited, the effect of the soul extraction skill was quite minimal.

The size of the light orb represented the amount of remaining life force. The light orb Ian had previously extracted from Crocodile and from Perospero was roughly the size of a fist. However, this time, the light orb Ian extracted from Kaido was larger than a basketball!

Assuming Crocodile could live another thirty or forty years, let’s say fifty years, the light orb Ian extracted from him represented about five years of lifespan. The light orb extracted from Kaido, being roughly ten times that size, represented about fifty years of lifespan. And this was merely 10% of Kaido’s remaining life force, meaning that if Kaido wasn’t killed, he could live for another five hundred years!

Upon this calculation, Ian felt utterly shocked. How could Kaido have such an immense life force!?

Ian remembered Raideen once told him that the Giants were considered a long-lived race in this world, with the oldest living up to 300 years. Other races, like the dwarves (Tontatta Tribe), had lifespans of around 150 years, similar to the Fishmen.

No wonder Whitebeard and others suspected that Kaido was not a naturally born human. Even the longest-living species in this world couldn’t reach such an extraordinary lifespan…

There was no time to ponder further. Ian swiftly flapped his wings of flame, propelling himself backward and narrowly evading Kaido’s grasping hand.

Although Kaido didn’t know exactly what Ian had taken from his body, he had dealt with Big Mom before and could tell that the light orb in Ian’s hand resembled the lifespan Big Mom would extract. This realization drove Kaido into a rage.

Once again, it was this damn brat named Ian!

In fact, the enmity between Ian and Kaido was already deep. Because of Ian, Doflamingo had been ousted from his position as a Warlord of the Sea, losing the protection of the World Government and the Navy. After losing control of Dressrosa, the supply of artificial Devil Fruits had been disrupted. Although Doflamingo had since allied with Kaido and resumed production of artificial Devil Fruits in a new location under Kaido’s command, the absence of the Tontatta Tribe’s gardening expertise from Dressrosa made the cultivation of these fruits highly unreliable.

This severely disrupted Kaido’s plan to build an army of Devil Fruit users…

Moreover, Jack the Drought, one of Kaido’s top three commanders, was also severely beaten by Ian in Dressrosa. Although Kaido’s tyrannical nature meant he wasn’t particularly kind to his subordinates, Jack was still one of his trusted confidants. Having Jack beaten like that was a significant blow to Kaido’s pride as one of the Four Emperors.

Kaido’s participation in this war was partly motivated by a desire to teach Ian a lesson. However, to his frustration, he had underestimated this young upstart who had recently made a name for himself worldwide.

Not long after the fight began, Kaido was briefly knocked unconscious by a powerful lightning strike from Ian. While such incidents were not uncommon in chaotic battles involving multiple fighters, Kaido had experienced this a few times before.

But now, his very life force had been directly taken by Ian!? This was unacceptable!

Kaido knew his own strengths best—his formidable body relied heavily on his immense life force. He had once provoked Big Mom and even fought her a few times, but after understanding her abilities, he had stopped messing with her.

But now, there was another person who could seize life force and lifespan!

He had to kill him! This was Kaido’s only thought regarding Ian.

After his first grab missed, Kaido transformed again. His true form as the Yamata no Orochi was terrifyingly immense, appearing like a colossal mountain. Eight gigantic heads that were neither entirely dragon nor entirely snake emerged, each with curved horns and scaly necks, opening their huge mouths filled with sharp teeth, all lunging towards Ian in the sky!

Although Ian was flying in midair, he was surrounded by the shadows of Kaido’s serpent heads, feeling as though he had entered a rainforest of towering trees. He had to dodge left and right, weaving through the gaps while trying to fly higher to escape Kaido’s attack range.

On the other side, Sengoku and Whitebeard were engaged in battle. Whitebeard’s naginata, glowing with a white halo and buzzing, slashed down towards Sengoku, but Sengoku caught the blade with his hands clasped together.

As the two men flexed their muscles in a contest of strength, they noticed Kaido’s transformation.

Seeing this, Whitebeard couldn’t help but grin, his mustache curling up at the edges. He said, “Gurarara! That kid Ian has really pissed Kaido off!”

“Stop it, Newgate!” Sengoku gritted his teeth as he spoke to Whitebeard. “Resuming this fight benefits no one!”

“Hmph! Sengoku, your Navy forces are becoming more shameless!” Whitebeard snorted coldly. “Ian may be a pirate, but he has friends among your marines. Yet you let your own men fall into danger, forcing Ian to rescue them!”

“That was just an accident!” Sengoku shouted in defense. “Believe me, no one wanted this to happen!”

Whitebeard stared into Sengoku’s eyes, finding that Sengoku did not avoid his gaze. Suddenly, he stopped exerting force with his hands and withdrew his naginata.

Sengoku also released his grip, and the two finally ceased their struggle.

Whitebeard held his naginata horizontally with both hands, no longer looking at Sengoku. He suddenly squatted down and then made a powerful leap, soaring into the air and heading towards Kaido’s position.

In the past, Whitebeard would have found such a large leap difficult. But after Ian healed him, Whitebeard felt his entire body brimming with vitality, his strength restored.

With immense momentum and a howling wind, Whitebeard, now airborne, raised his naginata high and then fiercely slashed down towards one of Kaido’s heads with all his might!

The blade of his naginata vibrated at a high frequency, the black edge enhanced with powerful Haki, making it sharper than ever, like a high-frequency blade cutting a straight line through the sky.

Boom! The naginata struck the ground with tremendous force, causing an explosion that sent countless rocks flying and created several cracks that spread outwards with a loud rumble.

At the same time, a massive object, spewing blood, crashed to the ground!

One strike, just one strike! One of Kaido’s heads was severed and fell to the ground!

The remaining heads of Kaido let out a chorus of agonized screams, their powerful roars sweeping away the surrounding dust.

“Whitebeard!!” The remaining heads of Kaido turned towards Whitebeard, their bloodshot red eyes glaring at him with murderous intent.

However, Whitebeard stood his ground, leaning on his naginata, a smile playing on his lips as he looked at Kaido, unfazed.

Bang! Ian descended from the sky, landing behind Whitebeard. He exhaled and said to Whitebeard, “Old man, why did you step in?”

“This unwelcome guest needs to be driven away!” Whitebeard replied. Then, glancing at the glowing orb still in Ian’s hand, he asked, “Why are you still holding onto that thing?”

“Hehe!” Ian gently spun the orb in his hand and smiled. “I could have crushed it instantly to seriously injure Kaido, but I suddenly thought of a good idea. So, I decided to keep it for now!”

“Do as you please!” Whitebeard raised an eyebrow, snorted, then gripped his naginata with his right hand and pointed it at Kaido, shouting, “Kaido!!! I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll let you off! Get lost! As far away as possible!”

“Impossible!” One of Kaido’s heads roared, glaring viciously at Ian behind Whitebeard. “I must kill this brat today!”

“Oh, really?” Whitebeard laughed, and said with a strange expression. “If you don’t want to leave, then don’t expect to get away today. Look at the sea behind you!”

One of Kaido’s heads turned around. Not just him, but many others, prompted by Whitebeard’s shout, looked in that direction as well.

In the distant sea, a ship appeared faintly on the horizon, sailing towards them. Though it was still too far to make out clearly, many felt an uncanny sense of familiarity about it.

“Red… hull?” Though the ship itself was hard to discern, its color was visible. A navy vice admiral suddenly remembered and exclaimed in shock, “The Red Force!? It’s… the Red-Haired Pirates!?”

The scene erupted like an explosion, a massive wave of chatter and buzzing filled the air.

“Anoth… another Yonko is coming!?” Coby clutched his head in disbelief, looking towards the sea with Helmeppo, both wearing expressions of sheer incredulity.

The entire battlefield was in an uproar, impossible to calm down. The navy was the most panicked, for whether it was Whitebeard or Kaido, they were enemies of the navy. Now, another pirate Yonko was arriving. Though no one knew the exact intentions of the Red-Haired Pirates, facing three powerful opponents simultaneously was undoubtedly a nightmare for the marines.

“Hmph hmph hmph, you see that?” Whitebeard said to Kaido. “I don’t know how you managed to escape from that red-haired brat and come to this battlefield, but I’m sure once he arrives, he’ll be more than happy to ‘discuss’ things with you! You should know, while that kid usually looks like he’s always smiling foolishly, he’s not someone with a good temper…”

“…” Kaido remained silent. He might be a madman, but he wasn’t an idiot. Just as Whitebeard said, if the Red-Haired Pirates landed, he might truly be unable to leave.

“Grrr!” Kaido let out a muffled growl of frustration and reverted to his original form. As he transformed, the head that Whitebeard had chopped off disappeared!

“You brat!” Kaido pointed at Ian and roared, “Don’t let me catch you in the New World!”

With that, he turned his head and charged towards the coast, kicking away any navy soldiers in his path.

“Let him go!” Sengoku commanded with a grim expression, and the already terrified navy quickly moved aside.

Kaido stepped onto the icy surface, reached the shore, and grabbed the nearest pirate ship, pulling it out of the ice. Amidst the flying ice shards, he roared loudly and threw the ship into the unfrozen sea.

The ship was already empty. Under Kaido’s immense strength, it crashed onto the water and sped forward. Kaido crouched down, then leapt onto the ship.

In the end, that guy still escaped, but Ian realized that Kaido truly didn’t want to die. If he really wanted to die, he could have stayed and fought against Whitebeard, Shanks, and Sengoku. That would have surely granted him his wish.

“Will that guy’s head grow back?” Ian asked Whitebeard, looking up.

“That’s right!” Whitebeard nodded.

“His regeneration is so strong, so what’s the deal with that scar on his abdomen?” Ian asked. “To leave such a huge scar, could this person be even stronger than you?”

“I don’t know!” Whitebeard shook his head. “The first time I saw Kaido, that scar was already there. It could be a wound from before he got his Devil Fruit.”

“I see…” Ian nodded, then looked at the glowing orb in his hand. He grinned and winked at Whitebeard, saying, “Oyaji, what do you think would happen if you could live for a few more decades?”

“What do you mean?” Whitebeard was taken aback and asked, “Didn’t you say your ability can’t stop natural aging?”

“But this thing is different!” Ian tossed the glowing orb in his hand and said, “You saw it yourself, this is actually Kaido’s lifespan. He came here causing a ruckus, so how could I let him leave without paying some interest? I originally intended to crush it all at once, but then I thought, why not see if you can use it? If it works, you could gain a few more decades to live…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read