Eriri naturally learned from the newspapers that the Four Emperors were searching for her, but she paid it no mind and had no intention of stopping the Voyage to meet them.
To put it bluntly, Eriri had no interest in the so-called Four Emperors. If they attempted to intercept her by force, she wouldn't hesitate to send them on their way.
The speed of the Voyage far surpassed that of any sailing vessel in this world. Catching up to Eriri's group was no easy feat for the Four Emperors unless they could somehow predict her course and wait ahead of her.
However, that was nearly impossible. The Voyage's movements were dictated by whim, unlike the ships of this world that relied on Log Poses for navigation.
Half a month passed swiftly. The Voyage passed numerous exotic islands, including Punk Hazard and Dressrosa, where Eriri and her group decided to spend a day exploring.
During Doflamingo's absence, the Donquixote Family had managed Dressrosa well, keeping everything in order.
However, that changed the moment Eriri arrived.
Eriri had no fondness for the Donquixote Family, especially since their young master, Doflamingo, had met his end at Gabrielle's hands.
Moreover, their inhumane experiments on children disgusted her.
Before reaching Dressrosa, Eriri had already annihilated Punk Hazard, including M. Caesar Clown, wiping out the island entirely. The kidnapped children, whose bodies had been experimented on, were healed by Eriri and then relocated to an orphanage in a nearby city.
Initially, Eriri had no intention of dealing with the remnants of the Donquixote Family. She simply wanted to enjoy a relaxing day on this tropical island known for its vacation-like atmosphere.
However, the Donquixote Family had other plans.
The moment Eriri and her companions set foot on Dressrosa, the family was alerted. Yet, they didn't immediately confront her.
They had read about Eriri's ability to extend lifespans in the newspapers, and they desired that power for themselves.
From their perspective, only Eriri and Hancock had displayed overwhelming strength in the recent broadcast. They assumed that by eliminating Eriri, their mission would be mostly accomplished.
Conveniently, the Donquixote Family had a unique Devil Fruit user among their ranks—Sugar, the Toy-Toy Fruit wielder, who had transformed half of Dressrosa's population into toys.
Their plan was to find an opportunity to turn Eriri into a toy, after which dealing with the others would be a simple task. Once Doflamingo returned, they could present him with this great gift.
However, they failed to realize that against absolute power, petty schemes were meaningless.
The Toy-Toy Fruit was indeed formidable, but its user, Sugar, was far from powerful.
While she could control a large number of ordinary individuals and weaker fighters, attempting to manipulate someone of greater strength was unrealistic.
Let alone Eriri—who could stand before Sugar without the slightest concern for her ability.
The final result was inevitable: the Donquixote Family was completely annihilated by Eriri, erased from history forever.
After Sugar's death, her Devil Fruit ability was nullified, and all the citizens who had been transformed into toys reverted to their original forms. Their lost memories also returned.
...
As fate would have it, coincidences were indeed plentiful in this world.
One afternoon, as the Voyage sped across the ocean, it happened to encounter the Beasts Pirates coming from the opposite direction.
This was not because the Beasts Pirates had tracked Eriri's route; their meeting was purely by chance.
A lookout on the Beasts Pirates' ship quickly spotted the Voyage. They had been scouring the sea for Eriri's group, and seeing the ship now filled the scout with excitement.
He rushed to the captain's quarters to report the sighting to Kaido.
"Wororororo! It seems fate is on my side. In the end, I was the first to find them!" Kaido laughed heartily before turning to King and saying, "King, bring out the gifts we prepared and come with me to greet our honored guests."
Kaido was supremely confident that Eriri's ship would stop to meet with them.
As one of the Four Emperors of the New World, who would dare refuse him face-to-face?
Although he had seen Eriri's power during the live broadcast, Kaido still believed that she would at least grant him some respect.
Thus, he was already contemplating how he would persuade her to extend his lifespan.
However, all of this was merely Kaido's own wishful thinking.
As the massive pirate ship of the Beasts Pirates approached, the Voyage showed no intention of slowing down. Instead, it continued on its direct course—straight toward Kaido's ship.
The Beasts Pirates' navigator quickly realized that the Voyage had no intention of stopping and urgently tried to change course to avoid a collision.
But it was too late. The Voyage plowed through the rear half of the pirate ship, its powerful energy shield effortlessly shattering it into pieces.
With nearly half of their ship gone, the Beasts Pirates' vessel was no longer seaworthy and would inevitably sink over time.
Furious, Kaido abandoned all concerns about the difference in power between himself and Eriri. Transforming into a massive azure dragon, he launched himself toward the Voyage in pursuit.
At the same time, "Wildfire" King transformed into a pteranodon and followed closely behind Kaido.
Their flight speed was several times faster than the Voyage's sailing speed, and they soon caught up, even overtaking it.
Kaido then positioned himself directly in front of the Voyage, intending to block its path with his own body.
And that was the moment of his downfall.
On the Voyage, the previous impact hadn't caused the slightest disturbance, but those on the deck had clearly witnessed what had happened.
However, they paid it little attention. After all, this was hardly the first time they had rammed through an obstructing pirate ship—many of those incidents had been even more thorough.
But when the enormous dragon form of Kaido appeared before them, it did catch their attention.
Unfortunately for Kaido, he only had a few seconds before the Voyage rammed straight into him.
As expected, his supposedly indestructible body shattered instantly, just like his ship. Under the force of the energy shield, Kaido was completely obliterated, leaving not a trace behind.
And thus, the "Four Emperors" of the New World became the "Three Emperors."
Witnessing Kaido's death firsthand, King was utterly terrified. Without a moment's hesitation, he fled, flying as far away from the Voyage as possible.
Eriri paid no attention to King's escape. From start to finish, neither she nor her companions had lifted a finger—Kaido's death was simply a result of his own recklessness.
"Was there a dragon in front of the Voyage just now?" Megumi Kato asked in a daze, glancing at those around her.
Upon hearing this, Utaha Kasumigaoka quickly nodded. "Yes, I saw it too. I never expected this world to have dragons, and not just any dragon, but an Eastern-style one rather than a Western-style wyvern."
"That dragon was actually a person who transformed. It must have been Kaido, who ate the Fish-Fish Fruit. I can't believe one of the Four Emperors just died so pathetically by getting hit by a ship." Arifureta chuckled.
"Exactly. But he only has himself to blame—why on earth did he decide to block our ship?" Yuzuru Hanyu laughed as well.
It seemed Kaido's foolishness had provided them with quite a bit of entertainment.
Yuzuru then continued, "By the way, that flying creature just now should have been 'Wildfire' King, one of the Beasts Pirates' top commanders. Eriri, should we deal with him too?"
"No need to bother," Eriri shook her head. "Let him spread the news of Kaido's death. Maybe after hearing about it, others will think twice before disturbing us."
"Sounds good. Hopefully, they make sure to explain exactly how Kaido died. That would be absolutely hilarious!" Yuzuru's words made Reina's eyes light up, and she quickly added, "That's a great idea! Kaido was never a good person anyway."
"Haha, we'll see how King decides to frame the story."
...
Three days later, news of Kaido's death finally spread.
At the time, aside from Eriri and her companions, only King had witnessed Kaido's demise.
Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Beasts Pirates were too preoccupied with their sinking ship to pay any attention to Kaido's chase after the Voyage.
Furthermore, Kaido had died in front of the Voyage, completely outside the field of view of those aboard the pirate vessel. Even if they had wanted to see, they couldn't have.
Soon enough, the Beasts Pirates' ship was fully submerged in the ocean.
Since nearly all of its crew were Zoan Devil Fruit users, they were helpless as they sank alongside their vessel.
Even if King had wanted to rescue them, he was powerless to do so. In the end, he was the only one who managed to escape, taking nearly two days to make his way back to Wano.
King knew he couldn't hide Kaido's death, so he immediately reported the incident to the remaining Beasts Pirates officers.
For the Beasts Pirates, the news of Kaido's death was like a bolt from the blue—shock and despair spread through their ranks.
Before long, the news spread worldwide through the World Economic News Agency. However, King did not disclose the real cause of Kaido's death; instead, he claimed that Kaido had been slain by Eriri and her companions.
As a result, Kaido did not become a laughingstock or a figure of ridicule among rival factions.
While the Beasts Pirates mourned deeply, Wano's princess, Kozuki Hiyori, and Denjiro—one of the Nine Red Scabbards—shed tears of joy.
Their greatest enemy was now dead. If they could drive out the remaining Beasts Pirates and eliminate Kurozumi Orochi, Wano would finally be free.
However, accomplishing these two tasks would not be easy—at least not for them alone. They needed reinforcements.
Thus, Denjiro eagerly anticipated the reunion of the Nine Red Scabbards.
Meanwhile, Kozuki Hiyori developed a deep admiration for Eriri and her companions, who had rid the world of Kaido.
Kaido's death triggered a series of chain reactions, the most immediate being that the remaining Three Emperors abandoned their search for Eriri and her companions.
Shortly after the news broke, Whitebeard recalled Marco and Ace, while Charlotte Katakuri and Charlotte Smoothie were quickly summoned back by Big Mom.
Even Shanks lost his desire to meet Eriri and her group—he had no intention of sharing Kaido's fate.
The Navy's reaction, however, was quite different from that of the Three Emperors. Kaido's death was the first truly good news they had received since the conclusion of the Summit War.
With one less Emperor ruling the seas, the Navy's burden was significantly reduced, especially in the wake of the World Government's collapse.
Kaido's demise also turned the Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit: Azure Dragon, into a highly sought-after treasure. Every major force began searching relentlessly for its reborn form.
The world of One Piece was thrown into turmoil.
...
Despite the chaos brewing across the world, Eriri and her companions remained entirely unaffected, continuing their leisurely journey.
The day after Kaido's death was revealed, the designated invitation system in the chat group refreshed once more.
As usual, Eriri wasted no time and immediately purchased a selection slot within the chat group.
This time, the recipient was Ais, once again dashing Tornado's hopes of joining.
Before long, Riveria was brought into the chat group by Ais.
Meanwhile, Loki—who had longed to join—was completely ignored by Ais.
Due to the Martial Arts Tournament, Riveria, much like Rias Gremory's recent invitee, Akeno Himejima, was already somewhat familiar with most of the chat group's members and quickly integrated.
More than two months had passed since the last automatic wave of chat group invitations, yet Eriri showed no urgency in summoning new members.
Her plan was to finish their travels in the One Piece world, return to the world of Saekano, and then allow the chat group to bring in newcomers.
If any interesting individuals or worlds emerged, Eriri might even personally visit them for some fun.
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