"Even you, Wood, the Navy traitor, won't be able to stop a battle between two Yonko, right? What exactly are you planning to do to stop Big Mom and Kaido's fight?"
The speaker was Perospero, the strategist of the Big Mom Pirates. He, like the rest of the crew, knew very well the personalities of both Kaido and Big Mom. Both were extremely self-centered and violent individuals.
Once they truly started fighting, the only way to stop them would be to let them decide the outcome or for them to choose to stop on their own—no one else could force them apart.
"You don't need to know how I plan to do it; just know that I can try to stop them. Do you have a better option at the moment?" Wood replied, calmly assessing the situation.
Perospero, unsure of what method Wood could use, knew that they indeed had no other way to stop Big Mom and Kaido. So, he asked Wood, "What exactly do you want in return, Navy traitor Wood?"
"I haven't quite figured that out yet, but as long as you agree, I trust that the Big Mom Pirates wouldn't renege on their promise."
After negotiating the terms with Perospero, Wood glanced at the distant figures of Big Mom and Kaido, locked in fierce combat, and a familiar battle hunger appeared on his face.
Just as Wood was about to dash towards them, several hands suddenly sprouted from his body, wrapping around his key joints and restraining him.
"Wood, what are you doing? Isn't this exactly what you wanted? Why go out of your way now?" Robin's voice called out, full of concern.
She knew that the only reason Wood had come to Big Mom's tea party was to help Gion complete her mission. Now, even without any deliberate provocation, Big Mom and Kaido were already fighting each other.
In other words, Wood had already completed the mission assigned to him by the Navy. They could simply watch the fight unfold from the sidelines, witnessing the two Yonko weaken each other. There was no need for Wood to get involved.
Hearing Wood negotiate with the Big Mom Pirates had left Robin puzzled. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure out what Wood stood to gain from this. Could it be that Wood was seriously considering Big Mom's daughters?
"Robin, don't stop me. I have my reasons for doing this. Besides, I know my limits. Even though they're Yonko, defeating me won't be that easy," Wood reassured her, confident in his abilities.
Originally, Wood had planned to stay out of it and simply watch the spectacle. However, as soon as Kaido and Big Mom clashed, the system issued a new mission to him:
Mission Name: The Battle of the Emperors!
Mission Objective: Participate in the battle between Big Mom and Kaido and ensure that you remain undefeated.
Mission Reward: 1-3 World Life Simulations
Wood couldn't pass up this special mission. The reward of a World Life Simulation was too valuable. As his strength grew, the chance of triggering such special missions became rarer. Each journey to another world had earned him great rewards, so he wasn't about to miss this opportunity.
The requirement to remain undefeated wasn't too high. It only meant he couldn't lose, not that he had to win outright. Though the opponents were Yonko, Wood's current strength gave him confidence to give it a try.
Defeating a Yonko wasn't within his current capabilities, but challenging them? That was another matter.
The negotiations with the Big Mom Pirates were merely a way for Wood to seize more benefits now that he had decided to step in. That's why he hadn't yet figured out what terms to demand.
Seeing that Wood had made up his mind, Robin slowly released her power. She knew that once Wood decided on something, she wouldn't be able to stop him. Besides, she lacked the strength to prevent him.
The hands restraining Wood dissolved into petals, and in an instant, Wood launched himself with such force that the ground beneath him shattered, his body rocketing towards the battle at supersonic speed.
At that moment, both Big Mom and Kaido, whose weapons—Napoleon the sword and Kaido's kanabo—had just collided, immediately sensed Wood's rapid approach with their advanced Observation Haki.
"Wood, you brat, how dare you!" Kaido bellowed.
"You think you can take us on? You're a hundred years too early!" Big Mom roared.
Both Kaido and Big Mom, as top-tier fighters, had mastered their Haki to the highest level. Their extreme Observation Haki allowed them to glimpse brief flashes of the future.
And what they saw in that future filled both Yonko with rage.
In that brief moment after their clash, their bodies were momentarily off-balance and vulnerable. Taking advantage of that opening, Wood appeared before them in an instant, his limbs swiftly enveloped in Armament Haki.
"Armament—Iron Body Fist: Rock Splitting Sky!"
Wood's blackened fist slammed into Kaido's abdomen with such force that shockwaves radiated from the point of impact, and Kaido's massive body was sent flying, debris soaring into the air with him.
At the same moment, though Big Mom was also momentarily stiff from the previous clash, she still had her Homies by her side. While Napoleon was in Big Mom's hand and Prometheus was attached to her sword, Zeus remained floating above her head.
Seeing Wood about to attack Big Mom, Zeus rapidly expanded, transforming from a small cloud into a massive thundercloud, and fired a huge bolt of lightning at Wood.
Wood, without hesitation, drew his sword, Frost Dew, and with a swift upward slash, he left a gleaming crescent moon in the air.
"One-Sword Style—Wind Blade: Kamaitachi!"
The massive lightning bolt descended like a purple waterfall, but before it could strike Wood, his wind-infused slash cut through the bolt, splitting it cleanly in half.
As the lightning dispersed, Wood didn't miss a beat and struck Big Mom's stomach with a powerful knee, sending her flying just like Kaido.
From the moment Wood had exploited their brief vulnerability to the instant he sent both Yonko flying, everything happened in a flash.
Many bystanders hadn't even registered that Wood had moved from his original spot. By the time they noticed, the enormous lightning bolt had been sliced in two, and Big Mom and Kaido were already being hurled off the island at high speed.
The scene that had just unfolded was the future that Big Mom and Kaido had foreseen with their Observation Haki. And because they had predicted that they would be struck, their fury had boiled over.
Though they had foreseen the outcome, they had been powerless to prevent it. Zeus had made a token attempt at resistance, but without Big Mom's full power behind it, his attack was easily thwarted by Wood.
As for the stunned onlookers, they were left utterly speechless.
What were the Yonko? They were the emperors of the sea, pirates so powerful that even the World Government and Navy Headquarters struggled to deal with them.
To most people, the Yonko were akin to natural disasters, forces of nature. And yet here were two of the Yonko—Kaido and Big Mom—simultaneously being sent flying by a single man!
Even if Wood had exploited a moment of weakness after their clash, it didn't change the fact that these were Yonko, legendary figures on the seas. Big Mom's immense strength and Kaido's famed invulnerability had been overcome, if only for a moment.
If Wood survived this, he would have a legend to tell for a lifetime. Sending two Yonko flying with a punch and a kick—no one on the seas could boast of such a feat. Not even Pirate King Roger could have done that!
The Yonko's bodies were sent flying dozens of miles through the air before they finally crashed onto one of the 34 islands under Big Mom's control.
Kaido landed face-first, creating a massive crater on the island, while a great cloud of dust filled the air. But in the next moment, a powerful blast of dragon breath pierced through the dust, aimed straight at the approaching Wood.
"Ice Emperor Magic—Absolute Zero!"
Though Kaido's fiery breath was still miles away, its heat had already caused the temperature in the air around Wood to skyrocket.
Wood, still several kilometers from the island where Kaido had landed, watched as the massive dragon breath sped towards him in an instant.
With the dragon's fire mere moments from reaching him, Wood placed his hand on the hilt of Frost Dew, using it as a medium to focus his magic. His other hand extended forward, and a large blue magic circle rapidly formed in front of him.
As snowflakes began to fall from the sky above Totto Land, the dragon's breath met Wood's outstretched palm, and the temperature plummeted to freezing.
The intense heat of Kaido's flame was frozen in an instant. Yes, the fire itself was frozen, and it was happening fast.
At first, only the front of the dragon breath was frozen where it touched Wood's hand. But the ice quickly spread down the length of the attack, freezing the flames as it traveled backward.
In the world of Mushoku Tensei, magic was usually limited to basic elements like water, fire, earth, wind, and light. More complex elements like ice and lightning required the fusion of two or more basic elements.
Naturally, fusion magic was more powerful than single-element magic, and Wood's ice magic was a fusion of water and wind elements.
In the blink of an eye, Kaido's fiery breath, which had stretched for miles and emitted unbearable heat, was frozen solid. The sight was breathtaking.
However, before anyone could fully absorb what had happened, a thunderous dragon roar echoed across the sky, and another dragon breath came shooting out from the island!
Kaido's second attack followed the same trajectory as the first, shattering the ice that had frozen his first attack. Massive chunks of ice fell from the sky like shards of broken glass.
The overwhelming heat returned, this time overpowering Wood's magic as it tore through the remnants of the frozen breath, bearing down on him once more.
While Wood had managed to counter Kaido's first breath with ease, dealing with a second, near-simultaneous attack was proving more difficult.
With no other choice, Wood dispelled his magic circle, instead opting to coat his hands in Conqueror's Haki. As the second dragon breath approached, Wood brought both hands together, ready to strike.
"Conqueror's—Meteor Strike!"
The Haki surrounding Wood's hands took on a silver hue, his signature color for Conqueror's Haki.
As Kaido's fiery breath hurtled toward him, Wood brought both hands down in a crushing blow.
Boom!
The moment Wood's arms collided with the dragon's breath, the clash of his silver lightning and Kaido's fiery attack tore a hole in the sky.
___________
Don't forget to give Power Stone
________________________
P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to 100+ chapters for $5 and receive daily updates at p@treon.com/Betek (@->a).