The moment the transparent liquid slowly flowed into his brain through his veins, Shin felt... time stop.
Everything around him slowed down. Everything—the falling dust, even the rhythm of breathing in the cockpit—became clearly visible. The sound of breathing, the sound of his heartbeat, the sound of muscle friction.
All senses became incredibly clear. His mind was lucid, and his spirit felt like it was immersed in ancient ice, utterly cold.
This was the special ability belonging only to Coordinators, 'SEED' ("Superior Evolutionary Element Destined-factory"), an advanced evolutionary artificial genetic factor. Simply put, this is a part of the evolutionary process hidden in the Coordinator's genetic code. Ordinary Naturals also possess this gene, but it is much harder to activate than for Coordinators.
After activating SEED, the Coordinator would unleash several times their usual potential, and their mind would enter an extremely calm state of thought.
And for Shin, the most important point was that activating SEED allowed him to completely ignore the pressure from Conqueror's Haki in this state. With the surge in his mental power, the wirelessly linked Alaya-Vijnana system synchronized feedback to a near 100% level!
Ding~
A red glow ignited once again in Barbatos's eyes. The crimson light, accompanied by the wolf king's slow head turn, made it look like a demon awakened from death.
He had only one chance; he had to make the best of it!
Barbatos's ten Imperial Claws on its hands suddenly spread open. The sharp metal claws tightly latched onto Kaido's scales, the claws sinking into the gaps between the scales, grabbing firmly, and pushing hard.
The Hasmon Tail Blade at the tail end, like a drawn venomous snake, sprang out during the brief gap Shin had created, wrapped around Kaido's extended right claw, and twisted hard!
All these actions were completed in an instant.
Kaido's dragon claw suddenly felt a sharp pain. Even as a Mythical Zoan, the instinctive biological flinch when encountering pain remained. His dragon claw loosened abruptly. Although it was only for a moment, Shin seized the opportunity, burst Barbatos's outer armor layer, and, supported by the nearly skin-and-bones basic armor frame, instantly pulled away from Kaido's restraint by maximizing the thrusters.
"Brat!!!"
An enraged Kaido summoned ten thousand Thunder Bagua bolts around him, but Shin's reaction speed after activating SEED and almost fully merging his mind with Barbatos was no longer the sluggish one under the suppression of Conqueror's Haki.
Barbatos, stripped of a layer of armor, gained speed. It dodged several lightning bolts as it broke free from Kaido's restraint and landed on Kaido's spine.
Barbatos had used up almost all its equipment in this fight. It only had one piece of equipment left: the customized alloy katana made of rare skeletal metal.
This was a weapon rarely used by Mikazuki in the original work. For him, the slicing katana was too fragile and required too much technique. He was better at using heavy weapons like maces.
But against someone like Kaido, sharp weapon damage was definitely better than blunt force damage. Shin had no choice but to use it.
The moment he activated SEED, he expelled all of Mikazuki's piloting experience from his mind. At this moment, he had to fight by himself, using his own experience and abilities.
Kill this mudfish!!!
"Get down here, brat!!!"
Kaido angrily twisted his body and roared, trying to shake Shin off. The booming thunderbolts couldn't strike Shin directly as he stood on the dragon's neck. Kaido wasn't a Logia Devil Fruit user; his own lightning would also damage him. This embarrassing guy was even successfully struck by Kin'emon's flame reflection in the Wano arc. Although it might not cause much damage, it proved that he couldn't completely negate his own attacks.
"Kaido, have you ever eaten a mudfish?"
Shin said softly. The massive Barbatos slowly bent down. The right Imperial Claw tightly gripped the scales, and the left hand gripped the alloy katana, inserting it into the gap between Kaido's scales.
Barbatos's eyes flashed with crimson light, and Ahab particles distributed widely within. At this moment, standing on all fours, it looked like a ferocious wolf king.
"Before we cook mudfish, we must clear out its guts. Like eating fish, we slice open its belly and remove the internal organs completely."
"You're seeking death, brat!!!"
Kaido heard the obvious sarcasm in Shin's words and ignored everything else. The massive dragon head turned back high, and the scorching white Heat Breath brewed in his mouth. His entire body was also enveloped in black Armament Haki!
Roar!!!!
The scorching Heat Breath, like a flood, sprayed toward the Barbatos on his spine!
"It seems you still don't understand. What I said was, slice the belly."
The instant Kaido raised his head, Shin controlled Barbatos to suddenly flip over from Kaido's back to the side. The Hasmon Tail Blade, firmly inserted into Kaido's body, acted like a pivot, allowing the entire machine to flip down from Kaido's spine.
"Here, this is the belly!"
Kaido's Heat Breath sprayed onto his back, which was covered in Armament Haki, causing a scorching smell from his back. But he no longer cared about the damage and pain from his own attack.
Barbatos, like a nimble monkey, used the Hasmon Tail Blade as a support point and stuck to Kaido's abdomen. The Imperial Claw and alloy katana were firmly inserted into the gap between his scales.
Shin saw it; he saw the distinct cross-shaped scar in Kaido's otherwise perfect scales. Only that spot had no scale protection.
It was the wound inflicted twenty years ago by Oden using the two-sword style's Ryuo, the only scar that the "perfect creature" could never heal.
Yes, Shin didn't know Haki, let alone the advanced form of Armament Haki, Ryuo. He also couldn't cover Barbatos with this incredible power.
But so what? Armament Haki only made attacks harder and heavier. If he disregarded its ability to touch Logia users, for Barbatos—
"It's just a sharper sword!!!"
Shin roared, the veins on his temples bulging, his face under the helmet contorted like a demon!
Barbatos's alloy katana was plunged deeply into Kaido's abdomen. Then, the Yanko began to run wildly!
Like an untamed demon-hunting wolf, it held the katana deeply embedded in the Azure Dragon's abdomen. Its legs clung to the scales, and propelled by the full thrust of the backpack boosters, its legs ran wildly as if defying gravity!
The alloy katana sliced through Kaido's abdomen, piercing his internal organs, just as Shin had said, opening up the mudfish!
"Roar!!!"
Kaido let out a painful roar. The dragon face even showed a human-like action of rolling its eyes.
Crimson blood seeped out along the wound Shin had cut open. He was getting closer and closer to Kaido's twenty-year-old scar!
But just then, Kaido's form suddenly changed. The massive Azure Dragon form suddenly shrunk, transforming from a hundred-meter-long massive dragon back into his original burly giant form.
No, it should be said, he transformed into another form.
Kaido's arms maintained the sharp, ferocious dragon claws. Scales covered his body, which was several times larger than his original human form. He dragged a dragon tail, and his head remained in the posture of a fearsome dragon.
Dazzling lightning struck down from the layered storm clouds, enveloping Kaido's scales like armor. Shin immediately drew his sword and moved away, narrowly avoiding a lightning strike from the sky.
"It's been a long time since anyone forced me into this form. Very good, very good!"
Kaido, who had transformed into a giant dragon-human, smiled ferociously. He took out the huge mace from his back, and an aura more terrifying than before swept toward Shin.
"I don't know which old guy's descendant you are from that ship, but now, you are dead!"
Hybrid Form, the strongest form of Zoan Devil Fruit users. It retains the martial arts and combat capabilities of the human form while unleashing the maximum power of the Zoan fruit!
Shin watched as the deep wounds on Kaido's body healed at a visible speed. He hadn't received any assessment points reward.
This was the reason he was most unwilling to face Kaido. Compared to Big Mom, Kaido's defense might be slightly inferior, but his terrifying regenerative ability, as a top-tier Zoan user, was almost on par with Marco the Phoenix. If Shin had aimed Dainsleif at Kaido initially, he likely wouldn't have received any assessment points. The same injury that was severe for Big Mom would heal instantly for Kaido unless it was a fatal blow.
Unless it was a special attack enhanced with Ryuo Haki like Oden's, it was impossible to leave any scar on this guy.
Shin faced Kaido solemnly. Under the terrifying sight of rolling black clouds, he took a deep breath and, without hesitation, fled.
-----
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