Near the shore, on a dilapidated wooden ship, Bazel's mouth twitched.
"So, Kaido-san, this is what you call the Beasts Pirates' ship?"
Kaido waved his hand dismissively, "Having a ship is good enough. Before this, Abel and I always traveled by flying. This ship was only prepared temporarily for your sake."
"If I hadn't happened to sense your presence while flying past nearby, I'd probably be somewhere else by now!"
"Then what about the crew? There must be a crew, right!?"
Feeling Bazel's eager gaze, Kaido inexplicably turned his head away guiltily.
"A c-crew? Of course we'll have one in the future!"
Unable to stand it any longer, King sighed and explained, "Sorry, but the Beasts Pirates currently only have the four of us."
"Because of the fight with that guy Shiki a while back, all the other members died in that battle."
'Four people…'
Toki tugged at Bazel's sleeve and said, "Bazel-kun, have we been scammed?"
Bazel gently patted Toki's hand to reassure her.
"There's an old saying from my hometown: this time, we've truly boarded a pirate ship and reached the heart of the river… there's no turning back now."
"Your hometown has so many old sayings…" Toki muttered under her breath.
"Cough!"
Kaido coughed forcefully.
"Anyway, the Beasts Pirates will definitely rise again in the future!"
"King, go hoist the sails and set sail. Bazel, you come with me. Let me see how far you've developed your Devil Fruit's abilities."
…
At the stern of the shabby pirate ship, Kaido sat cross-legged, his brows furrowed.
He occasionally pinched Bazel's muscles with his hands.
"Although the muscle strength is much weaker compared to mine, given your background, it's still a decent result of training."
"As for that Mythical Zoan-type you ate, I've genuinely never heard of it."
Bazel's fabricated backstory was simple: He was a resident of that small island who had saved Toki by accident.
He didn't hide the fact that he had awakened both types of Haki.
After all, this was the New World, not Paradise.
In these waters of the New World, it wasn't exactly true that every dog could awaken both types of Haki, but it wasn't far off.
At least, that was what Bazel believed.
And Kaido didn't seem overly concerned about the authenticity of his origins.
Who didn't have some kind of past?
"What you need to focus on now isn't developing other abilities of your Devil Fruit but making your body more familiar with this power through combat."
"The reason you can't transform into a human-beast hybrid form like I can isn't because of the difference in our strength."
"It's because your body hasn't fully adapted to the power of the Devil Fruit yet."
As he finished speaking, Kaido stood up, untied the kanabo at his waist and set it aside, then wrapped his arms in Armament Haki.
"Attack me. Let me see your fists."
'Here it comes!'
'Extra tutoring session with Great Mentor Kaido!'
Bazel's eyes shone with excitement, which Kaido misinterpreted as a thirst for battle.
'Just as I thought, this Yamato no Orochi Devil Fruit amplifies a certain emotion within the user.' Kaido mused inwardly.
'Aside from a thirst for battle, there should be other emotions too. If I'm not mistaken, each of those eight serpent heads should awaken a unique ability.'
Bang…!
"Your Armament Haki training needs to intensify too. At this level, you haven't even touched the edge of flowing Haki!"
Kaido didn't immediately counterattack. Instead, he began explaining the different levels of Armament Haki to Bazel.
It was all knowledge he had picked up during his time as an apprentice on the Rocks Pirates.
First was the entanglement of Haki.
This was the initial stage of Haki… coating a target object with newly awakened Armament Haki to enhance defense and attack.
At this stage, increasingly powerful Haki could alter the hardness of the skin's surface and sometimes even affect skin tone.
If one advanced beyond this stage, Armament Haki would reach the level of flowing emission.
This involved channeling excess Armament Haki within the body and releasing it outward, directly transforming it into tangible offensive or defensive power.
The next step was internal destruction.
"I'm still training to master internal destruction myself."
Kaido didn't boast but rather humbly described his current level of Haki proficiency.
He held his palm about twenty centimeters away from Bazel's chest.
"Activate your Observation Haki and focus on sensing carefully."
Armament Haki condensed, then slowly flowed to his palm.
With a low shout from Kaido, Bazel was suddenly pushed back by an invisible force despite not being touched.
"This is!?" Bazel's eyes widened in surprise.
"This is the flow of Armament Haki. Taking it a step further from this level is what we call internal destruction."
Kaido retracted his palm, then erupted with Conqueror's Haki.
"Beyond Armament Haki, true powerhouses of the sea, those with exceptional talent, can also awaken Conqueror's Haki."
"The infusion of Conqueror's Haki is the real killing move!"
Bazel rose slowly under the pressure.
Kaido didn't withdraw his Conqueror's Haki. Instead, he focused all his attention on the new crew member.
Click-!
The wooden plank splintered under Bazel's foot as he lost control of his strength.
"Roar!!"
Under the intense mental pressure, he automatically transformed into Yamata no Orochi!
But before the Yamata-no-Orochi could fully manifest, Bazel seemed to sense something, and his enlarging body suddenly shrank back.
Half a minute later, a sinister man shrouded in purple light appeared!
At this moment, Bazel bore some resemblance to King, with a hazy purple flame-like aura floating behind him.
Seven illusory serpent heads occasionally emerged from the light, hissing and roaring as if ready to lunge out and tear enemies apart at any moment!
Bazel's face had also undergone some changes.
Compared to his previous masculine appearance, he now seemed more sinister.
Eyeliner and lip color with a hint of purple appeared crimson, his sharp fangs gleamed, and his crimson vertical pupils shimmered with malice.
The exposed skin was covered in a layer of dense, dark purple scales.
His eyes opened.
Bazel looked down at his hands.
'When Kaido transformed from his dragon form into his hybrid form, although his attack power weakened slightly, his agility increased significantly.'
'Some abilities of the dragon form could still be used normally in the hybrid form.'
'Overall, it was a substantial enhancement.'
'As for my current serpent hybrid form…'
Let's tentatively call it 'Venomous Body'.
First, the scales contained potent venom. The dark purple scales weren't just for show…
they were the venom of the Yamata no Orochi!
Bazel wasn't yet sure how many effects his venom possessed, but based on his previous battle with the Takotopus Pirates, effects like suffocation, convulsions, and corrosion were present. Other debuffs would require more battles to identify.
Next was speed.
Unlike Kaido, while Yamata no Orochi's power is equally terrifying, in terms of species alone, a serpent's strength could never surpass a dragon's.
This was particularly evident in the Yamata no Orochi Fruit.
In his hybrid form, Kaido's muscles bulged, and his veins throbbed, clearly a powerhouse focused on strength.
In contrast, Bazel's serpent hybrid form seemed somewhat slender.
His entire body exhibited a sleek, fluid elegance.
He tentatively took a step, shifting toward the side of the deck.
'Indeed, it's faster.'
Bazel could clearly feel that, in his serpent hybrid form, his speed had at least doubled.
Moreover, it seemed he could undergo a secondary transformation in this state.
Yamata no Orochi couldn't match the physical strength of the Azure Dragon, but it possessed eerie powers the dragon lacked.
The poisons on the surface of the scales receded, replaced by a metallic blackish-red hue.
The previously dormant purple light cluster behind him suddenly underwent a change!
"Flowing Fire Body!"
With Bazel's low shout, the seven serpent heads in the purple flame behind him lunged forward.
Their bodies coiled around various parts of his torso, their heads raised, and their flickering tongues revealed gleaming fangs.
Sensing the change, Kaido grabbed a nearby wooden barrel and hurled it at Bazel.
Seeing the attack incoming, Bazel didn't hesitate. He clenched his right fist and punched toward the barrel.
The moment his fist pierced through the barrel, a flicker of flame erupted.
Following the punch, the barrel was shattered into fragments by a sudden explosion.
Kaido strode over, bent down, and picked up a piece of wood with burn marks, his eyes showing surprise.
"These marks are… burns? So the previous purple form was poison?"
"You're truly a genius no less than me, to master the hybrid form's abilities so quickly!"