Hearing Kaido's confused question,
the bird head of the freak in front of him tilted, and its golden beak opened and closed as if it wasn't quite used to it yet.
Then, under Kaido's astonished gaze, the freak's bird head transformed, shedding its golden feathers and beak to revert to a familiar human face.
"It's you?! How did you..."
Kaido was stunned. Looking at Carlo, whose physique had drastically changed—he was now nearly twice as tall with a pair of golden wings sprouting from his back—he had no idea what was going on.
"The power of a Devil Fruit, haven't you seen it before?"
Carlo experienced the power he had just recently acquired once again.
In the moment Kaido was dazed, Carlo's eyes, which had turned into golden vertical pupils, suddenly became blood-red, like two pieces of charcoal in the dark night, shining with a brilliant and blinding red light!
Then... "Whoosh!!"
"Whoosh!!"
Two blood-red laser beams shot out from Carlo's eyes, hitting Kaido's body with the speed of a thunderclap!
"What?!"
Caught off guard, Kaido's chest was struck. His tall frame was sent flying backward with a boom, as if hit by a giant cannonball!
A ball of high-temperature light exploded on his body, enveloping him entirely.
At this moment, Kaido was like he had been thrown into a microwave, being frantically roasted by the high-temperature light on his body!
The part with the highest temperature, strongest penetration, and most damage was undoubtedly the chest area directly hit by the two lasers.
His pectoral muscles, hard as iron and tough as steel, sizzled with oil, and in the blink of an eye, two charcoal-black scars were burned into them!
What was even more surprising
was that the red lasers shooting from Carlo's eyes did not stop.
Instead, they acted like solid matter, pushing against Kaido's body and pinning his massive frame to the ground, scraping along the earth as he flew backward.
Everywhere they passed, a series of explosive light clusters bloomed!
Only after pushing Kaido back several hundred meters did Carlo tilt his head and dissipate the red light shining from his eyes.
His eyes turned back into sharp golden vertical pupils.
Though they lacked the terrifying pressure of the lasers from before, they were still filled with an undeniable majesty.
It made it impossible to look him in the eye.
"Zoan-type, Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Garuda Model."
"Or rather, the Golden-Winged Peng Model!"
"The divine beast from Buddhist legend that feeds on dragons."
"Possessing extraordinary speed, divine strength, and five senses."
Carlo's golden wings folded, extending from behind to the front of his body.
Looking at the hard feathers on these wings, arranged closely like a row of golden blades,
a satisfied expression appeared on Carlo's face.
His current transformation stemmed from that Devil Fruit he had obtained from the World Government.
Zoan-type, Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Garuda Model!
Originally, when he received this fruit from the CP Agent sent by the World Government, Carlo had been somewhat nervous and apprehensive, unsure if he should eat it.
He wasn't sure if eating this fruit would provide a powerful boost to his future
or if it would instead burden him with the drawback of being unable to swim.
It was true.
No matter which Devil Fruit it was, once developed well, it could always exert extraordinary power.
But there was also the concept of compatibility.
It was said that the will of a demon existed within a Devil Fruit.
It would actively seek out a suitable master.
The power obtained this way would perfectly match the user, allowing them to exert its ultimate strength.
Carlo worried that if this Mythical Zoan fruit he had extorted wasn't compatible with him,
then it would be a total waste.
Fortunately, Kong had contacted him in time.
He explained the power of this Mythical Zoan fruit to him.
This was what finally made Carlo reach a decision.
However, after eating the fruit and successfully experiencing the power of this Mythical Zoan ability, another question arose in Carlo's mind.
That was, how could the World Government bear to give him such a powerful, top-tier Mythical Zoan fruit?
Carlo was destined not to get an answer.
What he didn't know was
the Gorosei had originally planned to find him any random, ordinary Mythical Zoan fruit.
Something like a Pegasus Fruit, a trash fruit that only allowed flight.
But Kong, out of guilt toward his former comrade-in-arms, had proactively used the military merits he had accumulated over many years to exchange with the World Government for this fruit, which was considered top-tier even in the Celestial Dragons' treasury.
And he hadn't told Carlo the truth.
It was lucky Carlo didn't know the truth.
Otherwise, he would surely feel guilty.
And he would have proactively confessed to Kong.
In fact, the bottle of Elbaf Divine Oil given to him that day was just the most ordinary lubricant and had no miraculous effect on physical weakness... In the ruins several hundred meters away, Kaido's muffled groan came, interrupting Carlo's thoughts as he was immersed in his own power.
He looked up.
His golden vertical pupils, like magnifying glasses, reflected Kaido's appearance several hundred meters away with perfect clarity.
At this moment, Kaido looked quite disheveled.
His whole body was smoking, and his clothes were basically burned away by the intense light just now.
The red lasers from earlier, accompanied by high-temperature heat, hadn't just burned away his clothes but his hair as well.
Now, on his head, besides the pair of curved horns, his wild, weed-like black hair had vanished, turned into a pile of black ash.
The skin all over his body was also somewhat charred.
It looked quite terrifying.
But in reality, he hadn't suffered any serious injuries.
Only at the two charcoal-like black spots on his chest, the muscles were burned, sending waves of searing pain.
"Damn it! What the hell is this thing?"
Kaido clutched his chest and rolled over to get up, panting heavily as he looked at Carlo hundreds of meters away, completely bewildered.
Looking at him, it seemed he really couldn't understand the changes in Carlo.
This made Carlo pause.
This guy Kaido seemingly fell out with his own country at the age of ten.
He must have been at sea for several years now, right?
How could he not even know about Devil Fruit Powers?
But soon, after a bit of thought, Carlo found the answer himself.
The reason was simple.
A guy like Kaido simply wouldn't pay attention to such things.
In the years he had rampaged across the sea, he hadn't encountered many decent powerhouses.
He hadn't suffered any major losses.
And those unlucky bastards who couldn't make him suffer usually couldn't take more than a few hits from his club.
Except for Logia-type users, even if other fruit powers were used, to a brute like him who only knew how to use overwhelming force and swing his club, it probably just meant a few more swings.
Like the Leech ability and the Fast-Slash ability that Carlo had killed earlier.
"Damn it!!"
Having just found his spiked club only to be blasted away by Carlo again, Kaido was so frustrated he was about to explode.
He let out a roar and charged at Carlo yet again.
He vowed to avenge his humiliation and use the spiked club in his hand to teach Carlo a lesson.
However, before he could reach him, the red glow in the eyes of Carlo, who was standing still, lit up again.
"Whoosh!"
"Boom!"
"F*ck!!"