Chapter 51: Surrender
"Gurgle gurgle gurgle..."
Watching the last few bubbles disappear beneath the waves, Ayaan dunked his weapon into the sea with a hint of disgust, shook his head, and sighed.
"No matter how strong you are, it's useless without a brain."
Still, Jack was a half-fishman. Although falling into the sea rendered him completely powerless, he wouldn't die. At worst, he'd be immobile at the bottom of the sea.
Thanks to the ice created by Yamato's freezing ability, the seawater that had been boiled earlier by Charlotte Oven's Netsu Netsu no Mi had cooled significantly. It no longer posed a threat to Jack's survival, though he had completely lost his combat capability.
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Onboard the Moby Dick.
With a loud bang, Kaido could no longer endure the onslaught. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he was punched off the ship.
Wiping the blood from his lip, Kaido gritted his teeth.
"Why does Whitebeard seem even stronger than the last time we fought?"
Of course, part of the reason he had been pushed to this point so quickly was that Ayaan's Great Waterfall Technique had wiped out most of his elite forces. In his haste to escape, he was caught off guard and took a heavy punch from Whitebeard.
"Gurararara!"
Whitebeard leaped down from the Moby Dick and stood imposingly before Kaido.
"Kaido, is that all you've got?"
Kaido snorted. The injuries hadn't truly affected his combat ability—if he wanted to, he could still battle Whitebeard for another day or two.
But looking around—the Beasts Pirates were on the verge of collapse, the Charlotte Pirates were clearly preparing to retreat. Kaido knew that if the battle continued, reinforcements would arrive. And those forces would likely not come to save him, but to help finish him off.
Sure, Kaido often enjoyed reckless brawls—like challenging entire pirate crews on his own—but he wasn't foolish enough to do that with Whitebeard, who really could beat him to death.
Realizing this, Kaido growled,
"Old man Whitebeard, even if you've won this time..."
Then, his body transformed into a massive azure eastern dragon and flew into the sky. His voice thundered across the battlefield:
"...Don't think this is over. I'll return!"
Ayaan couldn't hold back a laugh.
"What's this? Is Kaido quoting a children's drama? 'I'll be back'? Sounds like something from the Green Pastures Kingdom! A legendary comeback line!"
But celebration turned to panic as Kaido—mid-flight—glared at Ayaan, furious at the humiliation. Without warning, he opened his mouth and unleashed a blast of Kaen Daiko (Blazing Bagua's flame breath) at him.
"Gah!"
Caught completely off guard, Ayaan barely had time to activate his Armament Haki before rolling away. He avoided most of the flame, but still ended up with burns on his body.
"Kaido, you dare!"
Whitebeard, thinking the battle was already over, was unprepared. Enraged, he punched the sky. The shockwave shattered clouds and blasted Kaido's body mid-air, drawing blood again.
Staggering but determined, Kaido didn't stop. He gathered scattered ship debris and remaining Beasts Pirates executives using his flame clouds and flew off without another word.
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"Damn it! Kaido escaped faster than us!"
Perospero shouted angrily as the Big Mom Pirates continued their chaotic retreat. Now that Kaido was gone, they were the ones stuck fending off the rear.
Whitebeard didn't pursue. After all, he couldn't fly, and relying on Geppo or other aerial mobility wouldn't get him anywhere near a dragon in the sky.
Marco could fly, but with King holding him back, he had no chance of catching up. And even if he tried, Kaido would likely beat him to a pulp.
Still, though the Beasts Pirates had retreated, another force remained on the battlefield.
With the tide clearly turned, the earlier "gentleman's agreement" of commander vs commander was now meaningless. Whitebeard stormed forward and delivered a single crushing blow to Katakuri, who coughed blood and collapsed. His famed reputation of never falling crumbled before the world's strongest man.
Now free, Yamato unleashed an overwhelming wave of cold air. Her freezing breath covered a wide area, eventually immobilizing the entire Big Mom fleet beneath a thick layer of ice.
Charlotte Oven, who wielded the Netsu Netsu no Mi, could have countered this with ease. But having just been psychologically shattered by Ayaan's trick, he hesitated—and that was enough. In the blink of an eye, the ships were frozen solid.
As Whitebeard and his elite commanders approached, Perospero gritted his teeth, raised his hands, and yelled:
"We surrender!"
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"...So there's actually an option to surrender in a Four Emperors war?"
Ayaan raised an eyebrow as he watched the defeated Big Mom pirates being shackled in seastone chains.
"Of course," replied Thatch, standing beside him with a grin.
"Aside from Kaido's crew, the rest of the Four Emperors are actually quite united."
"Even Kaido's not entirely cold-hearted. He's loyal to his top commanders."
"If everyone fought to the death every time, the Four Emperors would've collapsed ages ago."
Ayaan blinked, stunned by the realization. He hadn't thought of that.
Now that he looked back—Whitebeard's commanders treated each other like real brothers. And Whitebeard himself would never allow his sons to be killed in battle without vengeance.
Shanks' crew inherited Roger's legacy, where bonds ran deep—almost like the Straw Hats, who would risk everything for each other.
Even though Big Mom herself was heartless and indifferent to most of her children, Katakuri was different. If his siblings were truly slaughtered, wouldn't he go berserk?
In that sense, Kaido's crew might've seemed ruthless—but even he valued his All-Stars and the Tobi Roppo.
Thinking it through, surrender didn't seem odd at all. In most cases, these powerful pirate crews fought to determine victory—not to annihilate one another completely.
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