Surrender

"Glug glug glug."

Watching the last few bubbles vanish, Yota somewhat disgustedly swished the Great Grade Sword in his hand through the sea. He shook his head and sighed. "No matter how strong you are, what use is it if you have no brains?"

However, Jack was a half-fish-man. Though falling into the sea left his entire body powerless, it would not kill him. At most, he would be unable to move at the bottom of the ocean.

Furthermore, the ice formed by Yamato’s freezing ability had cooled the sea that Charlotte Oven had boiled over this period. It would no longer harm Jack, so although he had lost his ability to fight, he had at least kept his life.

On the Moby Dick.

With a thunderous crash, Kaido finally could not endure any longer. He coughed up blood and was knocked off the ship.

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Kaido could not quite understand it. Why did Whitebeard seem so much fiercer this time than last time?

Of course, another reason Whitebeard had made him cough blood so quickly was that Yota’s Great Waterfall Technique had wiped out more than half of the Beasts Pirates’ core forces. In his anxiety to break away, Kaido had been ruthlessly punched several times by Whitebeard.

"Gurararara!" Whitebeard leaped down from the Moby Dick and stood before Kaido. "Kaido, brat, are you already done?"

Kaido snorted coldly. Such injuries naturally had little effect on his combat strength. If he truly wanted to fight, he could continue battling Whitebeard for another day or two.

But from their battle just now, Kaido also understood clearly that if no outside force interfered, then even if he held out for several days, he would ultimately be defeated by Whitebeard.

However… Kaido raised his head and swept his gaze around. Looking at the Beasts Pirates, who were already showing signs of collapse, and the Charlotte Pirates, who were preparing to withdraw, he knew full well that if they kept fighting, outside forces would certainly intervene. The problem was that those outside forces would probably all be coming to beat him up.

He might have often enjoyed courting death in the past, playing games like challenging an entire pirate crew alone, but he did not dare play that game against the other Four Emperors Crews—Whitebeard really could beat him to death!

Thinking of this, Kaido said coldly, "Old man Whitebeard, consider this one your win…"

As he spoke, Kaido soared into the sky and transformed into a long, enormous dragon. His deafening voice echoed across the battlefield.

"…but don’t expect me to give up so easily. I’ll be back next time!"

Yota silently listened to Kaido’s threat, and his expression nearly broke as he almost laughed out loud.

"Could it be that Lord Kaido came from Pleasant Goat Village too? He actually said the legendary ‘I’ll be back.’"

Yet joy turned to sorrow. Kaido, who was nearly gone, spotted Yota. Thinking of his losses, fury immediately rose in his chest, and he opened his mouth to blast out a breath of dragon fire.

"Fuck!" Yota had truly been caught off guard this time. He did not even have time to use the Munch-Munch Fruit’s ability. He could only activate Armament Haki and barely roll away, dodging most of the dragon fire, though quite a few flames still clung to his body.

"Kaido, how dare you!" Whitebeard, who had thought the battle was over and had lowered his guard, flew into a rage. He threw a punch, making the sky tremble as even the clouds were blasted apart. Kaido was shaken until he spewed blood from his mouth.

After taking another punch and seeing that no opportunity remained, Kaido did not linger any longer. He turned and flew away.

Soon afterward, clusters of Flame Clouds gathered together the wreckage of ships floating on the sea. Some of the remaining Beasts Pirates officers were also lifted by the Flame Clouds, and Kaido withdrew directly with a large group of people.

"Damn it! Kaido ran even faster than we did!" Perospero, who was leading the Big Mom Pirates in a fighting retreat, shouted in frustration. With the Beasts Pirates gone, they were the ones left to cover the rear.

Whitebeard said nothing upon seeing Kaido leave—an old man could not fly, and relying only on aerial movement techniques to catch someone with flight capabilities was nothing but a dream.

Marco could fly, but King, an opponent of the same level, was holding him back, leaving him unable to continue the pursuit. Besides, if he chased after Kaido alone, he might just get violently beaten by him.

But while the Beasts Pirates had fled, were there not still others left here?

The outcome of this battle had been decided. The unwritten rule of soldiers against soldiers and generals against generals naturally no longer applied. Whitebeard strode forward and punched Katakuri first, making him spit blood wildly. This man, who was said never to fall, was still far from the World’s Strongest Man. Whitebeard immediately slammed him to the ground.

Yamato, now freed up, began continuously releasing cold air. The ice spread across a vast area, eventually freezing even the Big Mom Pirates’ ships in place.

Charlotte Oven’s Heat-Heat Fruit could have countered the cold air Yamato released, but Yota had set him up so badly earlier that he still had lingering trauma. In the time he hesitated, every ship had been frozen onto the sea.

Seeing Whitebeard approach in great strides with several of the strongest Squad Commanders, Perospero gritted his teeth, raised both hands high, and shouted:

"We surrender!"

"So surrender is actually an option in battles between Four Emperors Crews!"

Looking at the dejected Big Mom Pirates members bound in Sea Stone chains, Yota spoke in considerable surprise.

"Of course it is," Thatch, standing beside Yota, said. "After all, aside from the Beasts Pirates, the other Four Emperors Crews are all very united."

"Even Kaido is extremely loyal to the important subordinates under him."

"If everyone fought to the death every time, the Four Emperors Crews would have become a complete mess long ago."

Yota froze slightly. He had never considered that issue.

Indeed, thinking about it carefully, all the Squad Commanders in the Whitebeard Pirates called each other brothers, and Whitebeard, their Pops, was fiercely protective. If one of his sons truly fell on the battlefield, he would never let it go.

There was even less need to mention Shanks’s Red Hair Pirates. Having inherited the will of the Roger Pirates, the relationships among their crew were practically a copy of the Straw Hat Pirates. For their companions, they would dare brave mountains of blades and seas of fire.

Within the Big Mom Pirates, Big Mom might not care much about affairs and might not feel any familial affection for her children, but they still had a good big brother in Katakuri. If someone really killed Katakuri’s brothers or sisters, did they think he would not go mad?

In this regard, the Beasts Pirates were the only ones somewhat lacking. Yet even Kaido cared deeply for his three All-Stars and the Tobi Roppo.

Thinking about it this way, surrendering when they could not win was not so strange. Under normal circumstances, these high-ranking officers of the Four Emperors Crews would only decide victory or defeat in battle, rather than fight to the death.