After retiring from the Navy, I became a doting husband.

The pirates of the New World will be largely wiped out, while the Whitebeard Pirates and the Red-Haired Pirates will remain indifferent to worldly affairs, the Big Mom Pirates will be too busy to help themselves, and the captain of the Beasts Pirates will be in Elbaf. They probably won't dare to make any rash moves.

Now is the best and safest time for the navy to send troops to the New World, and we also have a good excuse: to support the world's number one superpower, Elbaf.

"Summon General Kuzan and General Sakassky to see me."

"Sengoku said into the Den Den Mushi, "Kuzan and Sakazuki have just returned from a mission, delivering Doflamingo's body to Mary Geoise. They haven't been assigned any new missions yet and are resting in Marineford."

A moment later, footsteps sounded at the door, and Kuzan and Sakazuki entered Sengoku's office one after the other.

"Marshal, you wanted to see me?" Kuzan asked first.

“Kuzan, Sakazuki, I have a task for you to undertake,” Sengoku said.

"Marshal, please make the arrangements!"

"Take your men to Elbaf and bring back the pirates there. I'm sure you know what's going on there," Sengoku said, stroking his chin.

"Marshal, isn't this too dangerous? Elbaf is deep in the New World. We're all alone on this journey. What if we're surrounded by pirates...?"

"Don't worry about Sakazuki. The New World is not what it used to be. No pirate would dare to provoke the Navy at this time. Go ahead with peace of mind! This is the best opportunity to achieve justice. If you miss this opportunity, who knows if you will have another chance in the future."

"It's the Marshal!"

Kuzan and Sakazuki went to prepare manpower. Although they were somewhat worried, they had no choice but to follow Sengoku's orders.

Mary Geoise

"Look! What do we do now? The pirates' strength has been greatly reduced. What if the Navy demands an attack? Should we agree or not? If we make it too obvious, the Navy will become suspicious!"

The Five Elders fell silent, each pondering how to handle the problems of the new world.

"report!"

"Come in!"

"Lord Five Elders, the Navy has deployed its forces, targeting the New World, led by Admiral Aokiji and Admiral Akainu!"

"Understood, let's go!"

"Oh no! What should we do? The Warring States didn't even ask for our permission before sending out troops! Could it be that they've discovered something?"

"We can't do it ourselves, let him do it!"

"Okay, let's contact him!"

……

"Hu! Hu! Hu!"

Both Martin and Kaido were exhausted after the long battle and were breathing heavily.

Martin discovered that when he was exhausted, there was an energy in the air that helped him recover his strength. The restoration of his golden Conqueror's Haki greatly increased his endurance. Without that energy, he might have been defeated long ago.

He discovered that not only he had it, but Kaido also seemed to have a strange energy within him. When his golden Conqueror's Haki was injected into Kaido's body, it would be expelled by that energy, which was why he had been unable to defeat Kaido for a long time.

However, Kaido is much worse at energy recovery. Martin found that as long as he used the "Thrust Through the Mountain" technique, his golden Conqueror's Haki would recover very quickly, while Kaido's recovery seemed to be very slow.

"I didn't expect you to be so resilient, you actually managed to fight me for ten days and ten nights, but you still can't kill me!" Kaido laughed loudly.

He lunged forward again. Now was the most crucial moment; whoever could hold out the longest would win.

Martin, not to be outdone, charged forward again and grappled with Kaido. However, both of them were exhausted and soon collapsed.

"Come and kill me! Come and kill me now!"

Even as Kaido lay on the ground, he kept begging Martin to kill him. In truth, though he said this, he was beginning to feel a sense of dread, realizing that the demonic power within him was about to run out.

He had never encountered anything like this before. Even when his stamina was exhausted, his demonic power never diminished. Since awakening this demonic power within him, not only had his physique grown taller and stronger, but his muscles had also become harder and stronger, his recovery speed faster and faster, and he was no longer afraid of Devil Fruit abilities. Even eating several more Devil Fruits wouldn't kill him; instead, it would increase his demonic power.

His demonic power was his greatest trump card that enabled his immortality, but it was actually depleted in this battle and is about to be exhausted. The awakening of his demonic power was also very accidental. Back when he was still a brother, he fought alongside Captain Rocks and other pirate crews. He was seriously injured, and the backlash from his Devil Fruit power almost consumed his soul.

Fortunately, Charlotte Linlin, a fellow crew member, used her Soul-Soul Fruit ability to suppress the backlash, allowing her not only to survive but also to awaken her Devil Fruit powers. From then on, she was no longer affected by the side effects of the Devil Fruit, her combat strength grew stronger, and she even gained immortality.

This is why he was determined to kill Martin; Charlotte Linlin was his savior, and how could he not avenge such a great wrong? However, he hadn't expected that this battle would deplete the demonic power he had painstakingly accumulated over the years.

"No, I need to end this battle as soon as possible. This kid is too weird. I might really die here." Kaido suddenly sat up when he thought of this. He was always looking for death not because he was not afraid of death, but because he knew that no one could kill him.

This is also a way for him to demonstrate his strength, and even more so, a way to protect himself. No one would provoke a madman, and if something happens, people will actually back down. No one wants to fight against a monster who is courting death and can't be killed. This is also the secret to his success. As long as he doesn't die and no one bothers his pirate crew, his power will only grow.

"call!"

Kaido sat up and transformed into a giant dragon, floating in the air. His dragon head was aimed at Martin, who was lying on the ground, preparing to unleash a heat breath on the guy. After several battles, the heat breath could be used again, but it required the consumption of demonic power.

Martin, lying on the ground, appeared to be motionless, but in reality, he had been fully activating his golden Haki. A mysterious energy in the air was continuously flowing into his body, restoring his energy reserves. He had originally planned to recover for a while and then resolve the problem of Kaido once and for all, but he didn't expect Kaido to make the first move.

Just as Martin was preparing to get up and fight, he noticed that Kaido's huge dragon head had actually raised up and was looking into the distance. Could something have happened in the distance?

Martin was right, but it wasn't that anything had happened; it was just that more people had arrived. Giant white sails, seagull emblems—the navy had actually come to Elbaf, deep in the New World.

Kaido's eyes narrowed into slits. They had a secret agreement with the World Government that the Navy couldn't venture deep into the New World, and they themselves couldn't cause trouble outside the New World. Did the World Government want to break the agreement?

Then Kaido saw two familiar figures: Aokiji and Akainu, the two admirals he had fought against in Dressrosa. Was the World Government planning to take advantage of his misfortune and eliminate him?

On the distant Elbaf River, a massive naval warship slowly approached the shore. Kuzan and Sakazuki stood side by side on board, surrounded by a large number of naval personnel. The enormous dragon in the distance terrified the naval crew, who had never seen such a huge dragon before.

"Kaido has transformed! It seems the battle is quite intense." Sakazuki turned to look at Kuzan and said. As admirals of the Navy, they knew this was Kaido's Devil Fruit ability.

"Never mind him, let's get ashore quickly and clear out these pirates. That way, the pressure on our navy in the New World will be much greater, and we might even be able to reclaim our lost bases." Kuzan said, glancing into the distance. In recent years, the navy has been constantly pressured by pirates in the New World, losing many New World bases.

There were many pirates scattered along the riverbank. They belonged to different pirate crews, but all of them were wounded, and the injuries were not light. Most of them were elite officers or captains of the pirate crews who were able to survive several heat breath attacks.

Seeing the arrival of the Marine Admirals, they were all dejected. However, some pirates were secretly happy. Although being captured by the Marines would mean being imprisoned in Impel Down, it meant they wouldn't die. Who knew if they would come after them after the battle was over?

Kaido, seeing Kuzan and Sakazuki disembark from the ship, immediately channeled his demonic power. Then, his massive dragon mouth opened, and a ball of flame appeared at the corner of his lips.

Martin flipped over and stood up. His Observation Haki had been monitoring Kaido, and he discovered that although Kaido possessed a kind of Haki similar to his own golden Haki, Kaido couldn't use it or control it. This power was integrated into Kaido's body, protecting it. However, after Kaido transformed into a dragon, that power actually started moving.

"Heat Breath!"

"call!"

A massive pillar of fire erupted from Kaido's dragon mouth, hurtling straight toward Martin. The surrounding temperature instantly soared, and the crimson flames illuminated Kaido.

"Golden Conqueror's Haki - Crescent Moon Slash"

Martin channeled his golden Conqueror's Haki into the blade, unleashing his Zanpakuto. He didn't stop the output of golden Conqueror's Haki; a long crescent moon was pressed against Kaido's heat breath.

"boom!"

Heat Breath and Crescent Moon collided, Martin continuously unleashed golden Conqueror's Haki, and Kaido continuously blew out pillars of fire, causing the two colliding energies to grow stronger and stronger.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The enormous ball of energy churned and churned, its terrifying aura forcing Kuzan and Sakazuki to stop and observe it, wondering if it would explode.

"not good!"

Kaido, who was desperately unleashing his power, suddenly fell silent and let out a loud shout. Just now, the demonic power within his body had been exhausted, and his heat aura automatically stopped.

The stalemate between the two energies finally came to a conclusion. Martin's Crescent Slash broke through the heat breath barrier and blasted towards Kaido's massive dragon body.

"boom!"

Crescent Moon Slash struck Kaido directly, sending him flying as he transformed into a giant dragon. Kaido tumbled through the air, his scales and dragon skin shattered by the shockwave, leaving him covered in blood.

Chapter 229 Oden Castle in Wano Country

Kaido flew a long way through the sky before crashing heavily to the ground. The pain all over his body, the blood streaming down his face—he couldn't remember the last time he had been so badly injured. He vaguely remembered that the last time he was injured was when he awakened his demonic power.

Kaido struggled to fly up again. The demonic power that had vanished from his body made him realize that things were in trouble. Without the protection of demonic power, his physical strength was no different from that of an ordinary strongman.

"Whoosh!"

Without a second thought, Kaido flew away from the sky. Continuing to stay there would only result in one thing: he would be killed by Martin as he had wished, and his long-held dream would be fulfilled. But was that what he truly wanted?

"Kaido actually left? What's going on?"

Kuzan and Sakazuki stared dumbfounded at the sky, speechless as Kaido disappeared. Since they had known Kaido, they had never heard of him leaving before the battle was over.

"It's good that he left; maybe he had a family emergency," Kuzan replied indifferently.

Sakazuki had no other ideas but to think that something might have happened to his pirate crew. They didn't even dare to think about the possibility of being defeated and fleeing. Kaido was an immortal monster, and they thought he might run away.

"Get these criminals out of here as soon as possible," Sakazuki ordered the Marines. For them, it was better without Kaido causing trouble.

"Oh my god, they're leaving already? I've wasted my time."

Martin looked up at the sky and sighed. He had fought so hard to get to this point, and victory was in sight. He was about to become the man who would kill Kaido, but Kaido left. He left so decisively and without any regrets.

Actually, it's possible to force the other party to stay, or even try to kill this immortal old guy.

But there were people around him waiting for him, eager to try, which made him have to be on guard.

Indeed, his Observation Haki had already sensed that someone was trying to take advantage of him.

Martin looked up at the horizon and noticed the warships moored on the Elbaf River. He suddenly realized that the Navy had arrived. Had Kaido left because he saw the Navy?

"wrong!"

Martin then thought of Kaido's final state. His attack seemed to have injured Kaido, and quite badly at that. It must have been his attack that broke Kaido's immortality.

"Could this be the secret to immortality?"

Martin suddenly realized that during the battle, Kaido had exhausted his stamina, and before that, he hadn't been able to hurt Kaido.

Martin thought about it more and more and more likely it was true. He had only ever seen this kind of power in Kaido, and he had never seen it in anyone else.

"So that's how it is! This is the secret to Kaido's immortality. Isn't he just like me? I also have golden Conqueror's Haki protecting me, and my physical strength and defense are almost invincible. Hahaha!" Martin laughed loudly after understanding this.

"Hey! Kid, what are you laughing at? If you're so happy, can you join me?"

Sometime during the night, Kuzan appeared here, standing next to Martin, scratching his hair with one hand, and his breath was emanating cold air.

"So it's you, Admiral Aokiji. Long time no see," Martin said, recognizing the newcomer.

"I didn't want to join in the fun either; it was a task assigned by the Marshal."

Aokiji shrugged.

Although he participated in the campaign to eliminate Martin, he had no past grudges against Martin; in fact, one could say the two had a fairly good relationship.

Martin stabbed himself in the butt with a sword, and in doing so, he also developed feelings for the other person.

He was probably the man with the closest relationship to Martin.

"So it was arranged by that old man from the Warring States period. What evil scheme is that old fellow up to now?"