Free Web NovelChapter 333: Chapter 333: Piercing Kaido’s Shoulder Blades
Rehn kept one foot planted firmly on Kaido’s head, his chest heaving violently.
His once-expensive diamond-studded tailcoat had been reduced to a few tattered strips hanging from his body, exposing pale but rock-hard fat underneath.
Sweat mixed with dust and blood trickled down his face, dripping onto Kaido’s horribly swollen one.
"Huff... huff... what a damn tough bastard."
Rehn looked down at the monster beneath his foot.
Even unconscious, Kaido still radiated terrifying pressure.
They won.
They really won.
Sure, it was thanks to Lord Renzo’s "decree" weakening him.
Sure, they’d taken advantage of Kaido being drunk.
Sure, Rehn’s methods had been a little dirty...
But the result was undeniable.
He, Rehn, had personally brought down a Yonko head-on.
The sense of achievement was more addictive than counting money by a million times!
But after only three seconds, the ecstasy on Rehn’s face cooled rapidly.
It was replaced by extreme caution.
He understood monsters like this far too well.
Mythical Zoan recovery abilities were basically cheating.
Kaido might look unconscious now, but for all Rehn knew, the guy could snore once, sit upright, and blast a point-blank Boro Breath at him the next second.
"No... absolutely can’t give him even the slightest chance to turn things around."
A cold gleam flashed in Rehn’s narrowed eyes.
This was a rare specialty item meant for Lord Renzo.
A hostage meant to offset repair costs.
If Kaido escaped, or woke up and caused trouble again,
Lord Renzo’s waking rage would be truly terrifying.
Thinking of that, Rehn suddenly raised his head and roared toward the black warship hovering offshore, the Thunder God.
"HEY!!! YOU USELESS IDIOTS ON THE SHIP!!! ARE YOU ALL DEAD?!"
"GET YOUR ASSES DOWN HERE! EVERYONE! EVEN THE BOILER CREW!!"
Rehn’s voice exploded through the loudspeaker, making the Marines aboard jump.
"And go to the armory! Bring every single, listen carefully, EVERY SINGLE Seastone chain over here!!"
"Not one left behind! Even the damn dog chains, bring them too!!"
"MOVE!!!"
"Y-Yes, Chief!"
"Hurry! Get the chains! The high-purity crates too! And the special shackles!"
"Forget the cannons! The Chief wants chains! MOVE!!"
The Thunder God instantly descended into chaos.
Hundreds of G-5 elite Marines rushed into the lower decks like cats with their tails stepped on.
Soon, more than a dozen transport boats shot toward the shore like arrows.
Each boat was piled high with heavy black chains radiating the aura of the sea.
These weren’t ordinary chains.
These were high-purity Seastone restraints accumulated by G-5 over the years through both legal and illegal means, acquired from the World Government, black markets, and even intercepted prison shipments from Impel Down.
Every chain was worth a fortune.
Every chain could turn a Devil Fruit user into a limp noodle.
BOOM! BOOM!
Heavy crates slammed onto the ruined ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
The Marines formed a circle around Kaido’s massive body, all pale-faced and trembling, too scared to approach.
That was Kaido.
Even lying there motionless, the pressure leaking from him was enough to suffocate ordinary soldiers.
"What are you idiots standing around for?! Watching a show?!"
Rehn kicked open one crate and picked up a wrist-thick black chain, weighing it in his hand.
Then he frowned in dissatisfaction.
"Too thin! Fine for ordinary pirates, but this brute? He’d sneeze and snap it!"
Throwing it aside, Rehn rummaged through the crate until his eyes landed on a giant lead box marked: [For Special-Class Criminals.]
"Open it."
Several soldiers struggled to pry it open.
Inside were only two chains.
No, calling them chains almost felt inaccurate.
They looked more like gigantic black metal pythons.
Every link was the size of a human head.
Pitch-black.
Covered in strange anti-Haki runes.
Radiating chilling cold.
These were the "Chains of Despair."
Created years ago by G-5’s research division using technology requested from Vegapunk specifically to imprison legendary pirates.
"Hehehe... now THIS is more like it."
A disturbingly delighted grin spread across Rehn’s face.
He grabbed one end of the chain.
At the tip was a spear-shaped locking spike forged from 100% pure Seastone.
"Get over here! Hold down his arms and legs! If he twitches even once, pin him harder!"
A group of G-5 elites wearing powered exoskeletons rushed forward and pinned down Kaido’s limbs.
Rehn didn’t start wrapping him immediately.
Instead, carrying the massive spike, he walked behind Kaido.
His gaze settled on Kaido’s broad, muscular back,
More specifically, the shoulder blades.
The so-called "Shoulder Blades", the key joint for generating strength.
A vital weakness used to immobilize powerful fighters.
"Kaido, don’t blame me for being ruthless."
Rehn licked his lips, eyes turning ice-cold.
"You’re the strongest creature alive. Your vitality’s too absurd."
"Just touching your skin won’t be enough to suppress your Devil Fruit powers or that monstrous strength."
"For Lord Renzo’s peace and everyone’s safety..."
"You’ll have to suffer a little."
The moment the words ended,
Rehn gripped the enormous Seastone spike with both hands.
Aiming precisely at the gap in Kaido’s right shoulder blade,
The key pivot point of the human body,
He drove it down with all his strength, enhanced by Armament Haki!
"GET IN THERE!!!"
SCHLKK!!
An awful sound of metal piercing flesh and scraping bone echoed across the silent ruins.
Even unconscious, Kaido’s body twitched violently.
A painful groan escaped his throat.
The wrist-thick Seastone spike pierced through skin tougher than steel, drilled through muscle, slipped between the shoulder bones, and burst out through his chest!
Blood sprayed instantly,
Only to be suppressed immediately by the strange magnetic field of Seastone.
"Not done yet! Left side!"
Rehn moved quickly and repeated the process.
SCHLKK!!
Another sickening sound.
Two gigantic Seastone chains now pierced through Kaido’s shoulder blades like giant fangs, completely locking his upper body in place.
For an ordinary person, such injuries would be fatal.
For Kaido, they were merely minor wounds, but they perfectly disrupted his ability to exert force.
Even if he woke up, he wouldn’t be able to move his arms at all.
"Huff..."
Rehn wiped away sweat.
But he still wasn’t finished.
"This is only step one."
Looking at the mountain of ordinary Seastone chains nearby, the madness in his eyes deepened further.
"Boys! Wrap him up!" freёwebnovel.com
"Don’t worry about appearance!"
"Don’t worry about style!"
"Use EVERY SINGLE CHAIN HERE!!"
"NOT ONE LEFT OVER!!"
"YES SIR!!!"
The soldiers, infected by Rehn’s insanity, dragged the heavy chains over and began the grand operation known as, Packaging a Yonko.
Clank... clank... clank...
The sound of metal chains colliding echoed endlessly.
First layer, locking the joints.
Second layer, wrapping the torso and neck.
Third layer, forcing the limbs folded against the chest before reinforcing them with thicker chains.
Fourth layer...
Fifth layer...
Layer after layer.
The once-human shape of Kaido gradually disappeared beneath an ocean of black metal.
Rehn supervised like a packaging worker with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder:
"There! Gap under the armpit! Stuff another chain in!"
"The legs! Fold the legs tighter! He’s taking up too much space! Push harder!"
"That tail! The dragon tail’s the most dangerous part! Lock it with special cuffs, fold it onto his back, then wrap ten more times!"
"The head! Don’t cover it completely! Leave a breathing hole! Don’t suffocate him, dead means worthless! But stuff his mouth shut!"
"Use the biggest Seastone gag!"
As time passed, the once-unmatched Emperor of the Sea, Kaido, completely disappeared.
In his place stood, a gigantic black iron sphere over three meters wide.
Countless Seastone chains wrapped together into an enormous metallic ball.
Its surface was uneven and jagged with freezing metal links.
Even cannon fire probably couldn’t penetrate the half-meter-thick "Seastone armor."
At the top of the sphere remained only a palm-sized hole.
Through it, one could vaguely see Kaido’s tightly shut eyes, the giant gag stuffed in his mouth, and the painful, humiliated look frozen on his face.
Aside from that, not even a finger could move anymore.
...
Silence fell once more.
But this time, it wasn’t from fear.
It was from utter disbelief.
The G-5 Marines hauling chains.
Law.
Zoro.
Everyone stared at the gigantic black iron sphere with mouths hanging open and eyes bulging.
The sea breeze swept across the ruins, carrying scraps of paper through the air.
"This... this is..."
Usopp dropped his slingshot onto the ground.
Pointing at the sphere with trembling fingers, he stammered:
"Th-that’s... the Yonko Kaido?!"
Roronoa Zoro hugged his swords, the corners of his mouth twitching violently.
He’d seen countless methods of restraining prisoners.
Handcuffs.
Ropes.
Even nets.
But never in his life had he seen someone so insanely thorough, that they literally forged the prisoner into a giant iron ball to prevent escape.
"This is... absurdly cautious."
At this point, Rehn’s level of psychological insanity had definitely reached the top tier of the New World.
This level of obsessive caution was terrifying.
"Hoooo!"
Rehn finally exhaled deeply and sat down beside the massive "Kaido Ball."
Patting the cold chains with satisfaction, hearing the metallic clang clang sounds, he revealed the blissful smile of a miser after counting his fortune.
"Now this is proper."
Rehn nodded in satisfaction and muttered to himself:
"Used a lot of Seastone. Cost’s pretty high."
"But..."
"Safety first. Efficiency first."
"This way, even if he wakes up, under dozens of tons of Seastone pressure..."
"He’ll stay a good little ball!"
"Escape? Maybe next life!"
Rehn stood up and straightened his utterly ruined clothes.
Then he lifted the loudspeaker again.
Sweeping his gaze across the stunned crowd...
Across the trembling enemies...
Across the devastated ruins they had created...
He inhaled deeply and shouted with every last ounce of strength in his body:
"LISTEN UP, ALL OF YOU!!!"
"The Yonko! The Beast Kaido!!"
Stepping atop the giant iron sphere, Rehn struck a victorious pose:
"Has been successfully captured alive-"
"BY G-5!!!"
His voice echoed endlessly over Dressrosa’s skies.
At that moment, the scene froze.
A ragged fat man standing atop a gigantic black iron sphere, with smoke and ruins filling the background.
Absurd.
Insane.
Yet horrifyingly real.
