Jack the Drought's cry of distress left Queen and King puzzled.
There were only a few things that could make Devil Fruit abilities fade.
Seastone, seawater, and sea salt.
They hadn't seen any Seastone.
Nor had they seen any seawater.
As for sea salt, it required an enormous quantity, which was nowhere to be seen during the current battle.
They began to doubt Jack's words, thinking it was merely a lie to cover his inability to defeat Sima Yi.
However, when they saw Jack's physical size visibly shrinking, both Queen and King were stunned.
His Devil Fruit ability was indeed fading.
At the same time, Sima Yi unleashed his Devil Fruit ability once more, commanding the Hydra to attack Jack the Drought.
Nine beams of light descended upon the greatly weakened Jack the Drought.
Accompanied by a scream, Jack sustained nine wounds, blood gushing out.
Yet, this was not the end.
Sima Yi smirked with a sinister charm, then ghosted onto Jack's body, extending a hand and placing it on Jack's back.
"Myriad Snakes!"
A dark purple barrier appeared on the ground, its diameter vast, around three hundred meters.
Then, purple snakes crawled out of the barrier like a flood, surging towards Jack's body.
"Wrist Punch!"
Queen, although unaware of how Sima Yi had managed to weaken Jack the Drought's Devil Fruit power, knew he had to intervene to save him.
Otherwise, if this continued and Jack the Drought's Devil Fruit power truly vanished, Jack would surely die.
In his half-dragon form, Queen sprinted forward, his massive fist coated with Armament Haki, launching a strike of immense destructive power.
Sima Yi's eyes flickered towards Queen. His body, agile as an eel, quickly darted to the side, and Queen's punch landed on empty air.
"Flame!"
The Flame Catastrophe King, King, swooped down, his colossal wings unleashing flames that sliced towards Sima Yi from the side.
Sima Yi narrowed his eyes, observing his opponent. He shifted his "Wasteland Domain" to target King.
As King approached Sima Yi, he immediately felt his Devil Fruit ability change. The closer he got to Sima Yi, the faster his ability faded.
When he was still five meters away from Sima Yi, King, despite still flying, found his Devil Fruit ability almost entirely gone. The momentum and pressure of his dive had almost vanished.
Concurrently, Sima Yi's nine heads abandoned Jack the Drought and spewed dark purple energy towards King.
Kaido, observing from above, his massive dragon eyes gleaming sharply, opened his maw and unleashed a torrent of dragon's breath.
The two energies collided. King, caught in the colossal energy impact, used the opportunity to break free from the Wasteland Domain's influence.
Queen seized the moment to hurl Jack the Drought far away.
Boom!
Jack the Drought crashed into a large rock and stopped.
Cough, cough, cough!
Spitting out several mouthfuls of blood, Jack the Drought, as soon as he stood up, collapsed to his knees due to lack of stamina.
"He can make my Devil Fruit ability disappear."
"Within a certain range."
"When he grabs me, he can also drain my stamina."
Jack the Drought said, panting heavily.
These were two critical pieces of information that instilled fear in Queen and King.
An enemy like this was exceptionally troublesome.
Especially if his stamina was drained, he would be as good as a lamb to the slaughter.
Oden Kozuki, upon hearing Jack's words, looked at Sima Yi with disbelief.
"Is Kurozumi Orochi's Devil Fruit ability that powerful?"
Oden Kozuki had indeed crossed paths with Kurozumi Orochi.
Although their encounter lasted only two moves before Kaido intervened and saved him.
However, Oden Kozuki was absolutely certain that Kurozumi Orochi's Devil Fruit ability did not possess such special capabilities.
"Devil Fruit abilities are developed based on the individual."
"Clearly, Kurozumi Orochi possessed ambition but lacked the sufficient strength," Bennidict said with a chuckle.
Oden Kozuki fell into a brief silence, then nodded.
Devil Fruit abilities, ultimately, depended on the individual's level of development to manifest their power.
It was just that the development of Devil Fruit abilities varied from person to person.
Even the best Devil Fruit, in the hands of a useless person, would be a waste.
"Bennidict, what do you mean?"
"Are you intending to interfere in Wano Country's affairs?"
Kaido, seeing his three top subordinates cautiously facing Sima Yi alone, felt a surge of displeasure.
Thus, Kaido glared at Bennidict and roared irritably.
"Your Xuanwu Navy is currently at war with the World Government, are you not afraid that our Beasts Pirates will also join in and attack your Xuanwu Navy?"
Bennidict smiled.
He shook his head and said to Oden Kozuki beside him, "Shall I go first? Or together."
"Kaido, that guy, is tough and hard to kill."
"More importantly, the more he fights, the stronger he gets."
Oden Kozuki looked at Kaido in the air, holding his great grade sword, and said, "You knock him down, and I'll cut him."
Bennidict clenched his fists, the joints cracking, and said, "Alright, I'll knock him down first."
Kaido, seeing that Bennidict and Oden Kozuki dared to disregard him so openly, immediately went berserk.
"Thunder Bagua!"
In his Azure Dragon form, although Kaido was not wielding his club, his massive dragon claws descended in a powerful strike.
Oden Kozuki, holding his sword, slashed towards the descending attack.
The powerful strike of the great swordsman effortlessly shattered Kaido's attack.
Meanwhile, Bennidict took the opportunity to bypass the commotion and flew up, intending to land on Kaido's back.
Kaido, naturally, would not allow Bennidict to succeed.
His massive body flipped in the air, his enormous head turned backward, and he opened his maw, attempting to swallow Bennidict whole.
Bennidict merely glanced at him, then accelerated.
Bang!
Bennidict landed a punch on the dragon's body. The immense impact sent Kaido plummeting towards the ground.
As he fell, Kaido endured the pain and unleashed a torrent of dragon's breath at Bennidict.
Anyone who couldn't fly might have been hit by Kaido's dragon's breath.
However, Bennidict could fly, and he was incredibly fast.
Easily dodging the dragon's breath, Bennidict immediately activated the Eight Inner Gates.
"Gate of Wonder, open!"
"Asakujaku!" (Morning Peacock)
With incredible speed, he caught up to the falling Kaido and unleashed his attack.
Kaido felt the surge of energy and saw Bennidict's action. The memory of their first encounter flashed through his mind.
As expected!
With lightning-fast fists, each punch landed with sparks and lightning.
Still in mid-air, Kaido received heavy blows.
His screams echoed through the sky.