He wasn't able to defeat Doflamingo. Naturally, Redfield didn't take a ship from Dressrosa. After flying for a while, he picked this pirate ship, which looked decent enough, and forced himself not to read the crew's minds.
If he used that ability recklessly, life would be a torture. He didn't care whether these pirates were truly submitting to him or not; as long as they didn't dare protest out loud, he just took it as their submission.
"Uh, sir, may I ask where you're headed?"
"Wherever your ship's next stop is, that's where I'm going."
"As you command!"
Intimidated by his presence, these people obediently chose to submit, not even worrying about the money and weapons they'd lost.
Given the choice between money and life, they chose life.
But in this world, there are always those who'd rather risk their lives for money.
"Lord Jack! There's a ship approaching us on its own!"
"What did you say?!"
No matter the day, Jack was almost always out on missions, or just wandering around. Normally, he was the one approaching other people's ships, not the other way around. But today, he ran into just such a situation.
And not only that, it happened while Maylo was on board.
He was just doing his routine patrol in the nearby sea area, while helping someone look after their kid, but trouble unexpectedly came knocking at his door.
"These lunatics… Open fire, sink them…"
Anyone bold enough to attack his ship in these times wasn't just brave; even Jack could only describe them as crazy.
Watching the enemy ship already opening fire, Jack was about to give the order to return fire, but the cannons on his own ship started firing before he could say a word.
"Damn it, who gave the order to fire without my command?! Their aim is… ridiculously accurate."
When Jack looked toward the command deck, Alcremie and Maylo were already in position, so the rest of his words got stuck in his throat.
"You there! Go bring back two prisoners alive!"
On this ship, "you there" specifically referred to Drake. Though his status had risen, Drake's fate of working hard hadn't changed much.
With so many heavily armored warriors on Jack's ship, surprise attacks were pretty much Drake's specialty. He'd always worked hard at undercover missions, but this time, he seemed distracted.
"Red Flag, Boss just gave you a job, what are you spacing out for?"
"Oh, I'm on it."
The reason Drake was distracted was because of the news in the paper. Doflamingo was his "father's killer." For his father, who'd defected from the Marines, Drake had complicated feelings.
After all, his father had changed completely after that. Though Drake felt his father brought it on himself because of the Op-Op Fruit, he was still deeply moved by the news of Doflamingo's defeat.
New World, on a certain island, now the base of the Kid Pirates.
"What an extravagant piece of writing. Those guys somehow got themselves involved in a big event."
Compared to Redfield and the others, Luffy and Law's alliance wasn't really a major event, but as the initiators of the incident, they still got a lot of coverage.
"Doflamingo and Kaido… Forget it, it doesn't really concern us. Our target is Red-Haired Shanks… What's with you two? Are you really scared by something this trivial?"
Looking at the strange expressions on Apoo and Hawkins, Kid's gaze was full of disdain, thinking they were just scared.
"It's just Red Hair. Are you really losing your courage over this?"
Right then, a tremor like an earthquake suddenly came from outside. When Kid and the others rushed out, all they saw was a gigantic human-shaped crater.
Almost at the same time, up above on a Sky Island, a few members of the Fallen Monk Pirates picked up a wanted poster.
[Oni Princess Yamato, Bounty: Four billion Berries.]
"High Priest! It's a wanted poster left behind by that guy who just jumped off the island to commit suicide!"
"He said something earlier—'My daughter's gotten people all fired up?'"
Up in the clouds, Urouge was sitting in meditation, covered in bandages. Ever since he'd been injured by Cracker, he'd been healing up here.
"That wasn't suicide… the seas are about to become a lot more troublesome."
"Worororo, so Redfield has come out too? And Yamato, that silly girl actually did pretty well."
Down in the deep crater, Kaido rubbed his head and then climbed out, laughing wildly.
Unlike the original timeline, this time he was just passing by, but after seeing the news he got a bit excited. To calm his stirred-up emotions, he decided to jump down from the Sky Island.
Just as Kaido climbed out of the crater, he found himself being watched by a crowd, which immediately killed his good mood.
"What are you looking at? Never seen someone jump from an island before?"
Kaido brushed the dirt off himself and stood up.
"That brat should be able to give me some new surprises this time. She better not disappoint me."
Rayquaza had been irritable lately and simply chose to ignore Kaido. Now that Yamato had returned and seemed to have made some progress, Kaido was naturally excited.
He didn't even care who was in front of him.
Kaido had the qualifications to ignore everyone present, but Kid and his crew didn't. Even with Kaido doing nothing but breathing and muttering to himself, they felt immense pressure.
It wasn't often one got to face Kaido directly. Hawkins and Apoo were both recruited by Queen for their special talents, so they'd barely experienced anything like this.
As for Kid, he'd lost an arm, yet he didn't even see the one who did it. Otherwise, he wouldn't be talking so big about challenging Red Hair.
At least, the current Kid still had the courage to attack the man standing before him.
"Attack!"
He couldn't believe Kaido was here just because he was lost or something, but as soon as he gave the order, he found that only his own crew members were making a move.
"You two b*stards, what are you doing?! That's an Emperor of the Sea; you think you can just mess around?!"
Kid thought Apoo and Hawkins were just trying to take advantage of the chaos, but their actions showed him he was way too naive.
"Governor-General Kaido, hello."
Hawkins could still stay calm, bowing to Kaido in greeting. Apoo, on the other hand, was much more over the top.
After spending so much time with Queen, Apoo seemed to have grown thicker skin. At this moment, he wore an obsequious grin, played his instrument, and helped Kaido brush dust off his body.
"Ah, Lord Kaido, why didn't you let us know you were coming? We could have prepared a proper welcome for you. You really caught us by surprise!"
"You two… Right, you're Queen's recruits. What are you doing here?"
"We're just following Lord Queen's orders, to get out and about a bit. Actually, we wanted to—"
Apoo didn't hesitate at all, revealing his plans to betray Kid right in front of him, not caring in the slightest about Kid's face growing darker by the second.
"I see. What a waste of time. Was it really worth scheming for so long over this kind of trash?"
"We're nothing compared to you, Lord."
"You bunch of b*stards! Stop chatting among yourselves! Even if you two are traitors, I can still deal with you!"
The metal on the island was drawn toward Kid's arm by his magnetic power, quickly forming a massive steel fist, which he immediately hurled straight at Kaido.
Hawkins and Apoo quickly dodged, while Kaido stood there as if he hadn't even noticed, letting Kid's attack hit him head-on.
Then Kid's arm, formed from all kinds of metal, suddenly shattered into pieces, while Kaido just yawned out of boredom.
"Boring."
Then, he just casually swung his kanabo at Kid, without even shouting out the name of the technique. Afterward, Kid collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness instantly.
"I'm heading back to Onigashima. You guys handle the rest yourselves."
Transforming into a cyan dragon, Kaido grabbed the Flame Clouds and soared into the sky. A weakling like Kid didn't interest him at all; he wasn't even qualified to be an appetizer.
Apoo and Hawkins watched as Kaido left, then turned to look at the rest of the Kid Pirates.
A few days later, Kaido returned to Onigashima and kept waiting for something.
Finally, he saw the ship he'd been hoping to see, and even caught a glimpse of Yamato's figure.
As his gaze focused, he noticed something different in Yamato's eyes.
In the past, the first thing Yamato would do upon seeing Kaido was run away. She'd think of every way possible to avoid him, even making sure Kaido wouldn't notice her. But this time was different.
Just like before, Yamato turned into a blur and vanished from the ship, but she then reappeared before Kaido.
With both arms exerting force, she swung her kanabo straight at Kaido's head.
"Thunder Bagua!"
Boom!
Kaido pulled out his kanabo to block Yamato's attack. This out-of-character behaviour even surprised him, and he couldn't help but stagger back two steps before simply giving up on regaining his balance and sitting down on the roof.
"Yamato, what are you doing?!"
"Saying hi, you b*stard father! I've figured things out. I've made up my mind! My biggest goal now is to defeat you!"
Based on her understanding of Kaido, even if she didn't attack first, Kaido would find an excuse to fight her sooner or later. After all, he'd seen her in the papers, and with Kaido's personality, there's no way he'd miss this chance.
So, she might as well strike first and land a blow on him.
"Boo hoo hoo... Worororo! Wonderful, worororo, this is great!"
Plop, plop, plop...
Kaido deliberately gave up adjusting his balance and sat on the rooftop just to see how Yamato would react next. He hadn't expected that this trip would change her so much.
Huge tears slid from the corners of his eyes, and Kaido got caught up in a strange state of laughing and crying. Then, he grabbed his wine gourd and downed the whole thing in one go.
Crash!
The gourd shattered to pieces. Kaido wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth and stood up.
"Good, very good. Looks like you've grown a lot this time."
Kaido's emotions were quite complex. plex. In his eyes, Yamato taking the initiative to attack him represented significant growth. However, his overly intense reaction ended up making Yamato feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"Hey, hey, hey, get a grip! Let me make this clear first: I brought Doflamingo back, but I'm not responsible for anything else! I'll handle whatever's missing. Even without him, it won't affect any other matters!"
"Oh, Joker? Right, he failed. Well, he was too weak anyway. The papers said you fought with that old geezer Redfield?"
"That's right, he's pretty strong. He's also the user of Vampire Fruit. He knows lots of tricks, and he can absorb life span to regain his youth."
"I see—hic—well, not bad. As for Joker, it doesn't matter. The important thing is, you're ready for a fight now, aren't you?"
Kaido didn't care about Doflamingo. What mattered to him was that Yamato had become interested in fighting.
"I don't like fighting. I want to defeat you, then make changes!"
"Worororo, there's not much difference. The way to do it is still fighting. Anyway, it's great you could make this decision."
At this moment, Kaido was experiencing severe mood swings, yet he maintained a clarity unique to him. He'd occasionally say some nonsense, but he always had his own logic.
"If I'd known he'd have that effect on you, I'd have sent you over there more often. If you'd come to this realization sooner, I wouldn't have cared even if you'd killed him."
There was definitely an effect. Kaido didn't think Yamato could take over everything Doflamingo left behind just by force, but after this journey, Yamato's change was huge, and that was enough.
From the very beginning, Kaido had been training Yamato as his successor. As long as Yamato was strong enough, Kaido wouldn't be angry even if she wanted to replace him; he'd think it was only natural.
His daughter having that kind of ambition was a great thing for him. As for Doflamingo, he could only say the man made the perfect stepping stone.
If Yamato's growth needed that kind of price, Kaido wouldn't have minded sacrificing a few more Doflamingos.
As the alcohol took over his mind, Kaido's fighting spirit surged.
"Looks like you're ready, so I won't say anything more."
In an instant, Kaido transformed and swung his Hassaikai at Yamato. Yamato did the same, and their weapons clashed on Onigashima. But their battle didn't last long.
"Enough! Stop right there!"
A powerful sound wave brought the two of them to a halt. During this time, Arceus had also returned to Onigashima. Seeing how worked up the two were, he didn't say a word. He simply opened a door to the Reverse World and tossed them inside.
Meanwhile, Queen, who had just finished setting up his safe house, found himself staring at the two "pests" that had appeared right before his eyes.
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