Inside Franky House, the massive hall that looked like a glittering crystal palace was now silent. Members of Franky House lay scattered across the floor, unconscious. Plates of food and spilled wine were strewn everywhere, remnants of a lively banquet that had just ended in chaos.
At the far end of the hall, seated beneath an extravagant curtain where Franky usually held court, loomed a massive and terrifying figure. Franky himself was crumpled unconscious at this man's feet, frothing at the mouth.
In an instant, CP9 agents Kalifa and Blueno recognized him. The man exuded a presence that froze the blood in their veins. It was none other than Kaido of the Beasts, one of the Four Emperors who ruled over the New World.
Why was he here? What kind of disaster had they walked into?
Their minds blanked under the crushing pressure of his aura.
'Run... we need to run...!'
The thought echoed in both their heads, but their bodies refused to listen. Kaido hadn't even made a move, yet the mocking grin on his face alone made their knees buckle.
Blueno was the first to recover. Relying on instinct, he reached for his Devil Fruit power, trying to open a door and escape. But the moment he moved, a splitting pain smashed into his skull like a sledgehammer. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Kalifa's face drained of all color. All the strength in her body vanished. She collapsed as well, trembling, powerless. Her heart pounded in despair. She had already heard that Kaido had left the New World and entered the first half of the Grand Line, but never had she imagined she'd come face-to-face with the monster himself.
Then the silence was broken.
"How lucky... I was just wondering how I was going to get what I came for, and now you two show up right on time."
Kaido's deep voice stirred a sliver of desperate hope in Kalifa's chest. She had no idea what to do to survive, no clever words, no plan. But fortunately, Kaido kept speaking.
"How long is he going to sleep?"
Kalifa blinked and understood. She quickly crawled over to Blueno and slapped him several times across the face.
Blueno woke up groggily. At first, he thought he was trapped in some surreal nightmare. But then he saw Kaido seated above, and cold sweat immediately poured down his back. His face turned pale, as if he'd been drained of all life.
Kaido didn't seem to care about his reaction. He pointed at Blueno.
"Your Devil Fruit power is interesting. I need you to do one thing. If you do it, maybe... I'll let you live."
Blueno's terrified face lit up with a flicker of hope. The moment he heard those words, his expression shifted into one of eager submission. He knelt down and said in a trembling but devoted voice,
"Lord Kaido, please give your command! Whatever it is, I'll do it!"
"Good."
Kaido pointed at Franky's limp form.
"There's something inside this guy's body. I want you to open him up and take it out."
This was the real reason Kaido had come here. He had no intention of making a public scene. He only wanted to retrieve the blueprints for Pluton from Franky and vanish without leaving a trace.
But when he dropped in from the sky and knocked everyone out cold with his Conqueror's Haki, he ran into an unforeseen issue. Though Franky was a cyborg, Kaido had no idea how to open his body safely.
He worried that Franky might have installed a self-destruct mechanism or hidden traps inside. Considering the importance of the blueprints, such precautions wouldn't have been surprising.
Just then, his Observation Haki detected two presences approaching.
"Everything I wanted just fell right into my lap, huh?"
Hearing Kaido's command, Blueno froze for a moment, unsure of what he was being asked to do. But when he caught the silent intensity in Kaido's eyes, he forced himself to move. Crawling awkwardly over to Franky's side, he placed both palms firmly against Franky's abdomen. Immediately, a door-shaped imprint began to form on Franky's metallic chest.
"Take out what's inside."
At Kaido's cold instruction, Blueno activated his ability and opened the door embedded in Franky's torso. He leaned in to look inside, and the sight made his breath hitch. His eyes widened, pupils shrinking in disbelief.
"How... how can this be..."
Inside the hidden compartment lay something unimaginable, something that had eluded them despite years of deep-cover operations in Water 7. The blueprints of Pluton. The very weapon the World Government had been searching for, the one they had failed to locate even after scouring every lead. It had been concealed within Franky's own body all along.
But what stunned Blueno more than the discovery was the burning question: how had Kaido known?
For the briefest moment, he hesitated. Part of him wanted to stash the blueprints away, maybe hide them or even destroy them. But faced with Kaido's overwhelming presence, he made the only logical choice. With trembling fingers, he removed the blueprints and held them high, offering them to the Emperor like a sacred relic.
Kaido took them with ease, glanced through the pages, then casually tucked them into his coat. His sharp gaze then landed back on Blueno. The man who, in the eyes of many pirates, wielded one of the most troublesome and strategic space-type Devil Fruits—the Doa Doa no Mi.
"Not bad. What's your name?"
"I'm Blueno, Lord Kaido!"
"Blueno, huh... Worororo! Your power is interesting. So, what do you say? Want to join my crew?"
Blueno was momentarily stunned, but quickly put on a flattering expression and answered without hesitation.
"Of course! It would be my greatest honor to join Lord Kaido's Beasts Pirates!"
Kaido gave a satisfied nod, then turned his gaze to Kalifa.
Before he could even say a word, Kalifa, shaking from head to toe, blurted out,
"L-Lord Kaido, I'd also be honored to join your Beasts Pirates..."
"Good. Then you two stay here. I'll call on you when I need you."
Relief washed over them like a crashing wave. They weren't going to die. Not yet. But that moment of peace shattered in the next breath.
Kaido's voice lowered, cold and deliberate.
"However, just to prevent any betrayal, I need to take a few precautions."
He pulled out a Den Den Mushi. The snail's eyes lit up, projecting two narrow beams of light directly onto Blueno and Kalifa.
"Now. Repeat after me. 'The Celestial Dragons are pigs—filthy, disgusting creatures worse than trash! Also, they eat shit too.'"
The blood drained from both their faces. They understood the implication instantly. Even if the Marines or the World Government later discovered that Kaido had forced them to say it, it wouldn't matter. If that footage were ever released, they'd be condemned. The Celestial Dragons did not forgive. They did not reason. Their wrath was absolute.
But they were trapped.
Even if they somehow explained their way out, the fact that the blueprints had fallen into Kaido's hands was already a sin too heavy to wash away. Joining the Beasts Pirates might be the only path left that didn't lead directly to the grave.
Blueno clenched his teeth, made his choice, and repeated the words exactly as instructed.
"Good."
The moment Kaido gave his approval, Blueno's head snapped back as if struck by a hammer. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Kaido then raised his gaze to the woman.
"Now... what about you?"