New World, Xitan Island.
This was the main base of the territory occupied by Kaido.
Three days ago.
King returned severely injured.
But Kaido and the other crew members never showed up.
The subordinates on the island inevitably began to suspect something.
Under King's iron-handed methods, the situation was barely stabilized.
At the same time, he gathered manpower and sent people to investigate.
King stood at the bow of the ship, gazing into the distance.
Behind him came a subordinate's report:
"King-SAMA, we've bought out all the black market intel."
"But there's still no news about Kaido-sama."
"Should we just..."
Suddenly, a burst of killing intent exploded from King as he stared down the subordinate:
"Shut up!"
"If we couldn't buy it on the black market, then we just didn't pay enough."
"Bring all the treasure."
"We must find any news about Kaido-sama!"
Shing!
As he spoke, he drew the long blade at his waist and pressed it against the subordinate's neck.
Feeling King's murderous aura, the subordinate swallowed hard:
"Y-Yes!!!"
Shing.
He sheathed his blade.
King's calm voice rang out:
"Go."
But the heaving of his chest revealed that King's heart was far from calm.
There's no way anything happened. Kaido-sama is Joy Boy...
He'll be fine, he has to be...
...
New World, Wasen Archipelago.
A massive azure dragon descended from the sky.
Boom!!!
It slammed down in front of the island's largest restaurant.
Kaido released his grip on Queen and transformed into his human form.
He waved to disperse the smoke.
Dragging Queen along, he strode toward the restaurant, scanning the people inside:
"Bring me booze! Bring meat!!!"
"Move it!!!"
His bloodlust, mixed with a hint of Conqueror's Haki, knocked out a huge crowd of people.
Because this was the New World.
The remaining few had already recognized the infamous pirate who had become a household name in recent years—Kaido.
The trembling owner hurried to prepare the food.
The rest fled in a panic, hiding as far away as possible.
Kaido snorted coldly, ignoring them.
He grabbed a barrel of liquor from a waiter and dunked Queen into it headfirst.
"Ugh... cough... cough cough!!!"
Moments later, loud coughing echoed out.
The alcohol choking him and flooding his nasal passages shocked Queen awake.
With immense strength, Kaido yanked Queen's head out of the barrel.
The sudden light stung Queen's eyes as he gazed at the ferocious man before him and swallowed nervously.
Kaido looked at the now-conscious Queen, pointed at his modified arm, and impatiently asked:
"This thing... can it replace organs?"
As he spoke, an aura of menace radiated from him as he looked at Queen.
Queen trembled as he replied:
"It can... but it depends on the organ."
Kaido's breathing grew heavier:
"The lungs."
Queen nodded:
"Yes, it's possible."
Upon hearing the confirmation, Kaido forcibly suppressed his excitement and took a deep swig of liquor.
Bang!
The barrel slammed hard onto the counter. Suddenly, Kaido burst out laughing and crying:
"Uwaaaa!!!"
"Hahahahaha!!!"
"Cough... cough cough..."
The terrifying mix of laughter and sobbing was interrupted by a sudden coughing fit. Kaido's bloodshot eyes locked onto Queen:
"Come work for me."
"My lungs are yours to handle."
"As long as you can make ones that suit my body..."
"I'll give you whatever you want—money, people, anything."
Hearing Kaido's generous offer, Queen now understood why he'd been captured.
Taking a deep breath:
"Anything at all...?"
"My experiments require a large number of live test subjects..."
Kaido suddenly burst into laughter:
"Hahahahaha, just people, right?"
"Anyone you see—take them, they're yours!"
He gestured toward the civilians knocked out by his Conqueror's Haki.
Queen looked at the unconscious people, his own breathing growing heavier.
The ambition for his grand experiment could no longer be contained.
He looked at Kaido with a hint of a smile:
"Boss."
...
South Blue.
Garp's battleship was docked at the harbor.
After smashing Chinjao's drill head, and with no new leads on Roger, Garp had grown bored.
So he decided to copy Sakazuki and sail the seas.
On this day, he had stopped at the harbor for supplies.
The Island served as a forward base before entering Reverse Mountain.
Ships constantly flowed through the harbor.
Suddenly, Garp seemed to notice something interesting. He looked toward a tall, slender figure inside a restaurant by the shore.
"That brat..."
Garp narrowed his eyes. Now this looks interesting...
Inside the restaurant by the shore, the tall figure leaned on one arm, gently swirling a wine glass with the other.
As the glass swirled, unnoticed by others, small ice cubes formed inside.
Sensing something, the figure looked toward Garp's direction.
Their eyes met. The tall man frowned slightly, downed the rest of his drink in one go, and turned to leave.
Garp chuckled and jumped off the ship, silently trailing the figure.
Before he knew it, they had entered a dark alleyway.
The tall figure turned and looked at Garp:
"Sir."
"You seem to have a lot of free time."
Garp grinned wide:
"Kid, come with me."
"I've taken a liking to you."
The figure raised an eyebrow and exhaled a frosty breath:
"Ah la la, I'm not really into middle-aged men."
"Ice—"
Boom!
Garp vanished on the spot and reappeared in front of Kuzan, driving a powerful iron fist into him and slamming him into the wall.
He picked his nose with his pinky and looked at Kuzan, who was struggling to get up:
"Ice what?"
Kuzan clutched his stomach and got up, cold sweat covering his forehead.
Though it was strange for an Ice-Ice Fruit user to sweat...
It was real cold sweat... it hurt...
He struggled to speak as he looked at Garp:
"You..."
Garp chuckled:
"You took a punch and still stood up."
"Not bad, not bad. Join the Marines, kid."
Kuzan suppressed his anger and shouted:
"Like hell I would—"
But as he saw Garp raise his fist again, Kuzan quickly changed his tone and said seriously:
"Maybe we could... discuss salary first?"
Garp burst out laughing:
"Let's talk on my ship."
"Hahahahahaha!"
As he spoke, he vanished again and grabbed Kuzan like luggage... and just carried him off...
...
New World, aboard Sakazuki's battleship.
Having just finished instructing Bullet, Sakazuki summoned Karol.
The two returned to the office.
Sakazuki casually tossed aside his cloak and sat on the couch.
He took the newspaper Karol handed over.
"All the data's been organized?"
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