It was Black Maria who had spoken, her voice a soft yet firm counterpoint to the gloom that had fallen over the hall.
She looked confidently at Kaido, her eyes filled with a tender, almost hypnotic quality.
"Speak," Kaido commanded, his voice a low, hoarse rumble that betrayed the ragged edge of his impatience.
Black Maria carefully organized her thoughts before presenting her analysis.
"This sudden attack by Whitebeard," she began.
"Was clearly not for revenge. Though he used Oden's name as a pretext, his true actions were meant to test and restrain you, Kaido-sama."
"Hmm?" Kaido's brow furrowed, the logic in her words cutting through his rage.
It did make a perverse kind of sense.
During their battle, there were many times when Whitebeard could have pressed his advantage for a killing blow, but instead, he seemed almost obsessed with... collecting his blood.
"I know why Whitebeard did this," Kaido growled, his expression darkening as the final, insulting piece of the puzzle clicked into place.
"That bastard wants to harvest my blood to mass-produce Devil Fruits..."
"What?!" Jack exclaimed, his mind reeling at the implication.
A horrifying image formed in his head: a fleet of ships, each carrying a warrior who could transform into a nigh-invincible azure dragon, a legion of Kaidos ready to burn the world.
"If they succeed..." he stammered, "The entire Whitebeard crew... they'll all be... Kaido-sama?!"
The others were equally shocked by this news, their faces filled with a new kind of dread.
For a moment, the room fell into a deathly silence.
Black Maria let the horror settle before gracefully taking command of the room again.
"Kaido-sama" she began, her voice calm once more, "While this is a grave, long-term threat, it is not the reason I spoke up." Seeing the confusion on Kaido's face, she continued.
"Apart from Whitebeard himself, the other invaders—the ones with Kizaru's power—had only one target: all the gold and jewels on this island."
"Gold and jewels..." Kaido repeated the words, his tone dripping with disbelief and a fresh wave of fury.
He had assumed they were after his status, his power, his Road Poneglyph.
He never imagined they'd come for mere wealth.
The realization filled him with a burning, profound irony.
He, one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, was being treated as nothing more than a 'fat sheep' to be fleeced.
His fists clenched so tightly his nails drew blood.
"Kaido-sama" Black Maria said, her eyes gleaming with a spider's cunning, "I believe we can use their own greed as the perfect bait to lure the Whitebeard Pirates back here."
Kaido steadied his breathing, his gaze sharp as he stared at her.
"Go on."
"We can use our vast wealth as bait," she explained. "We contact Morgans, have him spread the word across the globe. We offer a prize so astronomical that no pirate, especially ones as desperate for funds as they now seem to be, could possibly resist. Once they enter our trap, we will have them ensnared. We capture one of them, just one, and then we proceed with our original plan: force Whitebeard into a battle of attrition, and finish him off for good."
As Kaido listened, the dark fury in his eyes was slowly replaced by a flicker of grudging respect, which then ignited into a blaze of manic inspiration.
"Yes..." he growled, the sound a low rumble. "An excellent plan! If they truly came for treasure, this will be child's play!" He rose from his seat, his massive form seeming to fill the entire hall, his spirit renewed.
"Spread the order! Gather all of our remaining wealth! Contact Morgans and have him print the biggest headline the world has ever seen!"
He paused, a savage, world-shaking grin spreading across his face.
"Tell them Kaido offers a bounty of three hundred billion Belly to anyone who can defeat him in a challenge! Tell them... I only seek defeat!"
*****
The next day, the news exploded across the globe like a cannon.
On pirate ships in the New World, captains lowered their spyglasses, their faces a mixture of terror and avaricious excitement.
In the hallowed halls of Marineford, admirals and vice-admirals convened in tense, emergency meetings, the balance of the entire world threatening to shatter.
When Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, issued a public, formal challenge to another, everyone realized this would be an unprecedented battle—a war that could completely reshape the era.
And the bounty, the sheer, insane number attached to the challenge, was what truly broke people's minds.
What kind of world was this, where a man offered a king's ransom simply to be defeated?
Faced with this monumental event, the World Government and the Marines were thrown into turmoil.
Would they intervene to prevent the further escalation of a war that could engulf the world?
Or would they use this opportunity to try and weaken two of their greatest enemies at once?
As the news spread, the seas grew more tense, more thrilling, and more frenzied than ever before.
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