Inside Queen's laboratory on Onigashima, the busy scientist heard footsteps, turned his head, and saw his older brother walking in, seemingly deep in thought. King, Eneru, and Jack, who were following Kaido, all had strange expressions.
Queen subconsciously blurted out, "What's wrong, Big Brother? Did Caesar and Judge, those two scoundrels, sneak around and manage to displease you?"
"No," Kaido, snapping out of his thoughts, shook his head. After a moment, he asked Queen, "Queen, do you think Wano Country is small?"
Hearing this, Queen seemed to understand immediately and chuckled. "Big Brother, Judge, that scoundrel, brought it up, didn't he?"
"Oh, you know about this too?" Kaido asked.
"Hahaha, that's right, Big Brother. That guy even had an argument with Caesar over the issue!" Queen then explained the earlier incident. It turned out that because Judge was monopolizing three separate laboratories, the notoriously petty Caesar was naturally very unhappy. Caesar didn't dare argue with Queen, but Judge was fair game. The problem was that Onigashima was only so big, and there wasn't enough space for them to build all the laboratories they wanted.
"So, Queen, do you also think Wano Country is too small?" Kaido asked for his subordinate's opinion.
"No, Big Brother," Queen shook his head and offered his perspective. "Wano Country itself isn't small; Onigashima is what's small! Onigashima's only advantage is its defensible geographical location, which makes it great for research labs, but it's far too small for a proper Weapons Factory. In comparison, even the smallest area within Wano Country, like the Flower Capital, is three times the size of Onigashima. And Wano Country has a naturally small population. After you closed so many Weapons Factories, even more space became available. So, Wano Country is plenty large; even if the current Beasts Pirates crew expanded three times over, it could still accommodate everyone. The issue is simply that Onigashima is too cramped."
Everyone immediately understood Queen's point and looked at Kaido, waiting for his decision.
Kaido thought for a moment before making his choice. "No... those Weapons Factories cannot be reopened. That's what I promised that girl Otama. But, what about expanding Onigashima's area? That's something we can certainly look into."
The others looked confused. Kaido explained his idea, "The seas around Onigashima are still very vast. Jack, your next task is to find two suitable islands. Then, I will personally move them here. As for the Weapons Factory..."
Kaido paused, thinking it through, and then continued. "We need to modify our approach. Wano Country is just an island we're occupying. We're only staying here because of its defensive terrain and the Ancient Weapon hidden here, but that doesn't mean we'll stay in Wano Country forever. In the meantime, perhaps we should search for a different island—one large enough and suitable for establishing our future super nation. This location should ideally be centered between our current territory and Linlin's territory. Once we find it, we can move the main Weapons Factory there. Wano Country will then only need to keep the Sea Stone factory."
Everyone's eyes lit up at the sound of this ambitious plan. "That's an excellent idea!"
"King, I'll leave this search for a new super nation island to you!" Kaido delegated.
"Understood, Big Brother!" King affirmed.
Thus, the immediate problem of Onigashima being too small was temporarily resolved. Next was the main reason for the visit.
"Queen, Caesar and Judge have both satisfied me immensely. You won't disappoint me, will you?"
Queen himself became excited. "Don't worry, Big Brother. What you're about to see next will be a miracle on this great sea..."
Queen led the group deep inside Onigashima, into a highly secretive room. Unlike the high-tech laboratories of the other two scientists, this space appeared to be a natural, hidden cave.
Just as everyone wondered why Queen had brought them here, Queen smiled and explained, "Because what I'm going to show you next is absolutely enormous, and a regular laboratory simply can't hold it. So, it can only be temporarily housed here."
As Queen spoke, a deep, heavy breathing sound suddenly echoed from within the cave. Kaido sensed something large and immediately looked interested.
Queen excitedly raised his hands and shouted, "Come, my little darling, meet your master!"
A dragon's roar sounded in response, and a flame suddenly appeared in the dark cave. The light from the fire instantly illuminated the space, and everyone's eyes widened at the sight of the colossal creature inside. Jack's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Whoa, whoa, Big Brother Queen, this... this is what?"
"Roar!!!"
In the massive cave, a red, three-headed Western-style giant dragon appeared before them. It was spewing flames from its mouths and possessed a pair of huge wings. Its body was enormous; even Kaido, the tallest person present, was only the size of one of its heads. However, its eyes looked a bit dull, like those of a newborn baby. Interestingly, its heads didn't look like typical Western dragons, but rather resembled Oriental dragons. Kaido found the creature somewhat familiar, reminding him of Orochi, the man he had killed.
Queen was extremely satisfied with their shocked reactions and yelled excitedly, "How about it, Big Brother? This is my first major achievement!"
"Interesting," Kaido said. "Introduce it."
Queen's lips curved into a wide grin. "Hahahahaha, no problem, Big Brother. Do you remember what you asked for? You wanted me to learn from Eneru's Ark Maxim and create a pirate ship that could fly through the sky, but that idea had to be canceled due to constant energy issues."
Kaido immediately connected the dots. "So, you decided to create this creature instead?"
"That's right, Big Brother. If you think about it differently, it makes sense. All you truly want is for our Beasts Pirates to have the ability to dominate the sky, and whether the method of flight is a pirate ship or something else doesn't matter at all," Queen stated. "Then, fortunately, that scoundrel Caesar told me something: after I left MADS, Vegapunk and he were recruited by the Marines and returned to Punk Hazard, where Vegapunk created a giant fire dragon—a creature that only existed in legends—to guard the island. This gave me the perfect inspiration, and biotechnology is what I do best."
Queen said this and pointed toward the small fire dragon. "I call this little guy: the Sky Rider. And for the Lineage Factor to create him, I chose that idiot Orochi. The results were incredibly successful. While he didn't gain Orochi's eight lives of immortality, he can revive three times. Furthermore, all three of his heads can spew flames. More importantly, he's only one month old. I estimate he can live for at least fifty years, and no one knows how big he will grow by then. However, he is already completely sufficient for carrying people."
"Worororo..." Kaido's loud laughter filled the cave. He was very satisfied with Queen's first accomplishment. Queen was right; he didn't necessarily need to keep chasing the idea of flying pirate ships. This new biotechnology looked fantastic. With the Sky Riders, the Beasts Pirates would gain a crucial air force.
And how undeniably cool would a Dragon Rider Corps be!
However, since this was based on biotechnology, Kaido had one immediate concern. Looking at the fire dragon's fearful eyes, Kaido asked, "Can I take him with me now?"
"Of course, Big Brother!!!" Queen confirmed.
Kaido nodded and looked at Jack standing beside him. "Jack, you did well this time. You completed the task I gave you within two weeks. I'm rewarding this flying dragon to you. Take good care of it. When there are more flying dragons in the future, you will be the commander of our Beasts Pirates' Sky Rider Corps..."
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