"Ah ha ha ha, do you want my treasure? I've left everything there, go find it!"
The two Marines beside him were like statues, completely unresponsive as Roger spoke.
But as soon as Roger's words fell, the two Marines belatedly plunged their long swords into his shoulder blades, crossing out through his chest.
Thus, a powerful figure who defined an era met his end. Most of the people in the square had not yet recovered from Roger's recent words.
Some clever individuals were already preparing to leave. The execution of the Pirate King wasn't just about the Pirate King; there were also numerous pirates who had come from the Four Seas and the Grand Line.
If they left too late, it wouldn't be watching the Pirate King's execution; it would be burying themselves with the Pirate King.
Shanks, still a youth, endured his grief and pulled Buggy into an alley. Although Shanks was saddened by his Captain's death, he could clearly see what was about to happen.
This was his Captain's own choice, and the fact that Rayleigh and Gaban hadn't come to stop him proved that his Captain had a purpose in doing so, though he couldn't yet see it.
Pirate King Roger's dying declaration undoubtedly added fuel to the already turbulent world.
It was predictable that from today onwards, many pirates would flock to the sea for Roger's treasure. Roger's death ushered in a new era... Wano Country, Onigashima.
On this day, Karl, uncharacteristically, skipped training. He sat alone by the sea, holding a newspaper, his mind filled with myriad thoughts.
"Pirate King Roger!"
In a blink of an eye, he had already been in this world for three years, and he had grown accustomed to life here.
Though he hadn't experienced much in these three years, it was mostly training and getting beaten every day.
But Karl's strength advanced rapidly. His swordsmanship, physical combat, Haki, and Devil Fruit abilities were all improving. Especially his Devil Fruit ability; Karl felt that even if he didn't develop it much, its future potential wouldn't be too low.
What Karl wanted was all-round development. Kaido once said that only Haki reigns supreme over everything else. Even without a Devil Fruit, one could become a powerful figure with just Haki, but Devil Fruits are equally important.
Why is Kaido known as the strongest in a one-on-one fight?
This is due to his inherent physical toughness and astonishing regenerative power, coupled with the Azure Dragon Devil Fruit, which amplifies these advantages infinitely. In prolonged battles, almost no one is Kaido's match. As for Luffy's Gear Five, well, that's just for show; if it weren't for plot armor, he would have died 800 times already.
Karl hadn't encountered any benchmarks for his current strength, so he had no concrete idea of how strong he actually was. The only ones he fought against were King and Kaido, which provided no reference value at all.
However, by Karl's estimation, he was at least comparable to the Beasts' Headliners in the original story. He was only six years old now, with plenty of room for future improvement.
"Lord Karl! Lord Karl!"
An unfamiliar voice pulled Karl, whose thoughts were scattered, back to reality.
Karl looked up and saw an ordinary pirate from the Beasts Pirates running towards him.
"Lord Karl, I finally found you."
"Oh? Why are you looking for me?"
That pirate dared not underestimate this seemingly young child. He was one of those who had been beaten by him before, and he never wanted to experience that feeling of being naked in a world of ice and snow a second time.
"Lord Karl, Boss Kaido is looking for you!"
"What's Kaido up to now? Why is he looking for me?"
Karl was a bit puzzled. Why would Kaido, out of the blue, look for him? Was he itching for a fight again?
"Uh... well, you'd better go see for yourself."
The man seemed a bit nervous. Among the Beasts, only this lord and the Ogre Princess dared to speak of Kaido like that.
"Alright, I'll go see."
With that, Karl no longer bothered with the pirate minion and directly transformed into an Ice Oni, flying away.
Inside Onigashima.
Kaido still sat in his private room, holding a sake gourd, a hint of sadness in his expression.
"Yo, Kaido, what's up?"
Karl kicked open the door and strode into the room.
His eyes immediately fell upon the sad Kaido, and Karl grew even more curious as to why Kaido had called him over.
And a Kaido like this was a rare sight!
Kaido ignored Karl, taking another big gulp of sake, some of it dribbling down the corner of his mouth.
Suddenly, Kaido's eyes instantly welled up, and he covered his face with a large hand, some liquid seeping through his fingers.
Kaido's crying grew louder and louder, and the next moment, he began to wail like a small child.
"Waaah!"
"Wickes! Why did you die! Why did you die! Waaah!"
This scene left Karl stunned. Although he understood Kaido's personality and how he would act crazy when drunk.
But this... why did he call him over? To watch him act crazy???
Karl frantically complained about Kaido in his mind.
'Speaking of Wickes? That name sounds a bit familiar,' Karl thought to himself.
While Kaido was still crying, he suddenly remembered. Wickes was that Oni uncle who had stopped him when he first boarded the ship.
However, after arriving in Wano Country, Karl rarely saw him. Kaido wasn't in Wano Country for pleasure.
After entering Wano Country, he had continuously sent people to expand his territory at sea, though it had been relatively slow.
And Wickes was the Captain of Kaido's combat squad, whose strength might even surpass that of the future Tobi Roppo Kaido would form. He could be said to be one of Kaido's strongest individuals apart from King and Queen.
From Kaido's words, it seemed he had died. Karl merely sighed; he didn't feel much sadness, as their interactions hadn't been extensive.
Kaido was still crying, and Karl wouldn't interrupt him at this moment. This wasn't the way to seek death. The terror of Kaido when drunk went without saying.
Karl casually found a spot and waited idly for Kaido to finish crying.
Suddenly, he seemed to see something moving behind Kaido, and a strand of golden hair flashed for an instant.
"What is that...?"
Perhaps he had cried enough, or perhaps he had sobered up. Kaido roughly wiped his face with a large hand, and the tears lingering on his face vanished without a trace.
Kaido returned to his usual majestic and domineering demeanor, showing no trace of the person who had just been wailing.
One could only say he was a master of changing expressions.
"Ahem! Come out."
Kaido coughed twice, showing no embarrassment at having displayed his unsightly behavior in front of others.
But then again, Kaido was someone everyone could still act spoiled around.
As Kaido's words fell, a small head emerged from behind him.
Golden hair, and like Karl and Kaido, she had two horns on her head, clearly also an Oni.
Kaido's horns were pure white, perhaps related to his Devil Fruit. Karl's were a white-blue gradient, while this little girl's horns, like Yamato's, were a white-red gradient.
As the girl fully emerged, Karl felt a strange sense of familiarity.
The girl was about the same height as Karl, around 1.8 meters, with a very youthful face, probably similar in age to Karl and Yamato.
"Wurorororo..."
"Karl, she's in your care from now on!" Kaido laughed loudly.
"Ah, this..."
"Damn Kaido, do you take my place for a kindergarten?!"
Karl roared at Kaido. He didn't say anything about taking care of his daughter, Yamato, but now he just brought back a random child and told him to take care of her.
Kaido, have you ever considered that I'm just a child too!!!
"Wurorororo..."
"Karl, you brat, you've already abducted Kozuki Oden, that fool's wife and daughter. Oden's daughter is following you around every day, don't think I don't know. Adding her to your care is no different."
"It's decided. Take her away quickly; I still want to drink."
Kaido didn't give Karl a chance to refute, waving his large hand and settling the matter.
Karl was furious. Damn Kaido!
He wondered if Kaido would just dump every child he abducted on him from now on.
Would he end up becoming the big brother of the Beasts Kindergarten in the future?!
Now, with this girl, plus Hiyori and Yamato, there were already three. The Beasts Kindergarten was already taking shape.
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