They returned to the council hall.
The Queen had already regained consciousness.
Though Kaido's strike had indeed knocked him out in a single blow—and the injuries were far from light—Queen could clearly feel that it wasn't a matter of being utterly unable to withstand the destructive force.
To explain it in more "scientific" terms—
Queen's original Brachiosaurus Fruit, while lacking the powerful defense of dragon scales, possessed extraordinarily thick skin and even thicker layers of fat. His resistance to blunt-force attacks was practically maxed out.
Kaido's kanabo could smash his massive head into a bloody mess—but it shouldn't have been able to knock him unconscious in a single hit.
If he had been knocked out, it would've been because the raw destructive force exceeded both his defense and HP limit—essentially reducing him to near death and leaving him unable to resist.
Now, however, his Brachiosaurus had been modified and evolved into Vaal Hazak.
Vaal Hazak's head structure contained far less flesh to cushion impact.
Even with Queen's obesity compensating somewhat, the skull structure of Vaal Hazak was inherently more exposed compared to most creatures.
On top of that, Vaal Hazak lacked horns.
A blunt weapon strike meant direct impact to the skull.
Thus, Queen's knockout was closer to being inflicted with a "stunned" abnormal status by a heavy blow—rather than having his HP bar emptied and being beaten half to death beyond recovery.
The atmosphere in the council hall was heavy and tense.
The way Kaido and King looked at Bai Feng now was practically the way a pervert stared at a stunning beauty.
Only Queen, sprawled across a specially reinforced wide chair, rubbed his distorted cheek while complaining:
"Boss Kaido, that was way too brutal. I really thought you were going to kill me just now!"
"Worororo… But you didn't die, did you?"
Kaido sat firmly on the main sofa, a satisfied curve on his lips. Yet his eyes gleamed dangerously as they locked onto Bai Feng standing at the center of the hall.
"Brat, you said the energy crystal you gave Queen took you two years to accumulate?"
Bai Feng nodded lightly.
"That's right."
"To perform a modification at Queen's level again—would it still take two years?" Kaido asked.
Bai Feng remained where he stood. He glanced sideways at Queen, who was still shaking his head to dispel dizziness, and answered ambiguously:
"More or less."
Although he still had another Elder Dragon–level fusion material in hand, that one had been carefully reserved for Yamato. There was no way he would use it on Kaido or King right now.
"Is there any way to accelerate the production of those modification crystals?" Kaido pressed.
Bai Feng narrowed his eyes slightly. A charming smile curved on his small lips.
"Of course."
"The simplest method? Stack it with human lives."
The moment those words fell, Kaido's dragon-like eyes widened sharply. A frightening gleam burst forth.
"Human lives?"
He leaned forward slightly, voice low and hoarse—barely concealing his excitement.
"You're saying that with enough living people, you can continuously produce those jewels that modify Devil Fruits?"
"In theory, yes."
The Queen stopped rubbing his face.
King, who had been silently observing, seemed to hold his breath for a brief instant.
Both men fixed their gazes on Bai Feng, something dangerous flickering within.
Under the scrutiny of all three, Bai Feng's smile did not fade. His tone remained calm—cold.
"The modification jewel is condensed from life energy."
"Under normal circumstances, I first absorb leyline energy from deep within the earth, convert it into life energy through my ability, and then condense it into a jewel capable of modifying Devil Fruits."
"But if I skip the step of drawing leyline energy from the earth and instead directly extract life energy from living beings, then my production efficiency would naturally increase dramatically."
"And in theory, it doesn't have to be humans. Any living organism works. The life energy extracted is fundamentally the same."
"Even better, giant beasts and Sea Kings possess enormous bodies—and thus contain far greater quantities of life energy."
"Using them as substitutes for human lives is entirely possible."
"However…"
At this point, Bai Feng's tone shifted.
"Compared to going out to sea to capture living Sea Kings, I have a plan that kills multiple birds with one stone."
"I wonder whether Captain Kaido would be interested in hearing it."
Danger flickered in Kaido's eyes.
"What plan? Let's hear it."
"The Wano Extermination Plan."
A savage light gleamed in Bai Feng's eyes as well.
"In simple terms, this plan will not only allow you to completely seize control of Wano and eliminate any rebellion risks, but also provide me with vast amounts of life energy—allowing the mass production of modification jewels."
Kaido took a deep breath and leaned back into his sofa, hands gripping the armrests.
"Explain."
Bai Feng glanced at King and Queen before turning specifically to Queen.
"Take out paper and pen. Record everything I'm about to say."
"Hmph! The brat just joined today and already thinks he can order me around!"
Queen snorted in displeasure, grumbling under his breath—but his body moved honestly, preparing paper and pen.
Only after Queen was fully ready did Bai Feng continue.
"The Wano Extermination Plan—this is something I've spent a full year refining."
"The entire plan consists of five stages."
He paused briefly before speaking solemnly:
"Step One: Completely crush Wano's resistance forces."
"The ultimate objective of this step is simple—kill Wano's strongest samurai, Kouzuki Oden, along with the Kouzuki family's rebel faction under his leadership."
"However, since Kouzuki Oden is currently not in Wano, this step will be temporarily postponed."
"Step Two: After defeating and executing Kouzuki Oden and his followers, leverage the momentum of victory to demand that Kurozumi Orochi hand over governance of the Hakumai region."
"The Hidden Port of Hakumai is the only safe harbor for entering and exiting Wano. It must be in our hands. It cannot remain under Orochi's control."
"Once we successfully seize Hakumai, the next action will be a thorough purge of its population."
"Kill every man."
"Women who submit may live. Those who refuse submission—die."
"What we need is the land of Hakumai."
"As for the people living on it—if they are not loyal to us, what use are they?"
"This is Step Two: fully securing one region and ensuring there is no possibility of rebellion."
"Step Three… will focus on internal consolidation and strengthening the cohesion of the Beasts Pirates."