"I'll leave here, and you can't stop me! I'll really leave!" A female voice shouted, sounding annoyed as piercing eyes glared at a much larger figure.
"Stop with your foolishness, Yamato," A murmur simply replied, belonging to a large, towering, beast of a man, who was holding a bottle of alcohol in one of his massive hands.
"Don't call me that! I am Oden!"
"Ha! And I am an Admiral! Fuhihihi!" The large man chuckled, not even looking at his daughter, who was looking annoyed as she was sitting in a dark cave with her hands locked in cuffs and a chain tying her to a massive pole.
The towering beast of a man was recognizable by nearly anyone in this world, be it a pirate, a marine, or even a simple civilian. He was nearly 25 feet tall overall, with a massive, bulky frame that had muscles littering his body. Veins popped out through his skin, and there was a long mane of messy black hair that stuck out of his large head, along with two massive, sharp white horns.
Lying against his tattooed arm was a massive club, which had spikes sticking out of it, but the man was uncaring as they poked into him lightly. His skin was tougher than even metal, and he didn't feel the sharpness.
The man was someone whose face was on wanted posters distributed worldwide, and who held the position as one of the Four Emperors of the sea. A man who could cause even Admirals to shake in fear, and who held the moniker of the 'World's Strongest Creature' - Kaido.
"I'm serious! I'm gonna leave for real next time!"
Comparatively, the woman he was sitting in front of was much more pleasant to look at, as she had a beautiful face, porcelain and soft white skin, and long silky white hair that changed into a shade of blue around her shoulders, and then again to light green towards the middle of her back. She also had horns sticking out of her head, though they were much smaller than Kaido's, and her frame was also large, but in the 'tall person' kind of way rather than the 'massive beast' way Kaido's was.
Despite her words and insistence to be called Oden, the woman was in fact not the dead man known as Kouzuki Oden, but instead a woman named Yamato - who admired Kouzuki Oden so greatly that she was determined to 'become him,' and who was also the daughter Kaido. And, at the moment, she was having a conversation that was pretty common within her life.
"I really should just kill you, Fuhihihi!" Kaido chuckled again, the noise sounding different from his usual laugh as he was clearly drunk, with his eyes a bit glossy, "Ah! You're so annoying, Yamato!"
"Stop calling me that! I am Oden!" Yamato didn't budge, just glaring at her father through the darkness. She had bruises littering her body, and more than a few scuff marks on her otherwise clear skin, but that didn't dissuade her in the slightest.
There were also handcuffs clamped around her wrists, which were tied to a massive wooden pillar stuck into the ground behind her. She'd been in this position many times before over the years, and she was sure she would be here many more times in the future.
"It's been a while since I left you in here, eh? Do you need to be reminded how it feels to starve?" Kaido just grinned at her insistence, slowly rising to his feet as he grabbed the handle to his club with one of his massive hands, "I'll let you out when you give up trying to imitate that dead man, Fuhihihi!"
With that said, Kaido promptly stomped away, walking away from the entrance of the cave and leaving Yamato in the darkness as the ground shook from his steps. For a moment, Yamato just sat in silence.
"...When are you coming back, Ace?" She finally softly muttered, her eyes looking tired as she finally stood up, casually yanking her arms forward as the chains holding her to the pole broke, but her handcuffs remained.
When she had been a child, this place had seemed inescapable as her father truly left her to die in the dark, foodless cave. But, after years of growing stronger, and adapting to life in these handcuffs? This was more like a soft punishment than anything dangerous now.
Whenever Kaido grew annoyed at her words or attitude, he would beat her, throw her into the cave, and lock her to the pole. Then, she'd be forced to sit there as he drunkenly rambled, and then promptly break out once he left.
In a few weeks, or sometimes just a few days, Yamato would inevitably forget just how badly a swing from Kaido's club hurt. She'd do something rash as a result, either insulting him, going against his orders, or even trying to leave Wano - which really meant trying to pull off the explosive handcuffs that kept her trapped in the country - and the process would repeat as she was locked in the dingy cave again.
"I know I'll get out of here eventually, but…" Yamato sighed again, starting to shuffle out of the cave as her body ached a bit from the blows she had suffered a few hours earlier, "I really wish you'd hurry up, Ace."
It'd been years since her encounter with Portgas D. Ace, where she'd been inspired more than ever to leave Wano. She knew the man would keep his promise and return one day, but she didn't know when that day would come, and she was starting to get impatient.
"Honestly…" She muttered, glancing back at the pole in the middle of the cave as her eyes hardened, "Even if it's not you, Ace, I just… I want someone, anyone, to get me out of here."
Little did she know, that 'someone' would appear much sooner than she ever expected.
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"Food… from… the heavens?"
I chuckled as I watched Hyougoro bite into a juicy steak, sitting at the dining room in my palace as he was moved by the delicious food. He was apparently very moved, as tears started to form under his eyes, and snot dripped from his nose as he looked at me with star-filled eyes.
"T-This is the best thing I've ever had… I'll follow you foreverrrrrrrrr!" I casually raised my hand, blocking Hyougoro as he tried to engulf me in a hug, and just smirked a bit.
"Get used to it. I've got all kinds of delicious food for you to try here." My words only caused his eyes to become even more awe-filled, and I chuckled again.
I had expected this would happen after the prisoners enjoyed the stale, moldy, and frankly disgusting pieces of meat back in the prison, but his reaction was even more than I could've predicted. They would enjoy any food after being starved, but in a world full of pirates, anything meat-related was apparently a delicacy.
As I showed Hyougoro the glory of a nice, juicy steak - especially one cooked by the best chefs the Underworld had to offer - I couldn't blame him for being moved to tears. I doubted there was anything in the One Piece world that could even come close to this simple steak.
"...Are you sure we need him?" Tiamat asked, standing a bit to the side as she looked at Hyougoro blandly, "He's weak, and he's crying from eating a piece of cow? I don't see how he's useful."
"He's weak compared to you and me, but he's not bad overall," I countered, just grinning at her words. "For the impending war, we'll need every competent fighter we can gather. Even someone like him could turn the tide in our favor."
'Turn the tide' might've been being generous, as Hyougoro wasn't that powerful, even though he'd recovered a lot after getting in some good meals. But, overall, a bunch of Hyougoros would add up.
I wasn't actually cloning the elderly man or anything, but I meant a 'bunch of Hyougoros' in the sense that a lot of mid-tier fighters would add up. Hyougoro and the other Yakuza bosses were just the start, and I hoped to get a lot of decently strong subordinates from the One Piece world - starting with the Beast Pirates and citizens of Wano.
In the war against the other factions, their pure numbers naturally put my faction at a disadvantage. I would have to take on one of their leaders, likely Indra, and my other high-tier subordinates, like Sirzechs and Tiamat, would be occupied with the other faction leaders, such as Hades or Odin.
Overall, I was confident that I could win my fight, and that my higher-ranking subordinates would come out on top, but I wasn't confident that my forces wouldn't take a lot of casualties. The average level of soldiers in my army was pretty weak, as aside from some powerful noble devils I now had at my disposal, most of the direwolves, succubi, dwarves, and other lower-ranking subordinates wouldn't be able to hold their own against low-ranking gods the other factions had to throw at me.
Even if I won in the end, my Kingdom would take heavy damage. I didn't want to win like that, as if there was no Kingdom to return to, then the King surviving didn't really matter.
"If you say so," Tiamat just shrugged at my words, and another voice joined the conversation as the door to my dining room pushed open.
"Valon," Raya greeted me with a nod as she entered, "The prison has been fully secured, and Solitaire just made her report. Only low-ranking soldiers are on the other side right now, but with just one or two generals, we can start expanding to the area around the prison safely."
"Good work," I hummed, nodding at her words, "Just stay put for now. Let the prisoners recover and eat, and once their strength has returned, we can start expanding into the nearby regions. I'll head back in two days, so they'll have four days to recover."
"Got it," Raya nodded at my words, raising an eyebrow at me after, "Four days, though? I know they were being starved, but they don't have to do the fighting with our forces there, and I don't think they'll need that long. They seem eager to fight to reclaim their country."
That was true, as the prisoners had been riled up by the prison break, and anyone who was in Udon Prison to begin with was a patriot. To get sent there, you had to be someone publicly denying the new Shogun and Kaido, so it wasn't surprising that they were eager to fight back against Kaido right away.
But, they would have to wait a bit. I had some things I needed to deal with in the DxD world before I could lead them.
"I need to handle some things here first," I simply shook my head at Raya's words, "So, they'll get a bit of extra rest. I wasn't even gone for a day, and yet I have so many people eager for my time, huh?"
I was referring to a situation with both Shizuka and Venelana Gremory, both of whom wanted some of my time. Shizuka had apparently been adamant to find me after her friend, Rika, was recovered from the E-Rank World, and I didn't need to think hard to realize she was probably wanting to thank me.
As for Venelana Gremory, both she and Lady Phenex hadn't even waited two days since our last meeting to request another one, and they weren't the only ones. The devils were truly a greedy species, and they knew the power their supernaturally sexy bodies had, as Raya had been meeting with numerous female noble devils recently - all of whom wanted a personal meeting with me.
If I really wanted to, I could probably just blow them off and leave Raya to deal with their persistence. I was the King after all, and just because they wanted a meeting didn't mean I had to give them one.
But meeting with sexy female devils who were unapologetically trying to seduce me to gain more power for their own families wasn't exactly a bad experience, and it'd help take a load off of Raya's shoulders. She already dealt with more than her position required within my Kingdom, so I had no problem with dealing with some sexy devils so she could have a break.
"Ah, they're not the only ones either," Raya chuckled, looking a bit sheepish as she laid more work on top of my shoulders, "Rias wanted you to come visit the human world with her, Kuroka wants to try to teach you senjutsu to prepare for the coming war, and Velrissa wants your opinion on Iris' increasing power and abilities."
Well, I knew I would be busy for the next two days in the DxD world, but I didn't think I'd be this busy.
"I'll handle it," I sighed, simply nodding as I raised my hand again.
"IT'S SO DELICIOUS!"
As I casually held back Hyougoro, who was attempting to hug me again after taking another bite of the steak, I just chuckled.
Who knew that being a King could be so tiring?
Luckily for me, the next few days of 'work' would end up being much more enjoyable than even conquering a new world.
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AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be out tomorrow!
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