It was clearly the same question as before, even the tone hadn't changed much—yet somehow, Kaido suddenly felt that if he refused again, he might die right here.
Faced with the overwhelming terror of life and death—especially with the repeated beatings and humiliations he'd endured recently rushing back to mind—Kaido's expression shifted drastically.
"Big Bro Kaido!"
King, ignoring Boros's presence, shouted anxiously from the side.
Anyone could see that for some reason, Boros had completely lost his patience. If Kaido refused again, the outcome would definitely not be in his favor.
"…You'd better think this through. I'm a pirate—schemes and betrayal are in my blood! Don't come complaining when I end up killing you someday!"
Kaido still glared fiercely at Boros. Even under the threat of death, he refused to utter a single word of submission.
But despite his stubborn tone, his words showed the first signs of backing down. Anyone who knew Kaido would probably start questioning their entire worldview at this point.
That suicide-obsessed monster who didn't even take Pirate King Roger or the Navy seriously—was actually showing signs of yielding?
Then again, anyone with some knowledge of Kaido's recent "experiences" wouldn't be surprised at all by his change of heart.
After all, even the hardest steel can be forged into a proper weapon with enough fire and hammering. And Kaido, having been beaten into the ground countless times by Boros, finally lowered his proud head.
"Boss Boros, Big Bro Kaido was just joking!"
Before Boros could respond, King hurriedly jumped in to smooth things over.
From Kaido and the three Disasters down to the low-ranking members and fodder of the Beasts Pirates, the entire crew had been beaten into submission by Boros.
Pirates, by nature, respect strength above all else. Most of those who joined the Beasts Pirates were already obsessed with following the strong. After all these days, even Kaido had been pounded into a daze by Boros—let alone everyone else.
Boros was like a violent outsider who crashed in, using sheer overwhelming force to forcibly reshape the Beasts Pirates into whatever he pleased.
Kaido shot King a furious glare—clearly irritated that King had dared to speak for him without permission.
Still, Kaido didn't say much. He just stood there with his neck stiff, glaring defiantly at Boros. No matter how many times he was beaten, Kaido wasn't someone who would easily acknowledge someone else as his boss—at least, not out loud.
Fortunately, Boros didn't care whether his subordinates were loyal or not. To him, subordinates were merely tools. If they didn't work, he'd simply replace them.
"Mm. Inform everyone to get ready. We set out in three days."
Boros completely ignored Kaido's stiff-necked defiance and gave his order to King without hesitation.
Despite having crushed the entire Beasts Pirates not long ago, Boros gave commands with such natural authority that even King froze for a second before scrambling to obey.
"Hey! What the hell are you really trying to do?"
Kaido couldn't help but ask. With Boros's power, there were practically no opponents left on the seas.
Although he had always been full of himself, even Kaido didn't believe he or his Beasts Pirates could offer Boros much in terms of real assistance.
"Didn't I already say? I want to become the Pirate King."
Boros spoke with a tone so dismissive it sounded like he wasn't even serious. The blatant attitude made the veins on Kaido's forehead throb.
"Boss Boros, where are we going in three days?"
King quickly jumped in to mediate. The fact that someone usually so cold and aloof would act this humbly showed just how much Boros had shaken him.
"…Totto Land."
Boros recalled the itinerary Kizaru had arranged for him. After confirming that it wouldn't interfere with the plan, he finally gave an answer that made both Kaido and King instinctively widen their eyes.
Totto Land!
The nation ruled by the Pirate Emperor BIG MOM—danger-wise, it might even surpass Wano, Kaido's territory.
Of course, given Boros' strength, neither Kaido nor King believed that BIG MOM posed any real threat to him.
But for Boros to target Totto Land right after forcibly subduing Kaido... it wasn't hard to imagine what he intended to do next.
Given the level of power Boros had shown so far—combined with the Pirate Emperors Kaido and BIG MOM—if he could successfully take in the Big Mom Pirates, the force he'd command would be enough to shake the seas.
Even the Marine Headquarters, who had just taken down Whitebeard and severely wounded the Red-Haired Pirates, might not be able to match them.
"Oi! Are you planning to destroy the world or something?! If that's the case, I might just consider helping you out!"
Kaido grinned savagely. Since long ago, he had tried to team up with Charlotte Linlin to launch a top-tier war.
Unfortunately, Pirate Emperors were all prideful individuals—neither Kaido nor Linlin truly wanted to work under the other, only to use each other's power.
After realizing this, the two parted ways on bad terms. But that didn't mean Kaido had given up on the idea of an alliance with her.
"If you want to think of it that way, that's fine too," Boros replied casually. After all, Kizaru's mission for him was to go after the World Government. Calling it a top-tier war wasn't far off the mark.
If Kizaru hadn't insisted on him subduing Kaido and BIG MOM first, Boros would've likely already flown his spaceship straight to Mariejois by now.
"Hmph! Since you're kind of interesting, I'll stand on your side... for now!"
Kaido sneered. He was already planning to ally with that old hag Linlin to overthrow Boros once he dealt with her.
Aside from his days as an apprentice on Rocks D. Xebec's ship, Kaido of the Beasts had never once had any interest in serving under someone else.
Even Charlotte Linlin—who had given him the Mythical Zoan Fish-Fish Fruit, Azure Dragon model—had only earned a single big favor in return.
Boros glanced at Kaido, unmoved, not really understanding what he was scheming.
But soon, he looked away without care. Whatever Kaido was plotting, it was meaningless in the face of overwhelming power.
In fact, Boros was even hoping Kaido would stir up some trouble. Lately, he'd stopped feeling much enjoyment using him as a training dummy.
Even someone as defiant as Kaido of the Beasts, after repeated defeats, had unconsciously begun to lower the intensity of his resistance.
---
East Blue.
Because the Summit War had drawn away many elite marines from the branches, pirates who had once been suppressed began stirring again.
They raided merchant ships, attacked towns—some even assaulted nations with proper military forces. There were even arrogant pirates trying to seize marine branches while they were weakened.
Such was the price the Marines paid for assembling such a luxurious lineup during the Summit War. Fortunately, it wasn't long before news of the Marine's decisive victory spread around the world.
The Marine Headquarters, having gone all out, emerged as the victors of the Summit War—and even their enemies, two Pirate Emperors, had been left one dead, one injured.
The only blemish was their failure to execute Fire Fist Ace—but compared to the feat of killing Whitebeard, that regret seemed almost negligible.
When the news spread, pirates from the Grand Line to the New World were first stunned into silence—then they began to shrink back their operations almost instinctively.
No one wanted to be the next target of the Navy's crushing blow, especially those who had been the most active and arrogant before; they now considered retreating and perhaps taking up the promising new profession of mountain banditry before the Navy turned its attention to them.
Unfortunately, not all pirates were as alert as those in the Grand Line. Or rather, the name and reputation of a Pirate Emperor didn't carry the same weight in the Four Blues as it did in the Grand Line or New World.
Even knowing the Navy had just killed one of the Emperors, to the pirates of the Four Blues, it still felt too far removed from their reality.
That's why, while pirates in the Grand Line trembled with fear after the Paramount War, worried the Navy's iron fist could fall at any moment, the pirates of the Four Blues continued their wild ways—unfazed, unrepentant, and going on one last rampage.
And no one could feel that more clearly than those working aboard the sea restaurant Baratie, a long-time haven for pirates, operated by chefs who were once pirates themselves.
"Welcome! Sir, please come this way! This is the sea restaurant, Baratie…"
At the restaurant entrance, a muscular chef—whose appearance strongly resembled Popeye the Sailor—stood grinning obsequiously at the air, practicing his customer greeting while trying his best to make his fierce face appear more friendly.
But judging by the lack of customers inside the Baratie, those efforts didn't seem to be paying off.
If it were any other restaurant, such a situation might not seem odd—but this was Baratie, one of the East Blue's most famous floating restaurants. Even customers from other seas would travel to dine here. It was hard to imagine it ever being this deserted.
"Hey! Patty! If you've got nothing better to do, get over here and help! You're scaring off the customers just by standing at the door!"
Chef Carne shouted as he carried two large bags of spoiled ingredients to be disposed of. Out at sea, chefs had to treasure even the tiniest bread crumb—but food that had already spoiled was strictly forbidden from being served to guests.
If there hadn't been so much surplus stock, the chefs would rather eat the food themselves than see good ingredients go to waste.
"Bastard! It's your fault the customers left—you're the one who treats the sheep—I mean, the customers—with no respect!"
Patty shot back loudly but still moved to help Carne deal with the spoiled food.
Though these ingredients could no longer be used in the kitchen, once processed they made excellent animal feed and bait. Respecting food was a basic principle for any sea-faring chef.
"It's so weird. Why did the customers suddenly stop coming? We're wasting so many top-quality ingredients…"
After finally finishing the task, Carne stood up and rubbed his sore back, grumbling in frustration.
Baratie was famous across the East Blue. Normally, customers would be lining up outside. When had things ever gotten so bad that their food went unused long enough to spoil?
°°°
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