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Seeing Ikki pull out two books, Kaido glanced at the covers before immediately grabbing The True Meaning of Eight Trigrams Boxing and flipping through it.
Ikki hadn't translated the book, but that wasn't an issue—most of it was explained with clear illustrations, making it easy to understand with just a bit of knowledge.
"Study hard! This book will be a huge help to you!" Ikki said. Then, with a smirk, he added, "Oh, and this other book… whether your family turns out harmonious in the future depends on you reading it."
He tried to pat Kaido on the shoulder for emphasis… but realizing their height difference, he awkwardly settled for patting Kaido's stomach instead.
Kaido scratched the back of his head, visibly touched. "Thanks, brothers… If you ever need help in the future, just say the word."
Hearing this, Ace instinctively wanted to blurt out, "Then don't fight Whitebeard's crew in the future!"
But before he could, Ikki quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.
"You idiot!" Ikki hissed. "Saying that could mess up the timeline! Do you still want to go back and see Luffy?"
Ace froze, realizing the seriousness of what he was about to say. After a moment, he nodded and patted Ikki's hand, signaling his understanding.
In truth, Ikki wasn't sure if changing Kaido's future would really affect the timeline…
If Kaido actually listened to Ace and avoided fighting Whitebeard's crew, would he still attack Wano, knowing that Oden was once one of Whitebeard's men? That wasn't a guarantee…
But in Ikki's eyes, that wasn't the real issue.
"Young dragon-slaying boy… grow up quickly and destroy that ungrateful country of Wano."
Just as he was lost in thought, the sound of footsteps echoed from the deck.
The three of them turned to see a Marine Petty Officer Second Class standing there, his face pale with fear as he took in the chaotic scene.
"Holy crap… the monster is out of the cage!"
With a terrified yell, the Marine turned and bolted.
But before he could take more than a few steps, Kaido moved faster—grabbing him and knocking him out cold.
With that taken care of, the three of them made their way toward Ikki's luxury yacht.
Meanwhile, on the yacht…
Ragnar was still drinking and boasting to his men.
"Commodore Ragnar, why don't we just rob the civilians outright instead of sneaking around?" one of his subordinates asked.
"Rob? Rob?! Do I look like a robber to you?" Ragnar scoffed, taking another sip of wine. "Do you really think civilians would own a luxury ship like this? Obviously, some pirate stole it from a rich merchant. We're not robbing—we're confiscating!"
His men laughed, raising their glasses in agreement.
After a moment, Ragnar frowned slightly. "Didn't that Petty Officer Second Class say he was going back to the warship to grab more food? What's taking him so long?"
"Maybe he drank too much and is puking his guts out!" one of the officers joked.
The others burst into laughter.
Just then, a Marine Captain who had been examining the yacht's control panel pointed at a screen in alarm.
"Commodore! There's a new red dot on the radar! There might be another ship nearby!"
Ragnar, still holding his wine bottle, started to rise from his seat to take a look.
But before he could move, a hand clamped down firmly on his shoulder.
"Brother… it's time to return my yacht, don't you think?"
The voice sent a chill down Ragnar's spine. His entire body stiffened, and with a slow, trembling movement, he turned his head.
At first, he saw the two masked figures—Ikki and Ace. That was bad enough.
But when his eyes landed on Kaido's face…
He instantly sobered up.
Ragnar had been there the entire time when Kaido was captured. He knew exactly what kind of monster Kaido was… and now, that same monster was standing right in front of him, free.
"You… you… how did you escape?" Ragnar stammered, his face pale.
Ikki smirked, but instead of answering directly, he asked a strange question. "Hey, your name is Ragnar, right?"
"Y-Yeah!" Ragnar nodded furiously. "I… I'm from the Marine Science Force! I have people above me—!"
"Oh? Then let me ask you something… Do you have a younger brother named Kakarot?"
Ragnar froze, completely thrown off by the bizarre question. "What? No… I'm an only child…"
Before he could process why Ikki had even asked that, an overwhelming force suddenly sent him flying off the yacht, slamming him onto the deck below.
Ikki landed right on top of him, planting his foot firmly on Ragnar's chest, nearly choking the air out of him.
"You dare steal from me without having a brother named Kakarot?"
At the same time, Kaido and Ace tossed the rest of the Marine officers off the yacht, delivering a well-deserved beating before dumping them back onto their own warship.
Once the Marine scum had been taken care of, Ikki and Ace took action.
Ikki unleashed his Sky Dragon's Roar, while Ace followed up with his Fire Dragon's Roar. The combined wind and flames engulfed the warship, triggering a massive explosion that shattered the vessel into pieces.
With their job done, the three of them set sail, leaving the burning wreckage behind.
Not long after Ikki and the others departed, another Marine warship arrived at the scene.
Though the warship had been destroyed, some Marines had managed to survive, scattered in the water. But as for the officers who had been personally attacked by Ikki and Ace… none of them had made it.
"Damn it… Who the hell dares to challenge the Marines like this?!"
The enraged voice belonged to none other than Vice Admiral Sengoku, his signature afro bouncing as he used Moonwalk to pull struggling Marines out of the sea.
"It's probably that bastard, Rocks!" he fumed.
Nearby, Vice Admiral Garp was also rescuing Marines, his expression much calmer. "I doubt it. Rocks isn't in this sea right now."
In this era, with no One Piece to ignite the Great Pirate Era, there weren't many significant pirate crews. The only major force that dared to stand against the Marines was the Rocks Pirates. Naturally, whenever a Marine force was attacked, it was easy to assume Rocks was behind it.
After gathering the survivors, Garp and Sengoku questioned them about what had happened.
When they heard that two masked men had destroyed the Marine warship, both of them immediately froze.
Two masked men…
The same two boys who had managed to escape from them years ago.
"Tch… I thought those brats had vanished from the world," Garp muttered, clenching his fist.
Sengoku, however, remained composed. "We don't have proof that it was them. It's strange that, after all these years, they'd suddenly appear again."
"Whether it's them or not, we'll find out when we catch them!" Garp declared.
He grabbed a Log Pose and a Den Den Mushi, then took off at high speed using Moonwalk, heading in the direction Ikki and Ace had fled.
Sailing after them wouldn't be fast enough—but with Garp's absurd speed and stamina, he had a real chance of catching up.
Sengoku, however, chose not to follow. As a Devil Fruit user, he knew better than to recklessly charge in, especially when the masked man possessed some strange abilities. If he got thrown into the ocean mid-fight, that would be a disaster.
For now, it was safer to take the ship.
Elsewhere…
After leaving the wreckage behind, Ikki and Ace were preparing to part ways with Kaido.
"Brothers, are you sure you don't want to keep adventuring with me?" Kaido asked, a rare trace of reluctance in his voice.
Ikki grinned and patted Kaido's belly again. "Don't worry! We'll meet again in the future. Just don't forget—you're a member of the Private Marines now!"
Kaido nodded firmly. "Don't worry! I'll never forget you… or my identity!"
Satisfied with his answer, Ikki activated his wings and grabbed Ace's hand, preparing to take off.
"Kaido, the yacht's yours!" he called out.
Just as he was about to accelerate—
Whoosh!
A powerful gust of wind tore through the air.
Before Ikki could react, a fist the size of a boulder came hurtling toward his face at blinding speed.