"Five years' time, from now there are still 3 months and 7 days left," Rosse's lips curled slightly, carrying a trace of playfulness.
Although he hadn't tested Kaido yet, the result was something he could already pretty much guess.
If it came to a fight, Kaido would definitely be happy to oblige.
But if it was about playing tricks, Kaido would rather retreat temporarily than give him the chance to snatch away the prize.
After all, it wasn't like Rosse could laze around in Wano every day. Eventually, he had to return to the Holy Land.
To put it more bluntly, Wano simply didn't have anything worth Rosse caring too much about.
In terms of size, the whole of Wano was about the same as Arabasta.
In terms of population, Wano had less than 5 million people.
In terms of climate, because of the harsh surrounding weather and the main island being so high above sea level, ordinary ships could hardly reach it.
Taken all together, Wano had very little value.
This was also the common state of islands in the New World.
The climate of the New World ranked among the very worst in the entire world.
The saying "poor mountains and bad waters produce troublemakers" wasn't a joke.
The cost of governing here was far higher than the profit gained from ruling it.
If it weren't for Wano having large amounts of seastone ore, there would be no value in occupying it at all.
And if all one wanted was seastone, letting Kaido act as an agent, cooperation was actually a pretty good deal.
Among all the forces across the sea, only the World Government had the ability to make use of seastone. The rest, even if they had seastone, couldn't even manage to make a pair of handcuffs.
Kaido occupying Wano, if he wanted to expand his power, could only obediently dig mines for the World Government.
Everyone knew, mining raw materials could make you rich, but it would never beat printing money.
And the World Government was the one that printed money.
Unfortunately, Kaido's strength was a bit too overwhelming.
For Rosse, turning Kaido into his personal experience baby was far more tempting than making him an agent.
For this piece of land called Wano, even putting Moria in charge would be enough as an agent. And there'd be no middleman cutting the profit. That was way better than Kaido.
"For now, there's no need to worry about him. He won't be able to hold back. But… some interest still has to be collected," Rosse smiled faintly, not bothering to explain further.
He didn't want to rely purely on force. That way was quick, but not very meaningful.
Now, there were still more than six months until the World Government's meeting.
And during this period, he had nothing else pressing to do.
Even if things in Wano wrapped up, he still had to go around the world chasing after Shiki or Whitebeard. He didn't have the leisure for that.
Rather than running all over the seas, he might as well find some fun in Wano.
He wanted to see whether Kaido was really that patient.
———
[Three Days Later]
"Toki, you can't go! You want to seek out our enemy?", Kozuki Oden stared at Kozuki Toki in disbelief, unable to understand why she would make such a request.
'Toki actually wants to go find Rosse?'
'Could it be that what Raizo and the others said is true. That Toki has other thoughts?'
"What's that expression supposed to mean?", Seeing Oden's expression, Toki's face turned cold as she asked sharply.
Why is she going to find Rosse?
Wasn't it because Hiyori was in Rosse's hands? Oden had shown no intention of checking on her at all, how could she, as the mother, not go?
So many days had passed, she also wanted to see how Rosse treated Hiyori. Was he truly just keeping her as a plaything, or was he abusing her every day?
These past days, Toki hadn't had a single night of peaceful sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes, she dreamed of scenes where Hiyori was being abused.
She even dreamed that Hiyori would be taken into the courtesan quarters and become Orochi's favorite courtesan.
What were the courtesan quarters? They were the biggest money-burning den in the Flower Capital, also the most chaotic place.
And what was a courtesan? Put nicely, an entertainer. Put bluntly… it was a nightmare for girls.
And to become Orochi's favorite courtesan? Just the thought of it sent chills all through Toki.
Whenever she thought of this, how could she sleep at all?
And these weren't dreams she could just dismiss as imagination.
Because her Devil Fruit already had abilities in this domain, the dreams she had often had a high chance of coming true.
Now that Rosse hadn't left yet, she still had the chance to check on Hiyori, maybe even persuade Rosse to treat her kindly.
If she waited until Rosse was gone, there really would be no chance left.
But Oden didn't care about any of this. On the contrary, at Toki's questioning, he only furrowed his brows tightly, "Toki, I know your worries. But if you go, it's like a sheep entering the tiger's den. It's not suitable."
"Then come with me!", Toki stared coldly at Oden. If he thought it was dangerous for her to go alone, then they should go together.
'Hiyori is your daughter too!'
"Impossible. He finally let the Kozuki clan off, believing me to be dead. If I show up again stirring things up, wouldn't that be walking right into the trap?", Oden kept shaking his head. He had only just made up his mind to rely on faking his death to escape the World Government's pursuit.
How could he throw all that away now?
"Hiyori isn't your daughter?", Toki forced down her anger.
"She is my daughter. But Rosse will take good care of her. I saw him fight Shiki. He's someone worth entrusting to," Oden said firmly.
As long as one had fought him, no, even just felt Rosse's Conqueror's Haki, you would know what kind of man he was.
Even if he was a butcher, he was a butcher with principles. With Rosse's breadth of mind, he wouldn't trouble a little girl.
"So you just don't want to go with me? Not even in disguise?", Toki didn't want to argue with Oden anymore.
Three days had passed, and he still believed that their enemy could be a reliable guardian.
Such absurd thinking made Toki want to whack him on the head.
How could this be normal?
Whether Rosse was someone trustworthy, did she not know that better than anyone?
If he was willing to take Hiyori, it wasn't for Oden's sake but purely for his own twisted amusement.
If Hiyori were raised by Rosse without their intervention, she couldn't even imagine what crooked path her future might take.
"I can't go," Oden insisted.
"Even if he already knows you're not dead?", Toki's voice was cold as she pressed him again.
"Impossible. What I did was flawless. He definitely thinks I'm dead."
Oden shook his head, utterly refusing to believe Toki's words. He even added, "Toki, don't joke about something like this. If he knew I wasn't dead, how could he have left so easily that day?"
"Yes… why was it so easy that day," Toki clenched her teeth, glaring at Oden in fury.
'Why else? Obviously because he wanted to see you act like a fool."
When Rosse deliberately transmitted his voice to her in private that day, she could already imagine this very scene now.
No matter how she emphasized it, Oden simply wouldn't believe her.
After all, when Rosse came, he'd left without the slightest flaw. Nothing to suggest he knew Oden still lived.
Even though she'd prepared herself mentally for this outcome… the distrust from the one closest to her still left Toki's heart unbearably cold.
'I am telling the truth. So why won't you believe me?'
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.