Gusion turned around and left, leaving Yamato standing there, lost in the wind.
Far away on Onigashima, Kaido was slapping his leg in delight, his dragon face beaming with joy.
"So, when you were young, did you really attack warships just because you didn't have enough to eat?"
Black Maria was curious as well. She'd heard that rumor, but hearing Gusion say it in this context made her want to confirm it.
"After all, the corrupt World Government had great food. The first time I was on a warship, I ate really well and thought it was a nice place."
Kaido laughed heartily, not caring at all that people brought up his being captured.
Because, as he said, if he hadn't gotten caught on purpose, those people would never have captured him.
Back then, his country betrayed him and sent him onto a warship at age ten. After he stuffed himself, he sank the ship and escaped the next day.
But facing the unfamiliar, endless sea, he quickly realized that drifting alone made even getting enough to eat a problem.
So, when he saw a warship out at sea, it was like seeing a moving cafeteria—he'd charge right up, eat his fill, and leave.
Back then, he wasn't even a Devil Fruit user, so even if they cuffed him with Seastone handcuffs, it didn't matter much. He'd beat everyone, then use the stolen keys to unlock himself.
"Never thought you had such a tough past. It really hasn't been easy for our Beast Pirates to get where we are today,"
Black Maria sighed. Actually, the Beast Pirates only truly started rising after the Rocks Pirates split up. Kaido got the Azure Dragon Fruit from Big Mom, and things took off.
Then Kaido caused havoc in the World Government's research facility and freed King. The two of them swept across the seas and slowly formed the Beast Pirates.
Compared to King, she and the others were latecomers to the crew.
"Maria, what do you think Yamato is thinking right now?"
Kaido smiled as he watched Yamato standing there on the screen, clearly in a good mood.
"Marveling at your heroics when you were young?"
Maria guessed. Actually, she couldn't figure out what Yamato was thinking—normal people can't really guess what goes in this girl's mind.
Kaido didn't reply, just kept watching Yamato on the screen, lost in thought.
…
Meanwhile, in Udon Prison, after delivering ore and exchanging for food coupons, Gusion went to get his meal.
Because he and Yamato were so efficient, his breakfast was especially hearty: red bean dumpling soup with pancakes, and a generous portion.
You had to know, Gusion already ate more than most people. As his body became more superhuman, his appetite grew even more—he could eat enough for twenty people. Even so, after exchanging for food, he still had coupons left.
This made Gusion realize two things. First, under Kaido's "the more you work, the more you get" policy, hard work really paid off.
Simply put, in Udon Prison, as long as your overall attributes were above 10, and you worked hard mining, you could eat your fill.
If you were strong, you could eat until you burst.
Though these people were prisoners, if you compared this place to a company, it was actually a pretty fair work more, get more business in this world.
Even in Wano, many people were still hungry, but in the prison, if you worked hard, you got to eat.
The second thing was that, judging by the prison's unlimited food, Gusion realized Wano didn't actually lack food.
He didn't know if all the Beast Pirates' food came from Wano or if some was trade or plunder, but based on his knowledge of the canon and what he saw, he felt Wano's food could easily feed everyone.
At every feast, the Beast Pirates always had more food than they could eat. The pirates played with the food.
Because the food they wasted was what so many people in Wano desperately needed to survive.
Of course, Wano's poverty and some areas' severe shortages weren't all because of the Beast Pirates—they weren't the direct rulers.
Wano's ruler was Shogun Kurozumi Orochi, a thoroughly vile man who took pleasure in tormenting his people. So even though Wano didn't lack food or clothing, he made the people of Kuri suffer because he liked seeing them in pain.
He claimed he hated seeing people look miserable, so he forced them to eat used SMILE fruits, making them into pitiful fools who could only laugh.
Compared to Kuri, even the prisoners in Udon Prison were treated better—at least if you could work, you could eat.
"Yamato, you really can eat!"
Gusion marveled at Yamato, who was clearly a naturally cheerful person. Even after an existential crisis, her answer was always eat first, as if there were never any troubles.
After she finished getting her food, Yamato came over with a giant pot full of red bean dumpling soup and several pancakes.
Oh, and by the way, red bean dumpling soup was considered a luxury food here, usually reserved for Queen, the All-Star who occasionally visited. Regular prisoners never got something so fancy; there were cheaper meals for them.
But Gusion and Yamato were mining machines. In just one morning, they'd dug out a mountain of ore, so they were flush with coupons.
Yamato rolled up a pancake and stuffed it in her mouth, swallowing it in a couple of bites, then took a drink of red bean soup. "What are you talking about? A strong person has to be able to eat and drink! But Gusion-dono, your appetite is a bit small."
Gusion's expression was odd. It was the first time someone told him his appetite was small—such a strange feeling.
Thinking back to his childhood, his master always called him a rice bucket because they were poor and he ate so much.
He often ended up eating his senior's leftovers, supposedly because she was dieting.
He didn't get it at the time, but now he realized his senior was only a teenager, training every day and still growing—she didn't need to lose weight at all.
"How do you eat so much?"
Gusion, curious, looked at Yamato's belly. She was tall and fit, a slim woman—her stomach didn't look like it could hold so much.
Yamato ate heartily, directly picking up the half-man-high pot and pouring it into her mouth. By volume, Gusion figured she'd already drunk dozens of liters, but her stomach was still flat.
"Huh? Isn't good food digested quickly?"
Yamato looked confused. "Can't you do that?"
Gusion suddenly understood why Yamato could eat so much. It wasn't that she had a bottomless stomach, but that she'd mastered Seimei Kikan—she could rapidly digest food, turning its energy into reserves.
While getting food, out of habit, he'd used his appraisal skill to check the food. Even the seemingly ordinary red bean soup was a fine-grade recovery item.
Maybe because of the world's energy level, plants and animals grew bigger, and food contained more energy—so even regular rice here was extraordinary.
Because Gusion wasn't injured, the soup just replenished his nutrition and hunger.
But in the original story, when Luffy and Kid were imprisoned in Udon, they gorged themselves and ballooned up, only to instantly shrink back, healing their injuries.
This was the wonder of Seimei Kikan, and why, after every big fight, Luffy's first priority was to eat—a full meal meant rapid recovery.
"Is there a trick to rapid absorption? Can you teach me?"
Gusion asked. He was interested in Seimei Kikan. Even if it didn't save on recovery items, being able to enjoy more food was worth learning.
"A trick? You need to be taught how to eat?"
Yamato looked at Gusion, totally puzzled. "I've eaten like this all my life."
Gusion found this a bit hard to take. "Don't you think digesting food instantly isn't normal?"
Yamato looked at the few prisoners who'd earned a good breakfast, noticing most ate slowly and patted their slightly bulging stomachs in satisfaction. "Now that you mention it, I do remember getting full as a kid."
"So how did you develop this ability?"
Gusion pointed to Yamato's stomach. This eat whatever you want and never get fat ability would drive women in the real world crazy with envy.
"Let me think…"
Yamato put down her pot and thought. "I think it was when I was eight or nine. Kaido kept me locked up, so I was often hungry. When I got the chance, I wanted to eat as much as possible."
"But I found that after a point, I was too full. Since I was sneaking food and couldn't take it with me, it felt like a waste, so I wished I could eat more and store it."
"So I tried forcing my stomach, hoping to digest faster and keep eating."
"And then?"
Gusion asked.
"And then I digested it, and kept eating. Even when I went hungry again, I could last a long time."
Yamato said innocently, "It's a simple trick. Just eat more and you'll get it."
Gusion was speechless, but Yamato's explanation helped him further understand why people in this world were so durable.
Like Sanji's mentor, Red-Leg Zeff, who survived months after a shipwreck without starving, or Zoro's crazy hunger resistance early in the story—probably, most strong people here had some degree of Seimei Kikan.
They may not have systematically trained, but the strong naturally absorbed more, and stored up energy, letting them survive tough times.
To analyze further, if you mastered Seimei Kikan and kept eating and drinking well, your body would gradually get stronger—your physical stats would rise.
So, learning Seimei Kikan was definitely a must—it gave you long-term physical benefits.
"Can you show me slowly? I want to observe carefully."
Gusion asked. He wasn't from this world, but he thought this skill should be learnable.
Yamato laughed. "Of course, but just watching might not help. Here, feel the change yourself."
She grabbed Gusion's hand and placed it on her smooth stomach, then, as he was still confused, grabbed her pot and chugged it.