That night, Caesar and the others decided to head first to the village of Okobore Town in the opposite direction of the Flower Capital to find some food to satisfy their hunger.
Although Kaido and Big Mom had absorbed a large amount of Caesar blood, they hadn't eaten a single grain of rice in seven days.
No matter how strong their body are, they still needed sustenance.
As Caesar put it, even a lion must exert its full strength when hunting a rabbit.
Moreover, the Straw Hats and their allies, who had defeated Kaido and Big Mom, were no longer mere rabbits.
They were genuine lions.
The night sky was clear, with few clouds to obscure the view—perhaps they had been dispersed by the earlier clash of the trio's Haki.
The bright moonlight bathed the land as three towering figures strode side by side through the darkness, trailed at a distance by Queen and King.
As for the dozen or so underlings, Caesar had sent them back to the Udon Prison to keep an eye on Ryokugyu.
It wasn't that Caesar didn't value Ryokugyu, but he simply had no time to deal with him now. He hadn't yet decided what to do with the Admiral.
Caesar also wasn't worried about whether the Marines would send reinforcements.
The Marine was far away and it would take them at least ten days to half a month to reach Wano Country.
Spotting the faint outlines of tall chimneys in the night, Caesar asked Kaido curiously.
"Bro, what's all this you've got going on here?"
"An ironworks. That's my weapons factory in Wano" Kaido replied with a glance.
Caesar was stunned.
"Not bad, little shit! I never thought you'd come up with a way to make money. I always figured your brain was all muscle and you just robbed people whenever you needed cash."
Kaido eyebrow twitched and he fought the urge to punch someone.
"Mamama! Kaido actually got a decent head on his shoulders" Big Mom chimed in cheerfully, linking arms with Caesar.
"The weapons he makes in Wano are top quality. Countries across the New World and even some pirate crews do business with him. My Totto Land buys his weapons often too. Wano firearm technology might be a bit outdated, but their forged blades are incredibly durable."
"Heh, damn right. With this weapons factory, I rake in tens of billions of Berries every year. That's how I fund my army of 500 Gifters" Kaido boasted, his face brimming with pride.
"Gifters? What's that? Are they strong?"
At Caesar question, Kaido smug expression grew even more. He lifted his chin and said.
"All 500 of them are Zoan-type Devil Fruit users. Just buying all those Devil Fruits eats up 90% of my annual income. Thousands of failures, but 500 successes. They're the elite of my pirate crew. My dream is to create an entire crew of Zoan users!"
Now Caesar was genuinely shocked.
He turned to Kaido in disbelief. "That many Devil Fruit users? Wait, no—where would you even get that many Devil Fruits, and all Zoan types at that? Are you joking with me?"
Kaido was left speechless.
Big Mom laughed beside them. "Caesar-oniisama, it's not what you think. I know about this. The Devil Fruits Kaido buys are artificial—that's how he can purchase them in bulk."
"Artificial Devil Fruits?" Caesar exclaimed. "Such a thing exists? That's incredible! With something like that, you could mass-produce Devil Fruit users! Who makes them? Would the World Government even allow an organization like that to exist?"
Linlin covered her mouth and giggled "Hehe, it's not as amazing as you think. This thing was made by a scientist named Caesar Clown. Its effects aren't that strong—he can only create Zoan-type ability users. And the side effects are terrible. If even one out of ten turns out decent, it's considered a stroke of luck. Plus, the upper limit for these ability users is very low, they can't even reach Queen level. Though Kaido made it sound scary, truth be told, they're all a bunch of weaklings—not a single one is useful."
Not far behind, Queen face twisted as he glared at Linlin back and muttered under his breath.
"Hmph! Why compare them to me? Have you forgotten? I was the one who beat you so hard you lost your memory—no, wait, regained it! My bounty is sky-high, you know."
Linlin seemed to hear Queen grumbling and glanced back at him, causing Queen to shrink back in fear.
Caesar immediately caught on and sneered at Kaido "Oh, so after all this, they're just a bunch of half-baked amateurs. Hundreds of billions of berries every year, huh? You really are a spendthrift, Kaido."
Kaido retorted angrily "What do you know? Even if they're not that strong, their overall level is still pretty good. My Gifters army, if placed in the Marines, would at least be on par with their elite officers. A few of the real fighters even have vice admiral-level strength."
"So what? With hundreds of billions of berries, how many top-tier Devil Fruits could you have bought? And you wasted it all on this junk? Decades of fortunes and this is all you've got? What the hell were you thinking? In this world, if you want to conquer the seas, you don't rely on a bunch of useless idiots—you need top-tier powerhouses. Just think about it—could these 500 guys combined even beat those two morons behind us?"
Caesar raised his thumb and jerked it toward the two behind him.
Kaido opened his mouth to argue but suddenly realized Caesar was right.
Still, he refused to back down and grumbled.
"Top-tier fighters aren't that easy to come by. Those slightly stronger ones are all stubborn as hell they'd never just submit to someone."
Caesar chuckled coldly "Then how did Newgate manage it? I heard he has 46 fleets under him, and each of his commanders is a one-in-a-thousand talent. Can't even win people over? What, all you know is brute force?"
Kaido's face flushed red with anger. "That bastard Whitebeard goes around adopting sons left and right. Where would I find the time for that nonsense? I've only got one son and that little shit doesn't even acknowledge me as his father—instead, he teams up with outsiders to rebel!"
Caesar shook his head repeatedly and sighed, glancing at Linlin beside him.
"Getting others to willingly become his sons—now that's real skill. What bond is stronger than father and son? Look at Linlin—she's got a whole army of children and runs Totto Land like an iron fortress. How are you such a failure? Your own flesh and blood defects to the enemy camp?"
Linlin smiled without a trace of shame and said "You know, Caesar-oniisama, apart from Perospero, Katakuri, Daifuku, and Oven, all my other children were adopted as infants from all over the world. You're aware of my past. The old nun had a profound influence on me, so I followed her example and started adopting children everywhere. The only difference is that I always claimed they were my biological children—it helped stabilize my pirate crew."
Caesar patted her hand and chuckled "Linlin, you've worked hard all these years. You don't owe me any explanations. If anything, it's me who should apologize for sleeping so long, leaving you alone to raise a bunch of kids and build your forces. It must have been tough. From now on, leave these matters to me. If you want to create Totto Land, I'll help make your dream come true!"
"Onii-sama.." Linlin eyes welled up with emotion as she tightened her grip on his arm.
Kaido rolled his eyes. "Ugh, you two are so cringe. Disgusting!"
[A/N : Writing big mom like this feels so wrong ngl]