Hachinosu Harbor buzzed with activity as the imposing Rayquaza slowly maneuvered into position and docked. Kai's group disembarked from the ship with casual confidence.
The pirates gathered at the harbor observed Kai and his companions' unfamiliar faces but quickly lost interest in them.
The reason was disappointingly simple. Including Kai himself, all of them were complete unknowns without even a bounty poster to their names.
"They're not imposters, are they? I don't recognize any of them from wanted posters."
"Are you stupid? Would anyone dare impersonate the Beast Pirates?"
"Hard to say for certain. Fortune favors the bold, while the timid starve to death."
The gathered pirates murmured among themselves with obvious speculation, but none dared to directly test Kai's group.
This demonstrated just how successful Ochoku's territorial management had proven to be.
At this moment, a bespectacled pirate with a distinctly administrative appearance approached and politely explained Hachinosu's operating rules.
Pirate ships entering Hachinosu were required to pay a landing fee calculated based on tonnage, and this wasn't a simple one-time charge.
Every single day spent on Hachinosu required paying the exact same amount again.
"What an absolutely ugly way to make money," Ulti frowned and spoke with characteristic bluntness.
Paying once was understandable, but daily charges as well?
The administrative pirate wasn't offended by her criticism and calmly explained with professional patience: "Please rest assured, distinguished lords. This money is absolutely worth every berry. As long as you don't act recklessly on the island, Lord Ochoku will personally guarantee your complete safety."
He handed over a detailed written explanation of Hachinosu's comprehensive rules.
Ulti responded unhappily: "Do I look like I need his protection?"
"Forget it. When you're on someone else's territory, you follow their established rules," Kai said with complete indifference. "Speed, pay the man."
After completing the payment, Kai's group successfully departed the harbor district.
Following the previously agreed meeting location, Kai smoothly located the designated tavern and successfully encountered the Seven Warlord Hanafuda.
Hanafuda stood over five meters tall, wearing a distinctive black mask that completely concealed his facial features, dressed in a black leather coat that resembled the Beast Pirates' signature style.
At his feet lay his chosen weapon: a massive, intimidating scythe.
The scythe's tail was connected to a heavy meteor hammer for devastating impact.
Kai brazenly met with Hanafuda in this bustling, crowded tavern.
The nerve-wracking covert rendezvous he'd expected never materialized into reality.
Come to think of it logically, what was truly problematic about a Warlord conducting trade with the Beast Pirates? The World Government couldn't effectively control the Warlords anyway, and they themselves were conducting seastone business with the Beast Pirates.
"Papa!" Ulti cried out with pure joy and threw herself into Hanafuda's powerful arms.
Page One remained much calmer but still approached Hanafuda with visibly reddened eyes, softly calling: "Papa..."
Only now did these typically tough teenagers show genuine hints of their softer hearts.
Kai tactfully withdrew from the immediate area, leaving private space for the family reunion.
BURU! BURU! BURU!
Just as Kai wanted to explore Hachinosu's attractions first, the Den Den Mushi in his chest suddenly rang with urgent persistence.
He retrieved the communication device and answered promptly.
A cold, familiar voice came from the other end.
"It's me, King."
"What's the urgent matter?" Kai asked with growing concern.
"The Charlotte Family has officially declared war on us."
Since Kai's addition to their ranks, Kaido felt supremely confident in their enhanced strength and changed from a purely defensive stance, beginning to have his pirates aggressively expand their territorial holdings.
When some people's territory expanded significantly, naturally others' territory was forced to shrink.
It was simply unfortunate that this time the territorial friction was directly with Big Mom's powerful crew.
King explained the complete course of events in detail. Simply summarized, the Beast Pirates' territorial expansion had overlapped with Big Mom's crew's expansion targets, and neither side would yield ground.
So war's inevitable arrival was completely obvious.
Although Kaido and Charlotte Linlin maintained a surprisingly good private relationship, even intimate in certain ways, both were characters who strictly separated public and private matters and wouldn't allow personal feelings to hinder their crews' development.
"I understand the situation completely." Kai hung up the Den Den Mushi with a decisive click.
The Charlotte Family, of course.
This would prove somewhat troublesome indeed.
Kai scratched his head with obvious frustration. He was already missing the peaceful life in Wano Country.
As fellow Sea Emperors, if not for Kai's strategic midway addition, Big Mom's crew would actually be significantly stronger than the current Beast Pirates.
Among the Sweet Commanders, except for the youngest, Snack and Smoothie, the other two commanders in their thirties had basically reached maturity in combat ability.
Besides them, powerful ministers like Perospero, Compote, Daifuku, and Oven were absolutely no pushovers either.
Add their numerous siblings with considerable individual strength, and this pirate crew was definitely a silver medalist in the New World.
And the Beast Pirates?
In the original timeline, besides Kaido himself, the Beast Pirates only possessed King as genuine high-end combat power.
Queen's abilities were more reflected in technological innovation rather than pure combat. His actual fighting strength wasn't truly top-tier.
Going further down the hierarchy was the immature Jack.
Although the future Tobiroppo had eventually gathered five members, Ulti and Page One hadn't grown up yet, so their current combat power remained questionable.
The artificial Zoan army and Pleasures didn't even exist in any form yet.
It was Kai's appearance that had significantly strengthened the Beast Pirates' overall power.
Not only adding another capable All-Star, but also bringing Yamato whose strength rivaled Queen's impressive abilities.
With these two major additions, this approaching battle had a genuine chance of success.
Kai returned to the tavern with purpose.
"Though I hate to interrupt this reunion, we're completely out of time."
Kai informed the three about the urgent news.
Unexpectedly, Ulti appeared extremely excited by the prospect.
"I've finally waited for this glorious day!"
Page One, who had seemed somewhat gloomy, also showed obvious excitement burning in his eyes.
Hanafuda nodded slightly, looking quite satisfied with his children's enthusiastic performance.
"These are the Devil Fruits I promised Kaido."
Hanafuda gestured meaningfully, and his subordinates brought over three small, ornate boxes and placed them before Kai.
"All three are regular Zoan types: Reticulated Python form, Mongoose form, and Ox form."
So they were all standard types rather than rare varieties. No wonder he dared display them so openly.
Kai understood the situation perfectly.
But even so, Kai had completely overlooked Devil Fruits' tremendous appeal to ordinary pirates.
The mere mention of Devil Fruits instantly attracted the intense attention of every pirate in the crowded tavern.
They stared with burning intensity at the three small boxes on the table, their obvious greed almost ready to devour Kai entirely.
A bunch of insignificant small fry.
Kai looked at them with complete disdain and casually opened the boxes to inspect their contents.
Pirates who would covet even such basic trash fruits couldn't possibly be worth much consideration.
"No problems whatsoever. Pleasure doing business." Kai closed the lids and casually tossed the boxes to Ulti and Page One.
He was only responsible for receiving goods. Payment arrangements were King's business entirely.
After Ulti and Page One bid emotional farewell to their father, they followed Kai out of the establishment.
"Boss, should we send someone to follow..."
Hanafuda's subordinate scanned the tavern and discovered several suspicious groups had followed Kai's group outside.
Their purpose was transparently obvious.
"No need for intervention. Even I find that man's aura somewhat dangerous."
Hanafuda shook his head with certainty.
Moreover, he trusted completely that Kaido wouldn't send incompetent people on such missions.
Three kilometers from Hachinosu, on the open sea surface, the Rayquaza sailed determinedly toward Bread Island, stepping over countless ship fragments.
"Damn it, Kai! You acted too fast!" Ulti leaned against the ship's rail, gazing at the chaotic sea surface below.
She had wanted to stretch her combat muscles as well.
"What's the point of wasting time on those insignificant small-fry pirates? The real challenge is still ahead."
Kai spoke while using his ability to summon strong winds to accelerate the Rayquaza's speed.
King hadn't provided him with much time to work with.
"Are we really going to war with the Charlotte Family?"
Violet nervously swallowed with obvious anxiety.
This was far too exciting for comfort.
She'd only joined half a month ago and already had to participate in major league conflicts?
Kai patted Violet's shoulder with comforting reassurance: "Don't worry about it. This time it's just fighting over control of a small island. Neither Kaido-san nor Charlotte Linlin will make personal moves."
If two Emperors had to fight directly over a small island, Emperors would be far too common.
Actually, this war might also represent Big Mom's crew testing the Beast Pirates' true strength.
This concerned both pirate crews' standing in the New World hierarchy.
Now the conditions were perfectly balanced. Neither boss would act directly, and the war's intensity could be carefully controlled.