A tense hush fell over the battlefield as King, with a loud shout, stopped the two warring parties. He looked at Adrian with a solemn expression.
"I don't think His Majesty Adrian came all the way to Wano Country just to fight, did he?" King asked, treating the young emperor of Dressrosa very differently from the way he had treated Doflamingo.
King did not dare to underestimate the man before him. Adrian's stunning record was enough to earn his respect and fear. Even though his group was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers, their combat power and imposing presence meant that Adrian's five-person crew was not outmatched by the thousand-man army. In fact, they were even stronger.
"Heh, it seems Kaido's subordinates aren't all idiots," Shiryu remarked with a dark chuckle, withdrawing his sword and retreating behind Adrian. However, when King's eyes accidentally glanced at the figure hanging on Shiryu's waist, his pupils shrank.
"That is…" King cried out in shock.
"You guessed right. I'm here to negotiate with Kaido. The artificial Devil Fruit SMILE business is now under my control, so the contract must be re-established," Adrian said slyly, pointing at Momonosuke. "And you don't need me to tell you who this kid is. This time… I have to have a good talk with Kaido."
"Is that… Kozuki Oden's son?"
"He's actually alive!"
"And he still looks the same as before. It seems the legend is real…"
The moment they saw Momonosuke's face, King, Queen, and a lurking Jack all changed their expressions drastically. They had recently heard from Kurozumi Orochi that Oden's son would reappear, but everyone except Kaido had dismissed it as a rumor. Now, Adrian had brought the truth right to their doorstep.
"What do you want?" King couldn't help but ask.
Leaving the SMILE fruits aside, Momonosuke alone was an incredibly powerful bargaining chip. The power to negotiate was entirely in Adrian's hands. King believed that since Adrian dared to come to Wano Country with so few people, he must have been fully prepared. His fearlessness likely stemmed from his legendary status as a "Poseidon."
He felt that his boss, Kaido, was about to face a tough negotiation, so he wanted to probe further.
"You can't make a decision on this, so there's no point in talking more. Just call Kaido so we can talk," Adrian said, waving his hand, completely uninterested in answering King's questions.
In truth, Adrian had two main objectives for this trip. First, to re-establish the terms of the artificial Devil Fruit SMILE trade and to thoroughly exploit Kaido. Second, to use Momonosuke to accelerate the conflict between the Kozuki family remnants and the Kaido-Orochi alliance, paving the way for him to seize control of Wano Country in the future.
Taking over Wano Country was his ultimate goal. Its natural geographical barriers and unique seastone production and processing technology were things Adrian was after. Controlling Wano Country would, in a sense, be like strangling the throats of the World Government and the Marines. The World Government was the largest buyer of seastone weapons and instruments. In the past, even a mighty CP0 member was shot in the head by Kurozumi Orochi while trying to secretly purchase seastone, and they didn't dare to fight back. This showed how much the World Government relied on Wano Country's seastone.
This reliance was understandable. To travel safely through the Calm Belt without being harassed by Sea Kings, warships required seastone modifications at the bottom of the boat. To successfully imprison Devil Fruit users, seastone devices were essential. The World Government and the Marines consumed a massive amount of seastone. If it weren't for Wano Country's unique geography, they would have already made a move.
"Please wait a moment, I will inform Boss Kaido…" King didn't dare to delay and immediately took out his phone bug to call Kaido.
He had barely spoken half a sentence when Kaido's drunken roar boomed through the phone bug.
"What did you say? That bastard Adrian dared to come to my territory to cause trouble?!"
King's eyes widened. "Nani?!"
Big brother, did you even listen to me? I'm clearly talking about negotiations...
Kaido didn't give King a chance to explain. Immediately, there were shouts and rumbling noises from the other end of the phone.
Roar--
A massive dragon's roar echoed from the direction of Onigashima. Soon, everyone saw a giant figure soaring through the sky. It was Kaido, transformed into a dragon, with his feet planted on the clouds.
"Tch, this guy's entrance is always so over the top," Shiryu muttered sourly.
"It seems a fight is unavoidable…" Adrian chuckled, waving his hand. "Everyone, stand back. I'll help Kaido sober up first."
Even King, Queen, and the others wisely retreated. They knew Kaido's consistent style. When he was drunk, he was indiscriminate and would attack anyone. Getting caught in the crossfire would be a nightmare.
"You bastard, you knocked me away so messily last time! You're more annoying than that red-haired bastard…" Kaido's giant dragon head lowered from the thunderclouds, his blood-red eyes filled with fury. He was clearly still upset about being blown away by the giant Sea Kings.
Whoosh--
A terrifying heat, powerful enough to melt mountains, erupted from Kaido's mouth.
However, the next second, a jaw-dropping scene unfolded for the entire Beast Pirates crew. The heat falling from the sky didn't harm Adrian. Instead, with his right arm raised, he gathered the immense heat into his palm, forming a giant fireball like a miniature sun.
"Let me return it to you!" Adrian's lips curled into a smirk. He launched the fireball at the stunned Kaido.
[Dragon Fire: Emperor Flame!!]
"Ahhh…" Kaido let out a pained howl as his massive figure crashed heavily to the ground.
"Brother Kaido?!"
"Hey, what's going on? How can that kid control Master Kaido's flame?"
"Master Kaido is injured?"
The members of the Beast Pirates, including the All-Stars, were completely stunned by the sudden turn of events. What in the world is happening? That kid can control fire?
Bullet and the others, on the other hand, wore smug expressions. "Idiot, you dare to play with fire in front of the captain!"
Still, no one believed that this one attack could fatally wound Kaido. As expected, after a moment, Kaido's sturdy, hill-like figure emerged from the smoke.
"Hmph... Come on, you bastard! I'm going to smash you today!" The mace in Kaido's hand slammed down like a bolt of lightning, the tyrannical force chilling to the bone.
"It's time to test out my blades on you!" Adrian's lips curved into a slight smile, and an endless fighting spirit surged in his dark pupils. [Enma] and [Ame no Habakiri] at his waist were unsheathed simultaneously, drawing a cold light through the air as he met Kaido's attack head-on.