Nighttime.
The Beasts Pirates, for once, were not training. Instead, they were gathered around a large platform temporarily built between two twin-masted sailing ships, cheering and causing a ruckus.
Bazel vs. King.
A great battle between the two All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates!
This fight had lasted from day to night.
As for the result-
Bazel, having activated his Gear 3 form, glanced at his scorched left hand. Activating his molting ability, it was restored to its original state in the blink of an eye.
"You bastard..." King lay on the ground, twitching, weakly moving his fingers.
But the accumulated poison in his body and his traumatized muscles protested silently.
"Call me Big Bro."
Bazel, having returned to his normal state, squatted down with a grin.
"Call me Big Bro once, and I'll help you get the poison out."
"Otherwise, even with your special constitution, it'll take you at least ten days to half a month to recover."
"Of course, I can also bandage you up nicely, just like the loving bandage job you did for me after the battle on Sabaody Archipelago last time."
Most of King's clothes were in tatters, though his mask remained intact.
His eyes moved to the right, their pupils reflecting an excited Olga, who was holding an image Den Den Mushi.
"Olga."
"Ah, what?"
"No recording."
Hearing this, Olga pouted, snorted, and turned her head away.
"E-hehehe~ I was pretending to put away the Den Den Mushi, but I actually hid a few more nearby."
"This time, I must record that idiot King's embarrassing state and laugh at him for a hundred years!"
"...You said the quiet part out loud."
Watching Olga apologize with that silly, cute look, King sighed, suddenly losing the will to argue.
"Big Bro Bazel, I admit defeat."
"What did you say?!"
Bazel deliberately shouted loudly, pressing his hands down, gesturing for the surrounding pirates to be quiet.
"B-Big Bro Bazel! I lost! Please help me get the poison out!"
"Ai~" Bazel let out a long, satisfied sigh.
"Now that's my adorable otouto. Come on, big brother will restore you to health right away."
He placed his right index finger on King's shoulder.
In just a few seconds, King, who had been paralyzed, suddenly turned over, arched his back, and clutched his stomach with his right hand. His features behind the mask were contorted.
"You bastard... Why does my stomach hurt so much?!"
Bazel said with a straight face, "Nonsense, if you're not expelling poison from the rear, did you want to move the stuff from your intestines upwards and then expel it through vomiting?"
"..."
The surrounding pirates subconsciously took a few steps back, their faces full of disgust.
"King-sama is not only ruthless to his enemies, but also cruel to himself!"
"Exactly! King-sama is truly the toughest man in the Beasts Pirates. I don't even admire Kaido-sama on this point, only him!"
The toughest man in the Beasts Pirates.
Upon hearing this nickname, Bazel almost lost his composure.
He turned around, coughing hurriedly.
"Clear the way, let the toughest man in the Beasts Pirates go to the toilet to expel the poison!"
"Yes, Bazel-sama~"
The pirates tacitly stood on both sides, straightening their backs with serious expressions.
As King, trembling unsteadily, walked to the middle, they suddenly bowed and shouted in unison.
"King-sama, have a good journey!!!"
Startled by the sudden shout, King shivered, clamped his legs together, and scurried forward with quick, small steps.
"Bastard Bazel, I won't let you get away with this! Just you wait! Next time I bandage you up, I'll definitely tie a bow on it!!!"
Pfft pfft pfft~
A foul smell drifted across the great sea.
Bazel held his breath and quickly jumped back onto the deck.
"Disperse, disperse. It seems the toilet on Hanafuda's ship won't be usable for a while."
"It seemed you're really bored, Bazel."
Kaido, who had witnessed the entire process, had a smile in his eyes as he raised his head and drank heartily.
"But I rarely see Arber in such a state of embarrassment, worororo...
"Kaido-sama!"
Suddenly, Olga came to Kaido's side and saluted him with a gesture only marines would use.
"Here is the image Den Den Mushi. Please accept it!"
Watching Kaido take the Den Den Mushi, turn on the playback, and laugh incessantly, Bazel's eye twitched. "Kaido-san, you seem pretty bored yourself."
"For me, this is a treasure worth cherishing for a lifetime!"
As he carefully put away the Den Den Mushi, whether intentionally or not, a photo slipped out from his inner pocket.
It just so happened to land in Bazel's hand.
It's Bazel in mummy bandage from before.
"... Kaido-san, care to explain this photo?"
Kaido nonchalantly took back the photo and raised an eyebrow, "What, you want to have a one-on-one duel with me too? I don't mind."
Bazel was silent:
'Kaido had learned bad habits…'
'If I had known this day would come, I would have avoided Kaido when teasing King.'
'Now he had picked up my bad habits...'
"No, as long as you're happy."
Olga made a contemptuous gesture from the side.
"You don't understand, Olga. There's an old saying from my hometown."
Every time Bazel said this, Toki would appear right on cue.
"Trees depend on people for pruning, people depend on self-cultivation."
"The general meaning of this saying is, if you want a strong and healthy body, you must keep your spirit joyful during growth."
Toki tilted her head nearby: "???"
She had a feeling that this old saying didn't quite mean that...
"Come on, let's go find King. I'm feeling a bit irritated now, I need to chat with him."
Basel first went to Acier's laboratory and got some very small doses of explosives.
Then, he and Olga covered their faces and hair with black cloth, sneaking stealthily toward the restroom.
Soon after…
Boom!
The restroom's ceiling flew into the sea amidst an explosion.
"You two bastards!"
"Don't run! I'm absolutely going to kill you two today!!!"
"Karyudon!!!"
Another round of chaos ensued.
Kaido, who was watching the spectacle while drinking, laughed even harder.
"This is what being a pirate is all about, worororo~~~"
"Listen up, men!"
"I need a song to go with my drink right now!"
Babanuki immediately organized the crew, waiting for the boss to choose a song.
"For a scene like this~"
Looking at the three wrestling not far away, Kaido showed a genuine smile.
"Binks's Sake is most appropriate."
"Ready~"
Babanuki raised his hand.
"Sing!"
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Going to deliver Binks' Sake~
Following the sea breeze. Riding on the waves…
The evening breeze brushed gently as Kaido sat on the deck, looking up at the starry night sky, his ears filled with rough music mixed with the curses of his brothers.
In this moment, Kaido felt his soul more relaxed than ever before.
The pirates linked arms, holding bottles of sake, singing this pirate song passed down for hundreds of years.
If you lose your nerve this breath could be your last~
But if you just hold on, The morning sun will rise~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
"This is the pirate life I wanted, Captain… Rocks."
Several days later, late March 1493 of the Sea Circle Calendar.
The Beasts Pirates anchored at a seemingly desolate, weed-covered uninhabited island.
"This place…"
Standing on the beach, Kaido's expression shifted from initial confusion and doubt to increasing gravity.
"No mistake, this should be that place!"
"Bazel, you're coming with me to a place. Everyone else, stay and guard the ship!"
King and Hanafuda exchanged glances and nodded in agreement, "Understood!"
"Kaido-san, this should be the place Rocks mentioned, right?"
Pushing through waist-high undergrowth, Bazel kept his voice low, his Observation Haki constantly scanning their surroundings.
"Should be right, I remember it clearly."
Kaido, in his hybrid form, sped ahead, paying no heed to potential dangers.
"27 years ago, Rocks charged alone into Mary Geoise, the Holy Land, during a Reverie."
"After killing the previous Marine Admiral, Admiral Kokyu, he fought fiercely with Harald, who was attending the meeting as a soldier at the time!"
"I heard that after that, Rocks even broke into the deeper parts of Mary Geoise."
"That day when Rocks was drunk, he said…"
Kaido's expression turned grim, as if recalling something terrifying.
"He broke into a room filled with butterflies and bellflowers, and there he saw an incredible monster!"
"That guy called himself…"
"The King of the World!!!"
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