Just as the Davy Back Fight was about to begin, far away at the port, on the Beasts Pirates' ship…
Acier's Laboratory.
Ding~
Green smoke rose. Acier, wearing a gas mask, coughed repeatedly.
"Dammit, failed again. At this rate, I won't make it in time!!"
The door opened from the outside. Tom walked into the room and opened the window to ventilate.
"Acier, you should rest. You haven't slept in a long time."
"Even with Pure Gold sustaining you, your body will break down if this continues."
Faced with Tom's kindness, Acier could only smile wryly.
"I'd like to rest too, but we're already in the New World. If I don't hurry, I'm worried I won't meet the deadline for completing the Desire-Capturing Machine."
"How far have you gotten? Although I'm a shipwright, there might be some overlap between our fields."
Hearing this, Acier had no choice but to try his luck and black and white liquid and the conversion tank not far away.
"That two-colored liquid is a special fluid intended to temporarily trap soul consciousness, but I'm not sure if it has that effect."
"Because I can't strip the soul from an animal's body."
"This might involve Lineage Factors. The Alchemi from two hundred years ago didn't have knowledge in this area."
"Factors and whatnot..." Tom scratched his head with an embarrassed smile, "Sorry, Acier, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"But if it's about souls, why don't you ask Bazel?"
"I remember one of the Yamata no Orochi's abilities is related to souls, right? Asking him might get you some help."
"That's right!!"
Acier finally remembered Bazel's ability and got up to run out.
"Wait, Acier, Bazel went with everyone to Dressrosa to buy supplies for the voyage."
"Before he returns, you should rest. Your complexion is terrible."
Not giving Acier a chance to refuse, Tom pushed him out of the laboratory, remembering to close the door behind them.
"I'll wake you up as soon as Bazel gets back."
"Well... alright then. Thank you. You must wake me up, Tom-san!"
"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll definitely wake you up~"
…
Corrida Colosseum.
"Then let's use your pirates' Davy Back Fight game."
"Best two out of three! We'll use the rules of the Corrida Colosseum!"
Inside the packed Corrida Colosseum, cheers and applause echoed each other.
Kaido and King Riku stood in the center of the ring.
The former was too stubborn and thick-headed to know what fear meant.
The latter was bound by royal dignity. As the king of this country, refusing a challenge in public out of fear of the enemy's strength...
Would damage his reputation as the King of Dressrosa.
But his warlike nature and belief in certain victory were also reasons why King Riku accepted this challenge.
"Hey, hey, Kaido-san, stop joking around."
Bazel (battered and bruised): "This country is a member of the World Government. If they join us, it will bring disaster to all life on this land."
King (battered and bruised): "That's right, Kaido-san. The World Government will definitely retaliate against them with the most ruthless counterattack. A Buster Call will surely level this island."
Hanafuda (battered and bruised + unconscious): "…"
"Who cares about all that!"
Kaido didn't even turn his head.
"Anyway, all I fancy is the man in front of me! Everyone else is not my concern!"
King was silent for a long time, then looked at Bazel and asked quietly, "Although I don't really want to deal with this mess, if this King Riku really joins us, we'll definitely have to look after his homeland, right?"
"Bazel, think of something quickly."
His purple, swollen eyes straining to move, Bazel retorted: "I'm not Doraemon! What can I do? If push comes to shove, we'll just have to throw the match against Kaido."
"Riku Doldo III isn't a fool. He'll be able to see our good intentions."
"Right now, we can't just pack up such a large country and take it with us. We don't even know the situation in Wano Country yet."
"If we add this country on top of that, we can forget about resting properly for the next few years!"
King glanced at the already unconscious Hanafuda beside him and said with difficulty, "But if we do that... Kaido-san will definitely get angry, right?"
Bazel narrowed his eyes at King, "Then you think of something yourself?"
"If I could think of another solution, what would I need you eight-headed bastard snake for?"
"My dear otouto, you'd better watch your attitude when speaking to your Big Bro."
Bazel's clenched right fist was wrapped in black and red lightning, and he said with a strained smile, "Otherwise, don't blame your beloved Big Bro for using Conqueror's Haki Infusion to refresh your mind. I didn't use this move earlier, you know."
'This bastard...'
The pain from the facial twitch made King grimace.
But the critical hit to his pride hurt his heart even more.
He, the last of the Lunarians, couldn't beat this human in front of him!
"I'm sorry. I was wrong."
The black and red lightning at his fist vanished. Bazel reached out and patted King's head, "That's more like it, my lovely otouto~"
King swatted away the hand that made him feel uncomfortable from the inside out, "Hurry up and tell me, what should we do?"
"It's simple. Just watch my signal."
Bazel threw a wink at King.
King tilted his head, a golden question mark slowly emerging above it.
Bazel, who had been ganged up on by him and Hanafuda, was still in a battered and bruised state.
King asked himself multiple times, searching his heart.
But he only reached one conclusion…
From those purple, swollen eyes that looked like moldy tofu puffs, he saw absolutely nothing...
'Is a 'signal' really such a difficult thing to understand??'
King fell into deep thought.
But Bazel had no time to worry about that. He walked over to Kaido's side and coughed lightly.
"You are…?" King Riku looked utterly confused.
"Bazel. There was a bit of an accident just now."
Only when Bazel's voice sounded did King Riku nod with a strange expression on his face.
Judging from his appearance, he was probably trying to hold back his laughter.
"Kaido-san, although we are pirates, the other party is, after all, the leader of this country."
Bazel began to beat around the bush.
"Since the pirate game was our proposal, and considering the other side's chances of winning are too low, I suggest giving the choice of the three matches to them…"
Before Kaido could question him in confusion, Bazel preemptively blocked his retreat, "Kaido-san, you wouldn't want them pointing at your back, calling you a trash who only bullies those weaker than you, right?"
"Hah?! I only bully the weak?!"
Kaido sat down with a thud, his face slightly flushed with some emotion.
"Good! Well done, Bazel! Your words remind me!"
"Doldo! Considering you're much weaker than me, I'll give you the choice of all three games!"
"No matter the field, I am invincible! You choose whatever you want!"
King Riku looked at Bazel, who was secretly giving him a thumbs-up and winking, his gaze utterly clear.
'What did this... pig-headed man want to express? Why couldn't I understand?'
Though puzzled in his heart, King Riku couldn't drop his kingly demeanor.
He could only respond to Bazel with an all-purpose smile.
Seeing the other party smile, Bazel breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that the other party could understand his meaning.
"Well, then I will choose three fair competitions."
King Riku asked his subordinates for three slips of paper, wrote the names of the competitions on them, and placed them into a small wooden box.
"To ensure fairness, the order of the three matches will be determined by random draw."
"Next, please have three participants from the Beasts Pirates come forward."
Kaido waved his hand grandly, "I will definitely participate. You can choose the other two randomly from my subordinates."
'The opportunity has come!'
Seeing this, Bazel's eyes shone with hopeful light.
He hurriedly tried to 'signal' King Riku, wanting him to choose Olga or some other, weaker ordinary pirate.
'So that's how it is...'
After understanding the 'Bazel Code', King Riku nodded thoughtfully.
'It seemed the other party wanted to participate in this match, hence the thumbs-up earlier.'
'So that meaning wasn't just for the fairness of the competition, but also to have me choose him.'
King Riku didn't forget to give Bazel a thumbs-up in return.
"As expected of the famed 'Brain of the Beasts.' You saw right through my intentions."
As he said this, King Riku couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Initially, he hadn't wanted to choose Bazel. After all, the other's reputation preceded him, and Dressrosa had no equivalent strong opponent.
But the other's actions just now clearly meant he had to choose him.
Bazel looked bewildered: "???"
'When did I see through his intentions?'
'My thumbs-up was just to tell him, 'This time, I'm on your side'.'
"I have decided!"
Bazel's breathing became rapid.
"Kaido, and him, and him."
Watching the other's finger point at himself, Bazel's and King's expressions stiffened.
'Anyone else would have been fine...'
'Why did you have to pick the three strongest ones?'
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