Dressrosa, King's Plateau.
"You agreed to that warmonger's invitation?"
Standing at the edge of a garden, overlooking the bustling market below, Kaido frowned slightly.
"What are you planning this time? And what about the incident at Ryugu Palace last time? Why did you lend our flag to the fishmen?"
"Let me explain one thing at a time. I thought you would have understood."
Bazel's casual remark nearly made Kaido lose his composure.
"The alliance with Ryugu Palace and Neptune wasn't an impulsive decision."
"If talented Fishmen are trained, they will absolutely become demons for our enemies."
"Kaido, both of us are Devil Fruit users, and King will eventually eat a Devil Fruit too."
"The benefit is we can become stronger faster, the downside is being hated by the sea."
"At that time, members of the Fishman race will become a powerful force for us to turn the tide."
"That's the first benefit. The second benefit: I heard from Neptune about the legend of the Ancient Weapons."
'Ancient Weapons?'
Kaido immediately tossed aside the slight irritation from feeling looked down upon, "What did you find out? No! What does Neptune know?"
"Poseidon. But Neptune doesn't know what this Ancient Weapon specifically refers to… whether it's a thing or a person, or when it will appear."
"He only knows that Poseidon appears every few hundred years. The reason I lent them our flag was for that Ancient Weapon."
"Truly, that's so like you."
Kaido let out a long, wistful sigh, his expression complex.
He originally thought Bazel chose to ally with the Fishmen for their military strength and the Poneglyph.
He never expected it was for the Ancient Weapon, Poseidon.
This move of thinking one step ahead and planning three steps ahead was something he genuinely couldn't follow.
"Indeed, matters that require brains aren't really suitable for me and Arber. So what about this time? What's the reason this time?"
Facing Kaido's inquiry and his thirst-for-knowledge gaze, Bazel shook his head, a hint of pity suddenly appearing in his eyes.
"Kaido-san, don't tell me you didn't figure out the reason this time either?"
Kaido's old face flushed red. He coughed lightly and said, "I'm just testing you! Seeing if your thoughts align with mine!"
"Really?"
The blush faded from Kaido's face, replaced by a dark scowl as he activated Conqueror's Haki infusion.
"Alright, alright, I'll talk, I'll talk."
Bazel really didn't want to taste a wake-up-call punch, so he hurriedly spoke:
"It's because of military strength. According to my idea, if that warmonger can start his big festival before we reach Wano Country, then we'll go join the fun."
"First, it can use actual combat to strengthen the power of Babanuki, Hanafuda and the others. Second, we can scavenge for the military strength we urgently need from that battlefield."
'Military strength?'
Kaido nodded thoughtfully but still seemed somewhat puzzled:
"Are those small fries really that important? As long as the Giants are willing to join us, no number of ordinary people will be a match for them."
"Nonono…"
Waggling his index finger, Bazel suddenly produced a feather fan from behind him and waved it a few times with an air of profound mystery.
"King versus king, general versus general, small fry versus small fry."
"As the strongest, we only need to handle the enemy's strongest. The officers will naturally deal with the enemy's officers."
"You might say, once Conqueror's Haki is unleashed, those small fries become useless."
"But Kaido-san~"
Seeing Kaido's proud, agreeing expression, Bazel couldn't help but speed up the waving of his fan.
"You have to understand, we have Conqueror's Haki, but the enemy will surely have it too. When the two clash, the fights that need to happen will still happen."
"No matter where you go, small fry-level troops are absolutely necessary."
"You wouldn't want us to personally handle moving the spoils of war after a victory, would you?"
"This... Fine, I admit you're right."
Kaido, attempting to argue, ultimately found his eloquence couldn't match even the dandruff on Bazel's head.
"If we can gather more military strength before heading to Wano Country, it will make our future plans much easier."
Pulling Bazel by the shoulder towards a more secluded spot,
Kaido's voice suddenly dropped much lower.
"Marlon came to this island, right? I sensed his presence."
Bazel wasn't surprised Kaido could sense it and immediately nodded in affirmation.
"The reason I didn't show myself is because another remnant of the Rocks Pirates contacted me."
"Kurozumi Higurashi. That woman was a nobody around Rocks back in the day. Her hometown seems to be Wano Country."
"She invited me to Wano Country to discuss an alliance. She also said she's willing to hand over the throne willingly. The condition is we help them defeat the other forces in Wano Country and help their Kurozumi Family become the shogun."
'Kurozumi Higurashi?'
Bazel's eyes showed confusion, 'I seem to have heard her name before… Wait!'
'The previous user of the Mane Mane no Mi?'
'That old hag who could transform into Shiki, Stussy, and who gave the Yamata no Orochi Fruit to Kurozumi Orochi?!'
"What's your take on it?" Bazel asked in return.
"Me? My idea is to turn that place completely into a weapons-producing country. But Bazel, you must have a better plan, right?"
Kaido showed an expression of absolute confidence, the look of someone who had already seen through everything.
Bazel: '?'
'Why was Kaido so confident? Shouldn't the confident one be me?'
"...That's right, I do indeed have a better idea."
Bazel paused briefly in thought before laying out the initial plan for arriving in Wano Country.
"After we arrive in Wano Country, we need to split into two groups for action."
"The first group is the Wano Country's team, led by you. After you've made initial contact with that Kurozumi Higurashi, King will stay behind with the main force to keep watch."
"They will be responsible for supervising the initial war of attrition in Wano Country."
"Wait a minute!" Kaido interrupted with a frown, "Shouldn't we be helping the Kurozumi Family?"
"Help them? What foolishness are you talking about?"
Seeing Bazel's look as if he were viewing an idiot, Kaido crossed his arms and said irritably, "Do you even know what an alliance is, you bastard?! Do you want me to become someone who breaks faith and betrays others?!"
"Breaks faith and betrays others? Isn't that the very nature of us pirates?"
Kaido was stunned. After processing it, he slapped his thigh and laughed heartily.
"That's right, worororo~"
"I almost forgot I'm a pirate! Pirates never honor alliances!"
"Keep going, clever Bazel!"
"Our Beasts Pirates' top-tier strength can absolutely crush that nation. Since that's the case, why bother exhausting ourselves fighting the enemy?"
"Let the Kurozumi Family send their troops first to fight and wear down the local Wano forces. Once they've fought enough, we'll step in and take over."
"Then, we can pin the blame for rebellion on Kurozumi Higurashi, and we'll step forward in the name of the Amatsuki Family to take control of Wano Country!"
Kaido's eyes showed surprise, "Toki's family? But I remember that's history from 800 years ago. Will that clan still exist?"
"It's best if they exist, but it doesn't matter if they don't."
Bazel motioned for Kaido to sit down and patted his broad shoulder earnestly.
"All we need is a pretext, understand, Kaido-san?"
"Pretext and power. If we hold the advantage in both, the Beasts Pirates could take over Wano Country without spending a single soldier."
"If a country is suddenly taken over by an external force, there will inevitably be those who resist and those who become rebellious."
"What we need to do is shift the hatred onto the Kurozumi Family, and then let Toki take over the entire Wano Country in the name of legitimacy."
"This plan is nothing but beneficial for both us and Toki."
"If the Amatsuki Family doesn't exist, it means Wano Country erased Toki's family from history during its nearly 800 years of development."
"If that's truly the case, then we have an even more justified reason to act."
"Revenge!" Kaido's mouth curved into a grin, a fierce smile, "Toki is your woman, which makes her my sister-in-law."
"Those who dare bully my family, I'll slaughter their entire clan!"
"Excellent, Bazel! You've suddenly got me fired up!"
"Keep going, what's the second team?"
"Don't be impatient."
Bazel took a drink of the low-proof sake from Kaido's gourd to wet his throat.
"This is Plan A. Plan A requires a long period of plotting to achieve. During this time, the two of us, as Plan B, have more important things to do."
"The most important among them is to secretly travel to Elbaf Island, to Warland Kingdom, and persuade the Cursed Prince to join our Beasts Pirates!"
"If he's a Conqueror's Haki awakened user, that would be even better."
"Kaido-san, one crew with three Kings... perhaps we can also try to become the Pirate King!!!"