Kozuki Oden also understood what was happening in Wano Country when he was making rubbings of the poneglyph.
But he still resolutely embarked on this final journey with Roger's ship and him.
Next, after another trip to Zou to get the Mink Tribe's poneglyph, they could officially head to the Final Island!
Besides Orochi, Karl was also happy to learn that Kozuki Oden had left with the Roger Pirates.
Because Kozuki Oden left, but Kozuki Toki and Kozuki Hiyori were left behind!
Then his evil plan could be implemented. No, it shouldn't be called evil; it should be interesting.
He definitely couldn't carry out this plan alone. Kozuki Oden's retainers, the Nine Red Scabbards, were still around, and their combined combat power was something Karl couldn't contend with right now.
So, he could only outsmart them. Before that, he had to find someone, the most crucial person for this opportunity.
Karl found a research lab based on his memory.
Bang bang bang!
"Queen, I need to talk to you!"
Soon, the lab door opened.
Queen, who was tall and already showing some flab, came into view.
"Mwahahaha, Karl, what do you need me for? I'm at a critical stage of my research right now."
Queen didn't put on any airs when he saw Karl.
He had a good impression of this kid, Karl, and was willing to invest in this future strong individual.
"Yo, Queen, I came to ask if you have any hypnotic gas, preferably something that can even hypnotize Sea Kings."
Karl didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
Queen looked at Karl strangely, "I do have some, but what do you need it for?"
Karl looked around and, finding no one else, gestured for Queen to lean in.
Karl whispered into Queen's ear, "Kozuki Oden is back, isn't he? And he brought his wife back. Let's abduct Kozuki Oden's wife."
"If the Roger Pirates come again, we'll have leverage to negotiate with them."
The more Queen listened, the brighter his eyes got. Right, why hadn't he thought of that? They were pirates; why not use such methods?
"Good! I agree to this plan! Wait for me; I'll go get you the hypnotic gas now!"
Queen was increasingly satisfied with Karl. Indeed, a freshly-minted brain works best!
Soon, the two finalized a date, and both the large and small figures revealed evil smiles.
"Jie jie jie."
...After doing all this, Karl suddenly wondered if he had forgotten something.
He thought for a long time but couldn't recall, so Karl, in a good mood, simply gave up thinking.
He went straight back to rest.
Back in his room, Karl suddenly remembered what he had forgotten.
He had forgotten Yamato!
But there was no need to look for her. Yamato was already in his room, arms crossed, her resentment almost palpable.
Several maids stood by with their heads bowed. They saw nothing, knew nothing; they were just humble maids.
Karl was now practically sweating. "Ah hahaha, Yamato, when did you arrive?"
He had promised to train with Yamato, but then he met Roger and completely forgot about Yamato.
"Hmph!"
Yamato ignored Karl, giving a delicate snort and turning her head away.
"Now, Yamato, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Next time, I'll take you to the Flower Capital to play and eat delicious food."
Karl quickly comforted her.
Yamato's eyes lit up at the mention of delicious food, but she still didn't acknowledge Karl.
How could Karl not see through Yamato's simple thoughts?
Seeing a chance, Karl intensified his persuasion. "There's a lot of fun stuff in the Flower Capital, and there's Ringo, which is covered in heavy snow all year round."
Under Karl's barrage of attacks, Yamato, who was still a little loli, was easily won over.
Let alone the current Yamato, even the Yamato of twenty-plus years later, Karl could still tame her with just his words.
After comforting Yamato, it was another day of sleeping while holding loli Yamato... Soon, the day Karl and Queen had agreed upon arrived. Karl specifically reminded Queen to bring a Sea Stone collar.
Karl's target this time was Kozuki Toki and Kozuki Hiyori. If Kozuki Toki disregarded martial ethics and directly used her Devil Fruit ability to teleport twenty years into the future, it would be a huge loss.
At night, after Yamato was sound asleep, Karl slowly slipped away. Yamato still didn't know that after tonight, she would have a little sister.
Karl arrived at the agreed meeting point with Queen, who had been waiting for a long time.
"Karl, why are you so slow?"
Karl showed a meaningful smile.
"I couldn't help it. Yamato insisted on sleeping with me, so I could only come after she fell asleep. I'm quite troubled, you know."
Karl spread his hands, feigning a troubled expression.
Queen gritted his teeth, seeing Karl's smug face.
Bragging, this kid was openly bragging. Karl and Yamato were practically inseparable all day, and Kaido was basically letting them do as they pleased.
It was already an unspoken agreement among all the Beasts Pirates that Karl and Yamato would be together in the future.
Even a kid had a girlfriend; Queen couldn't fall behind. He secretly swore that he would find one too—no, he would find many!
"Hmph! Let's go; don't waste any more time."
With that, Queen left first. He didn't want to see Karl's face anymore; it was almost as annoying as King's.
The two didn't choose to take a boat. Karl transformed into his dragon form and directly flew Queen to Kuri.
With Karl's current thirty-meter-plus dragon body, carrying Queen was more than enough.
Because it was deep night, no one in Kuri noticed the ice dragon in the sky.
They flew to Kuri and landed not far from the Daimyo Palace.
Kozuki Oden used to be the Daimyo of Kuri and lived quite well, but he lent all his money to Orochi, coupled with Orochi's suppression of Kuri. This led to the current Kuri Daimyo Palace being no different from an ordinary commoner's residence.
The only difference was that the rooms were larger, with a few more rooms. Other than that, it was no different from a commoner's home, perhaps even worse.
After all, they had so many people to feed. Kozuki Oden's retainers now wore patched clothes, which showed how hard their lives were.
Also, because of a lack of money, only the Nine Red Scabbards and Kozuki Toki were currently in the Kuri Daimyo Palace; there was no one else.
Karl and Queen quietly infiltrated the Daimyo Palace.
"Queen, you can release the hypnotic gas now."
Karl whispered to Queen.
"Okay, put this on first. This hypnotic gas is quite potent; even Sea Kings can be knocked out for a day after inhaling it. For ordinary people, it's at least half a month."
Queen proudly praised his creation, not forgetting to give Karl a gas mask and put one on himself.
Seeing Karl still wearing the gas mask, Queen pulled out a meter-long canister from somewhere.
It was filled with purple mist—this was the hypnotic gas.
Queen no longer hesitated and directly opened the lid. The moment the lid opened, the gas inside the canister slowly poured out like a liquid.
It would take some time for these gases to take effect.
Kozuki Oden's retainers were not without strong individuals, so to avoid attracting their attention, they had to keep a bit of distance.
(PS: Brothers, please click 'urge for update' to give the dog author more motivation to write!!!)