In Mandfeish's territory, Zeraora has already arrived here. Among the high-level officials going out, he is the fastest to reach here. Setsuna, being NO.0 himself, still had to participate in competitions, and he just came out alone.
Here, as in the past, only the number of mermaids and fish-men has increased slightly.
"Lord Zeraora."
"No chit-chat, you should set out as well, hurry back."
Since he ascended to this parental rank, he hasn't really gone out on missions. The last time was during the Sky Island incident caused by Enel, and this time counts as a rare excursion.
"I'll be quick, rest assured, Rushaka! Let's go!"
Mandfeish shouted backwards and then fired a column of water into the ocean, quickly revealing the form of a large Gyarados.
And with Mandfeish, a few people left here.
"This guy... dragging family and all to the competition."
Watching the departing Mandfeish, Zeraora slightly mocked, then snapped his fingers to the sky. The originally white clouds gradually darkened, beginning to brew substantial lightning within.
"Come on, let me see if there's any fool around."
...
A period later in the New World, a certain Navy surveillance ship, the soldiers onboard were under immense pressure.
They were, to begin with, the Navy soldiers with the highest attrition rate, responsible for monitoring the Sea Emperors with no guarantee of safety. Once those monsters start any major actions, they'd suffer the most.
In a sense, the missions they carried out weren't really to surveil pirate actions but rather to issue life-threatening warnings to the Navy Headquarters, deploying small warships and dividing squads around the sea area to minimize potential casualties.
At this moment, message after message is being transmitted back to the Navy Headquarters.
They knew that Hundred Beasts often engaged in ranking battles, but no one could assure if these guys wouldn't seize the opportunity to gather strength and execute terrifying actions.
Kaidou alone with a Dragon dared to raid the G-1 Branch, coupled with those terrifying high-level officials and biological weapons; no one dared to wager.
"Report, this is Surveillance Ship 177, the Hundred Beasts Pirates NO.1, Mandfeish has arrived."
"Report, this is Surveillance Ship 176, the Hundred Beasts Pirates' high-level official, Plague Disaster Queen appeared; currently, seventeen captains of affiliated pirate groups have been found... correction, now it's twenty-one..."
The captains of these affiliated pirate groups weren't Numberers; they were merely here to spectate, and this was only a part of Hundred Beasts' subordinate pirate groups, whose qualifications were more robust, hence invited to the main island.
There were strong individuals among these people, not necessarily weaker than those low-ranking Numberers, akin to the Whitebeard Pirates, where the captains of subordinate pirate ships weren't weaker than ordinary members of the main team.
But due to various reasons, they didn't join completely, instead became affiliated strengths, making it much harder to obtain things from the Hundred Beasts.
"This.... this is Surveillance Ship 174, spotting Kaidou himself and Arceus is following by his side. Most of the Hundred Beasts' combat power has already.... appeared...."
The last communicator's tone lightly trembled as he seemingly felt Kaidou's gaze from the telescope.
But this time Kaidou didn't plan to bother these small fries. The Navy's surveillance ships, once eliminated, would be replaced by another batch, and since these people understood as long as they didn't get too close, disturbing their activities, he'd let them be.
...
"I just saw Brother Kaidou flying over here; why isn't he visible?"
"Seems like he went towards the island center, but was this kind of activity previously like a feast? It's my first time here, can anyone enlighten me?"
Though belonging to the Hundred Beasts' subordinate pirate groups, some captains met for the first time in their lives, not their typical demeanor. Yet facing many from the Hundred Beasts' main cadre, they all acted courteously.
At this moment, the ground emitted a slight tremor, an unidentified object seemed moving underground towards here, coincidentally stopping before their feet.
A bald-headed man with side whiskers also emerged directly from within, his body covered in yellow scale armor, resembling a Sandshrew overall.
The original timeline's Hundred Beasts Pirates Armadillo man, now Hundred Beasts Pirates NO.51, Divine Favorer, ability - Sandshrew.
The choice to dig through was partly to show off his ability, partly for pre-match warming up.
"Don't mind Lord Kaidou's actions, for surely they must be right. You must seize this honor properly. Being able to watch this battle is something many people dream of, getting here with your captain is something you should be grateful for."
As direct members, they always possess an arrogance, appearing superior to those from affiliated pirate groups, even if those affiliated are their captains, they still hold equal standing, let alone ordinary members.
But at this moment, an arrow without a tip darted from the sky towards his scale-armored head, bouncing multiple times before falling aside.
"Bastard! What are you doing?!"
"Haha, don't be upset, it doesn't have a tip. Just felt awkward seeing you seriously lecturing newcomers."
In the sky, a corpulent individual waved bat wings behind, holding an empty bow, apologizing insincerely.
Facing the stones thrown by the other, he also skillfully dodged them, after some courtesy exchanges, the two had completed their greeting.
The original timeline's Hundred Beasts Pirates Bat man, called the Sixth Emperor, now Hundred Beasts Pirates NO.49, Divine Favorer, ability - Golbat.
"Weren't you going to Sky Island?"
"Brother Kaidou's intention; I'm also on the summoned list, what question are you asking? Look, nearly everyone is here, the competition scale isn't small."
"Indeed, hopefully, those youngsters won't fight desperately; maintaining one's position is increasingly difficult nowadays."
Woof! Woof!
Before saying much more, another pirate ship docked, amid several barks, two Mightyenas ran down from the ship, with two white figures visible on their backs.
"Sorry, Lord Setsuna, I didn't expect for the two of them to get along with Mightyena so quickly..."
Within Wano Kuni lives many Pokemon, many have already become acquainted with the Hundred Beasts pirates. Hence those coming to watch weren't just pirates, but paired up Pokemon too, like the two Mightyenas among them.
Only the landing plank hadn't yet been set down, Miaona and Wolf had already rode the dogs out.
"No worries, it's not your fault; I should've anticipated it, but... Bepo! Didn't I ask you to watch over them?!"