Rocks wanted to sail to Elbaf to see an old friend and invite the Giant King to join his crew.
Dimon had no interest. Rocks' friends were not his.
Yet that talk sparked an idea. The Wine of Immortality worked on any living thing. If it worked on giants, it would work on other races and even other creatures.
Which meant targets for devouring did not have to be limited to Beehive pirates.
With that decided, Dimon refused Rocks outright. "Harada is your friend, not mine. I am not going."
He glanced at Kaido, then left the Skull Grand Hotel.
Outside the hotel.
Beehive was livelier at night than day, pirates carousing on every corner.
Dimon waited by the steps until Kaido emerged.
"You wanted me."
"You still want another cup of the wine," Dimon asked. "Help me and I will give you one."
Kaido perked up. He was already immortal, but the brew was an exquisite indulgence. "What help. We are crewmates. Say it."
"Put to sea with me and capture Sea Kings alive," Dimon said, almost teasing. "Can you manage that."
"Who do you think I am. But why Sea Kings. You plan to eat the meat."
Kaido made a face. "Sea King meat is foul. I tried some when I was craving."
Sea Kings were the ocean's apex creatures, sprawling across the world's waters. Their bodies were vast and their shapes strange, monarchs of the deep.
"Just tell me yes or no."
"I am in." Kaido slung an easy grin and a casual wave. "I will help."
Good man.
Dimon had to laugh. Pirates would work for wine alone.
"I will prepare. We sail at dawn. Meet me at the harbor."
After they parted, Dimon did not head home. He found a clinic and bought a bundle of medical syringes.
The Wine of Immortality did not have to be drunk. Injecting it worked too.
Back at the Immortality Bar he spent another hundred demon points to brew a fresh bottle, then filled the syringes for later use.
"This should work. Devouring Sea Kings might be even better than devouring pirates."
It was worth the experiment.
With preparations made, Dimon slept well.
Morning at the harbor.
Kaido showed on time with a ship already waiting. It was not the Saber of Xebec, just something smaller, flying a flag Dimon did not recognize.
"Where did you get this."
"Stole it."
Kaido's grin said it all. Pirates took what they wanted.
If Dimon had not been the only one who could brew the wine, the Rocks Pirates would have stolen him too.
Dimon was getting used to their methods. He smiled. "Then let us go."
They boarded. The crew already aboard were bruised in every color. Kaido had clearly introduced himself with his fists.
"Heh. Lord Kaido," the captain said, obsequious and gap toothed, a smear of blood still on his lip.
Dimon could not help it. "Which crew are you."
"Lord Dimon, I am Bill the Ogre, captain of the Hell Pirates. Bounty one hundred seventy four million," Bill said, bowing deeply.
Dimon fell silent. The man he had devoured last night, Monjirō, had also been Hell Pirates.
"Set course. The Calm Belt."
Soon they were under way.
Unlike the Sea Kings that ranged free, the largest specimens thrived in the Calm Belt.
Two days later the ship neared that windless strip and Captain Bill balked.
"Lord Dimon, Lord Kaido, any farther and we enter the Sea Kings' lair. If you go in, you will not come out. There is no wind."
He clutched Kaido's trouser leg and wept. "We cannot go on."
"Go where I tell you," Kaido said and kicked him flat.
Dimon lifted a hand. "Let it be. Lower a skiff. We will go in ourselves."
They were immortals now. Bold and limber, neither felt fear.
Bill heard the order as a pardon from the gallows. He wept harder and had a boat lowered at once.
Dimon hopped down lightly. When Kaido jumped, the little craft nearly capsized.
"You row."
Dimon steadied the skiff and tossed him two oars.
Kaido's mouth twitched. "We could at least take turns."
If he wanted the drink, he would work for it.
"Do not be stingy, Kaizi. The saying goes that those who can do more should do more."
Kaido ground his teeth and had no rebuttal.
He grabbed the oars and pulled hard. Under his strength the skiff skated, almost planing across the surface.
A boom rolled over the water. The boat shot into the Calm Belt.
On the pirate ship the Hell crew watched from the rail.
"Captain, can we leave now," a hand asked.
"Idiot. That is how we die. Drop anchor and wait."
Kaido rowed like a machine and the skiff flew.
Half an hour later.
Ocean in every direction. No land, no markers. Dimon had lost north and south, east and west.
"Kaizi, did you bring a Log Pose."
"No."
Kaido stopped rowing and scanned the mirror sea with a frown. "This is the Calm Belt, so where are the Sea Kings."
They were lost.
Dimon had no words.
Of course he was a blunt instrument.
"Hm."
Kaido narrowed his eyes. "Something is rising. Be ready."
The skiff quivered. The sea swelled. With a thunderous surge a vast creature erupted from below.
A black and white shape, a horse to the withers where it broke the surface.
The skiff tilted up on its brow.
Dimon leaned over the side. "Enormous."
One eye alone was twice their boat. What showed above the water rose a hundred meters or more.
"Leave it to me."
Kaido's grin sharpened. He leapt high and drove his right fist down, Armament Haki blazing on his knuckles like a red sun.
"Wait. We need it alive," Dimon called.
"I know."
Kaido's punch landed between the shoulders.
A crack like thunder split the air. The shock of advanced Armament raged into the Sea King's body and shattered its spine.
The scream it loosed brought others.
The skiff slid off the beast's head and slapped into the sea.
Dimon steadied himself and inspected the wound. Advanced internal destruction. Good. It would live. For a time.
The water around them began to seethe. One after another, massive heads breached at the cry.
"Ora ora ora. Now this is fun," Kaido shouted, already falling into his fighting rhythm.
Dimon took his chance. He jabbed a needle into the horse Sea King's hide and pushed the plunger, the Wine of Immortality flowing in. Then he vaulted onto its crown, set his right palm to its skull, and willed the word.
Devour.
The demon's dread will burst outward. The Sea King unraveled.
Grains of ash whispered away, the entire titan crumbling in seconds and streaming into Dimon's hand.
Power roared through him. His strength spiked and climbed again.