On the night the execution ended, a banquet was underway at Onigashima.
On the plaza, the "Gifters" who had eaten Artificial Devil Fruits, the "Pleasures" who had eaten failed ones, and the "Waiters" who hadn't eaten yet were fighting and drinking together, arms around each other's shoulders, calling each other brothers.
They were shocked and awed by the Haki Kaido displayed during the day, worshipping him, and feeling incredibly proud to be in this pirate crew.
"Woohoo! ~Drink!"
"Drink! I'll finish this first!"
"Aha~ So addictive!"
"Are you talking about the booze or what happened during the day?"
"Both are addictive! Double the happiness! Hahahaha!"
Amidst the joyful horseplay, a sharp-eyed person nearby suddenly spoke up.
"Shh!"
"Quiet down, the Tobi Roppo are here!"
The people around him quieted down instantly upon hearing this.
Slowly, the entire plaza fell silent.
By coincidence, everyone looked towards the six people weaving through the crowd.
One of them was the most arrogant: tall and thin, wearing a bright red suit, the upper half of his face covered by a red horned helmet, revealing only a pair of eyes glowing like flashlights.
With his hands in his pockets and a domineering smile on his lips, he seemed satisfied with the respectful behavior of the others.
The other five were not much different.
Even the gentlest among them didn't care about the thoughts or behavior of these minions.
They had only one destination.
The place where Boss Kaido was!
Gradually, the six walked away.
Only then did the plaza become lively again.
"Tch, acting all high and mighty."
"Well, they are cadres. I'm not even a Headliner..."
"The position of Tobi Roppo... I really want to strive for it."
"Keep dreaming. They are Ancient Zoan users and masters of Haki. How can we compare..."
Beside the crowd, a tall but inconspicuous man was drinking alone, not participating in the discussion.
Tobi Roppo...
Originally combat power that I could borrow at will, yet they possess such deterrence within the Beasts Pirates.
Look at how these people fear them... It's just like how the servants looked at me when I was still the Shogun!
Original power! That is the most important factor to obtain everything!
I, the King, never understood this.
The person immersed in self-examination was Kurozumi Orochi, who had followed Jack here!
After being heartbroken by the Kozuki Hiyori incident, he completely accepted his fate as Kaido's subordinate. However, he still harbored the thought of asking for Wano Country back once his strength became powerful enough.
Rubbing the sake bowl in his hand, he silently pondered the conversation of the others just now.
Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit.
And the so-called "Haki".
Is this the foundation of the Tobi Roppo?
Then I, possessing the even rarer Mythical Zoan, and the Ryou preserved in my mind, should also be able to help me become one of the Tobi Roppo, right?
...
A short while later.
In the banquet hall where Kaido was, Kaido had not yet arrived.
On the two sides of the long table, Jack was sweating buckets on one side, not daring to interrupt.
King the Conflagration and Queen the Plague were having their daily argument.
"You went to Komurasaki's room but didn't do anything? Can you not get it up, King?"
"That is an enemy, you idiot."
"That is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen! If it were me... Mwahahaha!~~"
"So you can only go crazy over that woman's photo all day."
"That's because I didn't want to pick a fight and let that trash Orochi have her! Otherwise, she would definitely be attracted by my perfect body!"
"You didn't even touch her hand, or even speak to her?"
A critical hit of -100 seemed to pop up over his head.
Queen turned red instantly, his eyebrows twitching, veins popping on his forehead forming a tic-tac-toe pattern, and he slammed his large hand on the table.
"Leather bastard!!"
"Damn fatty?"
"I told you I stay in shape so I don't become too charming!!"
At this moment, the door was pushed open with a clatter. The Tobi Roppo arrived.
The six took in the embarrassing state of the three All-Stars. However, both sides were accustomed to this scene.
King and Queen continued to argue, while the Tobi Roppo found empty seats at the long table and sat down.
After waiting a few minutes, Kaido arrived.
Kaido had heard King and Queen arguing from afar; the fountain of uncivilized vocabulary was an eye-opener.
Fortunately, the moment they saw him, they both stopped simultaneously.
The nine people stood up at the same time, shouting respectfully and admiringly:
"Brother Kaido."
"Kaido-sama."
"Boss Kaido."
"Sit."
Kaido walked past them and sat on the main seat.
He swept his gaze over the nine major cadres before him.
During the arrests, they had relied entirely on Smart Tanishi for contact. This was the first time he had seen them all together since then.
This scene made him suddenly think of a poem.
One line went like this—
The Three Disasters are pure bluffs, the Flying Six are scum.
Indeed.
In the great battle with Luffy, none of these nine performed satisfactorily; each had their flaws.
Looks like I need to find time to educate them properly...
At least they carry the name of Teacher Kaido; I can't let these guys go out and lose face for me.
But the most important thing now was this Navy spy.
"Queen, did you bring the item?"
"I brought it!" Queen patted a not-too-large wooden box in front of him. "Do you want me to hand it over?"
"No need, to avoid breaking my castle."
The group was confused. Wasn't this called for a banquet? Why are they speaking in riddles?
Then they saw Kaido pick up his inseparable Kanabo.
They felt even more confused.
Only X Drake sensed something.
Danger!
Danger!
The next moment, he met Kaido's gaze.
He saw the other party grinning at him, purple lightning crackling around the iron club.
Drake knew something was wrong!
He instantly ejected up, transforming into an Allosaurus to prevent being instant-killed, and lunged towards the wall behind him with a powerful stride.
The others: ????
Queen silently lit a cigar and opened the box.
The next moment.
They only saw Kaido gripping the large club with both hands.
Then appearing as a blur in front of Drake.
Before he could react at all, the dinosaur head was hit instantly.
A muffled sound of flesh and iron and the crisp sound of bones breaking reached their ears.
Drake fell, bleeding from his seven orifices, eyes rolled back.
The huge dragon head bounced on the ground twice before transforming back to a human body, unconscious, his breath weak.
"So fast!!"
"Boss Kaido is truly... ridiculously strong!"
"Drake couldn't even take one hit? If it were me, it probably wouldn't be much different..."
No one questioned why Kaido did this; they always trusted him unconditionally.
Kaido flicked the person into Queen's arms with the club.
Ignoring the twitching of the other party's mouth, he explained to the others.
"This guy is a spy from the Navy's secret unit. King, I leave him to you."
You have to know what King is best at?
Swordsmanship? Fire? Taijutsu? Haki?
No, it's torture.
Caught by the World Government since childhood, imprisoned in one place for years, undergoing endless experiments.
Just like the prototype of "What is 1000 minus 7".
His heart had long become twisted.
"Understood, I will dig things out of his mouth." King had been informed by Kaido earlier, so he wasn't surprised.
Everyone knew the "digging out" he mentioned meant not just intelligence, but also in a physical sense.
Queen nimbly took Seastone handcuffs from the box and cuffed Drake.
Hearing King say that, he threw the bloody, limp-as-rubber Drake directly over, landing right in King's arms.
King looked down at his cherished leather suit being soiled, and looked at the damn fatty opposite him with murderous intent.
"What? This is the person you wanted."
Seeing they were about to start arguing again, Kaido interrupted directly.
"Don't argue. Today is a day worth celebrating."
"Bring the sake! Start the banquet!"