King's shock made both Kaidou and Queen pause.
As brothers who had been together for so long, both of them knew that King had always presented himself as calm and composed. For him to lose his composure and show such obvious surprise now meant there was clearly a story behind it.
"Oh? You know about it?"
Yemu looked puzzled, but the certainty in his words made King lose even more of his composure.
"Impossible. Shandora disappeared four hundred years ago... You're lying to me, aren't you...?"
Now Kaidou and Queen were even more confused. As the boss, Kaidou remained calm as he looked at King, but Queen could not hold back and asked, "Hey, King, what the hell are you talking about? And why are you getting so worked up...?"
King froze for a moment, then quickly gathered himself. His expression darkened as he looked at Kaidou and slowly said, "Boss Kaidou, do you remember the story I told you about the Lunarians?"
Kaidou seemed to realize something and fell into thought. Then King glanced at Yemu and continued.
"I told you before that ever since the Lunarians were driven off the Red Line, as far as I knew, I was the only Lunarian still alive. But that isn't actually true. In the records of the Lunarians, eight hundred years ago, a group of Lunarians left the Red Line and went to live somewhere else. With incredible technology, they built a legendary city, the ancient city of Shandora. But four hundred years ago, it suddenly vanished from the sea."
This time, Queen also understood. He looked at Yemu.
"King, are you saying Captain Yemu is a Lunarian like you? But the two of you don't look alike at all. He doesn't even have wings..."
King thought for a moment, then answered.
"This was originally a secret of the Lunarians. But now that I'm the only Lunarian left, there's no point hiding it anymore. The group of Lunarians who left the Red Line back then did not leave willingly, as I said before. They were driven out by our ancestors..."
"Driven out..."
Queen seemed to understand why King found this difficult to say.
"The reason was simple. Although they were also descendants of the gods, that group of Lunarians began showing signs of degeneration. Their wings grew smaller and smaller, and they lost the ability to control flames. It was seen as a sign that they had been abandoned by the gods, so..."
Now Kaidou and Queen seemed to understand, and they looked at Yemu with disbelief in their eyes.
"Could King really be of the same race as Captain Yemu?"
At that moment, King looked at Yemu and asked uncertainly, "Since Captain Yemu says you were born in Shandora, then you should have seen that thing, right...?"
Yemu thought for a moment, then asked with some uncertainty, "Are you talking about the Golden Bell, or that Poneglyph...?"
The moment he said that, King became excited, and all his doubts disappeared.
"It seems you really are telling the truth, Captain Yemu. Boss Kaidou, Queen, we don't need to worry about the money. Captain Yemu truly has that ability. According to the Lunarian records, the so-called City of Gold, Shandora, was a city built entirely of gold."
"A city... built entirely of gold...? Hey, King, you've got to be kidding..."
Queen was genuinely stunned. His mouth hung open as he stared at Yemu in disbelief.
Gold, in this world, was an even harder currency than Belly.
They had been fighting those samurai in Wano Country all this time for money, hadn't they?
Yet the Sky Pirates did not need to do anything and already possessed an entire city built of gold.
This... this was far too unfair.
But that only strengthened Queen's resolve to make the Beasts Pirates cooperate with the Sky Pirates.
Kaidou, too, was deeply shocked when he heard that it was a city built entirely of gold. At that moment, he had already made up his mind.
Yemu, however, understood something as he listened to King's words.
In other words, the people of Skypiea were actually descendants of the Lunarians?
Thinking again of what he had discussed with Imu in the Holy Land Mary Geoise, the truth of this world seemed to be slowly unfolding before him.
"I didn't expect there to be such a connection between us. King, was it? If you're willing, I can take you back to see it."
To his surprise, King shook his head without even thinking.
"No need. Just hearing this is already enough to make me happy. After all, the Lunarians of Shandora were driven away by my ancestors. Besides, I only have one dream now..."
As he spoke, light shone in King's eyes as he looked at Kaidou.
"And that is to help Boss Kaidou become the Pirate King..."
As soon as those words fell, Kaidou could not stop a smile from spreading across his face. Queen beside him also chuckled.
Unfortunately, there was no wine prepared here. Otherwise, Kaidou would certainly have drunk to his heart's content.
Still, taking advantage of this good mood, Kaidou made his decision on the spot.
"Since money isn't a problem, then the Beasts Pirates will accept this cooperation. And I have an even better idea."
"Oh? What idea?"
"I can also sell you the Seastone quarries in Udon, as long as you can afford the price. Of course, you'll have to sell the Seastone you mine to my weapons factories at a favorable price. How does that sound?"
Yemu had not expected Kaidou to take such a big step.
But honestly, neither side had any reason to refuse.
Yemu could monopolize the Seastone business across the entire sea at an extremely low cost, while Kaidou would no longer need to spend so much energy on the Seastone factories. He would also obtain a huge amount of money to expand his forces. On top of that, Wano Country would eventually be his territory anyway, so this would not affect his weapons factories.
"No problem. A pleasure doing business."
"A pleasure doing business."
With the cooperation settled, host and guest were both satisfied, and everyone burst into happy laughter.
"Queen, start the banquet..."
As a banquet fanatic, Queen was also delighted. He grinned excitedly and said, "Boss Kaidou, leave it to me. I'll go prepare it!"
After Queen left, King led the way as Yemu and Kaidou walked through the bright wooden corridor toward the banquet hall.
Suddenly, from the end of the corridor came the sound of quick footsteps. A petite little girl in a white kimono, with a pair of small horns on her head, appeared with a bright, happy smile on her face.
But the moment she saw Kaidou, her face turned deathly pale, and her body began to tremble.
Kaidou, who had been in a good mood, saw his "son" appear before him, and his expression instantly darkened...