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Interrogation Room
"Talk."
Kaito looked at Liam, who was restrained by a magic binding in the chair in front of him.
"I'll tell you everything! Just ask!"
Liam looked at the young man before him and answered with all the respect he could muster.
"Hm. What year is it?"
"...Huh?"
Smack!
Will, standing at Liam's side, slapped him across the face without hesitation.
"You answer whatever Kaito-sama asks. If there's a next time—"
"That's enough. Let him answer."
Kaito waved a hand. Will stepped back immediately.
"Yes, Kaito-sama."
"It's... year 1522 of the Sea Calendar!"
Liam got the words out through the ringing in his head.
'1522. That's the year Luffy sets sail. A lot of things happen that year.'
A slow smile spread across Kaito's face.
Big events meant big opportunities to cause interesting trouble.
"One more. What sea area is this?"
Liam was genuinely baffled by these questions. This man was on the island, and he didn't know what sea he was in? Was that some kind of joke?
He did not say any of this. The black-uniformed figure behind Kaito was still watching him with those flat, unreadable eyes.
"This island is located in the first half of the Grand Line. The closest country from here is Alabasta!"
"Alabasta."
That told him exactly where he was. He could have swept his divine sense across the whole world to find out, but where was the fun in that? Half the joy of a new world was discovering the map piece by piece.
"Alright. I have nothing else to ask."
Kaito stood and walked out of the interrogation room. Behind him, as the door swung shut, Liam's scream of extreme agony echoed down the hall.
Not far from the island, cutting through the sea at speed, a Marine warship was closing in on the Jura-Tempest Federation's position.
"Captain Hina! Intelligence has the Scythe Pirates operating somewhere in this vicinity!"
A Marine soldier was reporting to a woman with long, bright pink hair and a justice cloak draped over her shoulders.
This was Marine Captain Hina, known throughout the seas as "Black Cage."
Hina took a draw from her cigarette and replied to her subordinate without breaking her serious expression.
"Hina knows. Keep searching. Don't let them slip away."
"Yes, ma'am!"
The soldier saluted and withdrew.
"Kai-chan! It's the year Luffy set sail!"
"Can we go to the Summit War? Just to have a look around!"
In the living room of the villa, Rimuru was leaning over the back of the sofa, bright-eyed and buzzing with excitement.
"Oh? And whose side would you be on? The pirates or the Marines?"
Rimuru thought about it for approximately half a second.
"Neither, actually. We just show up."
"Just show up."
Kaito gave her the look of a man who would sooner believe in miracles than believe Rimuru was planning something innocent.
"Hehe! I can never hide anything from Kai-chan!"
"Think about it! Both sides are going at each other at full strength. The battle is at its absolute peak." Rimuru's eyes lit up as she laid it out. "And then, out of nowhere, our fleet appears on the horizon."
"And we say to both sides: 'Everyone! So sorry to interrupt! From this point on, we'll be deciding how this war ends!'"
"Wouldn't that be the coolest thing anyone has ever done?!"
Kaito felt something stir in him. He was, he had to admit, genuinely tempted.
"That is actually very good. But there's one critical problem."
Rimuru tilted her head.
"What problem?"
"Who gets to say it."
The room went very quiet.
That was, everyone realized at once, an extremely important question. There was only one moment like that. Only one person could deliver the line.
"Me! Me! I'm a Demon Lord, this is exactly my kind of entrance!"
Milim's hand shot into the air, her eyes sparkling.
"Hmph hmph! Milim, not this time."
Veldora crossed his arms with the air of someone who had already mentally rehearsed his performance three times.
"This is the perfect opportunity to unveil my ultimate technique, the Hadouken, before a worldwide audience. They will be completely speechless. Hahahaha!"
Kaito watched the four of them refuse to yield an inch to each other, and a calculating look crossed his face.
"Since none of you will back down, we settle it the traditional way."
Rimuru's eyes lit up at that.
'Raphael! Handle this for me!'
[Understood.]
Rimuru beamed at everyone with the serene confidence of someone who had just activated a cheat code.
Not that it was likely to help. Was there a single uncomplicated person among the four of them?
"Then allow me to serve as judge for you all."
Sakuya stepped forward from behind Kaito and addressed the group.
"I'll leave it to you, Sakuya."
"Yes, Kaito-sama."
She bowed, then straightened up.
"Everyone, please prepare."
The moment she spoke, Kaito quietly activated his divine ability and began reading the immediate future. Rimuru and the others brought up [Thought Acceleration] and [Universal Perception]. Their Ultimate Skills hummed on standby, primed to fire the instant the result was needed.
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
The air seemed to freeze. Every one of them threw everything they had into calculating the optimal outcome in real time.
"Paper!" "Paper!" "Paper!" "Paper!"
Sakuya looked at four identical hands.
"A draw. Please prepare again."
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
Four papers.
"A draw. Please prepare again."
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
"A draw..."
An hour passed without anyone noticing.
"...So this is what they've been doing this whole time."
Kanae Kocho, who had come looking for Kaito, stood in the doorway staring at the four of them cycling frantically through rock, paper, scissors with the desperate focus of people defusing a bomb.
"Hehe! I didn't know the big bad guy had moments like this too!"
Kochou Shinobu, who had come along with Kanae, looked delighted.
"Shinobu-neechan, be careful. Kaito-nii might knock you on the head again."
At Kanao Tsuyuri's quiet warning, Kochou Shinobu's hands flew to her head on pure reflex and she dropped into a crouch.
"Wah?! What the— you scared me!"
She stood back up, feeling the top of her head. Nothing. She straightened her collar with as much dignity as she could recover.
Just then, Veldora's eyes landed on Kanao standing near the doorway, and every thought of rock, paper, scissors vanished from his head at once.
He abandoned the game entirely and crossed the room in three strides, planting himself in front of her with shining eyes.
"Oh! You're here! Do you have new stock for me to move? Eromanga Sensei..."