On Onigashima, in the banquet hall, the royal families were holding their own small banquet here.
The culinary skills of Wano Country’s chefs were finally recognized by foreigners; their style happened to perfectly suit the tastes of these royals.
Although relations between some nations weren’t exactly friendly, they were all under the protection of the same banner, which gave them more opportunities to interact with one another.
As non-affiliated nations, the banner of the Beasts Pirates spared them from endless harassment by pirates and helped them avoid the hunting activities of the Celestial Dragons. Even though they had to give up a portion of their national tax revenue, they were more than willing to do so.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the kings were also trying to exchange what they had with each other. At the level of nations, only interests are eternal.
Neptune and Otohime were the most interested in this. The composition and organizational structure of the Beasts Pirates had made this a multi-racial nation, and even its supreme leader was of “different race.”
From top leaders to ordinary officers, there were far too many non-human races within the Beasts Pirates. In such a situation, playing discrimination would most likely land oneself at the very bottom.
Fishman Island also possessed many unique resources, and even they were unwilling to miss such an opportunity, currently discussing certain trade details with Otohime and Neptune.
Experiencing the enthusiasm of so many kings for the first time, Otohime and Neptune felt somewhat at a loss.
The ones most interested in this banquet were Setsuna and Zeraora. The situation of the Mokomo Dukedom was also quite special. Unlike the Ryugu Kingdom, it didn’t have a large number of exportable specialty products.
Even though Setsuna could now communicate with Zunesha, Mokomo Dukedom remained a purely import-based country, heavily reliant on imported resources. Meanwhile, Setsuna and Zeraora could directly obtain supplies through the Beasts Pirates.
Combined with their identities, the kings instead felt somewhat hesitant to approach them.
“You two behave yourselves. Here, you’re also a prince and a princess, don’t forget your manners.”
While watching the kings socialize, an invisible power of Aura spread out from her body, calming the two restless children in advance.
There weren’t many topics within the banquet hall. Aside from foreign trade, the remaining discussions all turned toward matters related to gods.
“A god… and a god of the Lunarian race. Am I the one who’s gone mad, or has the world gone mad?”
The debate between atheism and theism has always been endless. Anything that couldn’t be understood could be attributed to gods.
Even a lighter could pass itself off as a god in front of cavemen, let alone a sea filled with countless Devil Fruit users and the skewed technological development on the Future Island.
But this time, the “god” was simply too shocking.
Lunarians, who were nearly extinct outside, had reappeared in groups. Ordinary Ancient Zoans had transformed into Mythical Zoans right before their eyes, and even Mink ability users capable of swimming had emerged.
Such events had already shattered their established understanding. Not everyone could quickly accept a new worldview, and under such circumstances, they even began to question the world itself.
“You’re not mad, and the world isn’t mad. Whatever that is, it’s nothing but a good thing for us.”
“What did you say?”
“Would you reveal everything about your country to outsiders without reservation? Even if that person were your closest subordinate?”
“I wouldn’t…”
“Exactly. Even with my own son, I’d still keep a guard up. For the Beasts Pirates to have come this far, they wouldn’t fail to understand such a simple truth. Showing us all this is, on one hand, a display of power, and at the same time, it means they possess even greater strength.
If I remember correctly, this God has feats of destroying entire nations…”
The regent of the Kares Principality studied the glass goblet in front of him, admiring the wine swirling within it. Through that blood-red color, he seemed to see something entirely different.
“Gods can grow stronger too, right? I can’t remember when that nation was destroyed, but after so much time has passed, He must have become even stronger, hasn’t it?
We are fortunate. Born as royalty, we don’t have to toil every day like those commoners.
But we are also unfortunate, the nations we inherited are not strong enough and are not recognized by the World Government.
In the eyes of the World Government, we are no different from pirates, perhaps even worse. Pirates at least have the strength to resist, but we ordinary people are nothing more than two-legged livestock for their amusement.”
He then downed the wine in one gulp. The candlelight beside him refracted through the glass, dancing within his eyes, and along with it, something like ambition ignited as well.
“Today is our opportunity. This is not a banquet, it is the prelude to war. As long as they achieve final victory, we will become the elders of the new order! This kind of change is something you couldn’t obtain even if you begged for it.
The Celestial Dragons who call themselves gods, and the Lunarians who are a tribe of gods—victory in this ‘war of gods’ will bring us unimaginable benefits!
With such a god on our side, how could we possibly lose?!”
The Beasts Pirates had risen through war and reveled in it. The nations flying the Beasts Pirates’ flag were well aware of this. The regent of the Kares Principality was voicing not only his own thoughts, but also those of many kings.
After all, not everyone was warlike. Some nations were even somewhat worried about this matter. For example, King Ramposa of the Kingdom of Daimonte.
The Kingdom of Daimonte ultimately relied on trade as its primary economy, and its main product was diamonds. However, the domestic demand for such goods was limited, and Onigashima had no need for them.
Diancie itself was an endless diamond mine. As long as there was carbon in the air, it could continue producing diamonds. On Onigashima, diamonds had long since depreciated to the level of mere pebbles.
This meant that diamonds could not serve as a general equivalent currency, nor could they be used as protection fee.
They had to rely on marketing strategies to sell diamonds to other countries in order to earn sufficient wealth. If a large-scale war were to break out, their trade would undoubtedly be affected.
“Father, you shouldn’t be worrying about that. Once a war of this scale breaks out, it won’t just affect one country, it will affect the entire sea. None of us can stop it.
What you should be worried about is how we compete with other nations.
We have no strategic-level resources, no powerful warriors, and the quality of our troops can’t compare to the Minks or the Fish-Men. A vassal state without value will not be taken seriously.”
“Sigh… do you have any ideas?”
“We have nothing, so the best path is to earn recognition, to find a way to stand out here…”
In an interview, if you can make the interviewer firmly remember you, you’ve already won half the battle, provided you use proper methods, not something like slapping them to draw hatred.
At that moment, however, someone appeared in the hall who was completely unexpected by all the kings – Kaido.
Arceus had already finished his matters, but Kaido had not. He could have simply ordered his subordinates to handle this, but in the end, he chose to come personally. After all, he was the Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates. No one was more suitable for certain things than him.
However, his opening words nearly stopped the hearts of some of the kings.
“Kings? Hmph. To be honest, I have no interest in you kings at all. In fact, I even find you annoying.
The only reason you sit on your thrones is because of your bloodline, because of the efforts of some ancestor who gave you a foundation that ordinary people could never reach.
Those ancestors who fought their way through battle deserve the throne, but you? You’re far from it!”
As he spoke, Kaido’s pupils suddenly contracted. The air around him grew oppressive, black lightning appeared out of nowhere, and violent gusts of wind arose within the spacious room.
Plates began to tremble, the candle flames were extinguished, and the kings’ bodies started shaking. At that moment, death was almost within reach. They could already feel the fangs hanging at their throats.
The “beast” before them only needed to exert the slightest bit of force to crush them to death.
And this was with Kaido restraining himself to the extreme. If he used even the level he normally did when “playing” with Yamato, aside from Setsuna and Zeraora’s group, no one else in this room would be left standing.
As Kaido slightly increased the pressure, many people could no longer control their legs and collapsed to the ground.
Kaido had not finished speaking yet, so he couldn’t let these people faint just like that.
Excluding special cases like Setsuna, there were only three people left standing in the hall—one of them being Neptune, the king of the Ryugu Kingdom.
He was known as the Great Knight of the Sea, the best of a mediocre bunch. Among this group of kings, he was ultimately the strongest. To avoid knocking everyone unconscious, Kaido had adjusted his pressure based on the weakest among them.
Because of this, Neptune was still able to protect his family, shielding them behind him.
The regent of the Kares Principality—while other nations had sent members of their royal families, this nation had sent a regent alone, which already spoke volumes. Whether the original royal family was too young or for some other reason, the power of that country was now entirely in his hands.
The only other one still standing was Vaiself, the second princess of the Kingdom of Daimonte. At this moment, her nails had already dug into her palms, and her legs had gone numb.
Crisis and opportunity coexisted. She didn’t fully understand what Kaido was thinking, but she could tell that gathering them here was not for the sake of killing them.
If she could endure under this Haki, perhaps it would earn her a bit of his respect.
Beyond pure strength, resisting Conqueror’s Haki required one’s mindset and ambition. Although Kaido had greatly suppressed his Conqueror’s Haki, it still revealed just how terrifying her ambition was.
“Worororo… There are still a few interesting ones among you. At least you’re not all trash.
You’ve probably guessed it, war is coming soon. This will be a massive war that sweeps across the entire world and completely overturns the seas. I will shatter this existing ‘order’ and drag those high-and-mighty World Nobles down into the dust!”
Kaido’s gaze swept over the kings below. While Arceus had just shown were benefits, Kaido was showing strength.
This war would come sooner or later. The Beasts Pirates knew it, the World Government and the Marines knew it as well. All that was missing was the final fuse.
The Marines were busy dealing with the Revolutionary Army. Since the Beasts Pirates had not made a move, they had no intention of immediately opening multiple fronts. Meanwhile, the Beasts Pirates were building up their strength before the war.
Given Kaido’s personality, he would make a declaration of war before it began, but it would certainly come after a major strike. Kaido didn’t care about attacking without warning; he had no intention of giving his enemies time to prepare.
For now, he was merely giving his own side a heads-up.
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