Imprisonment and Virus

When Ace opened his eyes again, he found himself in prison with his hands Sea Stone Handcuffs.

He moved slightly, but felt as limp as noodles all over his body, and a helpless expression appeared on Ace's face:

"We lost... and we lost without even seeing the person in front of us!"

"So this is the Four Emperors Pirates? It seems I underestimated them!"

In the original work, pirates who were defeated by the Beasts Pirates but had great potential were usually sent directly to mine Sea Stone Mine.

However, now that Vegapunk has not built Sea Stone warships for the World Government that can roam the Calm Belt, and the World Government's own Sea Stone warships have a very high mortality rate, the required number is naturally not large, and the demand for Sea Stone has also decreased significantly.

Under these circumstances, the Sea Stone Mine in Wano Country doesn't need many people, so these prisoners are basically all locked up in the dungeon.

Ace, at a young age, had already Awakening Conqueror's Haki and eaten a powerful Logia Devil Fruit. For Kaido, a collector, he was naturally one of the best captives.

Even if the personalities of the two people are not very compatible, at least they can give it a try first. If it really doesn't work out, it doesn't matter if they cut it off.

"Hey buddy over there, the one with the freckles!"

Just as Ace was wallowing in self-pity, he suddenly heard a voice from the side. Somewhat confused, Ace turned his head and saw a tall, white-haired girl at the other end of the cell, also wearing Sea Stone Handcuffs and bound with Sea Stone chains.

"Huh!? Are you calling me?"

Ace blinked and pointed to his face.

"There are only the two of us here. If we're not calling you, who are we calling?"

The girl rolled her eyes, muttered a complaint, and then asked with interest:

"Brother, are you from the outer sea?! I heard you were imprisoned because you challenged that muscle Masira Kaido?"

"Uh... sorry, I didn't even get to see Kaido before I was defeated by Kaido..."

Ace shrugged and said somewhat embarrassedly.

"That's nothing. Jhin is indeed a tough opponent. Even my bastard Pops would need a whole day to defeat him."

The white-haired girl spoke as if to comfort him, Ace's face showed a wry smile:

"Wow, your Pops is really something! Could it be that he's also here to challenge Kaido?"

"Huh!? Challenging Kaido?? Why would that damned Pops challenge himself?!"

Challenge yourself? Ace tilted his head, carefully going over the girl's words in his mind, and finally spoke with some disbelief:

"You... you're Kaido's daughter!!!"

"I'm so sorry! I've caused you trouble, you Pops. Although I really want to sever our father-daughter relationship, by blood, I am indeed that bastard Masira's daughter."

Hearing Ace's exclamation, Yamato said with a look of shame.

Ace opened his mouth, surprised that she really was Kaido's daughter! After a moment, he asked somewhat strangely:

"If that's the case, then why are you locked up here too?"

"Well... because I want to liberate Wano Country and become Kozuki Oden of Wano Country!!"

The white-haired girl, Yamato, Kaido's daughter, spoke with her head held high.

"Kozuki Oden... who is that?"

Ace looked confused, Yamato started enthusiastically recommending it to Ace.

Half an hour later, after listening to Yamato's emotionally charged narration, which was heavily influenced by his own feelings, Ace nodded weakly to spare his ears the torment:

"Oh, that's pretty impressive. By the way, does this prison provide food?"

No matter how glorious, great, brave, and upright Kozuki Oden was described by Yamato as a savior of humanity, Ace could not bring himself to admire him simply because he knew that Kozuki Oden had once been on his Pops's ship, the Pirate King Roger.

Just kidding! Even my Ace, the Pirate King, had a lot of complaints Pops me, let alone a nobody on Pops ship!

However, Yamato, being so oblivious, couldn't understand Ace's perfunctory attitude. On the contrary, Ace's second half of the sentence completely diverted her attention.

"Oh yeah! I'm hungry too! When's dinner?!"

This made Ace curl his lip, completely baffled as to what Kaido was thinking. Why would he lock up his silly daughter with him? Wasn't he afraid Ace would chop her up?

If Ace knew that Kaido in a cave with his enemies, the samurai of Wano Country, when Yamato eight years old, he probably wouldn't have these questions now.

In some ways, this father and daughter are cut from the same cloth; describing them as "kind father and filial daughter" is not an exaggeration at all...

Yes, the father-son relationships of the main characters in the Pirate King world all seem to be quite abnormal, and this situation is quite common.

If Ace had thought carefully about his unreliable grandfather, he might have understood the origins of Yamato's situation and personality.

Just then, pirates appeared at the door to deliver food.

"Time to eat, you bunch of bastards! Get up and get your food!"

The menacing-looking pirate banged on the rice jar as he addressed his captives, saying that the food consisted of only some coarse rice dumplings and pickled vegetables.

In reality, although the food was simple, it was already quite good in Wano Country. The Beasts Pirates had seized all the resources of Wano Country, and the resources were abundant. Even prisoners could barely get enough to eat. In comparison, ordinary people in Wano Country were even starving to death.

Upon arriving at Yamato and Ace's cell, the pirate gave Yamato a fawning smile and immediately pulled a lunchbox from his back.

"Yamato Master Yamato, this food was specially prepared for you!"

Whether Kaido dislikes Yamato or not, that's Kaido's own business. As for the ordinary small pirates in the Beasts Pirates, they wouldn't dare to offend Yamato.

Putting everything else aside, if Yamato and casually smashed a few pirate henchmen to death with a few blows, Kaido would probably pretend not to see it, and might even look at Yamato differently because of such "brutal" behavior!

This pirate grunt certainly doesn't want to become the "material" for Yamato to be treated differently!

However, Yamato didn't care about all that. She couldn't even think about such a complicated problem. She opened the lunchbox and found a large braised fish, a whole roasted chicken, a big bowl full of white rice, natto soup, and Anko porridge inside.

"Ace! Let's eat together!"

Yamato, Yamato secured the food, didn't hesitate and immediately invited Ace to join him. As for the pirate grunt, he acted as if he hadn't seen anything, at most serving Ace some extra brown rice.

Ace didn't refuse, but just then, a voice that sounded somewhat familiar came from outside.

Looking up, I saw a group of people being forced in by the Beasts Pirates' grunts. Some of them were dressed in Wano Country attire, emaciated and looking weak and listless, while others were covered in wounds and dressed as pirates.

What they all had in common was that they looked incredibly familiar to Ace —they were villagers from Amigasa Village and members of the Spades Pirates!

"What's going on?! Deuce, Tama, how did you get arrested?!"

Even though he was imprisoned, Ace, who was still cheerful and bold, could no longer control his emotions. He threw himself against the cell door and frantically pulled on the iron bars of the prison.

However, he was currently wearing Sea Stone Handcuffs, so he couldn't pull the prison bars at all, nor could he use his Logia abilities or elemental abilities. He could only watch as the villagers and his pirate crew members were imprisoned.

"Brother Ace, not long after you left, the Beasts Pirates arrived at our village and captured all the villagers!"

Tama's face showed a tearful expression as she spoke dejectedly.

"I'm sorry, Ace, we're just too weak. We couldn't protect the villagers and we've held you back."

The Spades Pirates, named Deuce, also gave a wry smile and began to explain.

"Damn it, what are you guys trying to do?! I'm the one who attacked the Beasts Pirates, why are you causing them trouble?!"

"Oh, you're full of energy, kid!"

A tall, round, fat man, smoking a cigar, walked over with a smile.

"You think offending the Beasts Pirates is just a personal matter? There's no way you'd expect to get away with that!!"

"We've already interrogated them and found out that it was these villagers from Amigasa Village who asked you to deal with our Beasts Pirates! In that case, we certainly won't let them get away with it!"

"Besides, you're the captain! Do you think what you've done has nothing to do with your pirate crew? Don't be so naive, okay?!"

"Damn fatso, if you have the guts, kill me! What kind of person attacks my crew?!"

Ace's face was full of rage, and upon hearing the term "fatso," the tall, round pirate also showed a hint of anger.

"What fatso? I'm just afraid of being too popular if I lose weight! That's why I've maintained my plump figure!"

"Ah!? Is that how it is?"

Yamato, who had been Yamato to the side, scratched his head, looking surprised. Ace rolled his eyes.

"How could anyone believe such nonsense? Even if he lost weight, no one would welcome him!"

Even under these circumstances, the two sides seemed able to crack jokes and lighten the tension somewhat.

However, it was clear that the chubby guy, Plague Queen, one of Kaido's subordinates, didn't like hearing Ace's harsh language. His expression darkened, and then he chuckled coldly twice:

"Fire Fist brat, it seems you still don't understand the current situation! I need to make you aware of what's going on!"

As he spoke, Queen waved his hand, and several pirate soldiers immediately handed him a small box.

"Hehehehe, you little Fire Fist brat, do you know what's in this box?"

"This is a new type of virus that I have just developed! At first, it will cause people to Kunai, go berserk, and bite each other, and then the virus will be transmitted during this stage!"

"Subsequently, the flesh of the infected person will slowly rot, turning them into a complete walking corpse. At this time, their brain nerves are still very active. In other words, the infected person will personally feel the sensation of their entire body rotting, and eventually die in agony!"

"Although it can't compare to my Ice Demon Virus in terms of combat effectiveness, this thing is truly incurable. Even if you inject the antidote afterward, all you'll get is a non-infectious corpse!"

Cold sweat trickled down Ace's forehead, but unwilling to back down, he still let out a cold laugh:

"Do you think I'm afraid? At worst, it's just my life!"

"Hehehe, of course I knew you wouldn't be scared..."

Queen waved his arms, opened the box, and took out a green virus:

"So these viruses are meant for your crew and those idiotic villagers!"

Ace's expression froze for a moment, and when he saw that Queen had actually produced the virus, he immediately panicked:

"Wait, wait! Let's talk this out! Let's talk this out!"

"Oh, is there something you want to say?"

Queen looked around, then chuckled and pulled out the tearful Tama, holding a huge syringe and pointing the Tama at her.

"Hey, Queen, it's shameless of you to lay a hand on a little girl!"

Even Yamato couldn't stand it anymore and reprimanded Queen.

"Yamato, we're pirates! Isn't it normal for us to be despicable and shameless?!"

Queen blinked, Yamato was speechless after hearing what he said.

Then, he turned his head and looked at Tama, who was trying to hold back her tears and whose mouth was twisted in pain. Without hesitation, he gave her a dose of the virus.

"Bastard!! You bastard!!!! You damned thing!!!"

Ace let out an angry shout, but Queen completely ignored it:

"Let's see how the virus works first! If you yell again, I'll use your pirate crew members and all these villagers for virus experiments!"

"Waaaaah..."

Ace's forehead veins bulged, but he could only grit his teeth, even making a cracking and snapping sound as his teeth broke.

"Brother Ace... I... I'm fine... Please don't... act impulsively..."

Tama trembled all over, and grayish patches gradually appeared on her arms, spreading continuously. Despite enduring the pain of the virus's erosion, she still smiled through her tears and tried to persuade Ace.

"Tama... I..."

The more this happened, the more heartbreaking it was. Ace looked utterly desperate, his entire body seemingly turning ashen.

Yamato also looked indignant, glaring at Queen, but Queen smiled and waved the virus box in his hand:

"That's right, don't be impulsive! The lives of your companions are now in your hands, Ace!"

"She's just an insignificant little girl right now. You wouldn't want all your friends to experience the effects of the virus, would you?"