"Hmm?"
Kozuki Oden, his face smeared with blood, opened his eyes. Looking at Sirius and Yamato, who were standing outside the cell with their heads tilted up at him, he frowned. "Two brats?"
"Yo, hello there, samurai!"
Sirius clung to the bars and waved at him with a grin.
Following his example, Yamato also clung to the bars, trying hard to squeeze her face through the gap between them. But the horns on her forehead got stuck. Her eyes curved into crescents as she showed a little white smile with a missing front tooth.
"Hello, Kozuki Oden!"
"Who are you two little brats?"
A look of obvious distaste appeared on Kozuki Oden's face. "Don't act like we know each other."
"That's so distant, Uncle. We watched your fight with Uncle Kaido from start to finish."
Sirius smiled. "We can at least count as one-sided acquaintances."
"I've never heard of that kind of acquaintance."
Oden impatiently curled his lip, then asked in surprise, "So the Beasts Pirates have little brats like you too?"
"Yeah, I'm Sirius, a newcomer with the Beasts."
Sirius introduced himself, then let go of the bars with one hand and patted Yamato's slender shoulder beside him. "This is Yamato, Uncle Kaido's daughter."
"I'm Yamato!"
Yamato puffed out her chest and raised her head in cooperation, sniffing. "Oden, you're really amazing! You actually fought Father to that extent!"
"Oh! You've got a good eye, brat!"
Kozuki Oden finally showed some interest and looked Yamato over. "Kaido actually has such a cute daughter?"
Sirius nodded in full agreement. "Yamato really is cute."
"Sirius is cute too!" Yamato shouted, scrambling to speak first.
"Tch."
Kozuki Oden gave an unhappy snort, then said smugly, "But neither of you is as cute as my son and daughter."
"Uncle, you're just bragging, aren't you?" Yamato asked suspiciously.
Sirius narrowed his eyes at Kozuki Oden. Hiyori did grow up to be a great beauty, and she had been cute as a child too, but Momonosuke... heh.
"Who's bragging?! Don't look down on me, brat!"
Kozuki Oden roared, "Those two inherited their mother's and my genes. They're the cutest in the world!"
Yamato pulled down one eyelid and made a face at Kozuki Oden. "I don't believe you! Plate Head Uncle, you're definitely lying!"
"Plate... Plate Head?"
Kozuki Oden's expression changed drastically. "Do you brats know anything about fashion?! Toki said my hairstyle was the best-looking!"
Yamato merely snorted twice, looking utterly unconvinced.
"What an irritating brat."
The veins on Oden's forehead twitched, but he did not stay angry for long. Soon, he looked at Sirius. "Still, is this really okay? Won't Kaido get angry if you came to see me on your own?"
"It's fine, it's fine."
Sirius casually waved a hand. "Uncle Kaido is dead drunk."
"Oh? Then isn't this a good opportunity?" Kozuki Oden's eyes lit up. Grinning, he said, "Brats, how about doing Uncle a favor? Come unlock these chains, and afterward Uncle will take you to my house. My wife makes incredibly delicious sweets."
"Huh?"
Yamato was startled. "Are they really that delicious?"
"Idiot, that's not the issue here!"
Sirius raised a hand and knocked Yamato on the head, then smiled. "Sorry, Oden. Uncle Kaido is my great benefactor, so I can't help you with that."
"Ahh, since you're brats, can't you be a little more stupid?"
Kozuki Oden cried out in frustration. "Uncle still has a reason he absolutely cannot die!"
"Huh? Was I tricked?"
Only then did Yamato realize it. Puffing up her cheeks, she said, "Plate Head Uncle, you really are a liar!"
Deeply disappointed, Kozuki Oden curled his lip. "Say whatever you want. If you're useless, then get lost already, brats."
This guy was so surreal.
Sirius smiled. "I still have a lot of questions I want to ask you, Oden."
Kozuki Oden narrowed his eyes without even lifting his eyelids.
Sirius did not mind. "You've left this country before, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right, Plate Head Uncle!" Yamato forgot all about being angry and hurriedly asked excitedly, "What is the world beyond the sea really like?"
Sirius said, "Can you tell us about your story, Uncle? What kind of scenery did you see? What kind of people did you meet?"
"Me too!" Yamato raised her right hand high.
Kozuki Oden finally opened his eyes and looked at Sirius and Yamato's burning gazes in surprise.
"You two long for the sea?"
"Of course!"
Yamato clenched her little fists and shouted, "Father always says I'm not allowed to go to sea, but one day, we'll set sail and adventure across the ocean!"
"And you, boy? Do you feel the same?" Kozuki Oden looked at Sirius.
Sirius thought for a moment, then raised his head and said seriously, "I think I came into this world to witness the unknown."
What he had failed to do in his previous life, he would definitely accomplish in this one!
Yamato nodded repeatedly and said happily, "Mm-hmm! Sirius is right!"
"Came into this world to witness the unknown?"
Kozuki Oden froze for a moment, then the corners of his mouth curled high as he burst into laughter. "To think I'd meet such interesting brats when I'm at the end of my rope! Kaido's side has some truly incredible boy and girl!"
Looking at this boy was like seeing his younger self, who had once longed for the sea.
"It's not bad to have someone to chat with. Since you want to hear it, I'll tell you about my adventures."
"Yay!"
Yamato excitedly pumped a little fist. "That's awesome!"
Sirius smiled. "But let's make this clear first, Uncle Oden. I have one condition."
"What a picky brat." Oden curled his lip.
"Please save the most exciting parts for us, right, Yamato?"
Yamato froze for a moment, then raised both hands with a smile. "That's right! We have to witness the most exciting parts with our own eyes!"
"I see."
Kozuki Oden smiled. "That really is a difficult request, but fine. I'll grant it."
"Plate Head Uncle is so cool!" Yamato cheered.
"I told you, I'm not Plate Head!"
As the two of them began their story session, in the banquet hall at the top of the Tenshukaku...
"Is this really okay, Boss Kaido? Hic~"
The drunken Queen lay sprawled on the floor, belching as he slurred, "Letting those two brats go see Oden, it's, it's danger—blegh—"
He rolled over and threw up all over King beside him.
"Bastard!"
King kicked Queen straight out of the Tenshukaku. He crashed heavily onto the ground below, followed by a scream from outside.
"Wororororo, don't... don't mind them."
Kaido waved a hand with bleary eyes, his tongue thick with drink. "Let them see the loser's... loser's end. That's... that's fine too."
"Oh, right. Orochi, give Oden's swords back to him. What kind of samurai... samurai has no swords?"
"Let him die like a strong man!"
Thanks to brother "Jiao Ni Luelue Lu" for the massive 500 donation. Zero's breakthrough, that's what it is.
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