Teething

It was past seven in the evening when the physical training ended, and the sky had turned completely dark.

King looked at Yamato, Jack, and Maria lying on the ground. All three of them were exhausted, sprawled out on the floor.

Unlike the morning exercise, everyone's training plan in the evening was different. After all, there was a massive gap in their physical constitutions; Yamato, being the strongest, naturally underwent the highest intensity training, while Black Maria could only perform the lowest tier.

The only exception was Sirius, who sat to the side looking as energetic as ever, even though his clothes were completely soaked with sweat.

As long as he had something to eat, his recovery ability was truly unreasonable.

"Training ends here for today. Go get dinner."

After dropping that line, King turned and walked away, quickly disappearing into the darkness.

Sirius stood up, walked over to the three people lying on the ground, and looked down at them. "Let's go, guys. Time to eat."

"I can't," Black Maria shook her head weakly. "I can't move at all. The training volume today was even higher than before."

"Me too." Jack tried hard to sit up, but unfortunately, he failed. In the end, he could only lie on the ground like a salted fish.

"I'm so tired, Sirius. I don't want to move at all."

Even Yamato couldn't get up. She looked at Sirius with dull eyes, sniffing and looking quite aggrieved. "But, I'm so hungry."

"I'm so hungry too," Black Maria chimed in gloomily.

"I really can't do anything with you lot."

Sirius shook his head, his body expanding instantly as he transformed into a giant Black Wolf. He crouched down in front of the three of them. "Get on. I'll take you to get something to eat."

"Sirius!" Yamato's eyes regained their luster in an instant.

Black Maria even raised her hand to gently wipe the corner of her eye. "Sirius, the hero has arrived."

"It's not that dramatic," Sirius said casually. "Doesn't Jack also like carrying me around?"

"Who likes that! You're the one who climbs up on your own, aren't you!" Jack complained.

While chatting, Yamato and the others slowly climbed up, wobbling as they crawled onto Sirius's back.

Jack and Maria had the advantage of size and climbed up directly, while Yamato had to scramble up herself.

Regardless, the three of them eventually got into position, and Sirius carried them toward the dining hall.

By the time Sirius and the others went to eat, King had already begun his meal as well, sitting with Kaido and Queen.

His mouth transformed into a long beak, stretching out to snatch a meatball before retracting. As he chewed, King said with a serious expression, "That kid's ability is ridiculously strong! I noticed something, Mr. Kaido. In fact, even if he doesn't actively train, just by constantly eating, he is able to keep growing stronger."

"Although I don't know the true nature of that ability, one thing is certain: compared to his powerful frontal combat capabilities, his extraordinary growth potential is what makes that kid truly terrifying!"

At this point, King's tone became solemn. "That kid, Sirius, possesses the potential to surpass everything and become the strongest!"

"The strongest?"

Kaido swirled his large bowl filled with fine wine, raising an eyebrow with interest.

"Muhahaha, if you put it that way, that kid really is a dangerous element!"

Queen laughed heartily. "Boss Kaido, why don't we just kill him? After all, didn't this kid get pretty close to Kozuki Oden before? He might be a threat."

King said nothing, simply watching quietly as Kaido lifted his wine bowl and drained it in one gulp.

"Urorororo! Don't say such stupid things, Queen!"

Kaido laughed loudly. "War has never been a one-man game! If I want to stand at the peak of the tides of this era and ignite the greatest war in the world, I need more power!"

"That kid is a part of that!"

"Fine, if that's your decision, Boss Kaido." Queen shrugged, having no intention of insisting on his own opinion.

"King, you should teach that kid well." Kaido poured himself more wine and said casually, "I'm actually quite looking forward to it—to when that kid stops listening!"

"Urorororo! The strongest? That would be very interesting, wouldn't it!"

Kaido didn't care about the matter at all.

"I understand."

King nodded, then added, "Oh, right, Mr. Kaido, there is one more thing. Today, when Sirius defeated Yamato, he broke Yamato's mace. Yamato was very sad, and then, she awakened Conqueror's Haki!"

"Eh?"

Queen nearly choked on his food. His entire face turned bright red, and he had to pound his chest repeatedly before he finally recovered. He said in disbelief, "Such a thing actually happened?"

"Sad?"

Kaido's brow furrowed instantly, and he shouted angrily, "Are you kidding me! You're telling me that foolish girl felt sad over a weapon that I can provide as many of as she wants?"

"How can my daughter be so weak-willed! And she actually lost to that kid? King, increase her training load! What I need is a daughter who can help me rule Wano Country! Not a sniveling piece of trash!"

"Eh? Wait, Boss Kaido, isn't the main point the Conqueror's Haki?" Queen was stunned for a moment.

Yamato awakened Conqueror's Haki at only eight years old!

Doesn't that deserve a word of praise?

"What's there to be concerned about? She inherited my bloodline; isn't that only natural!" Kaido said coldly. "Did you hear that, King?"

"I understand."

Even for his beloved daughter, she only deserved his affection when she proved useful.

That was Mr. Kaido.

Sirius and the others, of course, were unaware of the conversation that had taken place between the three of them; they were currently eating in the cafeteria.

Although Yamato and the others had nearly exhausted their stamina, Yamato had inherited Kaido's bloodline, and Jack and Maria were Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit users with impressive recovery abilities. Once Sirius brought them to the cafeteria, they had at least recovered enough strength to eat.

Then, after wolfing down their food, they recovered even more of their stamina.

"So, Yamato, what exactly was that earlier?"

Jack asked, his mouth stuffed full, his words somewhat muffled.

"What do you mean, 'what'?" Yamato looked completely bewildered.

"It was something called Haki, wasn't it?"

Sirius explained while he ate. "I've heard of it."

"Haki?" Jack was stunned. "I've heard of that! Brother King and Brother Queen can both use it! Can Yamato actually use that?"

"That's amazing, Yamato!" Although Black Maria didn't quite understand what Haki was, that didn't stop her from hugging Yamato and praising her with a smile.

"Eh? Could it be that I did something really incredible?"

Yamato was stunned for a moment, then a smug smile appeared on her face. "I don't know what happened, but it seems I'm pretty amazing!"

Sirius smiled and said nothing, continuing to eat on his own.

Suddenly, he felt something hard in his mouth. He spat it out and saw that it was a tooth.

He instinctively ran his tongue over his teeth and realized one of his front teeth was missing.

"Oh! Did Sirius lose a tooth too?" Yamato leaned in, looked at the tooth in Sirius's palm, and said happily, "Uncle Queen said that once you finish changing your teeth, you're almost an adult! Sirius is starting to grow up too!"

Was it really just a normal case of losing baby teeth?

Although his physical age was indeed at the stage for changing teeth, every time Sirius thought about the ruthless beating King had given him that afternoon, he felt there might have been some external factors involved.

Is it possible to file a claim for damages in a situation like this?

Losing a tooth is just losing a tooth. Sirius had originally intended to throw the tooth away, but suddenly, he thought of something.

Looking down at the tooth in his hand, Sirius suddenly grinned. He had just come up with a great idea.

"Yamato, don't throw away any teeth you lose in the future," Sirius said.

"Eh? Why?" Yamato asked, curious.

"Didn't I break your Aken? Maybe I can give you back an even better one!" Sirius said with a grin, his missing front tooth whistling as he spoke.

"Wuu—Aken—"

The moment her beloved mace was mentioned, Yamato's mood plummeted immediately, and she began eating her meat in tiny, small bites.

Sirius twitched the corner of his mouth and had no choice but to change the subject. "So, Yamato, why do you like using a mace?"

A cute little girl and a crude mace—they didn't match at all.

After all, the other female in the original story who used a mace as a weapon was Alvida!

"Why?"

Yamato blinked, then said naturally, "Because it was a gift from Father! Aken is my treasure!"

"Sirius probably isn't asking why you like Aken," Black Maria corrected.

Jack chimed in, "He's asking why you like using a mace as a weapon."

"Oh, oh."

Yamato nodded blankly, then smiled and said, "Because this is Father's weapon! It's very powerful!"

"I see."

Sirius smiled.

He didn't say anything more about whether she should change to a different weapon.

What right did he have to ask Yamato to make a change?

Since they were friends, he would respect her choices.

"Don't worry, Yamato, I will definitely give you back an even better mace!"

That was what Sirius said.

Thanks to the big boss '2021年我会瘦嘛' for the 500 reward, and thanks to '桥南亦北' for the 1000 reward.