Test Island Middle

Boom!!!

A wave of heat directly blew away the assembled kings and ministers in the banquet hall. King Edith III was even roasted half-cooked.

"Tell Zayn to get out here, or I'll burn this country to a crisp along with him!" Kaido's piercing voice echoed across the small island.

The island's residents, seeing Kaido's colossal form, immediately collapsed to the ground in fear. The more timid ones fainted outright.

"Ah!!!" *n

"Yaa!!!" *n

"Quick, save me!"

Screams, shrieks, and cries for help mingled, turning the royal palace into chaos in an instant.

Servants, maids, nobles, and royalty scrambled everywhere like rats whose nest had been disturbed.

"Wh-what kind of monster is that!" a noble attending the banquet stammered.

"Quick, get the army to protect us!"

"The King ordered the army to freely rob the families of the rebels. There isn't a single soldier in the palace right now!"

"Th-then quickly contact the Navy!"

"It's useless. We're not a member nation of the World Government, so the Navy won't help us!"

"I heard that monster call out Zayn's name! Zayn brought this trouble upon us!"

"Hurry and find Zayn! We'll hand Zayn over!"

The First Prince, recalling Kaido's words, quickly grabbed a trembling maid and ordered her to find Zayn.

Under his gaze, which seemed ready to devour her, the maid gritted her teeth and stumbled away.

Kaido continued to circle in the air, his gaze constantly sweeping below.

At this moment, a young maid trembled as she emerged from the royal palace and spoke to Kaido in the sky, "L-L-Lord, w-we'll bring Zayn to you immediately. Please, d-don't attack the p-palace anymore."

The lives of her parents gave the girl courage beyond anything else, allowing her to finish these few words.

"Only hiding behind women? As expected, all nobles are a bunch of irredeemable scum!"

Ignoring the pleas of the nobles, Kaido directly wiped out the entire royal palace with a single breath, leaving only the little maid, who had exhausted her courage and slumped to the ground.

"I wouldn't have thought you'd be so gentle, Boss Kaido~"

Oshi's words were somewhat unexpected, and Kaido scoffed upon hearing them.

"Gentle? I just killed everyone in the palace! You red-haired brat."

"But you let go of the maid who was forced out to negotiate, didn't you?

Also, my name is Osiris, remember that! If it's too long, you can just call me Oshi!"

"I only let her go because she had the courage to face me. She's stronger than everyone in the palace behind her! And the strong are qualified to live."

Completely disregarding Oshi's complaint, Kaido stated his reason for sparing the maid.

This was the rule he followed, a very simple survival-of-the-fittest philosophy.

"Oshi, you don't seem to care about their deaths?"

Ra interjected, asking the question. She found Oshi's personality to be different from what she had imagined, which concerned her, as she was sensitive to such matters.

"Huh? Why should I care, Sister Ra? I don't even know them?" Oshi asked, confused.

"Big Sister Ra means, are you perhaps too indifferent to so many lives dying suddenly," Obe understood Ra's meaning.

"Uh... I didn't kill them, though? And it's not like I'm completely indifferent~ At least I'm happy that the little maid survived," Oshi added.

[It seems my previous guess was a bit off. Both of them have been influenced by divinity to some extent, though the influence is very subtle, and they hadn't shown it before.]

[I wonder what will happen in the future.]

Ra pondered for a moment before setting the issue aside for now. It wasn't that important anyway.

As an outsider, she still maintained an attitude of indifference towards how this world turned out.

"But now that you've killed all these people, where will we find that Zayn, big guy?" It was Obe's turn to ask, her question as practical as ever.

"You two are learning the common tongue quite quickly, but at least call me Captain! You ill-mannered blue-haired brats!"

However, Kaido was quite pleased internally, even if he didn't say it, that Obe, whom he had been ignoring, had finally started talking to him.

"If Zayn doesn't want to show himself, a small country like this has no power to force him. Me doing this is just to force him to appear."

"Won't the World Government care if we so brazenly attack a country like this?" Obe asked again.

"Urororororo~ The World Government doesn't care about the lives of non-member nations.

Rather, they'd be happy to see these countries destroyed, which would make other non-member nations more desperate to join them, allowing them to take whatever they want," Kaido revealed the cruel truth.

"Small island nations like this, with no resources or important location, are probably no different from trash on the side of the road in their eyes."

Meanwhile, while Kaido and the others were chatting, a sneaky figure quietly emerged from an inconspicuous corner of the outer wall of the royal palace.

"Tch, it's so crowded! Did you not consider the volume of the data we're carrying when you dug this tunnel? Ugh~"

Finally, with a "Duang~" sound, the figure emerged, carrying a large, round box.

He was a man with a distinctive appearance: black and purple sunglasses, purple lip gloss, long golden hair styled like flames, and a pair of large earrings. His build was lean and sharp.

This man was Zayn, a weapons researcher whose appearance was the antithesis of a typical researcher, looking more like a fierce pirate.

"I didn't expect it to be this guy. I thought the World Government was finally going to make a move on MADS."

"Looks like I'll have to abandon this test site. Oh well~ The research on the Plague Bomb is almost complete anyway."

Zayn lit a cigar, took a puff, and secretly observed Kaido in the sky.

But just as he was about to look away and flee, Kaido suddenly turned his head and stared at Zayn's location.

[Finally decided to come out, have you? Zayn.]

Having found his target, Kaido dispersed his dragon form, transformed into his human shape, and landed directly in front of Zayn. The three little ones also landed with Kaido.

"Uro-ro-ro-ro~ Long time no see, Zayn!" Kaido greeted Zayn with a loud laugh.

Seeing that Kaido had discovered him, Zayn gave up on escaping.

"It really is you, Kaido. I didn't expect you to actually escape from the Punk Hazard laboratory. I knew those Marines wouldn't be able to keep you."

"How about leaving MADS? The World Government won't allow an organization like MADS to continue existing. They'll make a move within a few years.

You probably guessed this, which is why you've been searching for a hiding place in the four seas these past few years, right?"

Without any further preamble, Kaido directly extended an invitation to Zayn.

"Join me and become my subordinate, and no one will dare to touch you. Zayn!"

Zayn glanced at the club in Kaido's hand, then thought about the faces of those World Government officials.

He took a deep drag from his cigar and shook his head, refusing, "Not yet. My child was born three years ago, in the South Blue. He's still too young. I need to wait until he can live on his own."

"Hmm?"

"Uro-ro-ro-ro-ro~ I never expected someone like you to have a child. Gulp gulp gulp~"

Not getting the answer he wanted, Kaido burst into laughter. He then unhooked the gourd from his waist and drank from it, his throat parched from the journey.

If that's the case, then I'll be waiting for you! I'll save a spot for you as an executive in the Beasts Pirates. Here's my Life Card, come find me when you're ready!

After saying this, Kaido actually lay down on the ground and fell asleep. It seemed the continuous travel had left him a bit tired.

Zayn breathed a sigh of relief. Kaido's straightforwardness had saved him a lot of trouble. Honestly, if Kaido had resorted to force, he wouldn't have been able to do anything.

Putting away the Life Card, Zayn prepared to leave the country.

He had obtained the weapon data, and with Kaido causing such a commotion, the World Government might send CP agents to investigate.

However, just as he was about to return to the secret tunnel to pack up the remaining experimental equipment, he suddenly noticed something, and his expression turned to shock