Kate Kingdom

Teach took Mobius to find an inn on Cedar Island. Since they were going to rest there for a day, Teach gave Mobius some Beli and let him buy training equipment on his own: weights and steel pillars.

He wasn't worried that Mobius would run into any danger. First, Mobius was already strong enough to handle minor pirates and thugs. And his Observation Haki was keeping watch at all times.

Teach spent the day wandering around Cedar Island. As a shipbuilding island, it was also a gathering place for large numbers of pirates. After all, pirate ships were damaged in battles at sea all the time—almost every day—and repairing them was the shipwrights' main line of work.

The island was fairly prosperous. Teach saw dozens of taverns alone, but found nothing of interest. He just ate some food, bought a little cherry pie, and picked up a meal to take back for Mobius.

Teach had wanted to find a shipwright, but he hadn't found anyone he liked on the island. Young, skilled shipwrights were rare in his experience—not nonexistent, since many shipwrights went to sea with pirate crews every year—but the most important thing was whether they clicked.

Teach wasn't discouraged. Such people were hard to come by, and shipwrights weren't all that important to him anyway. What he really wanted was strong fighters. He could leave shipbuilding to famous shipwrights, and most pirates knew how to handle basic repairs. Teach did too; he'd repaired parts of pirate ships from time to time.

When he returned to the inn, Mobius was already back and had started training with the equipment he'd bought.

Then news arrived from outside. The man in charge of the merchant ship they'd traveled on had been abandoned by the old captain. He'd switched to another ship, only for it to be surrounded by several pirate crews at sea and eventually sink beneath the waves.

It had all started with the Devil Fruit Teach had taken. But in the end, that Devil Fruit had vanished without a trace, instead sparking a battle between several pirate crews.

"Zehahaha! I'm really sorry!" Teach couldn't help laughing when he heard the news.

Who was he apologizing to? That man had sunk into the sea along with his entire ship.

In the New World, at a vast palace in the Kate Kingdom on Pet Island, "Did that fool Ivan die?" a lavishly dressed man asked with a faint smile. He sat on a golden throne studded with jewels, stroking the head of a white tiger four meters long with his right hand. The giant tiger stretched out its neck beneath his touch. Seeing this, the man smiled and scratched it under the chin. The tiger contentedly rested its head against his thigh, like a pet.

The man standing before him didn't speak, and didn't dare to. He knew the white tiger was His Highness's beloved pet. Interrupting their affectionate exchange would be dangerous. Even if His Highness didn't mind, the white tiger was a true beast. It was affectionate toward him, but looked at everyone else like prey. It would eat him alive.

So far, forty-five people had been eaten by the white tiger—some because they didn't know better, others by accident.

After a long while, His Highness stopped stroking the tiger and gently rested his hand on its head.

The man breathed a sigh of relief, realizing he could speak now. "That useless Ivan. It's a shame he died. He actually lost the Devil Fruit meant for His Highness, the Tiger King."

"Hmm. Since it's lost, we'll find another substitute. The Snake King secretly raised such a perfect specimen. I'm going to have it." The prince known as the Tiger King smiled. "But what was the reason someone dared to lose something of mine?"

The man had already prepared an answer. "Yes, Your Highness. I've looked into it. The Fire Wolf Pirates had their eyes on the Devil Fruit. After failing to seize it, they leaked the news about it, and several pirate crews joined forces to sink the merchant ship. No one knows whether the Devil Fruit sank into the sea or was hidden by someone."

"Then put a bounty on Fire Wolf Hog's head in the underworld: two hundred million. And wipe out his pirate crew." A cold glint flashed in the Tiger King's eyes. The man in front of him lowered his head, not daring to say a word. He knew how terrifying the Tiger King was. He killed with a smile.

"Understood, Your Highness. I'll see it done." With that, the man quietly left the palace.

Out in the New World, aboard the Fire Wolf Pirates' ship, "Who—who are you? I haven't offended you, have I?" Fire Wolf Hog was in a wretched state, covered in wounds. Yet the culprit hadn't killed him. Instead, the killer was slaughtering the members of his crew.

As he watched his men die one by one, he felt nothing. He was a heartless man, after all; otherwise, he wouldn't have risked such heavy losses to seize the Devil Fruit. Many of the pirates involved had only recently joined the crew.

What he felt more than anything was fear of death. "Don't kill me! I quit the Fire Wolf Pirates!" one pirate wailed, dropping to his knees, but it did no good. His life was mercilessly snuffed out.

"You're right. You haven't offended me. I'm just doing a job for money. Your head is worth a fortune now, Hog." The unknown killer chuckled. A mask hid his face. As a hired killer, concealing his identity was essential.

"You offended someone you shouldn't have. There's a two-hundred-million-Beli bounty on your head in the black market. Add your regular bounty, and that makes three hundred million." The killer smiled. "So I'm taking your head."

Hog's pupils shrank. He could hardly believe it. The first thing that came to mind was the Devil Fruit. Then a flash of steel crossed the air. Hog closed his eyes and died at the killer's hands. The Fire Wolf Pirates were wiped out, though it had nothing to do with Teach. It was a minor matter, and he wouldn't give it another thought.

"Wow! So many pets!" Mobius's eyes widened with delight as he looked all around. Almost everyone walking along the road was leading a pet: cats, dogs, and even large, ferocious beasts like wolves and bears.

Even the children had pets of their own. It was easy to tell who was a visitor. This was the Kate Kingdom's defining feature, and the reason the island was called Pet Island.

The Kate Kingdom had a tradition of passing down animal-taming techniques through the generations. Even ferocious beasts could become adorable pets after being raised by them—though they had to be trained from a young age.

The island's greatest attraction was its incredible variety of pets, and its main industry was pet shops. They sold tens of thousands of different species, drawing plenty of tourists to the Kate Kingdom to bring home cute or ferocious companions.

After four days of travel, Teach and Mobius finally reached the Kate Kingdom. They'd passed another island along the way, but hadn't stayed long, continuing straight on by ship to the Kate Kingdom.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Teach and Mobius came out of a distinctive pet shop that specialized in snakes. It sold all kinds: venomous and nonvenomous, giant and tiny. The selection was extensive. The shop's name made its specialty clear: Home of Snakes and Insects.

Mobius was thrilled. He reached out to tease the young cobra draped around his neck, while a young viper coiled around Teach's left arm.

They hadn't chosen adult snakes. Young ones were easier to raise and had more room to grow. Besides, even in the kingdom of pets, venomous snakes and fierce beasts couldn't be tamed or controlled completely. Every year, people who kept wild beasts were killed and eaten by their own animals, or lost control of them and watched them eat other people's pets or attack other people.

Teach had asked around and learned some interesting things about the country. It had three princes with the greatest power. Because of their tastes, the eldest prince was called the Tiger King, the second prince the Snake King, and the third the Dragon King. The king was still in his prime, but was already considering stepping down, so the three most powerful princes were competing against one another, both openly and behind the scenes.

The eldest prince, Sabre, loved all kinds of cats, especially tigers. His favorite pet was a giant white tiger, and his palace gardens were home to all sorts of felines. Of the three princes, he had the greatest influence.

The second prince, Belinda, preferred snakes. His palace was dark and damp, specially renovated to accommodate his serpents, and housed all kinds of snakes. It was also known as the Snake Pit. He had secretly raised an entire unit of killers, making him the prince everyone feared most.

The third prince, Laimer, liked dinosaurs and similar creatures, such as giant lizards and crocodiles. More importantly, he was the strongest of the three princes. They said he'd eaten an Ancient Species Dragon-Dragon Fruit.

There were several other princes, but they weren't eligible to compete for the throne. They remained neutral or sided with one of the three princes.

King Brady was a powerful man. He'd even gone to sea when he was young, and controlled all kinds of beasts and giant creatures found on Beast Island. He was a Devil Fruit user known as the "Beast King."

Teach spread his Observation Haki across the island. He sensed powerful beasts stationed all over the Kate Kingdom, especially in the depths of the royal palace, where he felt a powerful presence on par with an elite Vice Admiral in the Navy. But even more terrifying were the powerful beasts.

There weren't any Animal-type Devil Fruit users. Teach guessed that King Brady's ability was the Beast Taming Fruit, which would later appear in Wano Country. It allowed him to tame animals, as well as any creatures with animal genes—like the artificial Devil Fruit army Kaido would have in the future.

But in the New World, this kind of power was among the very best. Aside from a lack of top-tier fighters, the kingdom's mid- and high-level forces far surpassed those of other top powers.

Some pirates had tried to plunder Pet Island in the past, but they'd all been wiped out by the animal army controlled by King Brady. He made no secret of his ability. Most people in the New World knew what he could do, so few powers had dared to provoke the Kate Kingdom in recent years.

But someone had already set their sights on this country—or, more accurately, on King Brady. Teach's Observation Haki detected several members of the Beasts Pirates in the country. They bore the crew's insignia. It seemed Kaido had already set his sights on the kingdom.

King Brady was now in his fifties, but still in his prime. He could easily live another twenty or thirty years. In the future, that Devil Fruit would be reborn, and Kaido had already set his sights on the country. Its fate was easy to imagine.

The king would die. Even if the country wasn't destroyed, the many beasts that lost control would cause enormous damage.

Teach could see all of this coming. At the center of the Kate Kingdom was the royal capital, with numerous small towns along the outskirts of the surrounding islands.

Teach had now entered the royal capital. The Kate Kingdom had two large ports, one to the south and one to the north, and he needed to cross the capital to reach the other side of Pet Island. They would have to spend the night in the royal capital.

The two of them found an inn, and Mobius began training. A third of the time Teach had given him was already gone, and he felt the pressure. He had to train harder.

Teach, on the other hand, wasn't in a hurry. Building up his physique required balancing training with rest. He'd reached a limit and could hardly make further gains; he needed to wait for his body to develop and grow. He went to a small tavern, found a seat, and quietly sipped liquor while eating some snacks.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see you." A man sat down across from Teach, then looked up and finally noticed him. He immediately stood and apologized.

"Haha, it's fine." Teach poured rum into a bowl and took a sip.

The man left. Before long, someone else sat down across from him, only realizing the seat was taken after sitting down.

It was strange. One after another, several more people did the same thing, as if they couldn't see Teach at all. The first time could have been a coincidence, but it happened again and again. Before long, though, they seemed to forget about him and went back to chatting among themselves.

Teach had lowered his presence. It was a way of using his Observation Haki—not just to hide his aura, but to conceal his presence. People could see him yet not notice him, and after a while, they forgot he was there, as if he didn't exist.

Teach had developed the technique by imitating Illusion. It didn't just hide him; he could also use Observation Haki to interfere with others' perceptions. His Haki could only interfere a little, not control all five senses, but even that could have an unimaginable effect in battle.

It required precise control of Observation Haki. Teach had enough power, but still needed to get the hang of it through constant practice. The people in the tavern were his practice targets.

Teach didn't leave until late at night.