Kate Kingdom

Teach took Mobius to a hotel on Sugi Island. Since they were going to rest on Sugi Island for a day, Teach gave Mobius some Belly to buy training equipment himself, including weights and steel pillars.

He wasn't afraid that Mobius would encounter any danger. Firstly, Mobius's current strength was not weak; he could handle some minor pirates and thugs. Moreover, his Observation Haki was constantly monitoring the surroundings.

Teach himself spent the day wandering around Sugi Island. As a shipbuilding island, Sugi Island was also a gathering place for many pirates. After all, pirate ships were often damaged in battles at sea, which happened almost every day. Repairing pirate ships was the main job of shipwrights.

The island was quite prosperous. Teach saw dozens of taverns alone, but he didn't gain much. He only ate some food, bought a cherry pie, and some food to bring back for Mobius.

Teach wanted to find a shipwright, but he didn't find anyone suitable on the island – someone young and skilled. Teach rarely saw such people. It wasn't that they didn't exist; many shipwrights went out to sea with pirate crews every year. However, what was more important was a connection.

Teach wasn't discouraged. After all, such encounters were rare and unpredictable. Besides, shipwrights weren't that important to him. He mainly sought strong individuals. Building ships could be entrusted to famous shipwrights, and most pirates could handle repairs themselves. Teach could also do it, having repaired parts of pirate ships occasionally.

When he returned to the hotel, Mobius was already back and had started training using the facilities.

However, news came from outside: the person in charge of the merchant ship they had stayed on earlier had been abandoned by the Old Captain, who had switched to a new ship. Subsequently, they were attacked by multiple pirates at sea and finally sank.

The cause was the Devil Fruit that Teach had taken. However, the Devil Fruit itself had disappeared without a trace, leading to a great war among various pirate factions.

"Hahahaha! My apologies!" Teach couldn't help but laugh when he heard the news.

To whom was he speaking? That person had already sunk to the bottom of the sea, along with their entire ship.

In the New World, on Pet Island, within the Kate Kingdom, in a large palace: "Is that Ivan fellow dead?" a man dressed in luxurious attire asked with a faint smile. He sat on a golden throne inlaid with many gems, stroking the head of a white tiger with a four-meter-long mane. The white giant tiger stretched its neck as his hand petted it. Seeing this, the man chuckled, scratched its neck, and it comfortably rested its head on his lap like a pet.

The man in front of him remained silent, not daring to speak. He knew this was the Prince's beloved pet. If he disturbed their affectionate interaction, even if the Prince didn't mind, the white giant tiger was a true beast. It was very affectionate towards the Prince, but towards others, it had the predatory gaze of a hunter, and it would devour them.

To this day, those who didn't know this or were caught by surprise had been eaten by the white giant tiger, totaling forty-five people.

After a long while, the Prince stopped his actions and gently placed his hand on the white giant tiger's head.

The man's heart relaxed, knowing he could speak now. "Ivan is such a waste. It's a pity he died, losing the Tiger King Prince's Devil Fruit."

"Hmm, since it's lost, let's find the next replacement. The Snake King has been cultivating such a gem in secret. I must have it," the Prince, known as the Tiger King, said with a smile. "However, what was the reason for losing my property?"

The man had already prepared his answer. "Yes, Your Highness. I've investigated. The Fire Wolf Pirates targeted the Devil Fruit. After failing to seize it, they leaked the news of the Devil Fruit, leading to the merchant ship being sunk by many pirate crews. The Devil Fruit either fell into the sea or was hidden by someone."

"Then place a bounty on the head of Fire Wolf Hog in the underworld, two hundred million, and annihilate his pirate crew." A cold glint flashed in the Tiger King Prince's eyes, causing the man in front of him to lower his head, not daring to say a word. He knew the terrifying nature of the Tiger King Prince, who killed with a smile.

"As you command, Your Highness. I will complete the mission." With that, the man quietly left the palace.

New World sea area, Fire Wolf Pirates: "You, who are you? I don't think I've offended you, have I?" Fire Wolf Hog looked very disheveled, covered in wounds. However, the perpetrator wasn't killing him but was slaughtering his crew members.

Watching his crew members die one by one, his heart remained unmoved. He was a ruthless person, otherwise, he wouldn't have risked such great losses to snatch the Devil Fruit. Many of these were newly recruited pirates.

More than that, he was terrified of death. "Don't kill me, I quit the Fire Wolf Pirates!" a pirate cried, kneeling on the ground, but it was useless. His life was ruthlessly taken.

"You indeed haven't offended me. I'm just doing a job for money. Your head is very valuable right now! Lord Hog," the unknown assassin said with a smile, his face covered by a mask. No one could see what he looked like. As an assassin, hiding his identity was crucial.

"You've offended someone you shouldn't have. In the black market, your head is worth two hundred million, plus your bounty, that's three hundred million Belly," the assassin said with a smile. "So, I'll take your head."

Hog's pupils contracted. He found it hard to believe. The first thing that came to his mind was the Devil Fruit. Then, a cold light flashed, and Hog closed his eyes, dying at the hands of the assassin. The Fire Wolf Pirates were wiped out, but it had nothing to do with Teach. He wouldn't bother with such a trivial matter.

"Oh! So many pets!" Mobius's eyes widened in surprise. He looked around. Almost everyone on the street was walking a pet. There were kittens, puppies, and even large, fierce beasts like wolves and bears.

Even small children had their own pets. At this point, it was very clear that they were outsiders. This was a characteristic of the Kate Kingdom and the reason this island was called Pet Island.

The Kate Kingdom had generations of beast taming skills. Even fierce beasts, after being trained by them, would become cute pets, especially those trained from a young age.

The most distinctive feature of the island was its variety of pets. The main industry was also various pet shops, offering tens of thousands of pet species. This attracted many tourists to the Kate Kingdom to buy cute or fierce pets.

After a four-day journey, Teach and Mobius finally arrived at the Kate Kingdom. They had passed by an island during their trip but didn't stop for long, sailing directly to the Kate Kingdom.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Teach and Mobius came out of a pet shop. It was a distinctive shop specializing in snake pets: venomous snakes, non-venomous snakes, giant snakes, small snakes – a wide and complete variety. The name of the shop, "Home of Snakes and Insects," made it clear.

Mobius was a little excited, extending his finger to tease a young cobra hanging around his neck. Teach had a young viper coiled around his left arm.

They didn't choose adult snakes; young snakes were easier to train and had more potential for growth. Moreover, even in the "Pet Kingdom," these venomous and fierce beasts couldn't be completely tamed or controlled. Every year, some people who kept fierce beasts were killed and eaten by their own pets, or they lost control and ate other people's pets or killed other people.

Teach gathered some information about the country and discovered some interesting things. The country had three most powerful princes. Due to their preferences, the eldest prince was called the Tiger King, the second prince was called the Snake King, and the third prince was called the Dragon King. Although the King was still in his prime, he was considering abdicating, so these three most powerful princes were competing openly and secretly.

The eldest prince, Sabre, liked all kinds of felines, especially tigers. His favorite pet was a white giant tiger. In his palace, the garden was filled with various felines. His influence was the greatest among the three princes.

The second prince, Belinda, liked snake pets. His palace was dark and damp, specifically modified for snake pets, housing all kinds of snakes. He had also secretly trained an assassin force, which was the most feared by others.

The third prince, Laimer, liked dinosaurs and similar creatures like giant lizards and crocodiles. More importantly, his personal strength was the strongest among the three princes. It was rumored that he had eaten an Ancient Zoan Dragon-Dragon Fruit.

There were a few other princes, but they lacked the qualifications to compete for the throne, remaining neutral or serving under these three princes.

The King, Brady, was a strong individual. In his youth, he had sailed the seas. He controlled various fierce beasts and giant beasts found on Beast Islands. He was a Devil Fruit user, known as the "Beast King."

Teach's Observation Haki spread across the island. He detected powerful fierce beasts guarding various places in the Kate Kingdom, especially in the depths of the royal palace, where he sensed a powerful aura equivalent to an elite Vice Admiral in the Marines, but even more terrifying were the powerful fierce beasts.

There were no Animal-type Devil Fruit users among them. Teach speculated that the King of the Kate Kingdom, Brady's ability, was likely the Beast-Taming Fruit that would appear later in Wano Country, which could tame animals and anything with animal genes, like Kaido's future artificial Devil Fruit army.

However, such power was second to none in the New World. Apart from a lack of top-tier combatants, the mid-to-high-tier combat strength far surpassed that of other top powers.

In the past, some pirates had attempted to raid Pet Island, but they were all annihilated by the animal army controlled by King Brady. His ability was not hidden; it was very transparent. Most people in the New World knew his ability, so in recent years, no force had dared to provoke the Kate Kingdom.

However, someone had already set their sights on this country, or rather, on King Brady. Teach's Observation Haki detected some members of the Beasts Pirates within the country, bearing the Beasts Pirates' insignia. It seemed Kaido had already set his sights on this country.

King Brady was now in his fifties but still in his prime. He could likely live for another twenty to thirty years. With the Devil Fruit eventually regenerating and Kaido already targeting the country, one could imagine the country's fate was sealed.

The King would surely die. Even if the country wasn't destroyed, the large number of out-of-control fierce beasts would cause them immense losses.

Teach could foresee this. The Kate Kingdom was centered around the royal city, with many small towns on the edges of the surrounding islands.

Teach had now entered the royal city. Since the Kate Kingdom had two large ports, one to the north and one to the south, Teach needed to pass through the royal city to reach the other side of Pet Island. They would need to rest for a night in the Kate Royal City.

The two found a hotel, and Mobius began his training. The agreed-upon time with Teach had already passed by one-third, so he felt a sense of urgency and needed to train diligently.

Teach wasn't in a hurry. With his physique enhanced, training required a balance of work and rest. He had reached a limit where further improvement would have to wait for his body to develop and grow. He arrived at a small tavern, found a seat, and quietly drank his wine and ate his side dishes.

"Oh! My apologies, I didn't see you." Someone sat down in front of Teach, looked up, and only then noticed Teach's presence. They immediately stood up and said to Teach.

"Haha, it's alright," Teach chuckled, pouring some rum into his bowl and taking a sip.

This person left, and after a short while, another person sat in front of him. As they sat down, they realized the seat was already occupied.

This was strange. Then, several more people did the same thing, as if they hadn't seen Teach, sitting down in front of him. It was as if Teach's presence had become incredibly low. This situation attracted the attention of others. Once or twice was understandable, but it happened several times. However, after a while, they seemed to forget about Teach again and started chatting amongst themselves.

Teach's presence had diminished. This was Teach's application of his Observation Haki, not just hiding his aura, but hiding his existence. People could see him, but they couldn't feel his presence, and over time, they would forget about Teach, as if he didn't exist.

This technique was developed by Teach, imitating Kyōka Suigetsu. It not only hid himself and lowered his presence with Observation Haki, but he could also use Observation Haki to interfere with others' perception. While Observation Haki could only cause minor interference and couldn't achieve abilities like controlling the five senses, it could still play an unimaginable role in combat.

This required precise control of Observation Haki. Teach possessed sufficient ability, but he still needed practice and constant training. The people in the tavern were Teach's training subjects.

Teach didn't leave until late into the night.