The Betting Opens

The moment Oak retorted, "Feeling itchy?" to Kaido and vanished, the atmosphere in the hall instantly grew heated.

"Jihahahaha! The two brats are going at it!"

Shiki was the first to burst into laughter, floating up to the ceiling to secure a favorable spot and watch the show from above.

"Gurararara, which of the two brats will win?"

Newgate, holding his naginata, took a huge swig of liquor before asking with interest.

"Kyokyokyo, I think it'll be the newly arrived Oak."

With short golden hair, delicate features, and a petite figure, Miss Buckin lay sprawled over Newgate's shoulder as she replied with a soft laugh.

"Why?"

Newgate asked for her reason.

"Of course, because compared to Kaido, the newly arrived Oak is more handsome!

But the most handsome is still you, Newgate, so you don't need to be jealous."

Miss Buckin answered, then pressed her face against Newgate's and nuzzled him, making it clear that Newgate was the most handsome man in her eyes. However, Newgate did not care about that at all. Instead, he was deeply uncomfortable with Miss Buckin's public displays of intimacy and tried to pull her off him.

"Nooo~"

Yet Miss Buckin protested in a sickeningly sweet voice and clung to Newgate like glue, leaving him no choice but to give up helplessly.

"Place your bets, place your bets! One-to-one odds! Anyone interested, bet on which of our two newly joined apprentices will win!"

Ochoku, his long tongue sticking out, dragged over a nearby table. He drew circles at each end, wrote Kaido's and Oak's names inside them, then sat down as the bookmaker and invited the others to wager.

"I'm betting on Oak."

Shiki tossed two gold coins down from above, landing them precisely inside Oak's circle.

"Then I'm betting on Kaido. Put two gold coins on Rocks's tab."

The reason Shiki bet on Oak was because he had brought Oak back. As for Newgate, who had brought Kaido back, he naturally chose to bet on the one he had brought in.

"Hey, hey, hey, Newgate, you bastard! It was one thing to put your drinking on my tab, but why are you putting your bets on my tab too? You cheap bastard really won't spend a single coin!

I'm betting on Oak!"

Rocks shouted in displeasure at Newgate for putting even his gambling debts under the captain's name. In a fit of pique, he bet on the opposite side from Newgate.

"Oak."

"Oak."

Charlotte Linlin and Miss Buckin, the two women, chose Oak based on looks.

After they placed their bets, the two gold coins that had originally been controlled by purple magnetic beams and were flying toward Oak's circle suddenly changed direction and dropped into Kaido's circle.

"Burp~"

John, with flowing light-purple hair and a long black coat, still carried a particular carefree air despite being dead drunk. He let out a belch and mumbled indistinctly.

"With women liking you this much, you're really an unlikeable brat. I'm not betting on you. I'm betting on Kaido. Go, brat Kaido! Take down that pretty boy!"

After shouting one last cheer for Kaido, John fell backward onto the ground and drifted off to sleep with bleary eyes.

"Kaido's bigger, so he should win, right?"

Barbel, the catfish fish-man with hair like burning flames, did not look particularly bright. Simply because Kaido was larger, he bet two gold coins on Kaido.

"Barbel, you idiot. Who picks a bet for that reason?"

Ganzui, tall and powerfully built, with a long beard and ponytail and clad in golden armor, mocked Barbel while still placing two gold coins on Kaido.

"Not necessarily. A larger build usually means greater strength. Besides, Kaido is the sort of brat with exceptional physical abilities. Compared to Oak, who is neither especially tall nor particularly muscular, Kaido should have the advantage in strength and defense, while Oak is more likely to hold an edge in speed. But against Kaido, who has spent years on battlefields and has extensive combat experience, that advantage is not particularly significant.

And Kaido has always lived in the New World, while Oak comes from West Blue. The powers the two had encountered before were also of a higher level in Kaido's case. Overall, betting on Kaido gives you better odds."

Gill Bastar, the genius sniper with four arms, refuted Ganzui and tossed his coins into Kaido's circle.

"I'm betting on Oak."

Marlon, with a cigar in his mouth, dressed in a black suit and wearing a top hat, chose Oak because they were both from West Blue. His expression was utterly cold.

"I'll go with Linlin's choice."

The last person, Streusen, chose to bet alongside Linlin, whom he had watched grow up since childhood.

Kaido had never expected Oak to attack the moment he said it, so he was completely unprepared. Oak's fist smashed into his face, sending him flying sideways out of the hall like a scrap of torn cloth.

Outside the hall was a plaza filled with all kinds of pirates who had gathered on the island. They only saw a black shadow streak past them.

Then, with a BOOM, it slammed heavily into the ground a hundred meters away, blasting a huge hole into the earth.

"What happened?"

The sudden commotion startled many people. Curious onlookers crowded around the hole to see what was going on, but before one of them could make out what was inside, a spiked club came crashing down at his face, turning him into a black dot that instantly vanished from where he stood. Kaido then leaped out from the bottom of the pit, spiked club in hand.

"It's Kaido!"

The instant he emerged, the surrounding pirates recognized him. Kaido, born in the Vodka Kingdom, had already been rather famous on the Grand Line. On top of that, he had joined the Rocks Pirates as an apprentice some time ago, making him even more familiar to the pirates on the island.

"What happened to him?"

Seeing that the person who had jumped out of the pit was actually Kaido, the crowd began discussing it animatedly.

"Looks like he got knocked out here!"

"Could the official members have taught him a lesson?"

"Looks like being an apprentice under Rocks isn't easy either!"

Those murmurs reached Kaido's ears, leaving his face flushed with shame and fury. Kaido had his pride too. He had been knocked flying in front of so many people; if he did not hit back, how could he ever show his face again?

He let out an enraged roar.

"OAK! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!!!"

Amid that roar, Oak's figure leaped out of the hall.

"Looks like you haven't had enough of a beating. Your skin's still itching!"

Oak, having leaped out, immediately launched a flying kick without hesitation.

With a THUD, Kaido was prepared this time. He raised his spiked club and swung it down with tremendous force. The two attacks collided, held for a moment, then were blown apart by the shockwave.

"So Kaido was knocked out here by that guy!"

Only then did the pirates in the plaza who had not known the truth finally figure out what had happened. But another question immediately followed.

Who was this guy?

Looking at this young man with an immature face, who clearly did not seem very old, most of them were utterly puzzled. They did not know why he could walk out of Rocks's headquarters, nor why he had come into conflict with Kaido.

Compared with Kaido, who had been born in the Vodka Kingdom and was a native of the Grand Line, Oak, who came from West Blue, was far less well-known on Hachinosu.