Onigashima's great hall was cold and dim.
Inside the enormous skull-shaped building, torches burned along the walls, casting flickering light and shadows.
Those shadows danced across the rough rock like cavorting ghosts, shrouding the entire space in an eerie atmosphere.
Kaido leaned against his enormous throne, a sake gourd dangling from his hand, his expression dark as thunder.
He was still seething.
The humiliation of being driven back to his territory by those Marines lodged in his heart like a thorn.
Garp's fists.
Akainu's magma.
And those two new Admirals-one who played with gravity, the other with vines.
"Fucking hell..."
He cursed inwardly and raised his sake gourd, preparing to take a swig.
Just then, the doors to the great hall were pushed open.
Three figures walked in.
King led the way. He wore his signature mask, his posture straight and his steps steady, his black wings folded behind him.
Oni Princess Yamato followed close behind.
She wore that white sleeveless battle outfit, with her Spiked Club tucked at her waist and her long golden hair tied in a high ponytail. She looked straight ahead without a sideways glance, her face carrying that matter-of-fact confidence-or rather, innocence.
Behind her, Kozuki Hiyori kept her head lowered, stepping in Yamato's shadow and following her every move.
Her bearing made it seem as though she regarded Yamato as her sole support.
Kaido looked at his daughter, his brow twitching.
Before he could speak-
"Hey! Kaido!"
Yamato was already standing in the middle of the hall, her head raised, speaking in that tone she used with her father:
"Get Aaron Ball to come reclaim land from the sea in Wano Country!"
Kaido's sake gourd stopped in midair.
Yamato continued, utterly assured:
"The foundations back home aren't stable either. There are earthquakes all the time!