Rebecca and the others were shocked to see Vic's weakness and sickly condition. Several days passed and Vic remained the same. How badly injured would Vic be by the end of the battle?
Rebecca and Olvia's eyes immediately turned red at the thought, and Rebecca and Yamato glared angrily at Kaido lying on the ground.
The others then noticed that Ain's eyes were red and swollen, hidden under Vic's armpit. She must have been crying earlier. It was hard to imagine what it would be like when Ain opened the door and saw Vic. Was the price of defeating Kaido really that high?
"I lost this battle! Do with me as you see fit, but I hope you won't implicate my men!"
Kaido ignored the angry glares from the crowd and stared at Vic calmly. Although Vic's state surprised him, he didn't think much of it, remembering that he had also hit him a few times. His spiked club was not so easy to withstand.
"I don't intend to do anything to you. You let me go once before, so I'll let you go this time as well. Consider it repaying a favor. From now on, we're even. Don't come looking for Yamato again. Just pretend you don't have this daughter! Yamato! Untie his chains."
Vic said weakly that this was something he had already decided on, so naturally he couldn't change it. Moreover, Kaido hadn't actually tried to kill him back then, otherwise even Garp wouldn't have been able to stop him. The distance was too far, and the old man wouldn't have been able to rescue him in time. It was a favor that he hadn't been killed. Today, he was both repaying that favor and laying the groundwork for the future.
" Vic!"
" Vic!"
" Vic!..."
When they saw that Vic was about to release Kaido, Barnett and the others cried out in surprise. Vic looked very injured and seemed to have little fighting power left.
Kaido recovered. If we let Kaido go now, what if Kaido a counterattack? Who can stop him then? Even if they all attack together, they'd be in serious trouble!
So even if we're going to release him, it shouldn't be now! At least we should wait until you've recovered from your injuries, right? They don't know Kaido, so they don't trust Kaido and are unwilling to give Kaido the choice, which is also for the sake of Vic and everyone else.
"Hehehe! I never thought my impulsive decision would lead to this result. You're not bad, but they're all terrified of me! Hehehehe!"
Kaido watched Vic with a mocking expression, wanting to see how he would handle the situation. This was the true test of character and resolve; how many could resolutely let a powerful enemy go in such a predicament? They might be betrayed and killed. Who would dare risk their own and their comrades' lives?
" Yamato! Untie him! He won't do anything. He's the Emperor of the Sea, the man who stands at the pinnacle of the ocean!"
Kaido thought Vic was gambling, but little did he know that Vic was playing his cards openly; there was no gambling involved. He was just putting on an act and could pull out his trump card at any moment to crush him.
Furthermore, Vic genuinely trusts Kaido's character and believes he wouldn't resort to underhanded tactics in such matters. If Kaido wants to defeat Vic, he will do so openly and honestly, without resorting to dirty tricks, as evidenced by Oden and Luffy.
Kaido transformed into a giant dragon and flew away. People on the surrounding islands witnessed this scene and saw several large wounds on the dragon's abdomen and a scar on its forehead that looked like a third eye.
Although they didn't know the outcome of the battle, that didn't stop them from speculating; everyone had their own guesses about who would win and who would lose.
On the same day, merchants appeared on the island they were on, buying large quantities of healing medicine. After some questioning, they learned that the owner of the middle island had been seriously injured and needed a lot of medicine for treatment.
As for the outcome of that battle, no one could find out, and even the merchants who bought the medicine were not clear about it. The results of the battle were deliberately concealed by the officials on Titan Island.
This information was spread that same day by islanders who were either deliberately hiding on the island or bribed. They had already spread the news of Kaido's attack on Titan Island a couple of days earlier, and now they had spread the news of Vic's serious injury. Many factions already knew that Vic was seriously injured.
Vic was unaware of their reaction. Of course, the World Government was the most likely to take advantage of the situation at this time, but Vic was not entirely without precautions.
The Five Elders did indeed intend to send the Holy Knights to wipe out Vic and his gang. In their hearts, Vic was still the blasphemer, and they would not let him go if given the chance.
They were hesitant to do so. They weren't entirely sure how serious Vic's injuries were, and by the time they sent someone over, would Vic have already recovered?
Then the two sides become enemies again? Vic goes on a rampage, destroying World Government strongholds everywhere? Destroying the strongholds that have been gradually restored over the years? Isn't that just repeating the same old mistakes?
So after much deliberation, the Five Elders finally decided to hold back. Aside from refusing to answer the call, Vic, Shichibukai, had actually done a pretty good job. He hadn't opposed the World Government all these years, so there was no need to push him to the opposite side again.
If they can kill him, that would be fine. But if they can't, he'll be an even bigger threat than before. Vic now has the strength of Four Emperors, and his threat level has increased dramatically. So the Five Elders decided not to gamble anymore. It's good to keep things as they are. They'll deal with Vic when they have a chance to completely crush him in the future!
Some of the Five Elders also wanted to increase Vic's bounty. Thirty billion Beli was simply not worthy of Vic's current strength. Emperor-level combatants all had bounties of forty billion Beli or more. However, Vic was already Shichibukai, and his bounty had been frozen, so he couldn't raise it even if he wanted to!
After that, Vic entered a state of enlightenment, naturally claiming to the outside world that he was still recovering from his injuries, and since nothing serious happened, he didn't need to run around anymore.
With Tesoro as their lifeblood, the Revolutionary Army is developing at an alarming rate, drawing increased attention from the World Government.
Garp also called Vic, expressing his concern for Vic's condition. After all, Vic was keeping things from even his own partners; how could anyone possibly find out the truth?
However, since Garp had asked him personally, there was no need to hide anything. He told Garp his plans in detail, which made Garp curse him for making him worry before hanging up the phone.
Of course, Dragon was also asked about it, and there's no need to hide it; he spent the year before the story began "recovering from his injuries"!
1520 Sea Circle Calendar )
" Kuina! I'm planning to go back to the East Blue. Do you want to go back and see your father and grandfather?"
After hiding on Titan Island for almost a year, Vic finally emerged from seclusion, and the first thing he did was seek out Kuina, because Vic was going back to the East Blue.
This year marks Luffy from the sea, which is considered the true starting point of the original story. A lot has happened to the Straw Hat Pirates this year!
Some things were things Vic wanted to be involved in, while others had changed because of Vic's arrival and required him to clean up the mess. So Vic went into seclusion for a few months this year and is now preparing to return to the East Blue to witness this historic moment!