With Marco leading the way, Zesi came before Whitebeard.
"Gurararara! The brat I haven't seen in years has grown this strong. I hear you're the Roger Pirates' number three now?" Whitebeard said, looking at Zesi before him.
"The Roger Pirates' number three?"
"Isn't the Roger Pirates' number three that Natural Disaster? He's Natural Disaster? He's so young!"
"I've heard of him. They say one stomp of his foot can shatter an entire ship!"
"I've heard too. He once shattered an island fighting someone."
"That's not all. I heard he whipped up a tsunami and swept an entire Marine fleet into the sea. Only a few of the stronger Marine Vice Admirals survived."
"Is that really true? Isn't that way too terrifying?"
"This is a man who carries disaster wherever he goes."
Natural Disaster was the epithet the Marines had given Zesi over the past few years.
Actually, when Zesi learned of his epithet, he had been quite displeased.
He knew the Beasts Pirates would have the Three Calamities in the future.
Wasn't calling him Natural Disaster putting him on the same level as the Beasts Pirates' Three Calamities?
But epithets were things other people gave you.
There was nothing he could do, however displeased he was. Besides, the more displeased he became, the more enthusiastically others used it.
"Heh, the Roger Pirates are full of powerful people. Who am I to call myself number three?" Zesi said with a smile.
"Gurararara! I don't care whether you're the Roger Pirates' number three. Brat, you beat up my Second Division Commander the moment you arrived and put a hole in my pirate ship. How do you intend to settle this?" Whitebeard said with a cold laugh.
By then, Kozuki Oden had climbed out of the hole in the ship.
With his terrifying constitution, that blow hadn't really hurt him. Now he was merely looking curiously at Zesi.
So this was someone from the Roger Pirates?
Was everyone in the Roger Pirates this strong?
He had just experienced Zesi's strength firsthand.
Granted, he had only been defeated so easily because he had been somewhat careless.
In a real fight, there was no telling who would win.
But Zesi's strength spoke for itself. At the very least, he was no weaker than him.
And there were actually two people in the Roger Pirates stronger than this Zesi.
What kind of monster pirate crew was this?
"How do you want to settle it, Whitebeard?" Zesi asked with a grin.
"When a crew member gets beaten up, naturally, it falls to me, the captain, to get justice for him!" Whitebeard said, the corners of his mouth rising as well.
As he spoke, he drew his long naginata from behind his chair and slashed at Zesi.
At the same time, Zesi grabbed the long sword tucked behind his waist and unleashed a backhand slash.
Boom! Their blades hadn't even touched, yet it was as though tremendous forces had collided.
"Your Haki has grown this much, brat! Others fear you because of your Devil Fruit, but they don't know your real strengths are your swordsmanship and Haki, and the moves that combine your swordsmanship, Haki, and fruit abilities. What about that Azure Dragon's Roar? Why not use it and let this old man see how much you've improved?" Whitebeard said, looking at Zesi.
"I brought some fine liquor. If we keep fighting, I can't guarantee I can keep it safe. If you want to fight, why not wait until we've finished drinking?" Zesi said with a smile.
As he spoke, he set the wine jar before him.
"Care for a drink?" Zesi asked with a smile.
"Boys, bring me drinking bowls!"
"Yeah!"
A fairly small drinking bowl was set before Zesi. He poured himself a bowl, then tossed the large jar of remaining liquor to Whitebeard.
Whitebeard picked up the jar and began gulping it down.
"Fine liquor!"
"This is some of the Roger Pirates' treasured liquor. Captain Roger usually can't even bear to drink it!"
"Brat, Roger sent you over with liquor this good. Does he want to ask me for something?"
"I don't know what it is either. I'm just a messenger. Our captain wants to arrange a meeting with you!"
"Since when does Roger bother with this sort of thing?" Whitebeard asked skeptically.
"Heh, our captain originally wanted to come straight over. He said, with the friendship he and Whitebeard had, what was the need? But our vice-captain, Mr. Rayleigh, said the Whitebeard Pirates are now an imposing overlord-class pirate crew in the New World, so it would be better to send a messenger ahead first. So here I am!"
"Rayleigh really does have better manners than Roger!"
"Damn, I fell for it. Roger went to such expense. Whatever he wants must be something big!"
After Zesi left the Whitebeard Pirates, Whitebeard spoke with a frown.
"Pops, Roger isn't asking us to help him attack Marine Headquarters, is he?"
"Attacking Marine Headquarters wouldn't matter. I'm just worried Roger wants to do something even more outrageous. I have a bad feeling about this!"
"Then are we still going to meet Roger?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't we? You think I'm afraid of Roger? I want to see just what he's plotting!"
After leaving the Whitebeard Pirates, Zesi flew swiftly through the air, stepping on empty space, when he suddenly felt a little hungry.
He hadn't eaten since leaving the Roger Pirates.
With the Whitebeard Pirates, he had only had a drink.
Although Zesi's strength had increased, his appetite had grown along with it.
Moreover, because he constantly trained with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, he needed to expend vast amounts of nutrients every day. The nutrition in ordinary food could hardly keep up with his consumption.
As a result, he had an enormous appetite and had to eat highly nutritious meat, preferably meat from Sea Kings or ferocious beasts.
Once hunger struck, his whole body felt uncomfortable.
So Zesi found an island, hunted some ferocious beasts, and began grilling them.
"Hmm?" Just as Zesi was eating heartily, he suddenly jerked his head up.
He saw an enormous figure plummeting swiftly from high in the sky.
Boom! The entire island shook several times.
The figure falling from high above landed squarely on Zesi's island, not far in front of him.
It blasted an enormous human-shaped hole in the ground before Zesi.
The tremendous impact made the entire island shake several times.
"This feels so familiar, like I've seen it somewhere before. I remember a certain guy who likes attempting suicide also likes jumping down from high places. Don't tell me I've run into him!"
Zesi took a large bite of the meat in his hand as he spoke.
As he spoke, a giant hand reached out of the human-shaped hole, and then an enormous horned figure appeared before Zesi.
"It really is him. Kaido of the Beasts!" With that enormous build and that appearance, Zesi recognized him at a glance. This man was none other than Kaido of the Beasts.
"That hurt. Looks like I failed to die again!"
Shaking his head, Kaido looked toward Zesi.
"?? In that case, we can only fight, can't we!"
Kaido was also taken aback when he saw Zesi.
But the next instant, Kaido had drawn his spiked club and attacked Zesi.
Zesi wasn't surprised in the slightest by Kaido launching an attack so unreasonably.
Kaido was simply that unreasonable a fellow.
As Kaido drew his spiked club, Zesi simultaneously drew the long sword from behind him.
Clang! Their weapons collided, sending sparks flying.