The Breakup Battle

While Maron and John fought, Keel had run into trouble elsewhere.

"Hey! Keel! What were you just doing?"

"Nothing, nothing!"

"I saw you! You forced those pirates to drink blood wine, and then they turned into Quincy!"

"I told you, it was nothing!"

Keel strode through the woods, a figure following close behind him.

He was speechless, but he couldn't shake him off.

He supposed it was his mistake.

After Kaya gave him permission, he had wanted to find a chance to experiment with creating Quincy.

It was a peculiar feeling. All he had to do was receive power from Kaya and pass it on, and he could turn others into Quincy.

Most of the Quincy he created had been forced into it.

While instructing a group of newly made Quincy, he had let his guard down, and a certain fellow who happened to be passing by had seen him.

And so, he had ended up with this pest on his heels.

"Keel! You'd better damn well explain yourself!"

"Men who cling too much aren't very likable, you know... Kaido!"

Keel turned around to face him.

Kaido had a spiked club slung over his shoulder. It was probably newly made, with a tag still attached.

Now that Keel had stopped running, Kaido realized he could finally confirm the suspicion he had harbored all along. He wasn't going to pass up this chance.

"Tell me! Kaya gave you that power, didn't he?" Kaido raised his club and pointed it at Keel.

"What kind of question is that? I got here before you did. Show me a little respect, at least." Keel spread his hands and complained helplessly.

"Answer me!" Kaido snapped.

"What if he did? What if he didn't?" Keel smiled. "Are you going to report me? I just took on a few subordinates, that's all."

That answer clearly didn't satisfy Kaido.

As far as Kaido was concerned, only a few members of the Rocks Pirates, like Newgate and Linlin, were worth his attention.

He didn't think anything of people like Keel, so naturally he wasn't about to be polite to him, much less show him any respect.

"Even if I killed you, Rocks wouldn't be angry, would he...?" Kaido said in a dangerous tone.

The next second, a flash of green light streaked before his eyes!

His first, instinctive reaction was to block it with his club.

Sizzle!

Reishi slowly dissipated from the muzzle of the pistol in Keel's hand, showing that it had just been fired.

Fast! Too fast! Both Keel's draw and his shooting speed were first-rate! An ordinary person wouldn't realize they'd been shot until the moment they died.

Kaido lifted his club to look at it, then fell silent.

There was now a cylindrical hole in the club, going straight through it from front to back.

If he hadn't reacted in time, it would have been his body with a hole punched through it like that club.

"...What?" Kaido asked slowly.

"Pretty good shot, aren't I? I hit whatever I aim at!" Keel slipped his pistol back into its holster and spoke smugly.

"I'm asking what that was! How could a bullet pierce a weapon I had forged from meteoric iron?" Kaido's voice was low, with a trace of disbelief.

"It's fine, you can just go have another iron club made!" Keel put his hands in his pockets and turned around with a sway in his step. "If that's all, I'm off. See ya~"

Kaido watched Keel walk away without following him again. Perhaps Keel's move had shaken him...

"So that's why you came to me?"

Kaya, who had been taking a walk on Hachinosu, stopped and spoke with a smile on his face.

Kaido stood before him.

Kaido had come specifically to find Kaya, and had told him what had just happened with Keel.

After listening, Kaya remarked, "The fact that you're standing here alive has nothing to do with your own reflexes. Keel just didn't intend to kill you."

"So you were behind all of it, weren't you!" Kaido threw his club aside, irritation in his voice.

"Yes. What about it?" Kaya asked in return.

"..."

What about it?

Kaido was suddenly at a loss for words. Whether Loki or Keel, these guys had suddenly become so powerful that even he was no match for them.

All at once, he felt the world had changed. The way everyone honed their Haki in life-or-death battles was already outdated.

He had always longed for a powerful Devil Fruit, but he still hadn't found a suitable one. His strength was growing too slowly.

"The Paramount War in a few days will probably be this pirate crew's final battle!"

Kaido spoke in an inscrutable tone.

Kaya had heard something about that.

Many people no longer wanted to follow Rocks. They were already prepared to leave Hachinosu for good after putting on a fine showing in the Paramount War.

Clearly, people like Shiki and Charlotte Linlin had long wanted to go their separate ways. None of them were the sort to willingly serve under someone else.

Lately, another view had begun to circulate on Hachinosu: this wasn't just pirates against the navy.

It was also the Rocks Pirates' final battle!

Nobody knew what Rocks himself thought, but Kaido had his eye on this opportunity too. He was prepared to make a good showing, treating it as his own war of independence.

He wanted to seize this chance to leave the Rocks Pirates, and make it the stage for a turning point in his career.

All in all, every pirate intended to fight a glorious battle, using it as the starting point for leaving the past behind and setting out on a brand-new path!

"So?" Kaya looked at Kaido with interest.

"I need power. I'm going to become the strongest pirate!" Kaido finally made up his mind and spoke what was in his heart.

"When did I become a dream-fulfillment ambassador?" Kaya smiled and casually tossed him a wineglass.

Kaido caught the glass and held the blood wine up to the sunlight, studying it for a few seconds. Then he tipped his head back and drank it all.

Smash!

The glass fell and shattered on the ground.

Kaido stood there with his eyes closed for a long time before opening them again. A dark glint flashed through his eyes.

"So this is the power of a Quincy. It's even more incredible than a Devil Fruit."

He gently clenched his fist, opened it, clenched it again, and opened it again... After repeating the motion several times, he offered that assessment, though it was unclear how he felt.

"Go and use this power, and create more of your own kind," Kaya said.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Kaya." Kaido turned his back on him. "I never said I'd become your subordinate. No one can control my will."

"So accepting my power doesn't mean serving me?" Kaya chuckled.

"Those are two different things." With that, Kaido left without another word to Kaya or a moment's hesitation, giving the impression that he had just shamelessly taken something for free.

Kaya watched Kaido's retreating figure, the corners of his mouth rising. He wasn't angry in the least; he found it interesting instead.

Had he planned this all along?

All right, then. Keep proving your worth until I lose interest in you.

Everything you have will eventually return to my body. I hope that moment doesn't come too soon...

Kaido—the Schrift "P," Power!