Chapter 126

Even Loki, that kid's age, converted to human terms, is about the same.

"I am Yamato!"

Without any hesitation, Yamato cheerfully introduced herself, "I'm Kaido's daughter! And I'm the man who will become Kozuki Oden!"

Her self-introduction was a mess, but Gaban laughed, "Hahaha, that's a really funny identity!"

"Yamato, right? Anyway, welcome!"

Gaban looked at his wife, who was holding their son. "Ripley, could you make me a cup of tea?"

"Of course,"

Ripley smiled gently and looked at Hajrudin. "Hajrudin, stay and have some tea."

Hajrudin glanced down at Yamato, then nodded. "Then I won't stand on ceremony!"

Although the woman seems to have no ill intentions now, he has to stay and keep an eye on things to prevent Uncle Ripley from being deceived by her!

So, a little later...

Inside the house.

"Wow! The Giant Tribe's teacups are huge too!"

Yamato sat cross-legged on the table, in front of him was a small table that was no different from a toy to the giants.

On the small table sat a teacup larger than her head.

"If it's too small, it will be very inconvenient to process or pour tea."

Ripley sat at a small table by the window, handing snacks to Colon, who was sitting opposite her, while smiling and talking.

"Hahaha! Give it a try, Yamato!"

Gaban, sitting at another small table opposite, laughed heartily, "Ripley's cooking is quite good."

"Then I won't be polite!"

Yamato was truly impolite, picking up the teacup with both hands and gulping it down in one go, saying it was like drinking a cow.

"Oh! That's great!"

Setting down his teacup, Yamato's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but offer a word of praise.

"Just 'not bad'?"

Ripley said with a hint of regret, "I'm quite confident in my tea-making skills."

"There's nothing I can do; I've had better tea before."

Yamato made no attempt to hide his true feelings and stated it directly.

Because she had indeed drunk much better tea at City of Dreams.

"What an interesting young man."

Ripley smiled gently.

Actually, she wasn't considered old among the Giant Tribe, only seventy-two years old, a year younger than Hajrudin, which would be equivalent to her twenties in human years.

Hajrudin silently sipped his tea, while keeping a watchful eye on Yamato out of the corner of his eye.

"Okay, Yamato,"

Gaban patted his knees, straightening his back slightly. "Tell me your story."

"Um!"

Yamato's expression also turned serious. "You probably don't know what happened after Oden returned to Wano Country, so after I escaped Wano Country, I thought I should come and tell you the final story of the man named Kozuki Oden."

"I'm listening."

When it came to his former comrades, Gaban's lips curled into a deep frown, devoid of any semblance of a smile.

"Actually, long before you found the One Piece,"

Yamato slowly began, "A man named Kurozumi Orochi has already plotted to seize Wano Country. To guard against Oden's possible Oden, he invited my father, Kaido, to take up residence in Wano Country."

"We only found out about Kaido in Wano Country much later."

Gaban sighed upon hearing this, "But by then it was all too late."

If they had stayed in Wano Country a little longer when sending Toki and Momonosuke back, or if they had sent Oden home directly when sending him back, things might have been very different.

"When Oden returned to Wano Country, he was greeted by a country that felt completely foreign to him."

Yamato recounted that past event in detail.

Her good friend, the Night King, had already filled in some details that she wasn't aware of before.

When Kozuki Oden discovered his wife was injured, he drew his sword to kill Kurozumi Orochi, but was stopped by the Barrier- Devil Fruit User and Kaido.

Then Orochi used hostages to force Kozuki Oden to dance naked every day.

Five years later, Kozuki Oden finally realized he had been deceived and led the Nine Red Scabbards to fight Kaido, but they were defeated.

In the end, Kozuki Oden died in a cauldron of boiling oil.

"I witnessed that execution with my own eyes."

Yamato pressed her hands to her knees, her fingers gripping her red dress so tightly they turned white. "Then I found Oden's logbook and learned about his adventures. From that moment on, I decided that I wanted to adventure freely like Kozuki Oden, I wanted to become Kozuki Oden!"

The room was rather quiet.

Gaban's lips twitched, and he remained silent.

Ripley quietly sipped her tea.

Colon was already asleep, slumped over the table.

Only Hajrudin, the straightforward giant, scratched his face and said, "That guy named Kozuki Oden is too stupid. How can he believe the enemy?"

"Besides, he clearly has many forces supporting him domestically, so why is he going it alone?"

"Oden is too naive,"

Yamato said, "He didn't want anyone to get hurt, so he believed Orochi's story."

"But aren't more people getting hurt now?"

Hajrudin bluntly stated, "According to your logic, isn't the entire Wano Country now finished?"

"Don't look at things from God's perspective, Hajrudin,"

Ripley calmly replied, "Everyone has their weaknesses. If someone threatens me with Colon, I'll agree to anything."

"To Kozuki Oden, the people of Wano Country were just like that. He was simply too naive to believe that his enemies would actually keep their promises."

"Such a naive fellow shouldn't be allowed to rule a country!"

Hajrudin complained.

Gaban couldn't help but glance at him.

Harald is the same way.

The difference is that Harald had Loki to clean up his messes, but Oden didn't.

Gaban finally spoke slowly, "Oden and Roger were both men who acted solely on instinct. They didn't think too much; they just did what they wanted."

"Sometimes I also find Roger's behavior hard to understand, but that's just part of their character."

"As a pirate, Oden was a great partner, but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Oden was definitely more suited to be a pirate.

"That's why I want to become Kozuki Oden!"

Yamato said decisively, "What Oden couldn't do, I will do!"

"One day, I will defeat that bastard Pops and open Wano Country to the world!"

Looking at the serious-looking white-haired woman, Gaban couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Wow, are you out of your mind?!"

Hajrudin immediately retorted with disdain, "You are you, how can you become someone else?"

"Um?"

Yamato turned his head somewhat unhappily, his gaze towards Hajrudin already carrying a dangerous undertone.

This guy keeps criticizing himself!

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Gaban laughed heartily, "Don't be so quick to anger, Yamato. Hajrudin is right this time. If your name is Yamato, how could you be Oden?"

"Because I inherited the will of Kozuki Oden!"

Yamato declared confidently, "That's why I want to become the second Kozuki Oden!"

"But would Oden himself want to become Kozuki Oden?"

Gaban asked with great interest.

"Huh?"

Yamato was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Because Oden is Oden, and you are you; you can never become someone else."

Gaban said, "Everyone is free and should live for themselves."

"What you want to do should be because you want to do it, not because of who you are that you have to do it."

"Kozuki Oden is dead, and he will never come back."

You can miss him, you can admire him, you can go on adventures and live like him, but you can never become him.

Although this child is Kaido's child, he has inherited Oden's will.

So Gaban felt he should give her a hint.

Yamato just stared at him blankly, as if his worldview had been greatly shaken.

"Can I really not become Kozuki Oden?"

If anyone else had said that to Yamato, she would have just laughed and said, "You don't understand Kozuki Oden at all."

But who could understand him better than Kozuki Oden's former comrades?

Gaban said so!

Looking at Yamato, Gaban uttered his last words, "If he were still alive, he would definitely want you to be the freest Yamato, not a second him."

"Because there is already one in this world. The story of Kozuki Oden may not be perfect, but it has ended. Yamato, what you should do is write your own story."

"Writing, my own story?"

Yamato remained blankly still.

The belief that had been upheld for over a decade was now on the verge of collapse.