"Little Melo, do you find this place interesting?"
Melo-Mandfeish and Rushaka's daughter, a half-mermaid, five years old, looked no different from a human, except for the small gill marks behind her ears and a few fish scales on her body.
Unlike Miaona and Wolf, Mandfeish is human, not from the Fur Race, and Rushaka herself hasn't gained any powers, so she's just an ordinary mixed-blood child.
Miaona and Wolf were also nearby, making this place more of a gathering spot for the third generation of the Hundred Beasts, making Yamato's presence here seem somewhat out of place.
"It's a bit noisy..."
"It is, you're still young, after all, you can go play outside later..."
"Miss Yamato, do you want to hear what Governor Kaido just said..?"
Mandfeish on the side reminded Yamato, he didn't mind Yamato playing with his daughter. When he retires, Kaido will probably step down too, and by then, the ruler of the Hundred Beasts would surely be Yamato, so having a closer relationship with the future leader wouldn't hurt.
However, Yamato showed no reaction to Kaido's bizarre remarks, which made Mandfeish feel very strange.
If it weren't for the Divine Grace of Arceus on Yamato, he would suspect that Yamato might be possessed by some evil spirit.
"I heard him, I'm used to it. It would be strange if that perverted old dad didn't pull some new trick. At least this time, it's not him doing it himself. Ordinary people can't deal with me, Uncle Mandfeish, you're not joining their ranks too, are you?"
Ordinary pirates posed no threat to Yamato, and even most mid-level cadres couldn't break her defense. What she had to worry about were single-digit Numberers who might sneak attack her, like Mandfeish.
Their attacks would indeed give her a hard time.
"Uh... I'm definitely not interested, as for the others, I wouldn't know."
"True, I'll keep my distance once the banquet ends."
Kaido's statement implied opening up the permission, meaning anyone could attack her. Not everyone was as laid-back as Mandfeish.
Furthermore, compared to other pirates of the Hundred Beasts, she was more worried about Kaido suddenly hitting her with a Dragon God Hakken. She still hadn't forgotten what Kaido said to Whitebeard during the Summit War.
She was already preparing to slip away from Ghost Island using the trial as an excuse.
What she didn't know, however, was that this was another part of Kaido's plan. Although she was slacking during the Summit War, Kaido still had an assessment of her strength; ordinary people couldn't deal with her at all.
Moreover, with her physique, poison might as well be food, and a sneak attack would be even harder. Breaking her defense wouldn't be easy.
Kaido's target wasn't that trivial sense of tension, but to better engage her.
Only when she left Wano Kuni would it be more convenient for Kaido to make a move. When she ventured outside to seek refuge, Kaido would also leave, and during an encounter in the wild, they could spar, this was Kaido's aim.
Appearing weak while being strong, Kaido had already started playing tactics with Yamato, using this method to show her how treacherous the world could be.
But that's all for the future. Then, Kaido threw the microphone back to Queen, letting him continue hosting the subsequent proceedings.
"Ahem, Kaido Bro has finished with his matters, so kiddies, before the banquet begins, it's time for this issue's Divine Grace ceremony!
Fortreks, Hamlet, you two lucky ones should appear!"
Due to the merging of this Divine Grace ceremony and the war banquet, Misu didn't show up and instead handed the hosting opportunity to Queen.
The Divine Grace ceremony now had a fully established process, and others silently waited for them to acquire their own powers.
First to receive the power was Hamlet, a pirate who looked very young, and had displayed outstanding performance in the recent external wars, thus earning the qualification to gain power.
According to tradition, the ability he was to receive had already been decided.
Radiant beams once again dispersed from Arceus' Plate, and through the radiation of the power, Hamlet's body also underwent a transformation.
His face became covered in brown fur with dark brown stripes. His limbs revealed circular sawing shaped fur with segmented patterns like a snake.
A sunglasses-like adornment appeared around his eyes—a Bean Raccoon Pokemon—Zigzagoon.
Possessing strong olfactory abilities, his back hair was relatively hard. How far he could utilize his ability was his own concern.
Fortreks' display was different from Hamlet's. His skin was much darker than Hamlet's, giving off a Latin American vibe, but when exposed to the same radiation energy, he turned green.
A thick keratin layer surfaced on his body like it was hardening, slightly hunched into a crescent shape. Due to the sunglasses, others couldn't see his gaze, but this "armored" person drew their attention.
"What ability does that guy have? Steel?"
"Probably not, the color looks more like a turtle, probably a turtle."
"But do turtles have scale armor on their legs? It's more likely something similar to Tyranitar."
People speculated about Fortreks' ability, but none guessed right because his ability belonged to one of the cocoon Pokemon, Metapod.
Known as the evolution of the Caterpie that could potentially evolve into Rayquaza.
As the second form of the Bug-type Pokemon, Metapod always remained in a waiting-to-evolve state. It would harden its shell to protect itself, though its shell was very tough.
But Metapod lacked mobility, and the skills it mastered were extremely rare, comparable to Mandfeish's former Magikarp in a certain sense.
However, this ability also had its own merits.
Metapod's ability differed fundamentally from Metapod itself.
Post ability transformation, Fortreks could still move; he wasn't a stationary Metapod, but a moving fortress with a robust suit of armor.
Metapod excelled at hardening, and as its ability user, Fortreks shared this attribute.
Moreover, after transforming, he felt like his body was soaked in water because wild Metapods had a gooey interior, but once it turned into an ability, everything changed.
The outer shell wasn't growing on him inch by inch, rather it was encasing him, filled with specialized fluid to cushion external impacts.
Even though it wasn't of the Steel Type, the amplification brought by Metapod to Fortreks was quite significant. This armor's direct enhancement dwarfed Hamlet's Zigzagoon.
Should he evolve successfully, he'd gain the power of flight. While his explosive potential and prospects paled in comparison to Mandfeish, he had his own unique advantages...