Chapter 256: Go for it, Big Sister! Beat Kaido to a Pulp!
Kaido hadn't been a pirate for a short amount of time, yet his career trajectory was exceptionally unique.
Back in the era of the Rocks Pirates, Kaido had carried the title of "Apprentice" for a very long time. Shortly after he finally began to make a name for himself, the Rocks Pirates violently disbanded.
While other veterans immediately struck out to conquer the seas on their own, Kaido spent a considerable period wandering as a lone wolf. By the time the Great Pirate Era dawned, monsters like Whitebeard and Big Mom had already seized vast territories and solidified themselves as undisputed Emperors of the Sea.
Kaido, on the other hand, had holed up in Wano Country to slowly accumulate his power. Compared to his former crewmates, Kaido was technically categorized as a "rookie" in the New World—a member of the younger generation who had only begun to truly project his absolute dominance in recent years.
Eighteen years had passed since the God Valley Incident—more than enough time for an entirely new generation to grow up. The guards currently stationed at Fish-Man Island's surface port were naturally the younger generation.
They recognized Kaido from his bounties, but they were largely ignorant of the deeper, unspoken history between him and their King. If the old veterans from the original Fish-Man Pirates had been stationed here instead, the atmosphere would have been far more relaxed.
"Kaido?" a familiar voice chimed in. "Seriously? Every time you show up on our turf, you absolutely have to break something, don't you? Hold on a second—eighteen years ago, you also broke..."
"Ahem!"
Kaido furiously cleared his throat, instantly shattering the stoic, menacing aura he had meticulously cultivated.
Plummeting from the heavens, casually crawling out of a massive crater, and delivering a badass line amidst the swirling dust—this was the grand entrance Kaido had spent considerable time perfecting.
From a purely theatrical standpoint, it was incredibly intimidating. Demonstrating absolute invulnerability through an act impossible for ordinary humans was the perfect way to display his overwhelming strength. But that entire aesthetic relied entirely on the assumption that nobody was going to immediately start calculating property damage costs.
Kaido knew Nanamo all too well. If he let her finish that sentence...
Calculating the repair costs from eighteen years ago with compound interest... the final sum would undoubtedly spiral into some astronomical, tear-inducing figure.
It wasn't that the money itself was a massive issue; at the very least, Nereus wouldn't relentlessly hound him over petty cash.
But Kaido was absolutely certain that if Nanamo finished her sentence, whatever minuscule shred of parental authority he still possessed over Yamato would instantly evaporate into the wind.
Especially when he noticed Hermes already flawlessly shifting its amorphous body into the shape of a massive abacus, Kaido coughed loudly to cut the conversation short.
"Hm?" Nanamo raised an eyebrow.
"It's just some dirt and rocks..." Kaido grumbled, trying to salvage his dignity.
"This is our official border checkpoint! Do you think the manual labor to fill in that massive crater is free?!" Nanamo crossed her arms. "Anyway, did you just come back from kidnapping a hostage or something?"
Nanamo didn't harp on the old debt for too long. Strictly speaking, she and Kaido were technically from the same generation. She was merely teasing him. Her gaze quickly shifted to Yamato, who was still dangling limply from Kaido's massive hand.
If one possessed spiritual vision, they would literally see Yamato's soul faintly drifting out of her mouth. Being hauled into the stratosphere and then subjected to a completely unannounced, several-thousand-meter freefall was a catastrophic psychological stimulus for anyone.
Yamato couldn't fly, and she hadn't even stepped foot outside of Wano Country since the day she was born. After Kaido pulled a stunt like that, it was entirely normal for her to be scared half to death.
"What are you talking about?" Kaido snorted, hoisting Yamato up. "This is my daughter."
"Yours...?"
Nanamo's eyes filled with profound suspicion. She continuously darted her gaze back and forth between Kaido and Yamato. Aside from the fact that both of them had horns, she genuinely couldn't find a single shared biological trait.
"What's with that look?!" Kaido growled. "You didn't exactly inherit the physical proportions of the previous generation either, did you?!"
"Kaido..." Nanamo narrowed her eyes, cracking her knuckles. "Did you seriously fly all the way here today... just to pick a fight?"
Sparks of advanced Armament Haki began crackling dangerously at her fingertips.
"No," Kaido grinned viciously. "But if you want to fight, I'll gladly oblige!
"I read about your exploits in the papers years ago, but you've been completely silent recently. I've been wanting to see exactly how strong Nereus's daughter has become!
"Find someone to watch the brat for me, otherwise I can't go all out."
Without a second thought, Kaido casually hurled Yamato straight at Hermes. In his subconscious mind, Hermes was essentially just a highly advanced nanny robot anyway.
Hermes immediately began hurling a string of colorful insults at Kaido, but it didn't dissipate its form to let Yamato hit the ground. Catching her softly, the mimic simply produced a Den Den Mushi and began dialing Nereus on Nanamo's behalf.
"That bastard old man... you really can't trust him for a second..." Yamato groaned, rubbing her spinning head. "Where am I...?"
As Yamato groggily regained consciousness, the first thing she noticed was that she was surrounded by fluffy white clouds, and the surface beneath her was incredibly soft.
Sitting right next to her was a little girl with black, feathered wings, staring at her with wide, curious eyes. The space behind the girl's head seemed to be glowing faintly with fire.
"I see... so this is Heaven..." Yamato mumbled dizzily.
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting?! If you're awake, get off me!" Hermes snapped.
Seeing that the freeloader on its back had regained consciousness, Hermes didn't stand on ceremony. Executing a crisp 360-degree barrel roll, it unceremoniously dumped Yamato onto the grass.
It was only then that Yamato realized Kaido was currently engaged in a ferocious battle in the distance with a petite, lightning-fast silhouette.
Judging by the flow of the battle, Kaido actually seemed to be at a slight disadvantage. Even though Kaido hadn't entered his hybrid form yet, seeing him pushed back was an incredibly rare sight in Yamato's eyes.
More importantly, Kaido looked genuinely thrilled—an expression he only ever showed when a fight truly satisfied his bloodlust.
"I'm Chloe! That's my Royal Sister!" Chloe chirped, pointing at the battlefield. "They started fighting while you were knocked out."
Just because someone had wings didn't mean they were an angel; they could simply be a Lunarian. While Nanamo and Kaido were clashing, Chloe had been sitting right next to Yamato the entire time.
What Yamato didn't know was that while she was unconscious, Chloe had already tugged on her horns several times, intensely curious to see if they were actually real.
Even though Delta Island and Fish-Man Island were home to countless diverse races, seeing someone with horns growing out of their head was still a novelty to Chloe.
As for the title "Royal Sister," Chloe had picked it up during their trip to Dressrosa. She felt that addressing Nanamo that way in front of outsiders made her sound much cooler and more dignified.
"I'm Yamato..." she replied, still slightly dazed. "Is your sister really strong?"
"Super strong!" Chloe nodded proudly.
"Really?" Yamato's eyes suddenly sparkled. "Then do you think she can beat that bastard old man of mine to a pulp?!"
The way children form connections is often vastly different from adults. Sometimes, merely exchanging names is enough to forge a sense of profound camaraderie.
Right now, Yamato didn't care about the complex political implications of the battle. If there was someone out there genuinely capable of beating Kaido to a bloody pulp, she would absolutely, unequivocally support them, regardless of who they were!
Consequently, amidst the deafening shockwaves of the ongoing battle, Kaido's ears suddenly picked up a highly irregular, treasonous shout.
"Go for it, Big Sister I don't know!! Beat that bastard old man to a pulp!!"
"Pfft—!"
Nanamo finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing mid-clash. "Kaido, it really seems like your family dynamics are a total disaster."
Kaido didn't respond. His expression darkened, and azure scales began to rapidly spread across his body as he prepared to fully unleash his Devil Fruit powers.
However, Nanamo suddenly pulled back, disengaging from the fight entirely.
In the very next instant, a hand—not particularly massive, but carrying the weight of an entire ocean—rested firmly on Kaido's shoulder.
"That's enough, Kaido," a calm, chilling voice echoed. "Just how much of a mess are you planning to make on my territory?"
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