Totto Land, Whole Cake Island.
Lately, Kaido had been in a foul mood. Every day, he dragged Katakuri, Alber, and the others into the forests of Whole Cake Island to spar.
"Not enough! Still not enough!!!"
Kaido knocked Katakuri over with one swing of his club, then said in great displeasure, "Too weak. You are all too weak. At this rate, when are we supposed to catch up with the Valthior Pirates!?"
Kaido's appearance had not changed much.
But on his chest, there was now a cross-shaped scar. It was the only wound on his body that had not fully recovered.
Speaking of which, it was not that Kaido could not heal this injury. Rather, he had deliberately kept the scar as a warning to himself—that he had once been defeated by Valthior.
Even the title of "Strongest Creature," which he had claimed for himself, had been "taken" by Valthior.
So he planned to erase this scar only after he defeated Valthior in the future.
"Big Brother, you really should go look for Big Sister..." Alber said helplessly as he helped Katakuri up.
As Kaido's most loyal subordinate, Alber was very willing to spar with Kaido. But he also knew very well that neither he nor Katakuri could truly become whetstones strong enough to help Kaido grow.
"She has so many damn things to deal with every day. Where would she find time to spar with me?" Kaido said sulkily, sitting down on a large rock.
As a Mythical Zoan, Kaido had now taken Valthior as the goal of his life.
So he was extremely eager to improve his strength, awaken his fruit ability, and catch up with Valthior.
In the days since returning to Cake Island, Kaido had been constantly thinking back on what exactly his strength still lacked.
After recalling everything from the past, Kaido suddenly discovered that every time his strength grew rapidly, it had actually happened after defeat.
His brain might not always keep up, but his body's instincts could naturally absorb the experience and nourishment from those defeats.
Perhaps this was some kind of special talent of his.
Just like this time. After being forcefully defeated by Valthior and returning to Whole Cake Island, Kaido felt that he had become much stronger than before.
"Am I really a genius at getting beaten?" Kaido thought for a moment and muttered to himself.
After a long while, Kaido suddenly stood up.
"No more fighting. I am going to find Linlin!"
Katakuri and Alber did not follow Kaido after he left. Instead, shortly after his departure, the two faced each other once more and resumed their fierce battle.
As the second-in-command of Totto Land, Kaido naturally moved freely on Whole Cake Island. Before long, he arrived at Whole Cake Chateau..
Usually, at this time of day, Charlotte Linlin would be in the castle's council hall handling the affairs of Totto Land.
Today was no exception.
When Kaido arrived outside the council hall, he heard someone speaking inside. It was indeed Charlotte Linlin.
Without a second thought, he pushed the door open and strode inside.
"Linlin, I am going to find Whitebeard and have a fight with him!"
Charlotte Linlin, who was speaking through a Den Den Mushi, froze. "You're planning to fight who?"
"Whitebeard!" Kaido said in a low voice.
"Is that Kaido? Hearing his voice so full of energy puts me at ease," Valthior's voice came from the other side of the Den Den Mushi.
Hearing that voice, Kaido blinked in surprise, an immediate sense of urgency flaring within him. "What the hell are you contacting Linlin for out of the blue?!"
Did these two develop feelings after fighting each other? Then what about me?
"Hahahahaha! I actually came to discuss some business with Totto Land. I've started producing weapons on Frost Island. The quality is top-notch, and I can offer discounts on bulk orders. Totto Land is in the midst of expanding, so I imagine you're in need of weapons as well. I believe we can work together," Valthior said with a smile.
"Hmph. We don't give a damn about your weapons. Who knows what you might have done to them?" Kaido snorted coldly, immediately trying to shut the deal down.
More than anything, he did not want Charlotte Linlin and Valthior to become too closely associated.
"Among my weapon products, there is one type of artificial Zoan Devil Fruit. After eating it, there is a chance to gain power similar to an ordinary Zoan ability user," Valthior suddenly said.
Kaido, who had just looked like he was saying stop contacting my Linlin, immediately sat down at the table after hearing this.
He placed both hands together, rested his chin on them, and said with a serious, focused expression, "Oh? Tell me more…"
"This is a new technology. I have already sent the related materials to Linlin by fax. I also sent some samples by ship as a gift for you. They should arrive in Totto Land very soon," Valthior said.
Charlotte Linlin, sitting across from Kaido, looked speechless. She casually tossed the documents she had just received to Kaido.
"Read them yourself."
Kaido took the documents and immediately opened them.
The more he read, the more pleasantly surprised his expression became.
"Good! Brilliant! This is magnificent! This can support me in building an army of Zoan ability users!" Kaido said excitedly.
"The side effects are severe," Charlotte Linlin reminded him. "People who eat this thing might not awaken any power at all. Instead, they may become useless fools who can only laugh nonstop."
"What kind of side effect is that?" Kaido said without hesitation. "Luck itself is part of strength. If they fail to awaken power, that only means their luck was not enough. Just eliminate them. Anyway, Totto Land has plenty of people. We are not afraid of that kind of loss!"
Totto Land was indeed very attractive. It had drawn a large number of people from the New World to settle there.
Naturally, among them were many who wanted to rise in status, hoping to join the Beasts Pirates and become part of Totto Land's upper class.
"Let me remind you first," Charlotte Linlin said. "Valthior plans to bundle this product with the conventional weapons he manufactures. In other words, if we don't buy his guns and cannons, he won't sell us this either."
Kaido froze for a moment. Then he cursed, "Valthior! What kind of business are you running!?"
"It is an exclusive resource, so naturally there are conditions. Besides, my conditions are not harsh. I already said my weapons are excellent quality. You will not lose out by buying them," Valthior said calmly.
"Totto Land has its own weapons factories…" Charlotte Linlin said in a low voice.
It had to be said that Charlotte Linlin was very capable in terms of leadership. As a queen, she had excellent vision and scale. Naturally, she understood the importance of weapons. They could not all be placed in the hands of outsiders, or if someone cut off their supply one day, the trouble would be enormous.
"No hard feelings if the deal does not happen. You can think it over. Once my samples arrive, take a look at the actual results first," Valthior said without concern.
After saying that, he directly hung up the Den Den Mushi.
Kaido had completely changed from his initial attitude. He looked at Charlotte Linlin with anticipation.
"An army of Zoan ability users is my dream, Linlin…"
"Shut up. Let me think about it properly," Charlotte Linlin said, glaring at Kaido. Then she asked, "What were you talking about earlier? Fighting Whitebeard? What do you mean?"
"It is like this. Recently, I have been thinking about how to quickly increase my strength. Later, I discovered that every time I challenge a strong enemy and lose, there is a kind of…" Kaido quickly began explaining to Charlotte Linlin.
"So you plan to go trouble Whitebeard?" Charlotte Linlin frowned.
"Not only Whitebeard. I also plan to fight Shiki and even the Marines. In short, I'm going to challenge the strongest powerhouses on the seas and see whether this path truly works," Kaido said in a low voice.
Charlotte Linlin felt a headache coming on.
Wasn't this just picking fights with everyone?
But when she saw the determination in Kaido's eyes, she finally nodded.
"Fine. I can't be bothered to stop you. Just don't make too much trouble... And whatever you do, don't provoke the Marines."
Going to fight Whitebeard and Shiki was still acceptable. After all, they had once sailed together under Rocks. Given their old ties, those two veterans were unlikely to truly do anything to Kaido.
...
Frost Island, Shipbuilding Port.
Valthior also put away the Den Den Mushi he had just hung up and arrived here.
The Shipbuilding Port was one of the five newly built ports and the closest port to Onigashima.
Aside from shipbuilding, this place was also the research and development center for the Sea Train project. At this moment, a Sea Train track already extended from the surface of the harbor toward the distant area where Onigashima could be seen with the naked eye.
A train that clearly looked recently completed was parked on the track.
Master Tom led Bullet, Spencer, and the others up and down through the carriages, excitedly introducing this big toy.
Just as Master Tom had said before, many of his designs had already overcome their technical difficulties. He simply had not had the money to put them into practice.
After joining Valthior, funding became abundant, and the designs on the blueprints were quickly brought fully into reality.
Now, this was the first physical model of the Sea Train.
"It saves a full ten times the time. From this port to Onigashima, it usually takes half an hour by ship, but the Sea Train only needs three minutes. Its transport capacity also far exceeds ordinary transport ships. It can pull thirty carriages at once, greatly improving our logistics efficiency!" Master Tom enthusiastically explained the Sea Train's strengths to Spencer.
Spencer held a cigarette in his mouth and a sea chart in his hand.
"Can the Sea Train move upward from the waters below Frost Island, go against the waterfall current, and enter our inner sea?"
Frost Island's advantage was that it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. One could only reach the inner sea by using the power of Sea Koi to drag ships up against the waterfall current. Otherwise, unless one could fly, there was no way to reach Frost Island.
But this strategic defensive advantage became a major disadvantage in trade and transportation. It naturally strangled Frost Island's transport capacity, causing products on the island to be unable to enter and leave quickly. Its transport efficiency was very low.
Everyone in the Valthior Pirates was trying to solve this problem.
And the Sea Train was undoubtedly the best solution.
"In the end, going up against the waterfall current mainly depends on power. Sails cannot help. Paddle-wheel power is not strong enough either, which is why external pulling force from Sea Koi is needed. But the Sea Train's power is extremely strong! Going up would be very easy. The troublesome part is going down. A rapid descent would cause the Sea Train to derail, eventually turning into a disastrous cliff fall…" Master Tom said somewhat helplessly.
After a short pause, however, Master Tom continued, "But I looked through the Roger Pirates' sailing logs. Speaking of which, Sky Island's special product, Sea Clouds—if we can use Sea Clouds to wind upward along the outer wall of Frost Island, then the Sea Train can work! The only question is whether Sea Clouds can be artificially produced."
"Sea Clouds?" Valthior had also arrived by now. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Looks like this business has to be done together with Mary Geoise… Fine. If we want to lay Sea Train routes all over the world, we cannot avoid the World Government anyway. This is something that benefits both sides if we cooperate."
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