Bullet kept talking until Kaido finally could not hold it in any longer.
"WORORORORORO!"
His booming laughter rolled through the corridor like distant thunder.
"Bullet, quit talking like you would've won if you'd just done this or that!"
Kaido grinned broadly.
"Going toe-to-toe with old monsters like Garp and Sengoku is already something most people wouldn't even dare dream about. Besides, look at what you did to Marineford. You damn near turned the whole place into a post-apocalyptic ruin."
He reached out and gave Bullet's iron-hard shoulder several heavy pats, each one landing with a solid thump.
"With a record like that, you've got enough to brag about for years!"
Kaido gave him a knowing look.
"What? Still didn't get enough fighting?"
His grin widened.
"Fine! Next time I get another 'good job' like this, I won't forget you."
"We'll go raise hell together."
"Now that's what I call a good time!"
Bullet's eyes immediately lit up.
He spun toward Kaido as though he had just heard the greatest promise anyone could possibly make.
"You serious, Kaido?!"
His battle lust flared all over again.
"There's more where that came from?! Then next time, I don't care where you're going or what you're doing—you're taking me with you!"
Bullet cracked his knuckles.
"And if anyone tries to steal my spot, I'll flatten them first!"
"I don't give a damn who it is. If they get between me and a good fight, they're going to regret it!"
Kaido stared at him for a moment.
Bullet looked like a starving beast that had just heard the dinner bell.
Every muscle in his body seemed ready to explode into motion, and the intensity in his eyes made it obvious that he was terrified of missing the next chance to throw himself into another massive battle.
Seeing him act as though he would fight anyone who tried to take his place, Kaido's grin returned.
Then he burst out laughing again.
"WORORORORO! Good!"
He slapped Bullet on the shoulder once more.
"Then it's settled!"
"Next time, the two of us will go find something even tougher to chew on!"
The two monsters shared the same love for battle, violence, and overwhelming strength, and somewhere along the way, that had developed into a strange kind of friendship.
There was nothing particularly sentimental about it.
They understood each other through combat.
A powerful opponent, a brutal battlefield, and the chance to push themselves harder than before—that was more than enough to bring the two of them together.
Before long, Kaido and Bullet were walking shoulder to shoulder toward either the training grounds or, more likely, the nearest tavern.
The murderous aura left over from Marineford still clung faintly to them, but neither seemed bothered by it.
For monsters like these, fighting and destruction were practically recreation.
A vicious battle was training.
A ruined battlefield was entertainment.
And surviving it was reason enough to drink.
"Hahahahaha!"
Kaido glanced sideways.
"Want to grab something to drink?"
Bullet grinned.
"Exactly what I was thinking."
They were still laughing and discussing where their next fight might come from when a figure in a dark green cloak appeared not far ahead.
Monkey D. Dragon.
His face was partly hidden beneath the shadow of his hood, but the tension in his expression was impossible to miss.
He looked from Kaido to Bullet, clearly searching their faces for an answer.
There was urgency in his eyes.
And hope.
Dragon seemed to have countless questions he wanted to ask, yet for a moment he could not bring himself to say any of them.
Bullet noticed immediately.
His usual wild expression faded slightly as he understood exactly what Dragon wanted to know.
He gave the Revolutionary Army leader a small nod, then tilted his chin toward Kaido.
Ask him.
Kaido had already noticed Dragon as well.
And being Kaido, he had no interest in dancing around the subject.
He looked directly at him.
"Dragon, you don't need to ask."
...
"I searched the prison at Marine Headquarters from the top level all the way down. I tore the place apart, checked every cell, and went through every corner I could find, but I never saw that brat Sabo."
Kaido's booming voice echoed through the corridor.
"And I never sensed any of your other people either. They weren't there."
The words immediately erased the last trace of hope Dragon had been clinging to.
His eyes dimmed.
He had already prepared himself for this possibility, but hearing Kaido confirm it so definitively still hit harder than he expected.
Sabo and the others really had not been imprisoned somewhere obvious.
Bullet saw the change in Dragon's expression and frowned slightly. He rubbed his chin, thinking back over the intelligence they had gathered before the Marineford raid.
"Hey, Dragon. Don't lose hope just yet."
Dragon looked toward him.
"The information we got before said the God's Knights handed Sabo and the others over to the Marines somewhere near the Sabaody Archipelago, right?"
Bullet folded his arms.
"So maybe those Marines never took them to Marineford in the first place."
He thought for a moment before continuing.
"Marine Headquarters attracts too much attention. Hiding important prisoners there isn't exactly easy, especially now."
"But Sabaody?"
Bullet grinned faintly.
"That place is crawling with Marines, pirates, slavers, World Government agents, merchants, criminals, and every other kind of bastard you can think of."
"It'd be easy to hide a secret facility there without anyone noticing."
Dragon's eyes shifted.
The idea was speculative, but it made sense.
The Sabaody Archipelago was one of the most complicated places on the seas, a gray zone where the World Government, Marines, pirates, slave traders, nobles, bounty hunters, and countless underground groups all overlapped.
Secrets disappeared easily there.
If the World Government wanted somewhere temporary to hold prisoners as important as Sabo and the Revolutionary commanders, a hidden base around Sabaody could actually be more useful than Marineford itself.
"Sabaody…"
Dragon repeated the name quietly.
A little of the light returned to his eyes.
"Thank you."
His tone became firm again.
"I'll have our people investigate the area immediately."
At least now they had another direction to pursue.
The odds were still uncertain, and finding a concealed World Government facility around Sabaody would not be easy, but that was better than having no lead at all.
Dragon gave Kaido and Bullet a brief nod of gratitude.
Then he turned and disappeared down the corridor without wasting another moment.
Time mattered.
Every hour they spent searching could determine whether Sabo and the others lived long enough to be rescued.
Bullet watched him leave and clicked his tongue.
"Finding people is such a pain in the ass."
He shook his head.
"Fighting's way easier."
For a man who preferred solving problems by punching them until they stopped being problems, searching through intelligence reports, hidden facilities, and false leads sounded like torture.
Breaking into an enemy stronghold and smashing everything inside was much more straightforward.
Kaido nodded in complete agreement.
That kind of approach made far more sense to him too.
Dragon had already taken several steps away when Bullet called after him.
"Hey, Dragon!"
Dragon slowed and glanced back.
Bullet still stood there with his arms crossed, looking as intimidating as ever.
For someone who usually communicated best through violence, his next words were unexpectedly reasonable.
"Don't get too damn pessimistic."
His expression became a little more serious.
"We didn't find any bodies either."
"So until you actually see proof they're dead…"
Bullet tilted his head.
"…assume those bastards are still alive somewhere."
Dragon went still for a moment.
The tension in his face did not disappear, but something in his eyes steadied.
It was not much.
But right now, that was enough.
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