"Poison Flame!"
An overwhelming tide of gray-purple flames surged forth, mingled with resurrected living corpses.
Bazel paid no attention to whether Kaido or Whitebeard survived. If such a simple attack could kill them, he would return to Marine Headquarters tomorrow, gather a few friends, and storm the World Government.
What was the point of becoming the Pirate King? He would become the King of the World!
Sure enough.
The next moment, a sudden gust of wind and shockwaves shattered the poison flame tide. The aftermath of the battle sent the penitents flying.
The aftermath of the battle blew the redeemers away.
"Become my comrade!"
"Brat, become my son!"
Here it comes!
This time, it's a freebie!
Bazel, who had transformed into the Yamata no Orochi, moved his serpent tongue and scanned the people on both sides with his eight pairs of vertical pupils.
'Should I become Kaido's comrade or gain an extra father?'
"Kaido-san, you never said the owner of that aura would be this huge!"
King's gaze drifted upward, finally settling on the eight massive, swaying heads.
"This guy… is a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit User!!!"
King exclaimed in shock, and the Whitebeard Pirates weren't faring much better.
"Pops! This guy is so cool. Having a comrade like him in the future would be awesome!"
"Yeah, Pops! Marco's transformation is already cool, but this guy is even cooler."
"Be careful, he's way bigger than Marco. He must be really strong!"
"…"
Opinions varied.
But only Bazel himself knew that his fifty-meter-tall form after transforming into the Eight-Headed Serpent wasn't due to overwhelming strength.
It was because of twelve years of hellish training, combined with the highly nutritious food provided by Sengoku, that his physical strength had far surpassed that of his peers.
Coupled with the unique nature of the Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, he was able to exceed the height of a giant the moment he transformed.
In the future, as his body grew even stronger, this size might increase further.
His massive body gradually shrank as Bazel attempted to assume a second form similar to Kaido's dragon-human hybrid state.
But he failed.
This was also noticed by Kaido and Whitebeard.
Especially the former.
Kaido's eyes were now gleaming with greed.
'What a good seedling!'
'No, this couldn't just be described as 'good'. Based on the current situation, this guy must have only recently eaten the Devil Fruit.'
'Otherwise, he should have already mastered transformations like the human-beast hybrid form!'
"Hey, I'm Kaido, Kaido of the Beasts Pirates. What's your name?"
Bazel didn't joke around with Toki in public but instead introduced himself seriously.
"I'm Bazel, and she is my partner, Toki."
Toki bowed slightly to the other side, "Nice to meet you. I look forward to getting along with you."
Kaido's gaze lingered for only a moment before returning to Bazel.
"Become my comrade. I'm the user of Mythical Zoan Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu."
"You've eaten a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit too, right? I can personally teach you how to develop its powers."
"Newgate!"
Before Bazel could respond, Kaido tightened his grip on his kanabo and looked seriously at Whitebeard.
"You know this better than anyone. When it comes to developing Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits, you're nowhere near as experienced as I am."
"If this guy falls into your hands, it'll only waste the potential of the Devil Fruit he ate. Only my experience can fully unlock that fruit's power!"
Whitebeard didn't refute this point.
Indeed, if the other party had a Paramecia or an ordinary Zoan Devil Fruit, he could offer some guidance.
But Mythical Zoans were different. Their development difficulty was on par with that of Logia fruits.
"What does that matter? As long as I'm alive, my sons don't need to fight!"
"Because no one dares to attack the Whitebeard Pirates. Hey, Bazel, become my son!"
Kaido now looked nervously at Bazel.
The Beasts Pirates were still in their early stages, and his only trusted subordinate, King, had only recently joined.
If Bazel joined, the Beasts Pirates would soon have the strength to challenge the major pirate crews of the New World!
Unlike the nervous Kaido, Bazel remained calm.
Not to mention that he had always intended to join Kaido's Beasts Pirates…
Who would want an extra father for no reason?
Not even a godfather!
Besides, Kaido was famously a great mentor in the future.
One swing of his club unlocked Luffy's potential, and another helped him Awaken his Devil Fruit.
If Bazel soaked up some of that mentorship, his Yamata no Orochi fruit might awaken in no time.
Going straight from SSR to UR!
"No problem joining, but what about my partner..."
As Bazel's gaze shifted toward Kaido, Whitebeard knew that the advantage of developing a Mythical Zoan had ultimately prevailed.
He wasn't the type to force others or throw a tantrum, so he could only shake his head helplessly.
"What a failure. My charisma actually lost to an apprentice from the Rocks Pirates. Tch."
"Let's go, you foolish sons. That guy has chosen the Beasts Pirates."
The Whitebeard Pirates followed Whitebeard as they left. In the middle of the crowd, Oden, lying on a stretcher, suddenly woke up.
"Ugh, my head is spinning... Oyaji, where am I?"
'Kozuki Oden!'
Bazel narrowed his eyes slightly.
'The timing matched, but I had won.'
'If it had been just half a day later, it would likely have been the original plot where Oden accidentally saved Toki.'
"Oden, you scared us to death! Luckily, Pops noticed you let go, or we would have lost an important comrade!"
"Yeah, Oden, how are you feeling now?"
Oden rubbed his head and shouted, "Not bad! Oyaji, let me join the Whitebeard Pirates!!"
"Shut up, you're in! Stop making so much noise!"
"Oh!! This is amazing!!"
As the Whitebeard Pirates completely left, Kaido, grinning from ear to ear, walked up to Bazel and bent down.
Familiarity already set in, he slung his arm around the man's shoulder.
"Hey, Arber, come introduce yourself."
King walked over, glancing at Toki. "I'm Arber, but I prefer to be called 'King' in front of outsiders. I serve under Kaido-san."
"You're my brother, you idiot!"
"We went through those things together… we're brothers! Remember that clearly!"
Kaido vigorously ruffled King's hair and nodded slightly at Toki.
"Since you're Bazel's woman, you can join the Beasts Pirates together."
Toki's face instantly flushed bright red, and she frantically waved her hands, "N-No, I'm not his woman yet!"
"Ah, so you're still in the pursuit phase."
Kaido sighed nostalgically about the joys of youth, then released King and bent down to pull Bazel aside, whispering about his own life experiences.
"Listen, this is my experience. If you like someone, you gotta make a move early. A man should be assertive."
"Back in the day, Linlin and I were the talk of the Rocks Pirates. If only she weren't nine years older than me..."
"And I was too obsessed with getting stronger back then. Otherwise... sigh! Seeing you guys reminds me of my youth."
The Life Mentor Kaido's eyes held a trace of melancholy.
"So that means you also went for the 'three golden bricks', huh? That's impressive." Bazel's eyes sparkled.
'Golden bricks?'
Kaido didn't understand the phrase and curiously asked.
Without any sense of strangeness from their first meeting, Bazel pulled Kaido aside to explain the meaning of 'a woman three years older is like holding golden bricks'.
"So that's how it is!"
Kaido's left fist smacked into his right palm as he had a sudden realization.
"I was wondering why Linlin was so kind as to give me that Devil Fruit back in the God Valley… It turns out she wanted me to struggle less for a few years!"
"Dammit, if only I had understood back then!!"
Watching his captain curse under his breath like a village woman, King's eyebrows twitched.
"Sorry for the embarrassment. Kaido-san can be a bit unreliable at times."
Perhaps feeling this was a bit too exposing, King quickly added.
"But most of the time, Mr. Kaido is a very reliable comrade!"
"It's alright. I should be the one saying that."
Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, Toki smiled gently, "Bazel-kun is the one... I'm sorry for the embarrassment."
Unbeknownst to her, this subconscious gesture made Kaido, with his back to them, give Bazel a thumbs-up.
"It looks like you've got a chance. A woman wouldn't explain herself to a stranger unrelated to her."
Bazel's lips curled into a smile, and a gleam of confidence flashed across his exposed teeth.
"Toki is a very gentle woman! We've already promised to stay together for life!"
"Bazel-kun!"
Hearing this, Toki grew flustered. "I haven't agreed to your pursuit yet! Stop talking nonsense!"
"Wororororo..."
"Arber, what an interesting pair they are! Let's go, back to the ship for a feast!"