"Caven... who?"
Kurozumi Orochi didn't quite catch the name, but he heard the last part clearly.
"You want me to die? What do you mean?"
Orochi eyed the man's attire, deducing he must be one of Kaido's subordinates based on the Viking-style clothes.
'Did Kaido want me dead?'
'That makes no sense. Without me, Orochi, how would Kaido get test subjects and weapons in Wano?'
'Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?'
'Had something happened that made Kaido abandon our partnership?'
Orochi might be despicable and petty, but he wasn't stupid.
After all, he'd schemed his way to the top of Wano from nothing.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't get any answers today.
"Beautiful Sword: Round Table!"
SLASH!
Cavendish drew his blade and swung it in a fluid motion, releasing a crescent-shaped slash.
In an instant, Orochi's head hit the floor.
Blood gushed like a waterfall from his neck.
THUD.
Cavendish casually put the rose back in his mouth and turned to Tama.
"Oh, my lovely, enchanting Kunoichi! Eat something to regain your strength. Then we'll go feed those animals more dumplings."
Tama placed her hands behind her head, arching her back into a dramatic S-shape.
"How's my pose, Master Cavendish?"
"Good, but your head and toes aren't aligned perfectly. Try harder next time."
"Got it! Tama will strike the most alluring pose!"
"Great. Now eat up. The food on this table is packed with energy. You'll need to make at least a hundred more dumplings later."
"No problem, Master!"
...
Five minutes later.
TWITCH.
Orochi's supposedly dead body suddenly jerked, startling Tama so much she nearly choked on a lobster claw.
"Mmmph... mmmph! (Master! Why is he moving?!)"
Cavendish casually flipped his blond hair, looking utterly unsurprised.
"Relax. Watch this."
On the ground, Orochi's severed neck bubbled, and he grew another head.
He opened his eyes, sneering.
"Hmph! These foolish assassins. Did they really think I only had one life?"
"They must think I'm dead and have left. Hehehe... time to escape."
SWISH!
Just then, a familiar slash severed his neck again, sending his new head flying.
Before losing consciousness, he saw his killer—the same blond man with a rose in his mouth.
'Damn it...'
...
Another five minutes later.
Tama was almost done eating.
She wiped her mouth and she was now full of energy.
"Master, I'll get to work now. Be careful with the snake!"
"Don't worry. You're the one who needs to be careful feeding those animals."
With that, Tama skipped out the door, followed by 400 Gifters heading to the fifth-floor hall.
Just 100 more Gifters, and Tama would control all of the Beast Pirates' artificial Devil Fruit users.
Meanwhile, Cavendish stood guard beside Orochi's corpse.
'Boss told me this guy can revive eight times.'
"Oh, the body's moving again."
SLASH.
Thus, Orochi lost his head a second time.
Five minutes later, the third revival. Orochi was furious.
Ten minutes later, the fourth. Orochi cursed Cavendish's entire family tree.
Fifteen minutes later, the fifth. Orochi finally screamed, "YOU BASTARD!"
Twenty minutes later, the sixth. Orochi began to despair.
Thirty minutes later, the eighth. Orochi was finally done.
POOF.
The body stopped moving for good.
Cavendish let out a long breath.
"So this is the Mythical Zoan: Yamata no Orochi? Such a terrifying vitality."
"What a waste on trash like this."
After this remark, Cavendish sheathed his sword and headed for the rooftop.
"Tama should be done by now. Time to regroup with the Boss."
As he ran up the stairs, Cavendish was exhilarated.
"The Boss is so cool! Taking down a Yonko like Kaido so easily!"
...
On Onigashima's rooftop.
Chouchou had fully grasped Ray's plan.
In short, taking control of the Beast Pirates was simple.
The task had one major advantage: Yamato and Tama were both preparing to go to Marineford to save Ace.
Their goals aligned.
Thus, the method became clear.
First: Regime change.
Replace the Captain. Find a way to make Yamato the new leader of the Beast Pirates.
This wasn't hard.
The All-Stars were already under Chouchou's collar control—he just had to make them "unanimously" support Yamato.
Second: What if the lower ranks disobey?
Then rely on Tama's progress in controlling the Gifters.
With these quasi-captains under control, the rest of the fodder would fall in line.
Third: ...?
As for the third point, Chouchou had to figure it out himself since Ray only gave him a hint.
Chouchou understood.
Leaders always did this—forcing three points even when there were only two, leaving subordinates to guess the rest.
But the Leader was always right!
Never ever ever expose them.
If you dared embarrass the Leader, you'd end up like Chouchou now.
Covered in bruises, limping toward Yamato.
Just then, a tall, beautiful woman—about Kaido's height—returned to the rooftop.
Black Maria.
She stood at the staircase leading to the rooftop, staring silently at Ray.
She seemed hesitant about something.
Chouchou and Yamato noticed her immediately.
ZOOOM!
They rushed to her side.
Though Chouchou's face was swollen like a pig's from Ray's earlier "correction," he still bared his teeth menacingly at her.
"Woman... what do you want?"
Yamato, meanwhile, looked at Maria with clear disdain.
She had no good impressions of her father's concubine.
Before Black Maria could speak, Yamato made a request to Chouchou.
"Choubro, tie her up. She's worth a lot—we can trade her for a lot of foods."
Chouchou: (＾_＾ ) "No problem!"
Black Maria had planned to pretend she was defecting to survive, but the hostility from the two was overwhelming.
Before she could even start her prepared speech, the dog and the wolf charged.
"Ah! NOOOO!"
Five seconds later.
Chouchou and Yamato looked down at Black Maria, who was now wearing a collar and looking dazed.
"Just a mere spider... and she's trying to join us?"
"Can't you see this is a Dog Pack?"
"Uh... Chou Bro, 'Wolf Pack' sounds better."
"But my Master is a dog too!"
Yamato: (○゜ε＾○) "Oh right! Then my fruit is now the Great True Dog!"
Chouchou: (????)? "Exactly! From now on, we're the ultimate.... Paw Patrol!"
Yamato: ?(?ˉ???ˉ???)?: "Chou Bro is right!"
BONK!
One second later, both Chouchou and Yamato were flat on the ground.
Standing over them was Ray, fists smoking.
'Who the hell is 'Paw Patrol'?!'
'Such an embarrassing name.'
After Ray walked away, Yamato rubbed the massive lump on her head, pouting at Chouchou.
"Chou Bro... we got beaten up. Does Ray-san not like his identity?"
Chouchou shook his head confidently.
"Relax. Master was just embarrassed. But he was happy deep down."
"Ohhh! So Ray-san is what they called a Tsundere!"
"Indeed."
One minute later.
Yamato hung upside down from a cliff edge, staring helplessly at Chouchou, who was in even worse shape next to her.
"Why did we get beaten up again?"
"Cough... It's because Master was too excited."
YELP!
Then Chouchou let out an inhuman shriek as Ray tightened the punishment, making Yamato's skin crawl.
But sensing the smoother flow of Haki in her body, Yamato realized Ray wasn't just venting.
He was helping her train.
Still, she didn't dare talk back, only thinking to herself.
'Ray-san is.... really a Tsundere.'
...
Some time later.
Yamato stood on the fifth-floor podium of Onigashima's main hall.
Below her were tens of thousands of Beast Pirates, terrified and confused.
Behind her stood the three defeated All-Stars: King, Queen, and Jack.
She hefted her kanabo, slammed it onto the stage, and declared loudly.
"From now on, I am the new Captain of Beast Pirates!"
"Anyone have objections?"
---------
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