As the members of the Wild Dragon Crew chatted animatedly, two massive transparent bear paws shot through the air at incredible speed.
"Yo-ho! The goods are here!"
Capone Bege instantly transformed into his fortress form, turning into a small castle-man, bracing himself to intercept the incoming targets. If Bartholomew Kuma's paw-shock landed on the wooden deck of the Ark Maxim, it would blast a massive crater into it.
"That little girl is mine!"
Souta Kiryuu suddenly stood up. His hands morphed into massive dragon claws, and he caught the paw that carried the small girl O-Tama, preventing a destructive collision.
Pop!
With a sharp crack, the sturdy transparent paw shattered under Souta's strength, and the little girl tumbled safely into his grasp.
Boom!
The other paw slammed against Bege's castle wall, exploding on impact. An elderly masked man spat blood and toppled from the wall onto the deck.
Luckily, Brook, ever the gentleman, caught Tengu Yama Hitetsu before he hit the ground again.
As Bege returned to human form, Kuma's enormous figure materialized in front of them. The towering presence and faint aura of menace made Denjiro instinctively move in front of Kozuki Hiyori to shield her.
This was a man no less terrifying than Queen the Plague—perhaps even stronger! That was Denjiro's first impression of Kuma.
"Target secured. And as a bonus, I picked up the second Kitetsu blade."
Kuma handed his spoils to Souta Kiryuu, especially the historical text-engraving blade that Souta had emphasized.
"Yes! Another Supreme Grade Sword!"
Bonney snatched up the Sandai Kitetsu and unsheathed it. A wave of ominous aura surged forth. Though it wasn't as consuming as Enma, it still stirred violent bloodlust.
"Children shouldn't play with cursed swords!"
Kuma immediately took the blade from Bonney, and only then did the crimson gleam in her eyes fade.
"Hmph! Just a broken demon blade. It can't control me!" Bonney retorted stubbornly, though in her heart she had already sworn never to touch cursed swords like Enma or Kitetsu again.
Souta carefully set O-Tama down, then eagerly picked up the historical text-engraving blade.
"So this is the Star-Core Blade?"
He slashed it lightly across his dragon scales—instantly, a bloody gash appeared, and crimson spurted forth, his eyes widening.
So sharp! So unyielding!
"As expected of a blade forged to cut the Lunar Core Stones…"
Once the moonstone-cutting was done, Souta planned to keep this planetary-core-crafted blade by his side. Surely, it could slice through even Kaido's defenses.
Of course, the Nine Red Scabbards who wielded Ryuo could also pierce Kaido's hide. But Kaido's true terror wasn't just his defense—it was his monstrous regenerative power.
Hitetsu groaned as he regained consciousness, his vision still swimming. The first thing he saw was Brook's skeletal grin hovering above him.
"Yohohoho~! Greetings, old sir!"
That ghostly, otherworldly voice nearly made Hitetsu faint all over again.
"Master!!"
O-Tama scrambled down from Souta's arms, pale and confused. She didn't know where she was or who the man who caught her was. But the moment she spotted her teacher Hitetsu, she rushed into his arms.
Hiyori and Denjiro both tensed as they studied Hitetsu. Could this masked man be Kozuki Sukiyaki?
At that moment, Souta strode forward.
"Kozuki Sukiyaki—your clan only has one of these engraving blades?"
He held up the Star-Core Blade, his gaze piercing as he questioned the masked elder.
"How do you know who I am?!"
Sukiyaki staggered back in shock. His true identity was a secret no one should know. How could this man possibly…?
Hiyori and Denjiro's eyes widened in disbelief. It really was their grandfather, the former Shogun.
"Stop wasting words."
A flash of light sliced through the air—the Star-Core Blade split Sukiyaki's tengu mask clean in half. Souta's cold tone and suffocating aura sent shivers down Sukiyaki's spine.
"I don't have it anymore," Sukiyaki admitted in fear. "My son once had a smaller auxiliary blade… but it was likely lost during the wars."
"An auxiliary blade? Excellent."
Souta smiled faintly. Lost or not, at least there was a chance to recover it. Who knew where Kozuki Oden had left it? With the Roger Pirates? Or buried in the ruins of Oden Castle?
Souta toyed with the blade as he settled back into his sun chair. One was enough for now—he had no need to chase after the auxiliary blade immediately.
"Grandfather!"
"Lord Shogun!"
As Souta walked away, Hiyori, Denjiro, and Shinobu rushed to Sukiyaki, their eyes brimming with tears as they reunited, lamenting the suffering of the long years apart.
Not long after, lightning crackled violently atop the mast of the Ark Maxim.
The sudden appearance of this thunder-wielding sorcerer startled the Kozuki family.
"Boss God, that so-called Mythical Zoan was too weak. Took me only a few moves. Got any stronger foes?"
Crackle!
Enel blinked in and out of existence, vanishing from the mast and reappearing on deck, where he casually grabbed a red apple and bit into it.
Sukiyaki and Denjiro both frowned grimly at the sight of this man who could embody lightning itself.
So powerful! Another formidable sorcerer.
Now they understood why Souta dared to act so brazenly against Queen the Plague. Between the masked woman with kingly presence, the towering giant Kuma, and this thunderous mage Enel—these three alone could rival Kaido's Calamities.
"You came back alone?" Bege asked knowingly. Surely Enel had abandoned Lafitte to do the grunt work.
"That guy's too slow," Enel shrugged. "He said he found a stash of weapons nearby. Wants you lot to fetch them."
He spoke casually, though a trace of irritation lingered. Yesterday's festival fiasco with Yamato had robbed him of the chance to clash with the Calamities, leaving him unsatisfied.
Among the three, only King the Wildfire posed a threat in Enel's eyes. Against Queen the Plague and Jack the Drought, he was confident he could at least fight them evenly—perhaps even grind them down to death.
"Then set course toward Lafitte's vivre card," Souta ordered after a moment's thought. Their Wano raid was complete. Time to leave.
If Queen had tattled to Kaido, so be it. If Kaido himself came charging, Souta could always withdraw and bide his time. Once the Seraphim were perfected, then he would unleash full-scale war against the Beast Pirates.
Still, Kaido wouldn't be foolish enough to jeopardize their artificial Devil Fruit trade over Orochi's mythical Zoan bloodline.
Indeed, Queen had already reported everything about Orochi to Kaido. But what Kaido decided to do was beyond Queen's concern. As long as the Pluton warship remained secret, the rest didn't matter.