WebNovels

Chapter 18 - "The Billion-Berry Shadow: Kaido's New Son"

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At the same time—

New World. Wano Country.

The Flower Capital. The shogun's estate.

Laughter and music echoed through the grand halls. Servants scurried between opulent tables piled high with food and sake, while courtesans in elaborate kimono danced and flirted. It was a scene of utter decadence.

Seated at the center of it all was the Shogun of Wano, Kurozumi Orochi, slumped against a group of dazzling geisha, drunk out of his mind. His grotesque face twisted with smug satisfaction as he basked in the indulgence.

"Heeheeheehee… Komurasaki, pour me another one!"

Orochi let out a high-pitched, grating laugh, eyes leering at the famed oiran by his side.

Below the raised platform, Kyoshiro and a crowd of retainers and samurai joined in the debauchery, drinking and flattering their lord without pause.

The entire banquet hall stank of rot and excess—a sickening contrast to the hardship and misery endured by the people outside these walls.

And then—

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Rapid footsteps echoed through the corridors.

A shinobi burst into the hall, panting and pale. He immediately dropped to his knees before Orochi, head bowed so low it nearly touched the floor.

"L-Lord Shogun! We have a problem—urgent intel!"

Orochi, in the middle of a drunken cheer, scowled at the sudden interruption. His bleary eyes narrowed with irritation.

"You damn fool! Can't you see I'm entertaining my guests?! You'd better have a damn good reason, or I'll have your head right now!"

The shinobi trembled like a leaf, bowing repeatedly as he stammered out his report.

"P-please forgive the intrusion, my lord! It's... it's the World Government! They've issued a new bounty poster!"

"A bounty poster?"

Orochi sneered and waved dismissively. "Wano is a closed country. What goes on in the outside world has nothing to do with us."

Beside him, Kyoshiro sipped his sake, a faint smirk playing on his lips. Clearly, he didn't think much of it either.

But the shinobi didn't back down. Swallowing hard, he continued, voice trembling.

"This time... the bounty is one billion berries!"

"One billion?!"

"And what of it?!" Orochi barked. "You dare ruin my mood over this nonsense? I ought to kill you where you kneel!"

"P-please, Lord Shogun… It's the one they're calling the 'Demon Child'… Dan!"

The shinobi's voice was shaking now, on the verge of panic.

"A-and according to the latest report from our spies on Onigashima…"

"H-he's…"

"The new adopted son of Kaido!"

SPLURT!

Orochi spat out a mouthful of sake.

He shot to his feet like a man electrocuted, the smugness, drunkenness, and disdain on his face vanishing in an instant—replaced by cold, abject terror.

"Y-you… what did you just say?!"

His voice cracked with panic.

Kaido… Kaido's adopted son?!

Demon Child?!

One billion?!

This had to be a joke—right?

Of all the places this so-called Demon Child could have appeared, why Onigashima? Why with Kaido, of all people?

The Beasts Pirates were already a mountain pressing down on Wano, and now that mountain had grown even heavier—with a terrifying, rising force added to the mix.

Even Kyoshiro's ever-calm expression faltered. For the first time, his smirk faded into something unreadable. The knuckles gripping his sake cup whitened.

Kaido's son…

A bounty of one billion…

Put together, those two facts cast an even darker shadow over any hope for Wano's liberation.

A few days later—

Somewhere in the New World.

A rough-looking raft, cobbled together from massive wooden logs, sailed unsteadily across the waves.

At its prow sat a hulking man in a wrestling mask, tearing into a massive slab of meat like an animal. This was the "Champion of Combat," Jesus Burgess.

Beside him stood an even larger man with a wild, scruffy beard and three flintlock pistols at his hip. He guzzled straight from a bottle, spilling booze down his chin.

Marshall D. Teach. Blackbeard.

"Zehahahaha! Finally shook off those bounty hunters for good!"

Blackbeard wiped his greasy mouth and laughed his signature hideous laugh, eyes gleaming with triumph.

He'd played the long game—years spent hiding on Whitebeard's crew, waiting for the chance to steal the Darkness Fruit. Now, after murdering Thatch and taking the fruit for himself, he'd made his escape.

But he hadn't run immediately. He knew better. He'd waited, hiding in the shadows, biding his time until Whitebeard's men dropped their guard.

Now, the moment had come. He was free.

"Wahahaha! Captain, you're a genius!" Burgess roared, face covered in meat grease.

"Once we get more crewmates, we'll take this whole sea for ourselves!"

Blackbeard's eyes gleamed with unrestrained ambition.

"Zehahaha! Damn right! A new era's comin'... and it's gonna belong to Blackbeard!"

Suddenly—

"Captain! Look, over there!"

Burgess pointed at something in the distance, voice muffled by the food in his mouth.

Blackbeard squinted toward the horizon.

A tiny black dot bobbed across the water, slowly growing larger.

As it came closer, its shape grew clearer. It was… a person, on a ridiculously small raft.

"Zehahaha… Someone's actually drifting alone in these waters? Ballsy."

Blackbeard licked his lips, eyes shining with interest.

"Poor as hell by the look of it—but who says no to a gift-wrapped prize?"

"Wahaha! Got it, Captain!"

Burgess tossed aside his bone, cracking his knuckles with loud pops.

But before they could approach, the man on the raft started paddling toward them.

Within moments, they were close enough to make out the details.

He wore green clothes, had striking red hair, and carried a long sword at his waist. There was a cocky look on his face—arrogant, even.

It was Rockstar.

"Hey! You guys just come from Whitebeard's turf?"

"Tell me which way it is—I've got business there."

Blackbeard didn't attack immediately. Instead, he asked, "What business you got with Whitebeard?"

"I'm a messenger from the Red-Haired Pirates," Rockstar said impatiently. "I've got a damn important letter to deliver. So quit wasting time and point me the right way."

Red-Haired Pirates?!

Rockstar?!

Blackbeard's grin froze. His pupils narrowed slightly.

He exchanged a glance with Burgess. Both of them were suddenly on alert.

Red-Haired Shanks.

A man who'd risen to power at the same time as Teach—and now sat firmly as one of the Four Emperors.

Blackbeard had grown stronger with the Darkness Fruit, sure—but Shanks and his crew? They weren't a joke.

Especially that man.

"…Zehahaha. So, you're one of Shanks's boys, huh?"

Teach forced a smile, expression shifting through a dozen thoughts.

Robbing the Red-Haired Pirates' messenger?

You'd have to be insane.

He wasn't ready for that kind of war.

So, without hesitation, he gave Rockstar directions.

"Thanks," Rockstar muttered, then paddled off.

Their two vessels passed each other with barely a ripple.

And then—

"Captain! Up there! Look at the sky!"

Burgess suddenly pointed upward, his voice sharp with disbelief.

Blackbeard snapped his head up.

Even Rockstar instinctively looked to the skies.

High above them, against the blue, a tiny black speck was falling—no… flying straight toward them at incredible speed.

It moved fast—unnaturally fast.

"Someone's flying?!"

Teach's eyes narrowed. He immediately thought of a few possibilities.

Sky Walk, like the Marines' Rokushiki? A flight-type Devil Fruit?

Or… could it be someone sent to hunt them down?

Burgess tensed, fists clenched. Every muscle in his body braced for a fight.

The figure in the sky closed the distance in the blink of an eye.

And when they finally saw it clearly—

Blackbeard's wary look twisted into something between shock and absurd disbelief.

It was…

A baby.

A literal baby, wearing crotchless pants, pink-cheeked, and barely older than one or two.

Flying. Through. The. Sky.

"What the hell is this?!"

But someone else was even more shocked than Blackbeard—

Rockstar.

The moment he got a clear look at the baby.

"..."

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