Back at the hotel, things were still fairly quiet—likely because news of the royal palace incident hadn't yet spread. By tomorrow, though, the whole city would probably be in an uproar.
Still, who would've thought that in the end, the Third and Fourth Princes would emerge as the ultimate winners? Truly, fate was unpredictable.
"Uncle, what kind of powers do those two Devil Fruits have? Hurry up and check!"
As soon as they returned, Ann couldn't contain her curiosity.
"Don't rush. Let me check the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia." Karl pulled out the thick illustrated guide and took out the two fruits to compare them.
"Well, what do you know—our luck's not bad at all. One's a Logia-type, the other's a Paramecia-type." Karl's eyes brightened. A Logia Fruit was a rare prize, and the Paramecia one wasn't half bad either.
"Let me see!" Ann snatched the book from his hands.
"Logia—Earth-Earth Fruit. Paramecia—Rubber-Rubber Fruit! Uncle, we really hit the jackpot tonight!"
"Hahaha! Indeed we did. Both of these Devil Fruits have great potential."
"Then why didn't the king eat one himself? If he had taken the Logia Fruit, he wouldn't have been killed so easily, right?" Ann was puzzled. How could someone pass up such power?
"Probably because he didn't know what they were," Karl replied. "Or maybe those so-called nobles just looked down on Devil Fruits. They worship the Celestial Dragons, after all—and those swine rarely eat Devil Fruits themselves. They make their slaves do it."
"That's just stupid. Serves them right for being slaughtered," Ann muttered, disgusted. "Who in their right mind would idolize those filthy pigs?"
"Alright, enough. Get some rest. We're leaving tomorrow."
"Okay! Good night, Uncle." Ann headed back to her room to sleep.
The next morning, chaos erupted throughout the capital. The First Prince was dead, leaving only the Third and Fourth Princes eligible to inherit the throne. Both were quickly released.
Upon learning of the First Prince's death, the two brothers were first stunned—then burst into wild laughter.
But the next second, the Third Prince struck without warning, killing the Fourth on the spot! Just like that, he became the final victor.
None of that had anything to do with Karl, though. After breakfast, he and Ann packed up a heap of local delicacies and set off once more—toward the Land of Wano.
After another full day of flying, Karl finally spotted Wano's famous cascading waterfall.
"So this is the Land of Wano? I heard it's the land of samurai, but… why do these people look like this?" Ann asked, staring at the shabby villagers below.
"They used to have a foolish shogun who made an unbelievably stupid decision," Karl said calmly. "That's why the country ended up like this."
"A foolish shogun?" Ann frowned, puzzled. Karl then told her the story of Kozuki Oden.
When she heard it, Ann was dumbfounded. "What?! How can anyone be that stupid? As the shogun of Wano, he could've driven Kaido out directly, but instead he made that idiotic deal—giving Kaido five whole years to strengthen his power? That's just… beyond brainless!"
"Doesn't concern us," Karl said. "Let's move."
They headed straight for Onigashima.
"This is the Beasts Pirates' base. What are you two doing here?" a guard barked, stepping in front of them as they arrived on the island.
"Hahaha, would you look at that—a pretty little lady!" another guard jeered, reaching out to grab Ann.
Karl's face turned to stone. A moment later, his Conqueror's Haki burst forth—knocking every guard to the ground, unconscious.
The commotion drew the attention of one of the Three Calamities—King the Wildfire. He soared over, his black wings cutting through the air. The moment he saw the fallen guards, his gaze sharpened. That was Conqueror's Haki!
"Tiger God Karl? What are you doing here?" King's voice was low and cold. He recognized the man instantly—this was the one who'd recently slaughtered Celestial Dragons in a storm of thunder and flame. What was he doing on Onigashima?
"King the Wildfire?" Karl studied the masked man with wings of black flame. "So this is the last survivor of the Lunarian race, huh? Thought so."
"Go tell Kaido an old friend's come to share a drink," Karl said with a grin. He really had brought several jars of Karin's finest brew.
King relaxed slightly—so Karl wasn't here to fight—but he didn't lower his guard. "Wait here," he said, then flew off to inform Kaido.
Back in the main hall, Kaido was, of course, drinking heavily—and crying again.
"Boss Kaido, the Tiger God Karl's here. Says he came to drink with you. Have you met him before?" King asked.
"Drink?" Kaido blinked, momentarily confused. Then he shrugged and poured more sake down his throat. The booze clouded his mind; he couldn't remember who Karl was.
"Ughhh… King, I'm so miserable… I jumped from ten thousand meters and still didn't die! Who can kill me already?!" he wailed between gulps.
King sighed inwardly. What am I supposed to do with this drunk mess? Karl was still waiting outside.
Forget it. He'd deal with it later.
He returned to Karl. "Lord Karl, our captain's drunk out of his mind right now. Would you mind waiting on the island for a couple of days?"
"He's drunk, huh? Fine. Just arrange a place for us," Karl said. He knew exactly what Kaido was like when he was hammered.
"This way, please." King led them through the island to a courtyard styled like a traditional Wano manor.
"Actually, I came mainly to see you," Karl said as they walked. "The drink with Kaido is just a bonus."
"If you're here to recruit me, don't bother," King replied coldly.
Karl chuckled. "Nah. If I stole one of Kaido's Calamities, he'd fight me to the death. I'm here about the Seastone deal Kaido promised me. Seems he forgot to tell you."
"Ah, that explains it." King nodded. "Seastone trade, huh? That's fine by me. How do you want to handle it?"
"Someone else will handle the handover later. I just came to locate Wano—it's annoyingly remote."
Karl had spent nearly three days flying to find the place—only thanks to Shakky's intel had he managed at all.
"Understood. Rest here for now. Once Kaido sobers up, I'll send him to meet you."
"Alright. Have them bring us some food." Karl leaned back casually. The main goal of the trip was already achieved.
King left to give orders for a meal.
After eating and drinking his fill, Karl called Daphne to tell her that Zoe could come over now.
Just then, a voice came from outside the courtyard.
"You're from the outside world, aren't you?"
Karl looked up to see a woman standing in the doorway—chains of Seastone clamped around her wrists, and a pair of horns on her head.
That was Kaido's daughter—Yamato.
Ann stared at her, wide-eyed. "You look terrible! Who are you?" she asked, stepping forward to greet her.
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