"You old fool, it seems you've truly gone senile," Kai's dead-fish eyes flicked as he said, "I was entrusted by the Skeleton Demon to fulfill the agreement between you and him."
"To prevent the crisis that could dismantle your Whitebeard Pirates."
"If Ace falls into Blackbeard's hands and is used as a bargaining chip to be handed over to the Navy Headquarters, the World Government will definitely execute him publicly once they learn his identity."
At this point, Kai pinched his nose and said, "One of the Four Emperors fighting the Navy Headquarters—that's a major event. I believe others wouldn't miss the opportunity to attack Whitebeard's crew."
"Blackbeard, the ability hunter, wouldn't just sit idly by and give up the chance to seize the Gura Gura no Mi, right?"
As soon as these words left his mouth, everyone's faces changed dramatically, including Whitebeard.
Only Shanks remained silent.
Unlike Whitebeard's unwavering support for the chase, Shanks clearly had already thought of this.
Now, Kai's words only made Whitebeard and the others think in horror.
Even Ace's face paled with a trace of fear.
He looked at Whitebeard and the others with a hint of apology.
"You mean, that Skeleton Demon entrusted you to stop Ace?" Whitebeard suddenly spoke in a deep voice.
"What is your relationship with Skeleton Demon and Escanor?"
He remembered that on that day, before Ace officially boarded the ship at the Impel Down prison, Skeleton Demon had indeed once stepped onto Whitebeard's ship.
And he had left a prophecy that they considered absurd.
But now, with that prophecy nearly coming true, it undoubtedly awakened this buried memory.
However, now they had another concern.
This huge bald head before them claimed to be entrusted by Skeleton Demon to do his work.
Could this be an endorsement of those terrifying rumors about the sea?
"I only have a financial transaction with those guys. To put it simply, I've had two hotpot meals with them," Kai rubbed his chin and said thoughtfully.
"As for me, I'm just a hobbyist—someone who likes to be a hero."
A "hotpot meal" relationship?
Faced with Kai's so cheap explanation, many present couldn't help but be stunned.
In their eyes, that probably didn't even qualify as a plastic friendship.
Whitebeard's face darkened slightly. After staring at Kai for a few seconds, he said coldly, "Little brat, since you say this was a commission from Skeleton Demon…"
"Then, Ace has already been brought back. Did Skeleton Demon give you a message for me? Why did he make this deal?"
"This is the big ocean of the weak and the strong. I don't believe there are any good people!"
Everyone present nodded in silence, agreeing with Whitebeard's view of the sea.
Faced with the mysterious Skeleton Demon, they all wanted to know what he was really after with Whitebeard.
"His goal is your corpse after you die!" Kai, with his dead-fish eyes, flicked again and said nonchalantly.
This quiet remark, at that moment, struck everyone like an invisible heavy hammer, shaking their nerves.
They thought—are you crazy?!
This is Whitebeard!
The man hailed as the strongest on the sea.
And now, someone was openly cursing him to death.
And that after-death corpse would be coveted!
In any place, such words were major taboos.
"You bastard, how dare you speak so recklessly!" Vista, wielding his sword, was the first to lose his temper.
But before he could react, Whitebeard burst into laughter and reached out to stop him.
"Haha, Vista, don't be impulsive. He's just doing a job for someone."
"But you tell me, if Ace wanted my corpse, it might take him a long time to get it."
"And he'd need to have the ability to do so. I, Whitebeard, don't lack anything—except that my son is worth more than others. They're not easy to deal with either."
Faced with such grand words, Kai didn't argue. After a quick nose pick, he said, "That's unrelated to me."
"Oh, and one more important thing—Kozuki Oden was your Whitebeard Pirates' previous Second Division Commander, and your senior—Red-Haired Shanks."
At this, Kai patted the side that had been wiping his nose, pointing at Kozuki Hiyori, who had been left aside: "This girl is Kozuki Oden's daughter, Kozuki Hiyori!"
"I told her, you wouldn't help a dead person seek revenge. Yet she insisted on coming along!"
This small remark once again stirred everyone's nerves.
Everyone present couldn't help but pay more attention to this beautiful girl who had been following Kai from the moment she appeared, totally out of place with the big bald head.
But none of them expected that this girl actually had such a deep connection with them.
Most importantly, Kai's last nonchalant comment made their facial muscles twitch uncontrollably.
Such a frank, ruthless remark—like exposing a sore spot in front of everyone!
Even Whitebeard's expression darkened instantly.
"Are you Princess Hiyori?" Izou was the first to rush out.
As one of Kozuki Oden's followers who came from Wano Country and joined Whitebeard's crew, he had been with Oden since he was taken from Wano by Kaido.
And after Oden was poached by the Pirate King Roger, Izou had stayed on the ship.
He had even risen to the rank of the 16th Division Captain through his own strength.
Although his position was far from Oden's as the Second Division Captain, at least he was living comfortably.
"Are you Uncle Izou? My father often mentioned his little brother when he was alive!" Kozuki Hiyori was also surprised by Kai's shocking words.
However, over the years in Wano, she had become a courtesan, which wasn't for nothing.
Her expression quickly returned to normal, and she hurriedly tried to establish a good relationship.
Originally, she had planned to rely on the newly crowned Five Emperors and the Skeleton Demon, who hadn't yet taken territory, to cooperate with her and seize Wano from Kaido.
But later, after learning that Kai was heading to Whitebeard's crew to meet Whitebeard himself, Hiyori changed her mind.
After all, in her memory, Oden often mentioned Whitebeard's pirates and Roger's pirates.
"Are you the little girl born of Hiyori that day?" Whitebeard raised an eyebrow, also recalling Hiyori's story.
That day, after secretly following the ship out of Wano, Oden had picked up a wife along the way, and they had two chubby, adorable children.
But Whitebeard never expected that they would meet again in such a scene after so many years.
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