Her professional habits dictated her way of doing things. She wouldn't take action until she had secured enough trust. Crocodile had been here for a long time, but no matter how long, it couldn't compare to the royal family of Alabasta.
Her current plan was to find some clues from the royal family. Even if there wasn't much progress, the identity of a palace tutor could help her a lot. Sometimes joining a company isn't for working well but for preparing to switch jobs.
It would take a considerable amount of time to excavate the foundation of Alabasta. Nobody knew how many things were hidden beneath the vast desert.
Meanwhile, in the New World, various forces started to pay attention to the Hundred Beasts. The originally expanding Hundred Beasts suddenly shifted to a defensive stance. Even some unstable territories were temporarily abandoned, pulling back forces to their base camp.
"Captain, did we... win?"
Watching the retreating pirate ships, the pirates originally occupying this island were overjoyed. Forcing the Hundred Beasts to retreat was something worth bragging about.
"Uh... maybe? Let's observe for a bit, and if they really leave, we'll hold a banquet to celebrate..."
"Fools! Do you think this is a good thing?!"
Before they finished, a member of another pirate crew nearby made them realize reality.
He was no different from these pirates; they were pirates in the New World who hadn't joined a Sea Emperor and banded together for warmth. But he had lived in the New World for a longer time.
Being targeted by the Hundred Beasts wasn't a good thing unless in extremely special circumstances. They wouldn't leave voluntarily. If they left against the wind, it meant the high-ranking officers of the Hundred Beasts were dissatisfied with this cadre's actions and planned to replace them.
But so far, the people of the Hundred Beasts were at a definite advantage. Considering this timing, that Hundred Beasts activity had come again.
At specific times each year, they would reorder their internal cadres, and after this reordering ended, they were very likely to face a stronger cadre.
Having survived in the New World for a long time, this matter was no longer a secret, but those pirates who had just entered the New World didn't know what this really meant.
Seeing those pirates who still didn't take it seriously after his warning, this old pirate thought it was time to remind his captain whether to surrender or run away.
However, he didn't know that this time the Hundred Beasts' contraction was stronger than ever.
...
On the Pokemon Ship, Yamato, who was running away from Kaido, also received new information.
"Hmm? The sortition battle isn't being held on Ghost Island this year?"
"This time the movement seems a bit big. Governor Kaido seems to have summoned cadres from all seas. This year's sortition battle should be the largest ever, seemingly wanting to review the current pirate crew's combat power."
"What, if this old man does this, what about the defense of the other territories?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Speed couldn't hold on to the log pose and dropped it. Fortunately, this log pose was quite sturdy, only damaging the unimportant branch route pointer sphere.
The telescope in Sorlithia's hand similarly slipped, and Mizerka almost overturned the desserts she just brought over. They could hardly believe what their young lady had just said—she was actually concerned about other territories!
"Hey, hey, hey, what kind of looks are those from you three?"
Seeing their dazed expressions, Yamato felt they were thinking about something disrespectful.
"Ah... no, Lady Shaina, Lord King, Lord Zeraora, and Lord Olga have all been dispatched to temporarily manage territorial defense, and those giant beasts created by Lord Arceus have also been sent out; only ordinary cadres are being gathered..."
Shaina and Zeraora were not part of this anyway, and the disaster-level cadres were no exception. Thus, Arceus temporarily put them in charge of surrounding territory defense and called back those who needed to participate.
Though the quantity decreased, the quality increased significantly. As long as there's no external battle temporarily, defending the territories should be fine. This is also why the Hundred Beasts started contracting their territories. Once the activity ended, they would fight back.
This behavior was unreasonable, but Kaido wanted to do it like this, without considering anything else, which led to this largest sortition battle.
However, caring about such things was clearly not something Yamato should do.
"Oh, you three are going to compete, right?"
"No, actually only Speed needs to participate. For us... it's still a bit early for now."
This sortition battle is entirely a spectacle for those with abilities. Those without abilities usually choose to watch rather than waste time.
"All the same, your abilities will come soon enough, don't worry, let's head back. Father should be almost back to normal now."
As Kaido's daughter, she never missed this event. Even if she didn't compete personally, it was still necessary. With the increasing number of people and territories in the Hundred Beasts, the chance to gather all cadres together became less frequent.
This was one of the few times when everyone was present, and it was also the time to cultivate Yamato's exposure to the Hundred Beasts background.
As she grew, her position as the second generation head of the Hundred Beasts was set in stone, paving the way in advance. Of course, the succession method of the Hundred Beasts wasn't that gentle.
Given Kaido's situation, the chance of him voluntarily stepping down was extremely slim. Yamato wanted to develop the Hundred Beasts according to her own will, and to achieve this, force became the only choice.
Knowing Yamato's thoughts made Kaido even more excited; this was the daughter he wanted.
The Pokemon Ship changed course, and similar things were happening in each territory.
On Winter Island, Scotch handed over the island's defense to the Gt-4 Genesect and boarded the ship heading back to the main island.
In the Sky Island, several cadres sent to collect resources there also began their return trip early. One person jumped down from the cloud layer, wings unfolding behind them, flying in the direction of Ghost Island.
On the Red Earth Continent, Ann, also headed toward Ghost Island in the role of a host. According to the latest anonymous internal vote, Ann surpassed Queen to become the more anticipated host by the audience, although Queen still handled the hosting during battles.
Amid the disaster-level cadres, only Queen remained at the base camp. On the one hand, he could act as a challenger for those who wanted to challenge the disasters, on the other hand, he simply didn't want to go out on missions.
For the sake of his personal safety, it was safer to stay near Kaido or Arceus.
In the sky, in the sea, cadres from each region returned to Ghost Island in their way, which also alarmed the Navy. One incident caused by Kaido was enough, and with the entire Hundred Beasts gathering, who knew what they would do.