Kaido is dead?
Perospero shot a glance at Katakuri, feeling thoroughly bewildered. Both of them were turning this claim over in their minds, trying to gauge its credibility.
"What exactly is going on? I haven't heard of any conflict between Kaido and Inazuma," Katakuri muttered under his breath.
Naturally, neither he nor Perospero had any intention of avenging Kaido. But they at least needed to verify whether this was real, or else they'd be in for a punishment from Big Mom upon returning to Totto Land.
But the whole thing seemed absurd on its face.
Inazuma had always maintained a generally neutral stance on the open sea. Unless someone provoked them first, they rarely took aggressive action.
Since the two of them hadn't shown any hostility, Washizu had reluctantly agreed to receive them aboard his ship.
Out on the open sea, you couldn't just solve everything with fighting. You had to understand the ways of the world — especially when dealing with a major power.
Besides, Kaido's death wasn't exactly a secret. Spreading the news wouldn't cause any particular harm. This past year, the Pirate King Roger had been executed, and both Shiki and Golden Lion had been imprisoned.
Kaido was a big name, sure, but in this era, his death wasn't world-shattering news.
Washizu found Katakuri to be a decent sort — not bad-looking, either — so he broke out some sake and started bragging about his lord, the Shogun. Only then did Katakuri and Perospero piece together what had actually happened.
Kaido hadn't died unjustly, exactly. But who could have guessed that Wano Country had been the Raiden Shogun's territory all along?
Still, both of them were astonished that the Raiden Shogun actually possessed the power to cut down Kaido in combat. By all accounts, the gap in their strength shouldn't have been that wide.
The truth, of course, was more complicated. Kaido had first been worn down in his battle against Kozuki Oden, then ambushed and beaten by five Ren clones inside the Sanctuary, and only after all that was he struck down with a single blade in the real world.
"So what do we do now?" Perospero asked, tilting his head.
"We'll just have to tell Mama the truth." Katakuri pulled out a Den Den Mushi and dialed Big Mom's number.
"Buru buru buru, buru buru buru... baza!"
"Ah, is that Katakuri? Is the matter taken care of?" The Den Den Mushi in front of Katakuri sprouted thick eyeshadow, taking on a rather flamboyant appearance.
"Mama... Kaido is dead." Katakuri paused for several seconds before speaking.
"Oh? Kaido is dead? No wonder... wait, did you just say Kaido is DEAD?" The Den Den Mushi nodded at first, then its expression snapped into one of sheer shock.
"Is this some new joke making the rounds on the seas?" Big Mom shot back.
She found it genuinely difficult to believe. Kaido's talent was on par with Whitebeard's and Shiki's — no, at this point, it wasn't just talent anymore.
His raw strength was enough to make him a contender on the world stage.
If Totto Land were to go to war against the Beasts Pirates, even Big Mom couldn't guarantee victory over Kaido himself. At best, it would end in mutual destruction.
And now someone was telling her that Kaido was dead?
If the person saying this hadn't been her most gifted son, she would have punched them through a wall on the spot.
But Big Mom also knew that Katakuri was not the type to make jokes.
Katakuri, seemingly having anticipated her reaction, waited for Big Mom to collect herself before slowly explaining the full sequence of events.
Big Mom hung up on him quickly, then immediately placed a call to Inazuma.
The person who picked up was Yuko. For a major client like Totto Land, Inazuma maintained a dedicated Den Den Mushi line — and when the caller was Big Mom herself, they made sure to give her the proper respect.
After all, everyone on the seas knew that Yuko was Inazuma's second-in-command.
"I didn't expect the Queen of the Totto Land Kingdom to contact us personally. Could it be a large order?" Yuko said as soon as she answered.
She addressed Big Mom as "Queen," which catered beautifully to Big Mom's enormous ego. In truth, ever since Roger had been crowned Pirate King, Big Mom had harbored her own ambition to claim that title.
Robin: ???
"Ah, it's little Yuko! When are you coming to visit me again?" Big Mom was remarkably gentle with Yuko — almost more so than she was with her own sons.
Under normal circumstances, she probably would have started trying to set Yuko up on a date by now. But this was about her little brother, and the mood for matchmaking had evaporated.
"Mama mama mama! Little Yuko, where is Ren?"
"Big Sister Linlin is looking for Lord Shogun?" Yuko's tone was soft and delicate, but calling Big Mom "big sister" was perfectly reasonable — Big Mom was only twelve years her senior, after all.
"I heard Kaido died. Is that true?"
"Kaido? He did indeed fall to Lord Shogun's blade." Yuko spoke slowly and deliberately.
She knew that Big Mom and Kaido had been on good terms privately, but she wasn't particularly concerned. If Big Mom wanted to start trouble on Kaido's behalf, Inazuma would not back down.
But clearly, Big Mom had no such intention.
"Mama mama mama! I can't believe it's actually true. What a shame — I'd placed quite a few orders with him, and the deposits are all paid." Big Mom sighed with genuine regret.
"Let's not dwell on unpleasant things. Little Yuko, does Inazuma have any new Automata available?"
In preparation for the wars looming in the New World, Big Mom had placed another massive order for Ancient Automata.
This way, Inazuma received a flood of Berry, and Big Mom received a flood of military strength. As for whether Kaido lived or died — nobody cared about that anymore.
But the news continued to spread from there.
The Marines even convened a meeting over it.
The current Fleet Admiral was still Kong. Although rumors had already begun circulating about his promotion to Commander-in-Chief, the matter wouldn't be finalized for at least another two years.
It wasn't a lack of military achievement on his part. The problem was that his subordinates were hopelessly inadequate.
The moment Kong moved up, Sengoku would have to inherit the Fleet Admiral position — and then they wouldn't be able to muster even a single Admiral from the existing ranks.
At that thought, Kong's frustration with that old fool Garp flared once more.
If Garp hadn't stubbornly refused every promotion, Kong would have been Commander-in-Chief long ago.
But now, Kong suppressed his irritation and spoke with grim seriousness.
"The Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates, Kaido, was killed by the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma. I trust you've all heard about this by now."
"Kaido is actually dead?" Garp, who had been snacking on senbei, nearly forgot to chew and swallowed the entire rice cracker whole. "What on earth happened?"
"It's not just Kaido. The entire Beasts Pirates have been wiped out." Sengoku shot him a disapproving look. News of this had been spreading like wildfire for days — it was impressive that Garp hadn't heard a single whisper.
"The information came from Big Mom's side, but it appears to be credible," Vice Admiral Tsuru reported. She had been in the middle of pursuing Donquixote Doflamingo when headquarters recalled her for this meeting.
"Because of this incident, the World Government has come up with a new idea."
"Using pirates to constrain pirates. In this Great Pirate Era, it's a form of indirect compromise."
[
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