"So just how long have you been starving?"
Inside the daimyo residence in Kuri, Rowan looked at the little girl Yamato, who was currently stuffing herself with food.
Her clothes were filthy, and her hair had become tangled into knots.
After swallowing down an entire plate of roasted meat, the eight-year-old Yamato finally looked up at Rowan and replied:
"It's been almost four days since I last ate anything."
"After Big Bro's Revolutionary Army defeated Kaido, I had no food left."
"After the memorial ceremony, I wanted to go to the Flower Capital and beg for something to eat, but obviously my identity was exposed during the ceremony. Nobody was willing to help me."
"So I had no choice but to come find you, Big Bro."
Big Bro?
Still wearing his mask, Rowan looked momentarily confused and pointed at himself.
"How did I suddenly become your big brother?"
Little Yamato puffed out her chest proudly.
"Big Bro said all lives are equal and that you didn't care that I'm Kaido's daughter."
"I can't choose who my father is."
"But Big Bro didn't mind, and you even accepted me joining up!"
"So of course I should call you Big Bro. That's how the Flower Capital's gangs do it."
...Uh.
He really had told her she could come find him if she had no food.
Watching the little girl sit back down and resume devouring food, Rowan turned to one of the maidservants in the daimyo residence.
"After she finishes eating, take her to wash up and change into clean clothes."
"Then send her to the newly built school in Kuri."
"School?"
The word instantly made Yamato freeze mid-bite.
She even stood up before wiping her mouth.
"Big Bro, I'm really strong! I don't need school! I can read!"
Rowan walked over and used a cloth to wipe the grease from her face.
"The school isn't for teaching literacy."
"It teaches understanding of the world."
"You should remember what I said before. Whether or not someone can join the Revolutionary Army depends on passing an examination."
"And the content of that examination is precisely the ideology taught at the school."
"What the Revolutionary Army needs are comrades who share the same beliefs."
"Not reckless fools who only possess strength."
"And not schemers who only possess intelligence."
"Only those who share the same ideology can become our companions."
Yamato listened in a daze.
She still didn't really understand.
But that didn't stop her from feeling that everything he said sounded incredibly profound.
Shared ideology... companions... no reckless fools, no conspirators...
"Mm! I'll definitely study seriously!"
Rowan gave her a thumbs-up gesture.
After arranging everything, he left the room.
As Kaido's daughter, Yamato's potential was enormous.
In Rowan's memories, twenty years later her Conqueror's Haki had already reached a level where she could exchange blows with Kaido for several rounds.
And later, when she fought the newly appointed Marine Admiral Ryokugyu, if Momonosuke hadn't insisted on proving himself like an idiot, she probably could have fought evenly for quite a while.
Ryokugyu simply wasn't on the same level as the golden generation of Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan.
Leaving the reception hall, Rowan met up with Oden, who had been waiting outside for some time.
The two of them headed toward the underground chambers beneath the daimyo residence.
There, three prisoners were being held using high-purity Seastone.
Along the way, Oden glanced back at Rowan several times before finally speaking.
"After learning about Shimotsuki Hikurou's encounter with you at Sabaody Archipelago..."
"At that time, you had already seen the future I would face today, hadn't you?"
Rowan replied calmly:
"To be precise, it was Wano's future without my involvement."
"Once the five-year agreement expired, Kaido's forces would already have fully amassed their strength."
"And under the influence of those two special devil fruit abilities, you would only manage to leave Kaido with two wounds before being utterly defeated."
"Afterward, Wano would completely become a weapons manufacturing nation."
"The pollution would eventually corrupt even the water supply."
"And death would become a normal occurrence throughout Wano."
Walking side by side with Rowan, Oden fell silent for a very long time.
The prison fell silent for a moment.
Rowan did not refute him.
Because Kaido was correct.
The current Revolutionary Army was still far too weak compared to the World Government.
Even the two-billion-berry bounty placed on the Hooded Man by Mary Geoise was largely due to the threat posed by his teleportation abilities his assassination capability and near-impossible survivability.
The gap...
To those monsters ruling the world from atop the Red Line, all living beings on this sea were nothing more than insects.
The only difference was whether the insect was larger or smaller.
And merely the fragment of information Rowan remembered from the future was already enough for him to understand this.
Not to mention the countless secrets he still did not know.
Kaido looked at Rowan and continued in a deep voice,
"You think defeating me means you can challenge the World Government?"
"Kid... the monsters hidden in Mary Geoise are far more terrifying than you can imagine."
"There are powers in this world that even Roger never managed to overturn."
"The Revolutionary Army?"
"That path leads only to destruction."
"Worororo...!"
Even while chained by Seastone, Kaido still laughed wildly.
To him, Rowan was indeed powerful.
Terrifyingly powerful.
Even Kaido himself had nearly died under those flames.
But strength alone was meaningless against that colossal monster known as the World Government.
Beside him, King remained silent.
Yet his eyes were fixed on Rowan.
Unlike Kaido, he did not laugh.
Because at the moment Rowan ignited those black flames...
King had truly seen something.
A possibility.
A possibility of burning away the darkness covering the world.
The same darkness that had destroyed the Lunarians.
Meanwhile, Queen swallowed nervously beside them.
He did not care about ideals.
Nor did he care about revolution.
What he cared about was survival.
And currently, the masked monster before him clearly possessed the power to decide whether he lived or died.
Rowan slowly stepped forward.
The sound of his footsteps echoed through the underground prison.
Then he stopped in front of Kaido's cell.
"You're right."
"I still don't fully understand how terrifying the World Government truly is."
"Nor do I know what kind of monsters are hiding within Mary Geoise."
"But..."
Rowan raised his head slightly.
"There is one thing I understand very clearly if no one dares to resist them..."
"Then this world will never change eight hundred years generation after generation lived like livestock beneath the so-called gods."
"Children became slaves."
"Nations became factories."
"Lives became numbers."
"And even resistance itself became a sin."
As he spoke, the atmosphere inside the prison gradually became heavy.
Even Oden silently lowered his gaze.
Rowan looked directly at Kaido.
"You think the Revolutionary Army is weak."
"You think our ideology is naive."
"But Kaido..."
"At least we are trying to change this world."
"And what about you?"
"You wanted to overturn the world too."
"But in the end, you merely chose to become another oppressor."
"You wanted war."
"You wanted destruction."
"You wanted to stand at the top of the world."
"But you never once thought about the people crushed beneath your feet."
Kaido's gaze darkened slightly.
The chains around his body creaked faintly.
"And that..."
"...is the difference between us."
For a long moment, Kaido said nothing.
Then suddenly.
"Worororo...!"
He burst into laughter once again.
But this time, there was no mockery in it.
Instead, there was a strange emotion within his eyes.
"You really are an interesting brat."
"Far more interesting than Roger."
"Roger only wanted freedom."
"But you..."
"You actually want to change the entire world."
Kaido slowly raised his head.
"But tell me one thing."
"If one day your revolution succeeds..."
"And the people you save become corrupt."
"And the revolutionaries beneath you become new Celestial Dragons..."
"What will you do then?"
The underground prison became completely silent.
Even Queen unconsciously held his breath.
Rowan looked directly into Kaido's eyes.
Then he answered without hesitation:
"Then I'll destroy them too."
"Including myself."
The moment those words fell King's pupils suddenly contracted.
And for the first time since entering the prison...Kaido's expression completely changed.
At the very least, Imu the crowned figure within the Room of Flowers and the five old monsters within the Room of Authority had never personally taken action.
"So the portion you know about..."
"...was what you witnessed during God Valley eighteen years ago, correct?"
The moment those words fell, Kaido's pupils suddenly contracted.
"At your age, you shouldn't know about God Valley."
Rowan raised a finger and tapped his temple.
"There's something special about this place."
"So I still remember the memories from when I was one year old."
"Speaking of which, the reason I managed to survive back then... aside from Kuma and Ginny, a large part of it was thanks to your Rocks Pirates invading the island."
One year old?
Clank! Clank! Clank!
The Seastone chains tightened violently.
Kaido stared fixedly at the hooded figure before him.
"You're a survivor of God Valley?"
"A slave brought there by the Celestial Dragons?"
"Or one of the island's original inhabitants?"
"An original inhabitant."
Rowan slowly exhaled.
"That day... is something I'll never forget for the rest of my life."
"Those disgusting pigs."
"For nothing more than a so-called field trip, they destroyed an entire nation."
"But fortunately..."
"Two familiar faces from eighteen years ago Saint Samit and Saint Rodenatz both received the suffering they deserved."
Those words stunned everyone present.
Oden, who had sailed with both Whitebeard and Roger, clearly understood the meaning of Celestial Dragons.
They were the world's nobles.
Protected personally by Marine Admirals.
Even Whitebeard and Roger had never killed Celestial Dragons before.
Because that meant challenging the very bottom line of the World Government.
Most Celestial Dragons might have been idiots hiding behind glass helmets...
but they undeniably carried terrifying secrets behind them.
"Worororo!"
Kaido burst into loud laughter.
"So that's the true secret behind your two-billion-berry bounty!"
"Looks like you've done the same thing Rocks once did."
"But he died."
"And you survived."
"Was it because of that ability similar to a teleportation fruit?"
"Although it requires markings as coordinates, it's certainly an excellent power for escaping."
As he spoke, Kaido looked toward the prison cell on his left.
Toward King.
Their gazes met.
After a long silence, Kaido finally spoke.
"Looks like I won't be able to fulfill the promise I made to you back then."
"But you saw it too, didn't you?"
"The fear on those idiots' faces when they face death."
"You want to see it as well, don't you?"
King remained silent.
Yet Kaido had clearly spoken aloud the desire buried within him.
To overturn this world that was the revenge of the Lunarian race.
And it was also the reason King had worn a mask all this time.
The Lunarians...were a race the World Government would never allow to exist.
For them, there were only two possible outcomes:
Death.
Or becoming experimental subjects.
Nothing else.
Kaido turned back toward Rowan.
"Let King join you."
"You share a common enemy."
"He'll become valuable support for your side."
The moment those words fell, the round and pudgy Queen in the other cell froze in shock.
Then he immediately rolled and scrambled forward, Seastone chains rattling noisily.
"Boss! Boss, what about me?!"
Kaido glanced disdainfully at the fat man.
"Haven't you already received an invitation from them?"
"Compared to your strength, your knowledge is what they truly need."
0_0
Queen froze blankly.
He never expected that his usually rough and straightforward captain had noticed Rowan's attempt to recruit him.
Kaido snorted mockingly.
"If you thought you were actually going to be killed, you would've desperately tried to escape already."
"And besides..."
"You've been way too quiet these past few days."
Those words instantly made Queen lower his head in embarrassment.
Yet King still showed no reaction to Kaido's proposal.
At that moment, Rowan's voice sounded once more.
"Well..."
"To be honest, before this, I was seriously considering the possibility of just killing all of you."
The round and pudgy Queen instantly stiffened.
Wait wasn't he supposed to be useful?!
After all, he was still one of the three great pillars of MADS.
Sure, Vegapunk was indeed more outstanding, but that old man's advantage largely came from his Devil Fruit ability!
"Speak."
Rowan glanced at Queen.
"Don't look at me like that."
"After all, even for a fat guy like you, your loyalty to Kaido is unquestionable."
"And whether an ally might eventually become a bomb..."
"That's not exactly easy to judge."
Beside him, Oden frowned slightly.
He did not like this way of doing things.
But when he remembered Rowan's earlier words to unite every force that could be united he gradually understood.
Having reached Laugh Tale himself, Oden understood even more clearly just how terrifying the World Government truly was.
In fact, Roger turning himself in and beginning the Great Pirate Era with his own death...
might not have been without that intention.
Time slowly passed inside the underground prison.
Rowan remained deep in thought.
Queen stared at him nervously.
Kaido said nothing more.
And King seemed entirely unwilling to serve Rowan.
Five minutes later, Rowan opened his eyes.
His right hand gripped the hilt of his Asauchi tightly.
Then his Conqueror's Haki suddenly converged into the blade.
With the release chant spoken the Zanpakutō entered Shikai.
Fwoosh!
The flaming blade sliced through the prison bars and instantly severed Kaido's head.
The sudden scene caused Oden to stumble backward several steps.
Meanwhile, both Queen and King seemed to be forcibly suppressing their emotions.
Their restraint did not escape Rowan's notice.
Sure enough...even Queen, who constantly acted terrified of death, still possessed the will of a true pirate.
The Shikai state of Ryūjin Jakka dissipated immediately after activation.
The moment the flames pierced through Kaido's body, his internal organs had already been completely reduced to charred ash.
No one could survive six-thousand-degree flames burning directly inside their body.
Not even Big Mom's iron balloon physique could withstand that.
Rowan sheathed the Zanpakutō once more.
Meanwhile, Kaido's soul directly entered Prison Space Channel No. 1: Guard Dormitory.
"Oden."
"Bring me one physically strong Beast Pirates prisoner."
Oden froze briefly.
Still shocked by the terrifying heat from moments earlier, he instinctively nodded before heading upstairs.
Rowan turned and glanced at both Queen and King.
But he said nothing.
At this moment, even if those two swore loyalty to him, he would not believe a single word.
And both of them also remained silent.
Neither begging for mercy nor uttering threats.
Very soon, one of the Beast Pirates prisoners intentionally kept alive for future public parading was brought down.
Rowan formed hand seals with both hands.
In an instant, his stamina began draining rapidly.
Meanwhile, the living prisoner suddenly became wrapped in layers of ash.
A miserable scream echoed throughout the underground chamber.
Edo Tensei!
Ash scattered piece by piece.
The living prisoner from moments ago had completely vanished.
In his place stood a completely naked Kaido.
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