As Ren had thought, Kaido was a very calculating guy. He might look like a big fool on the outside, but he had plenty of schemes up his sleeve.
When his own forces weren't strong enough, he didn't rush to be the one to stand out, but chose to remain hidden. He hadn't taken any special actions these past few days, just drinking alone in a tavern, leaving all the intelligence gathering to his crew of pirates.
After this operation, quite a few people had also come from Big Mom's side, led by Perospero.
Katakuri was already fourteen years old this year. With his talent, he was more than capable of handling eighty percent of situations at sea, and this time was no exception, so he had set out with Perospero.
Kaido and Big Mom had a good personal relationship, but at a time like this, he wouldn't try to cozy up to her, nor could he cooperate with her.
Personal relationships were one thing, but when it came to Captain John's treasure, that was different. Big Mom had her own massive pirate crew and wouldn't hand over the treasure to him just because of past friendships.
Besides, he owed her a favor, so if Big Mom decided to take most of the treasure, he wouldn't even have the face to object.
Therefore, until the very last moment, Kaido didn't want to encounter the Big Mom Pirates. Moreover, staying hidden was more advantageous to him.
The Beasts Pirates didn't yet have the capital to contend with established forces like Shiki. Those pirates had been famous across the seas since their time on Rocks' ship, each already had their own influence back then, and their foundation was far deeper than Kaido's.
"We can't monopolize Captain John's treasure, that's unrealistic."
Kaido's mind was clear. He didn't even need to think about it—no one on this great sea had the appetite to swallow Captain John's treasure all by themselves.
All Kaido wanted was a share of the loot.
"What's your plan?" Ren sipped his wine, barely drinking any.
Moli wasn't beside him right now; she couldn't stay still and had gone off to wander on her own.
Ren wasn't worried about her safety. With Moli's strength, unless an Admiral-level fighter personally took action, nothing would happen to her. Even if she couldn't win, she could hold her own for a while, which would be enough time for Ren to rush over and save her.
Besides, although many eyes were gathered here, most of the truly top-tier people hadn't personally entered the fray. Perhaps only Red Count and Kaido could pose a threat to Moli.
"No idea. Who knows how things will turn out?"
Kaido's face seemed flushed with drunkenness. He sat there like a mountain, constantly opening his mouth and tilting his head back to pour wine into it. His dark face was already red.
"Right now, those bastards like Shiki haven't come personally, but once they confirm John is dead and find clues to the treasure, they definitely won't let it go."
Suddenly, he became emotional and started crying like a woman.
"How tragic, so tragic! John!" he wailed. "We were once crewmates on the same ship, and now everyone is hoping you'll die. How tragic!"
Ren silently rolled his eyes, ignoring Kaido's intermittent episodes.
He talked about how tragic it was, but Kaido himself was one of those hoping for John's death. Not only hoping he'd die, but also wanting to snatch his treasure.
Over the past few days, Ren had more or less figured out Kaido's personality—having these occasional episodes was one of his traits, especially after drinking. He wasn't drunk; he had just suddenly let his guard down.
However, Ren didn't quite believe Kaido's claim that he had no plan. Given this guy's personality, unless you were truly one of his own, even if he had a plan, he probably wouldn't tell you.
In the original story, Orochi had cooperated with him for twenty years, yet Kaido had still killed him without hesitation. Then again, he hadn't expected that Orochi had been cautious and hadn't told him about the power of Yamata no Orochi, which was why he had come back to life.
"Does that mean you think John is really dead?"
Hearing this, Kaido calmed down, took another big gulp of wine, and then said leisurely, "How could that be? He's not the type to die so quietly."
"That bastard John has had it pretty rough these past few years. First, he got involved in the conflict between Shiki and Inazuma, losing a leg to two newcomers."
"Then he had a falling out with Shiki, and I've heard he's been causing trouble for Inazuma these past few years..."
The more Kaido spoke, the more pitiful he found John. But he wasn't going to sympathize with that old guy. If he hadn't been so greedy, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation.
"Even so, he wouldn't be killed by his own subordinates like this," Kaido said, shaking his head. "You have to understand, even in such a situation, he was able to withstand Wang Zhi's attack. Not everyone who survived from the Rocks era is a pushover!"
"But it doesn't matter now. Whether John is dead or alive, he's definitely done for after this whole thing is over, muhahahaha."
Kaido suddenly laughed.
In his view, that guy John was probably under so much pressure that he was going crazy to come up with such a fake death scheme.
If he had honestly taken his treasure and hidden away in some corner, perhaps no one would have found him. But now, with the situation as it was, he was as good as dead.
What gave him the nerve to deceive the entire world?
Shiki, Wang Zhi, Linlin, Gin Axe, Rai Den... Any one of them alone would be enough to keep him busy, yet he dared to provoke them all at once.
"However, we're also under a lot of pressure. It's not going to be easy to snatch food from the mouths of those powerful people," Ren said frankly.
His true strength was certainly greater than Kaido's, but he couldn't contend with so many forces on the great sea.
"Kaido, we should take action now. Before all the factions have sent out their full forces."
"Hmm..." Kaido pondered for a moment and felt that Ren made sense.
His original plan was to let the other two parties fight each other like clams, and then he would be the fisherman to profit from their struggle.
But then again, others weren't fools and wouldn't make it so easy for him to be the one to benefit. And if he could think of it, the other veteran officers from Rocks couldn't possibly not think of it. In fact, those people were even more familiar with John than he was.
"At the very least, we need to understand why John set this trap and why he chose this island," Ren said. "What's so special about this Skull Island?"
[
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