Compared to Big Mom—who would go on murderous rampages the moment her hunger pangs hit—Kaido at least had some brains.
If he turned on Xia Te now, it could easily turn into a three-way alliance:
Xia Te Pirates + Red-Haired Pirates + Neo Marines—
all ganging up on him.
—
"How far are we from Hachinosu?"
Kaido asked in a low voice.
"At normal sailing speed, half a day is enough."
King, in his pteranodon form, landed beside him and reported.
—
Kaido glanced at the Red-Haired crew, still unable to move because the Red Force was overturned on the sea.
In just a few seconds, he ran through multiple scenarios in his head.
Finally—
he withdrew his killing intent from Xia Te and waved his hand.
—
"Move out! Take Hachinosu for me!!"
—
Although they hadn't managed to deal a devastating blow to the Red-Haired Pirates—
it was enough to make them think twice before interfering again anytime soon.
Even though Xia Te had withdrawn—
the only obstacle left now was the Marine force led by Zephyr, Momousagi, and Chaton.
And Kaido was confident—
that with just those three, the Marines couldn't stop him.
—
In short—
take Whitebeard's base first!
—
At Kaido's command, the remaining two warships sailed past the overturned Red Force—
heading straight for Hachinosu, once the headquarters of the Rocks Pirates, later Whitebeard's base.
And today—
Kaido intended to claim it as his own.
—
"Haah!!"
Shanks, who had jumped into the sea, grabbed the ship's railing with one hand—
and with a powerful heave—
flipped the entire ship back upright.
After spinning midair, it slammed back onto the ocean surface.
—
"...Haa."
Shanks took a deep breath and shouted:
"Everyone—get on board!"
—
"Shanks, the Red Force can't be used."
Beckman reminded him.
"The Float-Float Fruit effect is still active."
—
"That bastard…"
Even Shanks couldn't suppress his irritation this time.
To the Red-Haired Pirates, the Red Force was as important as the Moby Dick was to Whitebeard.
—
"What if we replace all the planks? Can we still use it?"
Shanks asked.
"That's basically rebuilding the whole ship…"
Beckman said dryly, then his expression turned serious:
"Retreat! Head to the nearest island and replace the ship immediately!"
—
The Float-Float Fruit was simply too troublesome.
Maybe its raw destructive power wasn't as overwhelming as the Tremor-Tremor Fruit—
but at sea—
once your ship was touched, you were practically dead.
Lifted thousands of meters into the sky—
then dropped.
Instant annihilation.
—
"Zephyr-sensei, what should we do next?"
Seeing Xia Te retreat, Kaido advance, and Shanks withdraw—
Chaton immediately asked for instructions.
Though his gaze lingered mostly on Xia Te's departing forces.
After all—
the Five Elders' order had been clear:
Primary target — Xia Te Pirates.
—
"No need to pursue."
Zephyr shook his head.
"Our priority is the war with the Whitebeard Pirates."
"Return to G1 and continue guarding."
—
He chose to withdraw.
—
Officially, their mission was to capture Xia Te for abducting Celestial Dragons and humiliating the World Government.
And yes—
that was indeed a grave crime.
—
But the timing…
was strange.
—
If Zephyr hadn't shown up—
the Red-Haired Pirates would likely have been heavily damaged by Xia Te and Kaido's joint assault.
If the goal was capture—
wouldn't it make more sense to wait until all three pirate crews were exhausted?
—
This order felt…
wrong.
—
Almost as if—
it wasn't about capturing Xia Te at all.
—
But about protecting Red-Hair.
—
"Publicly hunting Xia Te…"
"Secretly saving Red-Hair…"
—
That was Zephyr's conclusion.
—
…
—
Back at the Flower Capital—
—
"Damn it! If the Marines hadn't interfered, even if we couldn't kill Red-Hair, we could've crippled them!"
Shiryu said bitterly.
—
"Do you really think so, Shiryu?"
Xia Te glanced at him.
—
Shiryu paused.
"Isn't that the case?"
—
"On the surface, Zephyr and the others came because of the Celestial Dragons."
"But with Zephyr's experience, there's no way he'd deploy at a time like this."
"If they wanted to capture us, they should've waited until all three pirate crews were exhausted."
—
Shiryu's expression changed.
As a former Impel Down chief, he quickly realized—
this wasn't as simple as it seemed.
—
Why would the Marines act at such a critical moment?
Weren't they afraid of being backstabbed by pirates or the Revolutionary Army?
—
"Then… Captain, why did they do it?"
—
"If I told you…"
Xia Te's tone turned calm—
"…that the Government did this to protect the Red-Haired Pirates—would you believe me?"
—
Silence.
—
Not just Shiryu and Law—
even the Gorgon sisters, who had just stepped off the Perfume Yuda and overheard—
were stunned.
—
"The Government protecting Red-Hair? That's impossible!"
Law blurted out.
—
"Relax. It's just a hypothesis."
Xia Te raised a hand.
—
His reasoning came from one thing—
Shanks' mysterious connection with the Five Elders.
—
As for the full truth—
even Xia Te couldn't be certain.
—
But one thing was clear—
this Marine deployment was far too abnormal.
—
And if Zephyr wasn't a fool—
then the only explanation…
was that this order came directly from the World Government.
—
And once you thought about it that way—
it was hard not to connect it—
to Shanks.
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