Before being betrayed by the king of his own country, Kaido was also once a young man who longed for peace.
Therefore, even though after darkening he single-mindedly wanted to build a world that followed the rule of the survival of the fittest, after listening to King speak of the legend of Joy Boy, deep down in Kaido heart, he was actually also looking forward to the appearance of this "savior".
Of course, this did not mean that if someone just came along and said they were Joy Boy, Kaido would accept it. His basic principle was that since someone was to become the "savior", then at the very least, they should be able to defeat a villainous pirate like him, right?
Although Kaido thoughts seemed very contradictory and left people speechless, in the pirate world where weirdos were everywhere, it was not really anything out of the ordinary.
Just as Sherwin could not understand Kaido thoughts, in Kaido eyes, Sherwin, this Hunter, was equally incompatible with this world.
There were many people who would help and care about the weak. Roger, Whitebeard, and even Kozuki Oden, whom Kaido both despised and admired, were all such people.
Yet they were all different from Sherwin, but if asked to say exactly what was different, Kaido was somewhat unable to put it into words.
In fact, it was very normal for Kaido to have such a feeling, because Sherwin way of conducting himself was cultivated based on a very peaceful environment, giving him a completely different underlying color compared to these fellows in the pirate world who grew up out of chaos.
And when this special temperament fell into Kaido eyes, it looked very much like the appearance a "savior" in his imagination ought to have.
Furthermore, Sherwin brought along a group of Felynes and looked extremely joyful all day long, which also highly accorded with the description of "Joy Boy" in the legends.
During this recent period of time, Sherwin had even united with Dragon, planning to "liberate" the world ruled by the World Government as well as that old fogey named Imu. Saying he was a "warrior of liberation" should probably not be an exaggeration, right?
As for the so-called "Sun God"...
Wasn't that little Felyne who had blown off one of his horns "sun" enough? Even her nickname was "The Fleeing Sun"!
Although the characteristics of the Sun God not falling on Sherwin but instead falling on Klee Meow was indeed a bit strange, "Joy Boy" was after all a legend from hundreds of years ago, so it was also possible that there were some mistransmissions along the way.
Besides, it was not just the "Sun God" by Sherwin side, there was also a "Thunder God"! For him to be able to make the "Sun God" and the "Thunder God" follow him, wasn't he even more remarkable than the "Sun God" itself?
The only thing that did not quite accord with the legend was that Sherwin could not make his body stretch and contract as freely as rubber to conduct battle instead, it was that son of Dragon who accorded more with this characteristic.
But just like Klee Meow being the "Sun God", Kaido believed this was because those people who worshipped "Joy Boy" had transferred the more prominent abilities mastered by the people around him onto his own person.
Therefore, Luffy appearance not only failed to confuse Kaido, but instead made him even more firmly believe that Sherwin was "Joy Boy."
Sherwin had no idea that Kaido had already gone through so much psychological activity just guessing his identity, nor did he remember Kaido ever mentioning Joy Boy in the manga.
He scratched his head and said, "Although I don't know where you heard about 'Joy Boy' from, I'm really not him..."
Seeing that many people present showed looks of curiosity, Sherwin simply shared all the information about Joy Boy that he had compiled through the Poneglyphs, the manga, and the intelligence provided by Vegapunk and Zunesha...
Well, considering Luffy current strength, Sherwin still decided to temporarily conceal the fact that the Nika Fruit was the awakened state of the Gum-Gum Fruit.
"An enemy of the World Government from eight hundred years ago?"
Whitebeard raised his eyebrows. "I have also heard a few legends about 'Joy Boy' and 'Nika,' but I didn't expect him to have such an identity."
Having followed Roger through the Grand Line before, only missing out on stepping onto Laugh Tale at the final moment, Shanks was much more familiar with these two names. "In the Poneglyphs that Captain Roger deciphered back then, the name of Joy Boy had also appeared."
As for Charlotte Linlin, she pondered for a moment before slowly speaking, "I remember the name 'Nika'... just like the Lunarians, the Giants also worship this un God'."
Sherwin nodded and said, "According to the clues I've gathered, the Joy Boy from eight hundred years ago was in all probability a Giant, or at least his size was no different from the Giant Race."
"So, the so-called 'Joy Boy' is actually just a Devil Fruit user?"
After listening to Sherwin explanation, a look of obvious disappointment appeared on Kaido face, but he quickly recovered.
It was originally just a bit of a fantasy born from his own "childish thoughts" in his early years, and now he had merely woken up from that fantasy.
Kaido once again firmed up his dream of creating a world where the strong prey on the weak, completely snuffing out those expectations regarding a "savior" in the bottom of his heart.
Looking at the shifting expressions on Kaido face, Sherwin scratched his head once more.
Was this guy Kaido… always such an emotionally expressive character?
The moment that thought popped into Sherwin head, he suddenly remembered Kaido's behavior when he was a drunkard…
Well, alright, his emotions in the manga were already pretty rich to begin with.
However, regarding Kaido claim that it was "just a Devil Fruit user," Sherwin still felt the need to speak up for the Nika Fruit.
"A fruit that can be called the God is naturally not that simple."
Sherwin explained, "If it were just an ordinary Devil Fruit, then over these past eight hundred years, the World Government would have had countless opportunities to find it and lock it away to prevent the emergence of another 'Joy Boy.' Yet, they didn't do so—or rather, they couldn't do so…"
When he revealed that the Nika Fruit possessed a will of its own and had never been successfully held by the World Government over the past eight hundred years, Kaido, who had been a bit despondent just a moment ago, instantly re-energized.
"You know so much about the Nika Fruit, could it be that you know its whereabouts?!"
"Ah… I do know, but…"
"It has already been eaten by Luffy."
Before Sherwin could even finish speaking, Dragon, who was standing nearby, directly "sold out" his own son.
"However, if the fruit cannot be awakened, it is merely an ordinary Paramecia-type Rubber-Rubber Fruit."
"Wait! The fruit I stole from the CP agents back then was the Nika Fruit?!"
"Hm? The one Who-Who was escorting when you robbed him was the Nika Fruit?!"
Shanks and Kaido spoke almost at the same time.
The two looked at each other, only to realize that they had already crossed paths with this peculiar Devil Fruit long ago.
"Wororororo! Since we hold such a good card in our hands, we can't let it go to waste easily! Dragon, hand your son over to me for training for the next period of time! I will make him awaken his fruit ability at the fastest speed possible!"
Kaido proposed very enthusiastically.
Dragon pursed his lips and was about to refuse, but he was stopped by Sherwin, who was beside him.
By this point, Sherwin had also noticed that Kaido seemed to have some sort of special obsession with "Joy Boy", plus in the manga, Luffy fruit awakening was hammered out by Teacher Kaido.
So...
Why not let him try?