The Underworld's power dynamics are intricate and deeply entrenched, with numerous factions eyeing its vast transaction market every year.
However, in the face of the Underworld, a beast that devours people without spitting out bones, most are destined to return defeated.
They become mere foils for the strong in the fierce competition.
But with the current chaos on the seas, the Underworld is also full of unpredictable changes, its power structure not yet solidified, and many factions are planning to enter and carve up this cake.
Kaido naturally wouldn't miss this fat piece of meat; securing a place in the Underworld would allow him to take the initiative in future changes.
After some thought, Kaido tasked Wald and Binjack with full responsibility for this matter.
At the same time, Kaido sent Roya and Hiber to scout for factions on the sea and recruit them.
After the banquet ended, Kaido went to the back mountain.
There, Lola was practicing her punches, kicks, and short sword thrusts against wooden stakes and stone pillars, enduring the heavy snow.
Ever since witnessing the powerful display during Kaido and Redfield's brief clash, the seed of becoming stronger had been planted in Lola's heart.
Coupled with the influence and ideological infection from Wald and others over the past six months, she had long shed some unnecessary naivety.
The Leviathan Kingdom was a thorn in her side, an obstacle she had to overcome herself.
She wanted to avenge her parents; she wanted to protect this hard-won family.
At the very least, she absolutely could not be the one holding them back.
Harboring such thoughts, Lola repeated her monotonous training day after day.
"Ha!!"
Lola's whip kick snapped a wooden stake, sending its upper half flying several meters, but she didn't stop, instead rushing towards a stone pillar.
Her short sword quickly executed a flourish, then she leaped up, and over a dozen sword lights flashed, leaving over a dozen sword marks on the stone pillar.
With a crack, the stone pillar broke.
"After practicing for so long, this is all you can achieve?"
Kaido's eyes narrowed, gleaming with cold light: "Let me see how well you're using your Devil Fruit ability!"
Lola froze for a moment, fine beads of sweat on her forehead, her cheeks flushed from exertion.
Then her eyes sharpened, and wisps of black mist rose from the ground beneath her feet, growing thicker and thicker until they covered a twenty-meter radius in an instant.
Then, skeleton soldiers crawled out of the black mist, holding the weapons they most commonly used in life.
These skeleton soldiers varied in appearance; some had rotting cheeks, peeling skin, and exposed muscle fibers, looking very gruesome.
Others were completely skeletal, with clearly visible joint sockets.
These were pirates and Snow Country soldiers who had died on the island.
According to Lola, souls exist after death.
Such things are ethereal, but Kaido had seen Linlin extract others' souls to create Homies, so he wasn't surprised.
Lola could forcibly summon the souls of the dead to resurrect them in the form of "undead"; the undead had no self-awareness and acted according to Lola's commands.
The summoned undead retained their muscle memory from life, but the strength of the soul was related to the undead's willpower and physical strength in life, and Lola could not summon undead stronger than herself.
A hint of strain flashed in Lola's eyes, and she forced a smile: "This is probably my limit, summoning twenty skeleton soldiers."
She gave the skeleton soldiers simple instructions.
"Line up!!"
The faint blue flames in the skeleton soldiers' eye sockets stopped flickering, as if they were pondering the meaning of the command.
Then, like a dropped frame, they mechanically shuffled with messy steps, attempting to form a line, but "they" seemed to have not coordinated, bumping into each other while searching for positions, their Viking helmets falling to the ground, and the skeletons instantly fell apart, swallowed by the black mist on the ground.
One skeleton soldier even walked while steadying its helmet.
Lola awkwardly looked down at her toes, almost digging a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment into the ground with them.
After a scattered two minutes of adjustment, the skeleton soldiers finally got into formation.
Then Lola ordered them to move ice blocks.
The skeleton soldiers received the command, and immediately, with flickering faint blue flames, they ran towards the pile of ice blocks nearby.
Some tall skeleton soldiers carried brick-sized blocks, while some slender ones chose to carry huge ice blocks, only to be smashed apart by the ice blocks on the spot.
Lola covered her face and immediately dispelled the summoned skeleton soldiers.
Kaido didn't say much about it; with the power of the Undead Devil Fruit, this Devil Fruit should be able to grant the user the terrifying ability to summon a large army at any time.
However, Lola was still young, only nine years old, and summoning twenty skeleton soldiers was already a strenuous effort.
She still had a long time in the future to adapt, practice, and strengthen.
Kaido wouldn't comfort or encourage Lola; he still kept a stern face: "Keep practicing, don't stop! Practice until you're exhausted!"
Kaido turned and walked towards the pavilion built against the mountain nearby.
There, his subordinates had already prepared a stove and food and drink.
Kaido sat cross-legged on the ground, and his subordinates, knowing their place, filled a large bowl of sake for Kaido; he picked up the bowl and poured the sake into his mouth, letting out a loud laugh.
Looking at the slender figure constantly training in the wind and snow on the training ground, Kaido glanced at his subordinate and said: "From now on, you will be responsible for Lola's daily care. If anything happens to her, I will hold you accountable, understand?"
The two subordinates' expressions stiffened, and they stammered nervously: "But Boss Kaido, didn't you just tell Lola to train until she's exhausted?"
"Hm?!"
Kaido glared at the subordinate who spoke, and the man was immediately blown away by the Haki Kaido released.
He rolled several times down the long corridor of the pavilion, finally stopping when he hit a pillar, blood flowing from his forehead.
"My words are not for you to question."
The remaining subordinate's legs turned to jelly, and he dared not say another word, immediately prostrating himself on the ground and hurriedly saying: "Boss Kaido, rest assured, I will take good care of Lola!"
As evening approached, through the hazy mist, the setting sun could vaguely be seen congealing into a viscous crimson on the horizon.
Kaido left the pavilion and returned to the royal palace, calling for the old man Henry XI to drink with him.
Henry was already over seventy, his skin wrinkled and dry like old tree bark, his body hunched, and he walked with a tremble.
But as long as he drank, this old man, who seemed not far from death, would become lively again.
Standing on his seat, he would gesticulate wildly, performing grotesque dances.
Henry, old and cunning, knew that although Kaido was temperamental, as long as his sensitive spots were not touched, it would not lead to death.
Several days later, in the early morning.
Kaido was sound asleep in the palace when he was suddenly woken by the Den Den Mushi in his arms.
Kaido groggily opened his eyes, covering his face, his expression extremely impatient, on the verge of a furious outburst.
But he still pressed to answer.
The next moment, an anxious voice came from the Den Den Mushi:
"Kaido, our goods have been sunk, and... Wald has been captured!!"