Rocks wanted to sail to Elbaf—old buddy visit, recruit the Giant King, shake hands, drink forever.
Dimon? Zero interest. Your friend, not mine.
But that throwaway line lit a spark: if the Wine of Immortality works on giants, then it works on other species… even other creatures.
Which meant his "Devour" targets didn't have to be pirates on Hachinosu.
"I'll pass," Dimon told Rocks flatly. "Harald's your friend, not mine."
Then he flicked a glance at Kaido, and strolled out of the Skull Grand Hotel.
Night on Hachinosu was louder than noon—laughter, dice, and the occasional wall-crash.
Dimon waited by the front door a beat; Kaido lumbered out.
"You needed me?"
"Want another cup of immortality?" Dimon asked. "Do me a favor, and it's yours."
Kaido perked up immediately. Immortal or not, good liquor is good liquor.
"What's the job? We're friends—name it."
"Come to sea with me. We capture a Sea King. Alive." Dimon deadpanned. "With your strength—manageable?"
Kaido snorted. "You kidding? But… why Sea Kings? Cooking them?"
He made a face. "They taste awful. I tried. Twice."
Sea Kings—the ocean's apex beasts. Colossal, varied, everywhere. The kings of the sea… and a nightmare for anyone in a boat.
"You in or out?"
"I'm in!" Kaido slapped his chest. If the reward was wine, this was a no-brainer.
"Tomorrow morning. The harbor."
Dimon didn't head home yet. He ducked into a back-alley clinic and bought a bag of medical syringes.
The wine didn't have to be sipped. Injected worked, too.
Back at the Immortality Bar, he spent 100 Demon Points to make a fresh bottle, then drew off portions into syringes.
"Good. If I can Devour a Sea King… it might outclass devouring pirates."
He slept like a log.
—
Dawn, the harbor. Kaido arrived early with a ship already prepped. Not the Saber of Xebec—smaller, shabbier, bearing a Jolly Roger Dimon didn't recognize.
"Where'd you get the boat?"
Kaido grinned. Silliest question alive. Pirates acquired things the pirate way.
If not for the fact that only Dimon could brew immortality, the Rocks crew would've stolen him, too.
Dimon was used to it now. "Let's go."
They boarded. The crew were swollen-eyed, nose-bent wrecks—clearly post-Kaido negotiations.
"H-hey, Lord Kaido!" the captain wheezed, showing a bloody gap-toothed smile.
Dimon chuckled. "And who are you lot?"
"Lord Dimon! I'm Bill 'Oni', captain of the Hell Pirates—bounty 174 million!" he said with surprising respect.
Dimon paused. Hell Pirates… right. Monroe from last night was one of theirs.
Awkward.
"Head for the Calm Belt," Dimon said.
The ship raised canvas and cut toward that windless, glassy strip of sea where the largest Sea Kings laired.
Two days later, they neared the mirror-still waters. Captain Bill refused to budge.
"Lord Dimon, Lord Kaido—go farther and we enter their nest. No wind. In is easy—out is suicide!"
He clutched Kaido's pant leg and sobbed.
"Quit whining." Kaido punted him aside.
"Forget it," Dimon said, amused. "Lower a dinghy. We'll go alone."
Two immortals. Big courage. No brakes.
Bill nearly wept with gratitude and had men drop a small boat.
Dimon hopped down. Kaido followed; the dinghy nearly died under his weight.
"You row." Dimon held the gunwales steady and tossed Kaido both oars.
"At least take turns—" Kaido started, then sighed. Wine was on the line.
"C'mon, Kaizō. There's an old saying—the capable do more work," Dimon teased.
Kaido grumbled and rowed. Hard. The dinghy skimmed the sea like a skipped stone—spray fanned behind them as they slid into the Calm Belt.
Back on the pirate ship, one underling whispered, "Captain… do we leave?"
Bill glared. "Idiot! They'd kill us for it! Drop anchor. We wait."
Kaido carved the sea with the oars. Half an hour later, nothing but blue and horizon in every direction—no landmarks, no wind, no mercy.
"Brought a log pose?" Dimon asked.
"Nope."
He pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course he didn't.
"This is the Calm Belt," Kaido said, scanning the water. "So where are the Sea Kings?"
Dimon had no words.
Suddenly Kaido's eyes narrowed. "Something's rising. Be careful."
The dinghy shuddered. The ocean bulged. Then—WHAM—a mountain of black-and-white flesh erupted upward.
A horse-headed Sea King punched through the surface. The dinghy rode its snout like a splinter on a whale.
Dimon leaned over the side and whistled. "That's… big."
One of its eyes was larger than their boat. The portion above water alone was hundreds of meters tall.
"Hmph. Leave it to me."
Kaido sprang skyward, right fist cocked. Armament Haki condensed, a burning red sun around his knuckles.
"Alive," Dimon shouted. "We need it alive!"
"I know!"
Kaido plunged, fist slamming into the Sea King's spine with a detonation that rippled the sea.
The Haki invaded, shattered from within—internal destruction—cracking backbone without killing the beast.
The monster's scream split the air—and the sea boiled as more titans surged up, drawn by the cry.
The dinghy slid off the rising head and smacked back into the water. Dimon kept the boat level and studied the wound.
"High-grade Armament—Internal Destruction. Efficient. Won't kill it outright."
Around them, the once-placid belt became a field of moving mountains.
"Gehahahaha—now we're talking!" Kaido was already trading blows with another gigantic silhouette, a feral grin cutting his face.
Dimon seized the window. He drove a syringe into the horse-headed Sea King's hide and injected a measure of immortality.
Then in one step he was atop its skull. His right hand settled on the crown.
A whisper in his mind:
Devour.
The Devil's power burst forth. It engulfed the titan.
In seconds, the Sea King eclipsed, crumbling to dust that swirled inward and vanished into Dimon's palm.
A roar of might bloomed inside him—raw, surging, primordial—like the sea itself had taken root in his bones.
Dimon's breath hitched. His muscles tightened, senses sharpened, balance re-centered as if the horizon had been nailed to his spine.
And then the water heaved again.
The shadow beneath them wasn't just big. It was vast—an abyss with eyes.
All around, lesser Sea Kings stilled… and bowed their heads toward the darkness.
"Kaido," Dimon said softly, smiling despite himself. "Don't drop the oars."
Right beneath the dinghy, something older than storms opened its eye.
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