After several minutes of silence, King finally confirmed what his Observation Haki.
Yamato was nowhere within the reach of his Observation Haki.
King exhaled, then spoke without warning.
"Kaido," he said, voice low, "that young man… you know he's no ordinary pirate.
He's the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates—Portgas D. Ace, twenty years old.
Current user of Flame-Flame Fruit
Bounty: 550 million berries."
Kaido froze.
He hadn't expected King to know that.
King continued
" And if that young man stabilizes his control over Internal Destruction Armament Haki and Conqueror Haki entanglement, he'll be far stronger than he is now. The Whitebeard Pirates might even become like the Red-Hair Pirates—two Emperor-level monsters in a single crew.
Kaido went silent.
Not a word. Not a breath.
For a few moments, the world seemed to hold its air with him.
Then—
Wo-ro-ro-ro-ro-ro-ro!
His laughter burst out like an eruption.
"King…" Kaido said, grin stretching unnaturally wide, "this world has gotten boring."
His eyes gleamed—not with amusement, but with a hunger older than peace and stronger than ambition.
"Ever since that brat Akagami Shanks entered the New World, everything has stagnated. No movement. No real threats. No real chaos."
He tilted his head back, letting the moonlight bathe his face.
"I don't like stagnation. The arrival of that brat is a signal—
a signal for greater chaos,
greater war…
a war that will engulf the entire world."
His smile sharpened.
"And we…" he said softly, "we must be part of that war."
King's jaw tightened, but he remained silent.
"So why," Kaido continued, voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, "would I stop the very war I've always dreamed of?"
He turned away, cloak fluttering.
"As for letting Yamato go…" His tone shifted—gentler, but only slightly.
"Well—she found her purpose. I saw it in her eyes."
A faint, unreadable expression flickered across his face.
"So I let her go.
Anyway I promised that brat that I will let him go if he could control that attack. "
---
Next day
Naval Headquarters, Marineford
At Marineford, the Naval Headquarters was buzzing with unusual tension. Today, all the high-ranking members of the Marines were gathered in the main meeting room. Presiding over the session was none other than Fleet Admiral Sengoku, flanked by the three Admirals—Sakazuki, Aokiji, and Kizaru—and an array of vice-admirals. Among them sat Vice-Admiral Garp and Chief of Staff Tsuru, all present to witness the briefing firsthand.
In front of everyone, a vice-admiral controlled a large display, showing footage of a nighttime battle. The room fell silent as every eye fixed on the screen.
The footage revealed a young man, barely twenty, locked in combat with a dragon. From the perspective of Akira's previous life, it seemed like a young, kind-hearted man facing an evil, monstrous threat. And… that was mostly true.
All eyes were glued to the battle, everyone taking it seriously—everyone except one old man, who sat contentedly munching on senbei, seemingly admiring the chaos on screen as if it were his own masterpiece.
Sengoku's patience snapped. He slammed his hand onto the desk with a deafening crack, startling everyone present. Not a single voice dared to interrupt.
" Garp, Shut up "
When the footage ended, the vice-admiral spoke with measured gravity:
"Forecast for the situation: The Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Portgas D.Ace currently the user of the Flame-Flame Logia, has been unusually quiet since joining the Whitebeard Pirates. Yesterday night, according to CP0 intelligence and our field reports, he abducted Kaido's daughter, Yamato. After Kaido confronted him, a battle ensued between Kaido, Fire Fist Ace and Kaido's daughter, Yamato—who had consumed a Mythical Zoan fruit Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Okuchi-no-Makami.
During the fight, Ace was rendered unconscious, but Yamato escaped with Ace aboard a Beast Pirates ship.
Initial reports suggest the possibility of an alliance forming between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Beast Pirates."
A hush fell over the room. Every Marine present understood the gravity of the report… except one man.
Garp.
Hearing the news, he laughed so hard that all the senbei in his mouth flew across the table, landing directly on Sengoku's face. The fleet admiral sputtered, wiping sticky crumbs and saliva off, only to summon his infamous Human-Human Fruit, Model: Buddha and punch Garp square in the jaw.
But Garp didn't flinch. He only chuckled, wiping his mouth.
"Hahaahaahaa, Abducting the Beast Pirate Princess, huh… just like his old man."
Meanwhile, Sengoku's mind churned, replaying the footage, the intelligence, and Garp's words. Something was off, important… but what?
---
The Vice-Admiral cleared his throat, drawing the room's attention once more.
> "The purpose of today's meeting," he began, voice steady yet grave, "is to renew the bounties on the pirates Portgas D. Ace and Kaido's daughter, Yamato."
Every head in the room snapped forward. Murmurs ran through the assembly.
"Both of these individuals are young," the Vice-Admiral continued, "and both possess enormous potential. They are threats capable of destabilizing the balance of the world itself. One wields the Flame-Flame Logia, the other the Mythical Luan Devil Fruit. Both have awakened Conqueror's Haki, and—remarkably—can control and even partially entangle it."
A hush fell over the room. Not even the old senbei-muncher dared to make a sound. The Vice-Admiral's words carried the weight of years of accumulated intelligence, of countless lives lost to pirates.
"We must therefore decide bounties worthy of their strength, bounties that will reflect both their threat level and the need to curb their influence."
Silence. Hours stretched in careful deliberation. Every Marine present understood the gravity: these were no ordinary pirates. They were not just dangerous—they were living, breathing storms, capable of toppling admirals and shaking the New World.
Finally, after what felt like eternity, the decision came from above. The bounty official stepped forward, crisp papers in hand, and began publishing the numbers.
---
Meanwhile, in the distant city, Morgan could barely contain himself. Fresh intelligence from Navy and a news secret agent confirmed the Marine orders, and Morgan's excitement boiled over. He began printing, publishing, and distributing the bounties and newspaper across every major port, town, and city.
By afternoon, newspapers and bounty pamphlets littered the streets like autumn leaves, thrown down as if discarded—yet the public devoured them eagerly, curiosity and fear driving their hands to snatch every copy.
The world was buzzing. And somewhere, far across the seas, Morgan was grinning like a madman, muttering to himself:
"This… this is going to be perfect chaos."
---