Splash!
A tall, burly figure leaped into the sea, creating a three- to four-meter-high splash. He swam away quickly and soon vanished.
"Swimming the entire way... What a monster." On the shore of Forbidden Island, Aeridar and Oliver watched Kaido swim away, behind them stood Mosa and dozens of their elite crew members.
"We came here, and I broke a sword and got a few injuries, but seeing two monsters wasn't too bad," Oliver said, his face pale. He was wearing a black overcoat, and his chest was wrapped in white bandages.
"Swords are easy to get. There are two famous blades in our treasury: a twenty-one grade Great Grade Sword and a fifty grade Excellent Grade Sword." Aeridar, who was also wrapped in white bandages, glanced at Oliver and said, "When we get back this time, we have to train properly."
"Captain, it seems like you got a lot of ideas from that monster over the last three days," Oliver said with a light laugh, recalling something.
"Don't be a pain!" Aeridar's face darkened, and he cursed.
"Alright, the real monster has left, but there's still a big one we need to deal with." With that, Aeridar turned and led the group away from the coast and back to the camp.
In fact, over the past three days, to entertain Kaido, Aeridar had emptied his entire liquor cellar, which almost broke both his and Oliver's hearts. However, Kaido, having been supplied with alcohol, was much easier to talk to and even sparred with Aeridar several times.
Compared to ordinary people, Aeridar was a monster, but to Aeridar, Kaido was an even bigger one. His body was practically indestructible, and his strength was immense. After several exchanges, Aeridar couldn't gain any advantage and was instead beaten badly.
Even so, Aeridar's combat experience improved rapidly, his control over his strength became more refined, and he gained new insights into his Devil Fruit's abilities. He knew that with some proper training, his strength would increase significantly. Aeridar had also thought of a way to solve his weakness in physical strength.
In the center of the camp, a hundred-meter-long black giant beast was chained up by dozens of thick chains. These chains were laced with Seastone, making them incredibly strong. They were also run through its wings, preventing it from flying and forcing it to stay put.
Moreover, there were three to four hundred people guarding these chains. Because Calamodus's strength was too great, these chains were systematically anchored to the ground, in the sea, and even to the Chris to distribute the immense force.
"Grrr~" Seeing the group walk over, Calamodus let out a weak growl. It rolled its eyes, which were bigger than a tent, and didn't move again.
These past few days had been a torment for it. It wasn't starved, but it wasn't full either. With its wings pierced by several chains, the wounds couldn't heal, and the cuts Oliver had dealt it had taken over a day to heal, causing a significant loss of blood. Since its mouth wasn't chained, whenever it tried to breathe fire, it would be met with a beating from either Aeridar or Oliver. The more it struggled, the harder the beatings would get.
"We're leaving now. What should we do with this guy? Kill it or..." Oliver asked, his hand already resting on Nagamitsu at his waist. Right now, Oliver only had Nagamitsu on him. Yubashiri, which had been broken into three pieces, was put away. He planned to see if he could get it repaired when they got back, as it was a famous sword, and even if he couldn't use it, it would be a nice piece to have in his collection.
"Unchain it. I'll have a chat with it. From what I've seen over the past few days, it has high intelligence. We just need to beat it into submission." Aeridar stretched his sore body. Neither of them was at their peak, so it was a fair fight.
"Release the chains!" Mosa waved his hand, giving the order without looking back.
Clank, clank, clank~ Clank, clank, clank~
A short while later, the crew members guarding the chains received the news and began to unlock them. Even the chains piercing Calamodus's wings were unlocked and pulled out. This caused Calamodus to let out a pained roar.
But when all the chains were finally released, Calamodus was a little bewildered. What was happening? It wiggled its wings, watching its pierced wounds gradually begin to heal. Although slow, they were indeed healing. This strange turn of events made it hesitant to move.
"Big guy! Come and fight me outside! If you win, I'll let you go. If you lose, you'll be my pet!" Aeridar swaggered to the front of Calamodus and shouted loudly, not caring if it could understand him.
"...By the way, can it understand him?" Oliver couldn't help but say, and the group behind him all nodded in agreement.
Surprisingly, Aeridar found that Calamodus actually understood him.
"Roar~" Calamodus got up on all fours and roared at Aeridar, then surprisingly nudged Aeridar's body with its nose.
This scene baffled not only Oliver and the others, but Aeridar himself was stunned.
"You... want to follow me?" Recovering from his shock, Aeridar tentatively reached out and touched Calamodus's wet nose.
Calamodus shook its huge head and looked at Aeridar with a pitiful expression.
It turned out that this generation of Calamodus had been alive for over three hundred years and had met a lot of humans. Although it couldn't speak, its high intelligence meant it could mostly understand human language.
Being locked up here for three days and being beaten badly by Aeridar was not a good time. But there was one thing: the food here was delicious (cooked food). Although it couldn't get a full meal, it was just enough not to be hungry. Every time it ate, it would think about how wonderful it would be to eat such delicious food all the time.
It was already a little afraid of Aeridar's fists, and now they were going to fight again. If it lost, wouldn't it just get another beating? And even if it won, it wouldn't be able to eat this delicious food anymore. So, for the sake of food and to avoid being beaten, Calamodus immediately conceded.
"This guy..." Realizing what the beast meant, Aeridar didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was a glutton.
Calamodus's surrender made things easy. Aeridar had some of his crew hunt a bunch of wild beasts and had their chef roast them. Watching it eat, the beast quickly devoured what would normally feed a thousand men in a day.
After watching Calamodus eat its fill and recover its injuries and stamina, Aeridar jumped onto its head, and the crew began preparing for the return voyage.
Their objective for this trip was accomplished perfectly.
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