In the hall, Caesar blinked and exchanged a glance with Linlin beside him.
Linlin's shoulders trembled as she struggled to hold back her laughter.
Pudding gave Yamato, who was lost in thought, a strange look.
"Yamato's mother is... quite an interesting woman."
....
In the projection, night quietly fell amidst Kaido's intermittent screams of pain.
The deranged woman tormented Kaido for several more hours before finally exhausting herself and collapsing onto him, snoring loudly.
"Damn it! You drool in your sleep?! And you dare bite me?! Do you dream of eating me too?! What a... crazy woman."
Soon, the thoroughly exhausted Kaido also began snoring, fast asleep.
At dawn, Kaido was jolted awake by a sharp pain.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a face gaunt with hunger.
Yes, it was the same woman—now holding a flat stone, which she was using like a knife to saw at the wound on Kaido's arm.
After a night's rest, Kaido found that he had regained some strength.
Immediately, his superhuman physique came into play.
With just a flex of his muscles, the vines the woman had used to bind him burst apart layer by layer.
"Wororororo! You damn woman, your time is up! Let's see how I deal with you now!"
Kaido grinned savagely, stood up, and flicked the stone in the woman's hand with his thumb and forefinger, shattering it instantly.
The woman froze, looking up at Kaido in confusion.
"Cow cow, are you running away? Can I... have a cow leg? I'm so hungry..."
"I'm not a cow, I'm a man!"
Kaido fumed, scanning the beach in frustration when his gaze suddenly halted.
He noticed a long drag mark in the sand, stretching all the way to a coconut tree.
It seemed that yesterday, this madwoman had dragged him out of the sea.
Kaido twitched his lips and raised his massive hand, ready to smack the crazy woman dead.
But just as his hand hovered over her face, he couldn't bring himself to strike.
"Fine. You pissed me off, but you did save my life. Wait here!"
Grumbling, Kaido strode into the island's forest.
"Cow cow!" The woman wailed as Kaido left, collapsing to the ground again.
With his regained strength, Kaido slightly released his Observation Haki and sensed the presence of some animals.
Soon, he returned carrying several bizarre creatures—a cross between lions and pigs—and walked over to the coconut tree.
Then he turned around and gathered a pile of firewood.
Kaido opened his mouth wide and suddenly spewed a burst of flames onto the wood, igniting the firewood.
Moments later, the animal he had cleaned in the seawater was roasted to a crisp by him.
Gulp.
That crazy woman, her eyes glowing green, kept drooling as she stared at the roasted meat in Kaido's hands.
Kaido curled his lips, tore off a strip of roasted pork, and handed it to the woman.
Crunch, crunch…
Within seconds, the woman was staring at Kaido again with pitiful eyes.
Kaido's lips twitched.
He hadn't even had time to eat yet—how did this crazy woman finish so quickly?
Helpless, Kaido continued feeding her one piece after another.
By the time the woman finished her third animal, she finally stopped demanding more from Kaido.
Instead, she yawned, sprawled across Kaido's lap, and fell into a deep sleep again.
Kaido scratched his head but didn't push her away.
He silently roasted the last beast and slowly ate it himself.
...
Caesar kept manipulating the playback speed of the footage, fast-forwarding through unimportant parts.
...
Another night passed.
The woman, who had been using Kaido's thigh as a pillow, stretched lazily upon waking.
But the moment she saw Kaido, she let out a shriek and scrambled backward over ten meters.
"D-Demon!" she stammered, her voice trembling.
Kaido rolled his eyes.
Yesterday, she was calling him "cow," but now that she'd eaten her fill, he was a demon.
After some commotion, the woman finally calmed down.
No longer afraid of Kaido, she walked straight over and sat beside him.
"Thank you for saving me. If I hadn't eaten anything, I would've starved to death. Let me introduce myself—I'm Filina, a giant from Elbaf!"
Now composed, the woman flashed a sweet smile.
Though her leafy attire only covered the essentials, leaving much of her skin exposed, she didn't seem the least bit embarrassed.
"A giant?" Kaido grunted, eyeing Filina skeptically.
"Giants are over ten meters tall. How can you be this short?"
Filina giggled.
"I was born this way. My adoptive parents told me I have dwarfism among giants, so I can't grow tall. Plus, my lifespan is only a tenth of a normal giant's, which is why my people gave me to humans to raise."
Kaido was taken aback.
"You were abandoned by your own kind, yet you're still this cheerful? You really are a crazy woman."
"Hehehe, what can I do? My life's already short. If I don't stay happy, wouldn't that make it meaningless?"
Filina grinned, her dimples showing, making the rough-and-tumble Kaido's heart inexplicably race.
Kaido coughed awkwardly and pointed toward the distant forest.
"Aren't there plenty of animals in the woods? How did you end up starving like this?"
Filina pouted. "I don't have the strength to catch them."
Kaido snorted angrily. "No strength? You were plenty strong when you tried to eat me!"
"Hehehe, I don't remember that~ Anyway, you're fine, so don't be so stingy, little oxy~"
Filina giggled and leaned closer, blinking playfully at Kaido.
"Who's 'little oxy'?! Don't call me that! My name's Kaido, of the Oni Clan! These aren't ox horns!"
Kaido growled in irritation.
"If you were raised by humans, how did you end up stranded on this deserted island?"
A moment later, Kaido inexplicably asked again.
Filina sighed, hugging her knees.
The sea breeze on the beach was cool, and she seemed to feel a bit cold, pressing closer to Kaido's body, which made him tremble slightly.
Filina's long black hair fluttered in the sea breeze, a few strands drifting onto Kaido's face, carrying a faint fragrance.
"My human parents were an elderly couple from the countryside. They lived in a small village, making a living by farming and fishing. Hehe, you know what, Oxy? Even though they weren't my biological parents, they treated me very well. I'm a giant—though a dwarf among the giants—but I still grew quickly and had a big appetite."
"They worked extremely hard just to keep me fed and clothed. I'm so grateful to them, and I loved them. The three of us lived in that little village for eighteen years."
"They watched me grow day by day, until I became too big for the house."
The smile on Filina's face slowly faded, replaced by sorrow.
"And I watched them grow older day by day. That feeling, do you know what it's like, Oxy? It hurts..."