Wuhu!
If they could recruit such a powerful ally to rescue Ace, their success rate would be at least 60% or higher.
"Who is it? Someone from Ace's Whitebeard Pirates crew? The First Division Commander, Marco?!"
Sabo had a decent understanding of the Whitebeard Pirates, the current strongest pirate crew.
And coincidentally, Marco, the First Division Commander, was a Yonko Commander, which perfectly matched Selo's description of a strong ally.
But Selo shook his head.
"It's Kaido's daughter, Yamato."
"Oh! Kaido's daughter… wait, wait… Kaido has a daughter?! Selo, are you talking about that Yonko Kaido?!"
Not only Sabo, but even Koala was completely dumbfounded.
They hadn't expected that the ally Selo wanted to find would be Kaido's daughter.
The relationships involved here seemed… a tiny bit, just a tiny bit… complicated.
Also, since when did Kaido have a daughter?
Even more absurd, Ace, the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, had a close relationship with the daughter of Kaido, the Captain of the Beasts Pirates?
This circle is a mess.
"Kaido does have a daughter, biologically related."
Hancock had heard a little about this.
Just yesterday, she was telling Selo that Yamato might be the daughter of Kaido and Big Mom.
"Ace once went to Wano Country's Onigashima, the Beasts Pirates' main base, for a certain reason. There, he unexpectedly met Kaido's daughter, Yamato. Since they both hated their fathers and respected each other's strength, they became very close friends."
"You even know that level of detail, Selo?!"
At this point, Sabo was starting to believe that Selo really did know everything.
Then again, it was also possible that Ace had told Selo directly.
Maybe Selo and Ace had a special relationship, too.
"So that means Kaido's daughter Yamato should be willing to help us rescue Ace."
Sabo felt reassured.
Though their team did feel a bit odd…
A Revolutionary Army Chief of Staff.
A Warlord of the Sea.
A Yonko's daughter.
And… a Warlord's boyfriend.
And together, they'd go rescue the Second Division Commander of another Yonko.
You could only say… Ace had amazing social connections.
Still hard to believe he got caught by one of Blackbeard's underlings.
And under such dramatic circumstances.
"Even if Yamato agrees to help us, we still have to get past Kaido."
Selo didn't know whether Kaido was currently on Onigashima.
If Kaido was there… well, that might be great.
After all, the Mission Reward System had a task about dragging Kaido into the Summit War.
Oh, right, there was also a mission to get the Beasts Pirates involved in the Summit War.
That second task was much more difficult.
The real challenge was in pulling the entire Beasts Pirates crew into it.
Originally, Kaido did plan to interfere in the Summit War, but was intercepted halfway by that meddler, Shanks.
If Selo could intervene early or come up with another method, getting Kaido involved might not be too hard.
As for the Beasts Pirates themselves…
Though Kaido had brute strength, he wasn't dumb.
With such a rare opportunity to weaken both the Marines and Whitebeard's crew, Kaido would never be stupid enough to throw his forces into the meat grinder.
Staying out of it would be the smart move.
Selo still had no idea how to pull the Beasts Pirates into the war.
He figured he'd decide once they reached Onigashima.
If no solution presented itself, he might just abandon that mission altogether.
After all, while he did want the reward for that mission, the Mythical Zoan-type Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Model: Wind God Pterosaur, it didn't compare to the reward for rescuing Ace during the war: the Mythical Zoan, type Human-Human Fruit, Drunken Sword Immortal Form.
"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let's head to Onigashima in Wano to find Yamato!"
A plan was a plan, but they still had to act on it.
Seeing that Little Sparrow had finally finished all the sea fish on the table, Selo gestured for Hancock, Sabo, and Koala to set out.
Just then, Koala realized with horror: she had paid for the seafood feast… but barely eaten any herself.
That was her entire savings from months of frugal living!
She had only splurged this once to reward Sabo for his hard work traveling around.
Now it was… gone.
Total breakdown.
"Squeak squeak squeak!"
"Oh! Koala, Little Sparrow says thank you for the meal! And he says next time, he'll invite you to soak in lava, pretty much like a hot spring!"
Turns out, Little Sparrow was quite polite.
Selo also sincerely thanked Koala.
All Koala could do was force a very awkward smile. "Hehe… we're all friends… it's… it's fine… no need to thank me…"
But deep inside, she was dying.
The three humans and one bird, each with different feelings, walked toward the island's shore.
Sabo and Koala naturally headed for the small boat they'd taken to reach the island.
Hancock walked toward the large ship marked with the symbol of the Kuja Pirates.
Only Selo and Little Sparrow remained still.
Which drew puzzled looks from the others.
"Selo, everyone, let's take my ship to Onigashima. It's the fastest one here."
Looking around at the docked ships, Hancock's vessel was the biggest and fastest.
Sabo and Koala exchanged a look and agreed. They turned to head for Hancock's ship.
But Selo and Little Sparrow were still motionless, only now with a smug smile creeping onto their faces.
"Little Sparrow!"
"Screech!!!"
Finally, with Selo's call, Little Sparrow beat its wings and soared into the sky.
In less than a second, it transformed from a fist-sized bird into a colossal Vermilion Bird over 100 meters tall.
The transformation left Sabo and Koala speechless.
"Wh-What… what kind of freakish bird is that?!"
"Could it be… a Devil Fruit user?!"
Even though Hancock had witnessed this transformation yesterday, she was still stunned again today.
It reminded her of Kaido's Azure Dragon form.
Surely Little Sparrow had eaten a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, right?
"Little Sparrow is a Zoan-type, Bird-Bird Fruit: Mythical Model, Vermilion Bird user."
Selo cleared up the mystery.
Perched proudly above them in its majestic form, Little Sparrow circled over the group.
Now knowing it had a Mythical Zoan ability, the three couldn't help but gaze up with admiration and curiosity.
Probably the first time a bird had eaten a Mythical Zoan fruit.
"Let Little Sparrow fly us to Onigashima, it's way faster than any ship on the sea."
Only then did the others understand why Selo and Little Sparrow had been standing there so smugly.
They didn't need a ship.
And honestly, if anyone had a 100-meter-tall divine bird as a pet, they wouldn't want to ride a ship either.
The three of them followed Selo and leapt onto Little Sparrow's broad back.
A gentle heat radiated from its back; it would be incredibly cozy in winter.
"Let's go, Little Sparrow!!"
"Screech!!!"
"…Uh, I think we're flying in the wrong direction…"
No big deal.
Thanks to Koala's correction, Little Sparrow finally turned and soared toward Onigashima.
With just a flap of its wings, it crossed thousands of meters.
Everything was going smoothly until half a day later, when they were disturbed by a massive noise from an island below.
"Little Sparrow, stop! Looks like two groups are fighting down there!"
Selo instructed Little Sparrow to hover a few hundred meters above the island, peering down at the situation.
The noise coming from the island was deafening; it pierced the clouds.
Selo's curiosity was piqued. He had to check it out.
The others felt the same.
"Looks like… two pirate crews?!"
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be where the territories of the Big Mom Pirates and Red-Hair Pirates meet."
"That's… that's Katakuri of the Big Mom Pirates!!!"
As the four observed, they quickly figured out the situation:
It was a clash between the Big Mom Pirates and Red-Hair Pirates over control of the island.
Leading the Big Mom Pirates in this battle was none other than the famous Katakuri, one of the Sweet Commanders.
On the Red-Hair side… the leader was a nobody. Even Hancock, Sabo, and Koala didn't recognize him.
But Selo did.
It was Rockstar, a new member of the Red-Haired Pirates, who was sent by Shanks to deliver a letter to Whitebeard.
His bounty was something like 94 million berries.
In comparison, Katakuri's bounty was 1.057 billion.
Not even on the same level.
Who gave Rockstar the courage to challenge Katakuri over an island?
[Ding! New mission: Defeat Katakuri. Reward: One-day trial card of Yonko Luffy's full power!]
"Huh?!"
Just as Selo was about to signal Little Sparrow to continue toward Onigashima, a familiar ding echoed in his mind.
The mission had arrived, suddenly and without warning.