"Is that so? Then I'll have to let Judge handle the underwater equipment research."
"Ah, what a shame—if this task were completed well, it would definitely earn Kaido-san's great praise. After all, building a powerful fishman unit is one of his current top priorities."
Kai sighed with feigned regret, skillfully playing the Judge card.
"I refuse."
"Fine—wait, what?!"
Kai froze.
His prepared follow-up arguments got stuck in his throat.
This wasn't following his script at all.
"Brat, that provocation tactic stopped working on me long ago!"
Seeing Kai's shocked expression, Queen smugly stroked his signature mustache, his lips curving mockingly, "I won't be defeated by the same move twice!"
Of course, the most important reason he could resist temptation was that both involved developing new weapons, but underwater weapons sounded boring compared to the new plague bombs or laser weapons he was conceptualizing.
Once he figured those out, Kaido-aniki's admiring and dependent gaze would still be firmly locked on him, Queen-sama!
Kehehe—
"Miscalculation."
Kai mentally cursed his oversight.
He hadn't expected a scientist to neglect proper research and start studying military strategy instead.
But fortunately, he still had an ace up his sleeve.
"Since that's the case, forget it then."
Kai casually turned away, seemingly muttering carelessly under his breath, "Looks like all those mermaid ladies' gratitude and admiration will fall entirely to Judge..."
Mer—mermaids?!
Weren't they all fishmen?
Queen's smile froze.
He couldn't help asking, "Wait! You brat actually brought mermaids too?"
Hook, line, and sinker.
A fleeting triumphant smile crossed Kai's face.
He turned around, his tone remaining calm as if discussing something trivial, "Yeah, about fifty-something. And as long as they can settle peacefully in Wano, the number of mermaid compatriots will definitely increase greatly in the future."
Hiss~
Fifty-something beautiful, rare mermaids?
And there would be even more in the future?!
Queen gasped.
"If I help them research underwater equipment and build beautiful new homes, wouldn't they be extremely, extremely grateful and admiring toward me?"
Imagining groups of beautiful, sweet-voiced mermaid ladies surrounding him with admiring gazes in the future, Queen's eyes began glazing over as his mind uncontrollably played out scenarios:
"Queen-sama~ Open wide, ahh~ Try this honey orange I just peeled~"
"Me too, me too! Queen-sama, here's some freshly chilled deep-sea wine~"
"Queen-sama~ I really want to hear your rap concert, could you sing another song for us~"
"Sure, sure! One at a time."
Seeing Queen's vacant expression with mysterious liquid seeping from the corners of his mouth, Kai knew he had mostly won.
He was clearly being controlled by his baser instincts.
Kai struck while the iron was hot, throwing out his final trump card, "Think about it, Queen. At this year's Fire Festival, if your finale concert features an entire troupe of charming, gracefully dancing mermaid backup dancers—who in all of Beast Pirates could steal even a bit of your spotlight? It would be an unprecedented spectacular performance!"
Queen's expression visibly grew excited, as if seeing himself reaching life's pinnacle.
A mermaid dance troupe?
This was something he had never had in decades of concert career.
One mermaid was worth at least seventy million berries on the black market—even he, Queen-sama, couldn't afford to assemble a dance troupe.
He had long felt the current backup dancers, composed of Beast Pirates members, were too subpar, seriously dragging down his concert quality.
Now, opportunity had arrived.
Queen wiped the drool from his mouth, instantly switching to an expression of righteous duty and overflowing responsibility.
He patted his chest, "Leave all the underwater weapons and underwater mining equipment to me!"
Kai suppressed his laughter, deliberately asking, "Didn't you want to prioritize researching new plague bombs and laser weapons?"
"What are you saying!"
Queen waved his hand with righteous indignation, "Since those mermaids are willing to trust Beast Pirates and travel all the way from the deep sea to Wano, we have the obligation and responsibility to make them feel completely at home!"
"Making them feel familial warmth is the top priority!"
"Say no more! Leave it to me and you can rest completely assured! I'll start conceptualizing design plans right now!"
Without waiting for Kai's response, he directly pushed Kai out of the laboratory.
Slam!
The door closed.
Kai stared at the tightly shut door, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
That face-changing speed was incredible.
Next, Kai visited Flower Capital to hear King Riku's work report.
Overall, Wano's economic development showed a steady, positive trend.
Common people's lives had improved initially, and social order was far more stable than during Kurozumi Orochi's era.
Even the criminals imprisoned in Udon's quarry had become exceptionally well-behaved due to the "labor points for supplies" system, with mining efficiency steadily climbing and ore output increasing daily.
"Currently the only problem is—"
King Riku's tone shifted, his expression troubled, "Den Den Mushi breeding speed is far behind your planned schedule. Current production limits are maintained at around 800 every six months with virtually no room for improvement."
King Riku, having good relations with the Tontatta tribe, was now the main external contact besides Kai.
"Oh? What's specifically limiting production?"
Kai frowned slightly.
Den Den Mushi supplies are related not only to his upcoming commercial plans with Tezolo but also to future great wars—he had to take this seriously.
"Mainly severe shortage of quality 'breeding stock.'"
King Riku reported, "A Den Den Mushi can be processed into communication tools at six months old. But they need a full year to reach the optimal breeding period."
Most importantly, though Den Den Mushi resembled snails externally, their reproductive capacity was extremely low.
One mating session typically produced only 2-3 eggs, and these eggs weren't guaranteed to hatch successfully—like giant pandas.
Otherwise, these creatures wouldn't be so rare and expensive across the seas.
King Riku pondered briefly before offering a conservative suggestion, "If we temporarily halt external exports..."
"No."
Kai directly interrupted, his tone brooking no argument.
Even current progress felt too slow—how could he possibly pause sales?
But insufficient "breeding stock" was an unavoidable reality.
To quickly solve this bottleneck, he would have to find solutions through unscientific Devil Fruit abilities.
What fruit could solve this trouble?
Kai rapidly searched relevant information in his mind.
Soon his eyes brightened.
Oh right! How could he forget about her?
"Bring Denjiro to me," Kai immediately ordered.
Soon, Denjiro, who had been patrolling Flower Capital maintaining order, hurriedly arrived.
"You know Shinobu, right," Kai got straight to the point.
"Ah this—" Denjiro's heart jumped, cold sweat instantly breaking out on his back.
How did Kai know about Shinobu's existence?
When Oden-sama was defeated and captured, he hadn't revealed Shinobu, had he?
He struggled internally, wanting to deny it but fearing making things worse.
Kai had no interest in psychological games, directly issuing his order, "I need her Ripe-Ripe Fruit power. Go find her and bring her to me."
"If you dare tip her off secretly and let her escape—"
Kai leaned forward slightly, staring intensely at Denjiro and speaking word by word, "You know the consequences."
Denjiro felt an invisible mountain crash onto his shoulders, making breathing difficult. He immediately bowed, "I understand. I'll handle it right away."
Circumstances were stronger than people—he had no choice but to find Shinobu first.
Fortunately, after resuming his true identity, Shinobu had indeed secretly contacted him.
Denjiro left with a heavy heart.
Watching his disappearing figure, Kai's eyes narrowed as he spoke seemingly to himself, "Follow him. If that Shinobu won't come willingly—you know what to do."
"Understood, Kai-sama."
A low voice responded.
Fukurokuju emerged ghost-like from shadows, respectfully accepting orders.
Then his figure melted back into shadows and vanished.
This should be foolproof now.
Kai nodded secretly.
Wano really was a treasure trove—Devil Fruits rarely seen elsewhere were hidden here in abundance, with maxed-out utility. As for why not use Bonney and her Age-Age Fruit to directly age the Den Den Mushi—first, she was young with unstable fruit control, easily aging fragile Den Den Mushi too much or to death by accident.
Second, the Age-Age Fruit's aging effects were temporary.
He couldn't throw Bonney into the breeding facility daily to constantly touch every Den Den Mushi, right?
Comparatively, leaving it to Shinobu was better—a permanent solution.
Denjiro moved quickly.
Within an hour, he returned with someone.
It was a severely out-of-shape, short, fat female ninja with exaggerated proportions.
Who could imagine this granny ninja was once a sexy, hot beauty?
"You're Kai? What do you want with me?"
Shinobu's tone carried obvious reluctance and resistance.
If not for Denjiro's repeated persuasion to temporarily endure and await the liberation day prophesied by Lady Toki, she wouldn't have come at all.
Kai didn't mind her attitude.
Oden's loyal retainer not immediately attacking him was already extremely restrained and rational.
He spoke directly, "I need your Ripe-Ripe Fruit ability to ripen Den Den Mushi."
"Ripe-Ripe Fruit ability? Do I have such a thing?"
Shinobu paused, then understood, "You mean my Mature Charm Jutsu?"
"Exactly. What you ninjas call special ninjutsu is actually what the outside seas commonly call Devil Fruit abilities."
Kai explained briefly, asking, "What's your choice?"
"Heh, do I have a choice?"
Shinobu laughed bitterly, glancing at Fukurokuju, who had silently appeared at the door, blocking her path.
Fukurokuju spoke in low tones with a hint of admonishment, "Obediently agree to Kai-sama's request! This is atonement for your past betrayal of the Oniwaban!"
Shinobu said disdainfully, "Hmph, Kurozumi Orochi's usurpation didn't deserve my loyalty."
"Enough, no need to rehash ancient history."
Kai waved his hand, stopping Fukurokuju's continued argument.
He didn't care about past factional disputes.
Kai picked up a pen, quickly wrote an order, and handed it to Shinobu.
"Since you've agreed to work for me, you're one of us now. Take this note to Udon Quarry and redeem your brother Shinosuke."
Shinobu's brother Shinosuke, as a captured rebel ninja, had been imprisoned in Udon as important labor.
He was currently one of Udon's excellent workers.
"Aren't you afraid I'll take this note and escape with my brother?"
Shinobu stared incredulously at this light but heavy-as-mountains order, unconsciously blinking as if doubting her eyes.
Her long-desired, desperately sought brother's rescue was so easily granted by Kai?
"Trusting those I employ is my consistent style."
Kai's tone was unconcerned, as if this were trivial.
He had absolute confidence—even if Shinobu really ran off with her brother, as long as they remained on Wano's soil, finding them would be a simple order.
Shinobu clutched the paper tightly, knowing there was no free lunch—fate's every gift was secretly price-tagged.
But she couldn't bear watching her brother continue seven years of hard labor in that hellish place.
She took a deep breath, carefully storing the order, then looked up at Kai. Though her tone wasn't exactly warm, it carried more solemnity, "Thank you. I'll work conscientiously."
Shinobu secretly decided that as long as it didn't cross her bottom line, she would work earnestly for Kai.
"Come, let me first show you your future workplace."
Kai rose, went to the rooftop, leaped directly into dragon form, grabbed Shinobu, and flew toward Kuri.
Soon they reached densely forested, lush woodland.
"Isn't that the Mountain God?"
After dragon claws set her down, Shinobu's feet had barely touched the ground when a mountain-sized white boar caught her attention.
She couldn't help swallowing, fear flashing in her eyes.
She had personally witnessed Mountain God's rampage through Flower Capital.
"Follow me."
Kai ignored Shinobu's reaction, leading her straight into the forest.
Shinobu quickly collected herself and hurried after him.
After about ten minutes, they reached the Tontatta tribe's Den Den Mushi breeding facility.
"Kai-land!"
Just then, a group of Tontatta emerged from unexpected corners, bouncing enthusiastically toward Kai.
Kai warmly greeted each of them.
"Kai-land, who is this person?"
"A helper I found for you."
Kai explained briefly, turning to Shinobu, "Your task is simple—use your ability to cooperate with them in ripening Den Den Mushi. They'll tell you specific requirements."
After successfully delivering her and explaining basic tasks, Kai stopped interfering further.
With Shinobu's addition, he believed Den Den Mushi production would surely skyrocket.