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On Onigashima, inside the palace, the tension was so thick it felt like you could wring it out of the air.
"Brat! Where the hell did you run off to this time?!"
Kaido's roar, as deafening as a war drum, shook the entire palace. Dust rained down from the beams, the walls groaning under the force. His massive claw slammed the floor, splitting the stone into a spiderweb of cracks.
All around, the Three Calamities—King, Queen, and Jack—stood frozen, along with every Beasts Pirates officer present. No one dared breathe too loudly.
It was about Dan.
That little devil they both feared and revered had vanished without a sound—again.
If anything happened to him… they knew Kaido would tear Onigashima apart stone by stone.
"Find him! I don't care if you have to dig three feet under, bring him back to me!" Kaido bellowed. His killing intent made the very air feel heavy.
And then—
"Ya?"
A soft, childlike voice, laced with confusion, echoed from the palace entrance.
Every movement in the hall froze.
Kaido's massive frame jolted, his dragon head snapping toward the doorway with startling speed.
There he was.
Dan, tiny and doll-like, stood in the doorway, blinking with innocent confusion at the sea of terrified faces. His chubby cheeks and round eyes gave nothing away. He wore his usual split-crotch toddler pants, his little bare feet dusted with dirt.
"Dan?!" King's flames flickered violently as his voice cracked with disbelief and relief.
Queen's fat body shuddered, his cigar nearly swallowed by mistake. "Holy hell—little ancestor, you finally came back!"
Jack just let out a heavy sigh, his brutish face breaking into a dopey grin.
Kaido's fury, blazing a moment ago, vanished the instant his eyes landed on Dan. It was as though ice water had doused a raging fire. What replaced it was fear—sharp, gut-deep fear—and the faintest hint of relief.
In two thunderous strides, Kaido closed the distance. His towering shadow swallowed the boy whole.
"Brat! Where did you go?!" His voice was still loud, but anyone who knew him could hear it—the edge of desperation instead of wrath.
The officers crowded closer, their expressions a swirl of emotions. Relief. Fear. Even… frustration.
For god's sake, could the kid at least leave a note next time?
Dan blinked, those dark eyes wide, then raised his pudgy hand to point outside… then back at himself.
He crouched down and traced uneven words into the dust.
[Just wandering.]
Just… wandering?!
Every jaw in the hall twitched at once.
That little stroll nearly made Kaido bring the whole island down!
Kaido stared at the words, nostrils flaring with twin blasts of white steam. "Wandering? Do you even know I almost—" He cut himself short. Pointless. The kid was too young to bother reasoning with.
But Dan tilted his head, sensing Kaido's displeasure. His tiny fingers scrawled again.
[Met Red-Hair's men.]
The hall went still.
King's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
Kaido's gaze sharpened. "Red-Hair Shanks' crew?"
Dan nodded. Then he wrote again.
[And Blackbeard.]
Blackbeard?!
Marshall D. Teach?!
The tension spiked so hard it was suffocating.
Queen blurted, "You mean the traitor from Whitebeard's ship—the one they say has terrifying strength?!"
Jack's eyes bulged. "That monster? Dan, did he hurt you?!"
Kaido's claws curled tight, his dragon eyes locked on Dan, scouring him for the faintest scratch.
The boy shook his head. He was fine.
Then, with a casual flip of his hand, he pulled out a crumpled letter from God-knows-where and held it up to Kaido.
[Fought.]
[Letter.]
Three tiny words. But they exploded in the officers' chests like thunder.
Fought?!
With who?! Red-Hair's men? Blackbeard?! And he came back with a letter?!
"You—you mean you fought them? And took this letter?" Queen's voice cracked, his mind short-circuiting as he glanced between Dan's toddler-sized body and the monster known as Blackbeard.
King's eyes were sharp as blades. "Dan… you defeated Red-Hair's men and Blackbeard?"
"Ya! (Yep!)" Dan chirped proudly, nodding.
The hall erupted in a collective gasp.
Red-Hair's crew was one thing. But Blackbeard?!
That was the man who killed a division commander right under Whitebeard's nose, stole a Devil Fruit, and still hadn't been caught. A predator among pirates. His strength wasn't far off from the Three Calamities themselves.
And this child—not even two years old—beat him?
Which meant Dan's power now rivaled King, Queen, and Jack.
The officers stared at him, their eyes blazing with awe and fanatic devotion. His growth was terrifying. Beyond belief.
Kaido snatched the letter from Dan's little hand and unfolded it.
The handwriting was bold, domineering, drenched in will.
There was no mistaking it. This was from Red-Hair himself.
As Kaido scanned the words, his dragon eyes flared with a dangerous light.
"Uorororo…"
"Uororororororo…"
His booming laugh shook the entire island, the palace beams groaning as if they might collapse.
"So that scar on Red-Hair… it was Blackbeard who gave it to him?!"
"Even Fire Fist Ace—that little bastard who snuck onto my island—might not be able to take him on?"
"So Whitebeard's being told to call him back, is he?!"
Kaido's dragon eyes turned back to Dan, burning with pride.
So young.
And already able to beat a man like Blackbeard head-on.
Right now, Dan had stepped into the second-highest tier of the sea. Just below the true emperors.
Give him two more years… and then?
"Good job, brat! You really are my son!"
Kaido swung Dan onto his massive shoulder, bellowing with laughter.
The hall shook with his joy.
And though the officers were still stunned, their faces lit with fire—excitement, reverence, fanaticism.
Because they understood something crystal clear.
From this day forward, Dan wasn't just Kaido's son.
He was the Beasts Pirates' second pillar—greater even than the Three Calamities themselves.
"..."
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