Pirates: It's not a mythical beast, it's a phantom god

"Ahem! Ahem!"

After coughing a few times and extinguishing his expensive cigar, Caspar said in a disdainful tone:

"Everything else about this place is okay, but the cigars are so low-quality. They taste like wood chips."

"It's far inferior to the batch that came in from the West Sea some time ago."

"Isn't that right, Staff Officer Singh?"

"Mr. Media, that batch of goods was a royal tribute from the West Sea Tobacco Kingdom. It was several times more expensive than the same volume of gold, and only a few of them could be produced in a year."

A man in military uniform with dark skin and a big belly sat on the side of the Casbah, enjoying the service of two graceful beauties beside him quite comfortably.

"Although the cigars offered here are not as good as others in quality, they are already the highest quality products available on the Grand Line."

As he spoke, the deputy staff officer of the Navy Logistics Department asked the beauty beside him to take a puff of the high-end cigar in her hand, and then fed it to him with her mouth.

"Well~ Anyway, I'm not used to smoking this kind of stuff."

"It made me cough."

"Let's go find those people from the West Sea next time and ask them to give us a few more boxes~"

Caspar frowned at the interaction between the other party and those "old women" and had to turn his head to look at the people outside the window who were living a life of luxury.

"Come to think of it, we're still in this thanks to you, Spandine. I didn't know you had connections in the West Sea."

As Caspar finished speaking, everyone in the box looked at Spandine, who was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face.

It was he who acted as a matchmaker between Kasba and senior military officials such as Singh that facilitated this network of interests, and he himself benefited greatly from it.

Hearing someone calling his name, Spandine turned around and said with a smile on his face.

"It's nothing, it's just that there have been some changes in my work recently, so I've been in contact with people from Xihai more often."

"Regarding the job transfer...did he successfully take over from that old Jolly?"

Singh, who knew something about Spandine's department, asked curiously.

"That's not it."

"Huh? What happened? Didn't Bailey stuff enough?"

Singh stopped massaging his breasts and asked worriedly.

He was not worried about Spandine's future, but if he was transferred to another department now, it might affect the arms smuggling business between him and Kasba.

"No, it's a transfer order from higher up. It seems they want me to be in charge of a CP department. I don't know the specific CP yet."

“CP?!”*2

Obviously, this involves a sensitive intelligence department like CP and should be confidential internal information, but Spandine said it lightly.

This sudden promotion seemed to make him a little too proud of himself.

"Yes, it seems that the original candidate died unexpectedly in the battle a few months ago, so I was asked to take over... By the way, I have to thank Baishou~"

Picking up the wine glass on the table, Spandane toasted Caspar from a distance.

"You're talking about that battle... A lot of the soldiers on the front lines died in that battle, so all the money allocated from above went into pensions. I didn't get a cent!"

Thinking of his arch-enemy, another deputy staff officer in charge of pension distribution who directly moved into a luxurious villa afterwards, Singh gritted his teeth.

Seeing that kid greedy for money is more painful than making him lose money!

"Well, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The weapons the army didn't have the money to buy were sold directly to those peasants from the West Sea, and they made several times the profit."

"That gangster called...Capone Al, he's quite generous."

He moved his fat body slightly to the left and right, pulled himself out of the sofa, and also toasted Caspar with a glass of red wine.

"Haha~ After all, we went through so much trouble to transport the goods from the 'New World' to that remote place in the West Sea. How can they not show some appreciation?"

Caspar said proudly that he enjoyed the subtle flattery shown by the two people.

You have to know that before this, these two people were indifferent to me. If I hadn't given up enough profits, they wouldn't even bother to meet me.

Chunchun treated him as a bootlicker who gave him money.

But after the battle in the Fenrir Sea three months ago, the attitudes of these two people suddenly changed.

Although he had no intention of giving back the profits he had made, his attitude was at least much better, and he even took the initiative to invite me to come here for vacation.

[Hmph~ I didn't expect those barbarians from Baishou to be of some use.]

Shaking the red wine in his glass, Caspar was thinking about how to further squeeze the value out of the beasts.

……

At the same time, a pirate ship with an exaggerated appearance and a Tyrannosaurus-shaped bow docked at the pier of Fenrir Island.

At this time, the shore was already full of people welcoming them, and even Kaido himself came out and stood at the front of the welcoming team.

Snapped!

Black leather boots stepped on the bluestone floor of the dock.

The pirate, wearing a black captain's coat, a half-mask, and a ferocious jaw, grinned at the grand welcoming team, revealing a mouthful of fangs.

"Wu la la la, Saxi ignores me~"

Kaido was the first to step forward and greeted the other party warmly, then glanced at Light who was also in the team, his eyes clearly saying "Can I go get the wine now?!"

Kaido smiled with satisfaction as he watched the other party sigh helplessly and then lead his men towards the wine cellar.

He immediately went up to him, put his arm around the shoulders of this old acquaintance whose temperament had changed drastically, and boasted enthusiastically:

"This time I've prepared some wine you wouldn't even dare to imagine, just waiting for you!"

"Hanaza!"

Chapter 268 Second Visit

"Is this person the Shichibukai that Boss Kaido has been waiting for?"

"That face doesn't look like someone you can mess with..."

"I heard that he and Boss Kaido are old acquaintances. They knew each other before the boss went to sea."

"Is this true?! There's actually such a relationship!"

……

Although Hua Zha and his party had been to Fenrir Island once before, it was just an informal meeting after all, and he left in a hurry without even holding a formal banquet.

Therefore, it was the first time for most people present to see the true appearance of this legendary new Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Well, he is indeed Kaido's fellow countryman. You can tell from his face that he is not a good person. I guess he has to eat at least two children for every meal.

"Hey~ Kaido, I haven't seen you for a year, but you've become much stronger, like a monster."

He waved his hand back, asking the men on the boat to lower the anchor, and then Hanazawa elbowed Kaido in the ribs without any hesitation.

Feeling the firm touch on his arm and the other person's unresponsive expression, he couldn't help but sigh at the other person's strong physique.

"Wu la la la! Because there are too many monsters in this sea~"

"If I don't hurry up and turn into a monster myself, how am I going to fight them?"

Letting go of the other person's shoulders, Kaido began to look at him more carefully.

After not seeing him for a year, Hua Zha has obviously aged a bit, with many more obvious scars on his body. It seems that the atmosphere in the new world is quite challenging.

However, looking at the overall picture, Hua Zha's body is obviously much stronger than before, and his whole body exudes a sense of vigor and toughness. His temperament is a world apart from the immature one year ago when he first started out.

It's like growing from a newly graduated college student to a qualified member of society.

"How's it going? The new world isn't too boring, is it?"

"Ah~ It's not just not boring, it's actually very interesting."

Touching a wound on his face that had not yet fully healed, Hua Zha showed a smile that was completely unkind.

Ever since he parted ways with Kaido last time, he has been doing as he said at the time, and has been sailing with his crew following the compass, from island to island, recording the sea with his own eyes and body.

Of course, considering the simple customs of the people in the New World, he also mingled with the local natives and other colleagues along the way.

Fortunately, Hanaza was lucky. He didn't encounter any opponents he couldn't handle right from the start. Instead, like the protagonist of a coming-of-age novel, he always encountered opponents that he could just handle...

During this period, his development of the fruit ability and his own domineering power were steadily improving. Finally, after defeating a long-established pirate, his reputation became famous in the New World.

Later, because of his tour group-like behavior and almost no record of attacking the navy, Hanazawa was noticed by Sengoku and offered to be one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

"Wow! I was shocked when I saw your name on the list of Seven Warlords of the Sea in the newspaper."

"Why did you agree to become some shitty Shichibukai for the World Government?"

"Nothing, just simple mutual use."

Unlike Kaido, Hanazawa, as a complete pragmatist, has no mental aversion to cooperating with the World Government.

When he was in the Kingdom of Woka, he had to deal with a group of nobles who were corrupt to the core.

Although he felt annoyed when he saw those fat and big-eared idiots, he was not a person who would be affected by personal emotions.

If it is profitable to cooperate with them, then cooperate with them.

When the benefits are squeezed out, kick it away.

"Ever since I was defeated by you last time, I've been thinking about finding a powerful ancient devil fruit to prove that mythical beasts are not necessarily stronger than ancient ones."

"But I spent more than a year and traveled to many places, but I didn't encounter many devil fruits, let alone the rare ancient ones."

"And just at this time I received an invitation from the Seven Warlords of the Sea, so I thought of using the power of the World Government to help me find it."

"..."

"Ancient species...are you still obsessed with this kind of thing?"

After hearing what the other party said, Kaido paused for a moment, and then looked the other party up and down again.

I didn't expect that the other party still remembered my boastful joke that "mythical beast species are stronger than ancient species".

Seeing the other party's serious look, Kaido couldn't help but speak out his true thoughts:

"Whether it's a mythical beast or an ancient species, the true strength lies in the power of the person with the ability."

"The various abilities of those devil fruits are just the icing on the cake, but one's own domineering power is the power that transcends everything."

"?"

"what?"

Hearing what the other party said, Hua Zha also stopped and looked at the other party with wide eyes.

"I don't remember you saying that at the time!"

At that time, he and Kai had met again after a long time, and he was confidently showing off to the other party the rare ancient species power he had just obtained... But Kaido also transformed in the opposite direction, and it was an even rarer mythical beast species.

Then his ancient species, Stankon, was beaten back to its original form by the opponent's mythical beast species, Pailemon.

He still remembers Kaido's smug expression vividly.

"Eh? Yes, really?"

"Wu la la la! Don't worry about such trivial matters, the party is about to begin!"

"Hey, have you brought all the wine here?"

……

Fenrir Island Banquet Hall.

Since we haven't held a formal banquet in a long time, and the weather has been humid recently, even after an emergency cleaning, there is still a slight musty smell in the hall.

But fortunately, as countless fine wines and delicacies were served one after another, the aroma of the food instantly squeezed out the inappropriate musty smell.

"Gudong gudong gudong~"

"--ha!"

Kaido picked up the wine barrel and swallowed the wine in it in one gulp, then let out a cry of satisfaction.

Kaido wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth and reached for another new wine barrel.

Ever since Wright brought the wine up, Kaido has been drinking one barrel after another, as if he doesn't even want to take the time to talk.