"Drink up, everyone! Celebrate to your heart's content!"
All the alcohol stored on Ghost Island had been brought out, and most people wore a tipsy expression, with only a few still at their posts. Pirates love a good party, but some can't drink due to physical reasons or work duties.
In the various districts of Wano Kuni, the people at the Udon Quarry consume the least alcohol, as they're responsible for guarding the place.
But Kaidou doesn't have such concerns. His monster physique has long since made him immune to alcohol; he gets drunk only when he wants to and can sober up in seconds if needed.
As for Yamato's plan to get him drunk, it had already failed. Sure, someone got drunk, but it wasn't Kaidou; it was herself.
Kaidou's parenting style has always been laissez-faire, and even with Arceus's assistance, it's only changed slightly.
Before it was, "If you die, it's your fault for not being strong enough." Now it's, "You can't die; anything goes." Yamato inherited Kaidou's physique and combat talent, but when it comes to playing heart eye games, even ten of her wouldn't be a match for Kaidou.
Originally, she wanted to get Kaidou drunk, but a few teasing words from Kaidou had her drinking to compete with him. The pirate world has many types of alcohol, including strong spirits, but such drinks are typically not used at parties.
The number of normal people far exceeds that of monsters; if strong spirits were served directly, no one would last more than half an hour. Most drink fruit wine. Yamato hadn't drunk much before, and the taste of fruit wine deceived her. By the time the alcohol hit, it was too late.
Kaidou only had a hint of drunkenness on his face, but Yamato had completely passed out. Fortunately, her behavior was still decent—she only slept when drunk, not acting out like Kaidou.
"Ha ha ha, it'll be long before anyone can drink me under the table! Who's next!"
Currently, Kaidou was in a cheerful drunk state, which was relatively safe. However, few ordinary members dared to challenge Kaidou to a drinking contest face-to-face; most just cheered from the sidelines.
But soon, a newspaper was thrown in Kaidou's face. Besides Arceus, no one else would dare do such a thing on Ghost Island.
This wasn't an ordinary world, and it's generally fine for someone Yamato's age to drink a bit. But getting her this drunk was a bit inappropriate, although Kaidou had a very adequate reason for it.
"The girl is growing up; she should know how much she can handle."
While removing the wanted poster stuck to his face, Kaidou explained his reasoning. He would never admit it was because he realized Yamato was trying to get him drunk.
And it's a very sound reason, leaving others unable to refute. Yet, something still felt off about it.
The wanted poster thrown at him was not just any paper; it was the latest one. Morgans, almost at the cost of his own life, managed to publish it faster than the Navy's wanted posters.
The bounty-setting process is quite complex, and outsiders can never figure out how they determine bounty amounts. Ultimately, Kaidou's bounty was set at 4.277 billion Belly, and Whitebeard's at 4.6 billion Belly.
Compared to the original timeline, there's still room for significant increase. Kaidou's current bounty even surpasses that of Charlotte Linlin.
The reason why Whitebeard's remains higher is because the World Government views his destructive power as much greater than Kaidou's, and a pirate who does business is somewhat easier to deal with than Whitebeard.
As this recent battle was solely a duel between Whitebeard and Kaidou, other members had little chance to showcase their abilities.
However, the captain's strength naturally leads to higher bounties for their underlings, so all disaster-level officers received a two-billion Belly increase.
Queen, who did almost nothing, still held the third highest bounty in the Hundred Beasts Pirate Crew.
The party continued, but Arceus had already taken the drunken Yamato away from the scene.
...
Familiar ceiling, Yamato awoke in her own bed. The party had ended by then; pirates like their parties, but they don't go on forever. There's still much to do after celebrating.
Experiencing her first drunken night left Yamato slightly dizzy. She shook her head, only to notice that Arceus was already standing there, though she didn't know when he'd arrived.
"Foster father? Shouldn't the party still be going?"
"Two pieces of news: first, Kaidou gave you a three-day holiday."
"Really! Has Father turned over a new leaf?"
Hearing that Kaidou gave her a three-day break, her first reaction was disbelief.
"Hold on, the other news is that today is the third day."
"Huh?"
"You challenged Kaidou to a drinking contest, then were out for three days."
Initially, it was only fruit wine, but as the contest went on, the drinks she consumed became more complex: red wine, white wine, and beer all mixed together into a full glass, with ice added too.
If she hadn't shared a similar physique with Kaidou, drinking like that at her age would have surely resulted in at least a stomach ulcer.
"So that means..."
"That's right; you only have half a day of holiday left. Now you understand what they mean by 'drinking causes trouble'?"
Arceus saw smoking, alcohol, and drugs as bad, with the latter being especially so. Even the Hundred Beasts wouldn't tread into that business territory. A little encounter with alcohol is fine, but one must not turn into a drunkard like Kaidou.
As she grew older, simply telling her these things wouldn't have much effect, so he let Yamato experience the consequences of drunkenness herself.
"Got it..."
Her face now bore only disappointment, and she held a strong resentment toward alcohol, realizing her precious holiday time was wasted on such nonsense. She also gained a deeper impression of Kaidou's monstrous physique.
It was basically her downing a cup while Kaidou drank a barrel, yet she still couldn't outdrink him.
As she was lamenting, a peculiar sound suddenly reached her ears.
Crack... crack...
Initially faint, the sound gradually grew louder. When Yamato traced its origin, she saw significant cracks appearing on the large egg.
"Foster father, it seems like it's about to hatch!"
The birth of a new life always sparks curiosity. Unlike the Pokemon created directly before, or the Sobbles studied on Little Sky Island, this egg had been under her care all the way, giving it a special meaning.
"Yes, the predicted hatching time is about now. Go on, it's going to be an amazing little one."
Before he had finished speaking, Yamato had already rushed over to the giant egg. It wasn't long before a green arm broke through the shell outside.