"Why do I get the feeling you're just itching for a fight, so you want to go out and brawl again?"
Kaidou saying he'd go help draw fire away from Yamato—no matter how you heard it, it sounded off. Given his track record, him not personally throwing Yamato into a crowd already counted as restraint, let alone doing something this kind-hearted.
With his personality, the biggest possibility was simply that he wanted to fight.
"How could that be? I'll pick a very special way, one that doesn't require fighting, but works just as well."
Rolling his neck, Kaidou grabbed a bunch of wine jugs, as if a new idea had come to him.
"Don't tell me... you're going to sit down and have a drink with that Red Hair guy?"
"Yup. Speaking of which, that brat climbed to the position of Sea Emperor in an incredibly short time.
We've fought a few times, but it was never satisfying.
This time I'll just go have a proper drink with him, wugogogo!"
Kaidou knew very well what the Navy was thinking. If the Four Emperors started fighting each other these days, the Navy might not even get nervous.
Their wars might cause huge shockwaves, but they also gave the Navy opportunities—perfect chances to weaken the Four Emperors.
So from the Navy's perspective, the Four Emperors fighting wasn't necessarily a bad thing. As long as they controlled the timing and situation, they could actually reap decent results.
But if two of the Four Emperors just sat together and shot the breeze, the Navy would really start to panic.
None of the current Sea Emperors are easy to deal with. Any one of them going berserk alone is enough to give the Navy a massive headache.
The overall strength of the Navy is very strong and enough to handle an Emperor's crew, but The Sea is too vast. The many officers and elite soldiers of Navy Headquarters are scattered across various seas, and they also have to protect those World Nobility.
Without prior preparation, the scattered Navy Branches can only provide early warnings and can't do much beyond that.
If two of them joined forces to pull some big stunt, it'd be enough to keep the Navy running around like headless chickens.
The Navy keeps all the Sea Emperors under surveillance, but there's no way to eavesdrop on their every word. If Kaidou and Red Hair sit together for just ten or so minutes, the Navy has to fully shift their focus over, in case those two actually whip up something huge that they can't handle in time.
You can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against a thief for a thousand days. The Sea may be turbulent right now, but it's still in a delicate balance.
If they take the initiative to attack a Sea Emperor, then without outside interference they do have enough power to destroy the other side, but they're not fully confident they can actually take that Sea Emperor's head.
And if after they move, someone like Kaidou or Charlotte Linlin slips away, then Navies all over the world will have to constantly watch out for these monsters launching indiscriminate attacks. Navy Headquarters isn't afraid, Mary Geoise isn't afraid, but the Kings around the world could drive them insane.
Add to that the fact that this was already their established policy, and that's why the higher-ups of the World Government tacitly accepted this situation. If they really stirred up trouble and alarmed that person Between the Flowers, they'd definitely get branded as incompetent.
"That guy's personality doesn't necessarily lend itself to sitting down for a nice chat with you."
"It's fine. If he refuses, next time I'll bring that daughter of his to see him. Let's see if he talks then."
Kaidou wasn't planning on using Uta to threaten Red Hair. It's just that Red Hair is currently terrified of Uta coming to find him. From Red Hair's perspective, Uta's current life is much better than following him around as a pirate.
Being a world-famous Songstress is way better than being a wanted criminal. Even though he kept in contact, he'd been constantly putting off Uta's requests to meet.
For the Hundred Beasts, the benefits Uta brings right now are also greater, so of course they intend to maintain the status quo.
Kaidou knew exactly what Red Hair was worried about, so he wasn't afraid of being turned down at all.
"But there's still one problem."
"What?"
"You think I should drink first then fight, or fight first then drink?"
In a sense, Arceus hadn't misread Kaidou's plan. He wasn't giving up on fighting, nor was he giving up on drinking—he intended to do both.
Amid peals of wild laughter, Kaidou left Ghost Island and deliberately flew two circles in front of the Navy's surveillance ship before finally heading toward Red Hair's territory.
...
The next day, at Navy Headquarters, inside Sengoku's office.
"Report to Marshal Sengoku, this is the follow-up report from Surveillance Ship 174. Kaidou has still not returned since leaving Ghost Island at noon yesterday. His current destination is unknown. Report over."
Originally this was just a very ordinary report and didn't attract much attention at Navy Headquarters. On their desk was still the file on the impact Yamato had caused in the East Sea, and they were in the middle of deciding their next move.
Kaidou's movements only made them suspect that the Hundred Beasts were planning some new big operation. After all, someone of Yamato's weight suddenly appearing in the East Sea made no sense at all.
Sengoku couldn't figure out what in the East Sea could possibly interest the Hundred Beasts.
Sea Emperors being restless isn't anything unusual, and Kaidou running all over the place happens all the time. Compared to that, something else was giving Sengoku an even bigger headache.
"Garp! Look! It's your family again! Is there anyone in your whole clan who doesn't give people migraines?!"
Luffy's Wanted Poster was spread flat on Sengoku's desk. By rights, a criminal with a bounty at this Level shouldn't have drawn Sengoku's personal attention. Even if his bounty was ten times the East Sea average, it would only make him a big deal within the East Sea.
"Assaulting an East Sea Navy Branch—what a good grandson you have there!"
Luffy's Wanted Poster was only there because his grandpa is named Garp. As a Navy Hero, his son has become the world's most dangerous criminal, his adopted grandson is the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Commander, and now his blood grandson has become a pirate with a first bounty of thirty million.
At this moment Sengoku was venting his anger at the Radio Snail. Garp had rushed straight to the East Sea the moment he heard the news, and now the man was nowhere to be found.
"Hahahaha, the old man knows. I'm already in the East Sea, I'll bring him in right away."
"Cut it out! Don't try to string me along! Garp, you should have heard about what's going on over in the East Sea too."
"Ah, Kaidou's daughter, huh? She really is a big problem. You've got a line on her?"
In Sengoku's view, Luffy wasn't a problem at all right now. Compared to Luffy, it was Yamato, whose current objective was unknown, who was the real headache.
He felt that compared to Kaidou's daughter, Garp's grandson should be the more well-behaved one.
For the Navy, going out of their way to capture a specific pirate isn't easy. On the boundless sea, finding a particular target is no simple task.
"Not yet, but..."
Before Sengoku could finish, a flurry of anxious footsteps sounded outside the door, and an intelligence officer, slightly flustered, pushed the door open.
This was something Sengoku allowed. If there was truly urgent intel, the rules could be ignored and they could come to him directly.
"Report, Marshal! Surveillance Ship 277 has sent word—just moments ago, Red Hair Shanks made contact with Hundred Beasts Kaidou! Currently, Kaidou still hasn't left, and there are no signs of battle on the island..."
"What did you say?!"