To be honest—
The moment Silvers Rayleigh heard Ron's words, his heart skipped a beat.
He was panicking a little.
But as an old man—
and a legendary pirate, no less—
the last shred of pride and rationality he had left forced him to keep his composure.
He even let out a scoff.
"Brat,"
"remember this—die beneath the peony, and even as a ghost you'll be romantic."
"When you reach my age, you'll understand."
Ron replied calmly,
"That's not a pink peony."
"It's definitely a black one."
"This variety's called… tree peony."
Hold on.
The instant that name came out—
Both Ron and Rayleigh froze.
Wasn't Shakky's name Shakuyaku… Peony?
Realizing this, Rayleigh's deeply wrinkled face darkened another shade.
Just then—
The tavern doors were suddenly shoved open.
Tokikake walked in while chatting on a Den Den Mushi, his face filled with aching tenderness.
"Darling, I brought you three meals—remember to eat."
"Why three?"
"I figured you were exhausted after last night. Big energy drain. I felt bad, so I ordered an extra one."
"His portion shouldn't be spicy—yeah, I remembered."
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Tokikake sat down at the bar.
Rem had just placed a bottle of wine in front of him when—before Rayleigh or Ron could say anything—
Another Den Den Mushi rang.
Buru buru buru…
Once connected, a woman's voice came through:
"When are you bringing the soup I asked for?"
Tokikake immediately smiled.
"Don't worry, baby. I'll bring it before you wake up this afternoon."
"I know your throat's been bothering you."
"I specially made pear and pig-lung soup for you."
That call ended—
Then came another.
And another.
Three or four in total.
What stunned Rayleigh was that—
Tokikake's tone, expressions, and way of responding were completely different with each woman.
Rayleigh stared, dumbfounded.
Still—
As an old man with one foot already in the grave, he couldn't help but start lecturing.
"Kid, listen carefully."
"The moment a man sticks his head out first—he's already lost."
"A man who learns to love himself—that's when his lifelong romance truly begins."
"Don't spend every day licking this one, flattering that one—"
"throwing away your best years for women."
"A few years later, when you look back,"
"you'll realize you've been torn apart by women and still can't crawl out of that shadow."
"By then…"
"whether it's your looks or your mental state, you won't be worthy of a real relationship anymore."
"And in the end—"
"the only one who gets hurt… is you."
Listening to Rayleigh's so-called life wisdom—
Tokikake immediately straightened up, his expression solemn.
"Getting hurt doesn't matter."
"What really matters—"
"is giving every girl a warm home."
"As a Marine,"
"isn't that exactly what it means to sacrifice the small family for the greater good?!"
Ron, Rayleigh: "..."
This guy is completely immune.
Hopeless.
Absolutely beyond saving.
At this point, forget Kesha—
even if Hades himself came to teach him, Tokikake wouldn't listen.
...
As time passed—
After finishing his bottle of wine, Tokikake left the tavern.
Guests came and went.
The Sacred Lord and his son, Kesha, Grey Wolf, Sōsuke Aizen, and other regulars dropped by one after another.
The tavern gradually grew lively.
Then—
The doors opened again.
Kaido and Donquixote Doflamingo walked in, one after the other.
Worth noting—
Doflamingo was in front, swaggering with his legs splayed wide, joy written all over his face.
Kaido, following behind, looked the complete opposite—
his dark face brimming with killing intent, eyes full of disgust.
They reached the bar.
"Fufufufufu…"
"Kaido, you're really regressing as you age," Doflamingo laughed.
"Can't even keep an eye on your kid—and you got beaten half to death on top of that."
Ron glanced through Kaido's memories using draconic magic and immediately understood.
According to the system—
Yamato would soon arrive at the tavern.
So that's how it was…
It all traced back to the moment the Sacred Lord gave Kaido that so-called Obedience Potion.
Faced with Doflamingo's mockery, Kaido ignored him and instead gruffly explained the whole situation to Liang Bing.
The tavern erupted in laughter.
It was just too absurd.
Grey Wolf, gnawing on a lamb leg, even walked over and patted Kaido's arm.
"Honestly, this one's partly on me."
"My kid might've… accidentally peed a bit into the obedience spray."
"That caused some defects."
"Otherwise, just tears dripping onto the nozzle would never instantly turn it into a 'Heart-Hardening Spray.'"
Kaido didn't react much—
But the ones who couldn't sit still were Aizen and the Demon Dragon.
Especially Aizen.
His right hand unconsciously rested on his sword hilt.
A few days earlier—
To test whether the Heart-Softening Spray really worked,
Kaido had sprayed it directly onto Aizen's face.
At this moment—
If not for the last shred of rationality telling Aizen to stay calm—
wait until the Hōgyoku is finished—
He would've already drawn his blade and cut down Kaido and Grey Wolf on the spot.
Meanwhile—
The Demon Dragon rubbed his face and cursed.
"Old bastard, look me in the eyes and say it!"
"You knew about this, didn't you?!"
The Sacred Lord turned his head away, pretending not to hear.
After a few minutes of stalemate—
The Demon Dragon finally snapped, grabbed his old man by the head, and hurled him straight out of the tavern.
Immediately afterward—
Piercing screams and earth-shaking combat noises rang out.
...
At the bar—
Using the core computing engine of her demonic wings, Liang Bing instantly pinpointed Yamato's location.
She spoke softly:
"Your kid is currently at a place called Hachinosu."
Pirate Island?!
Isn't that Wang Zhi's territory?!
Kaido's heart sank.
"Thank you, Queen!"
"I'll go drag Yamato back right now!"
With that, he strode out.
"You know what to do, right?" Liang Bing glanced at Doflamingo.
"Of course, Your Majesty," Doflamingo replied with a grin.
"I'll 'educate' the pirates there—
and bring Wang Zhi to you personally."
He immediately followed Kaido out.
Not long after they left—
The tavern's bell rang again.
Ding-ling…
The doors slowly opened.
A man wearing a mask, a conical hat, and black fitted clothes stepped inside.
His gaze didn't linger on anyone.
He walked straight to the bar and sat down.
Ron looked up, smiled, and greeted him:
"Welcome."
"Mr. Yuan Tiangang."
"My name is Ron."
"I'm the owner of this tavern."
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