Kaido slowly reined in his fury. He sat back down, snorted coldly, lifted the wine gourd from the table, and drank deeply—glug, glug, glug.
At the same time, a thought settled firmly in his mind: later, he would make Yamato experience the true meaning of "fatherly love."
"The rest is irrelevant," Orochi suddenly exploded in rage. He leapt onto the table, kicked over the wine, and pointed furiously at Izo.
"I don't care if you're holding a Yonko meeting here! A mere remnant of the Kozuki clan dares to stand before this Shogun?! Kyoshiro—kill him!"
Denjiro froze.
The moment he laid eyes on Izo, he had already recognized him. Yet his public identity was still Kyoshiro, Orochi's loyal subordinate. He could not openly defy the order.
His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword.
The blade slid out a fraction—
—and in that instant, a terrifying killing intent surged through the room.
"Stop."
Kaido slammed his fist onto the table, wine splashing everywhere as his roar shook the hall.
He had just been humiliated by Yamato in front of everyone. Now this useless fool dared provoke him again.
Kaido's voice dropped into icy contempt.
"Orochi, are you trying to ruin my gathering? This is my Yonko meeting. You have no right to speak here. Get out."
"W-what?!" Orochi stared at him in disbelief.
Fukurokuju immediately sensed Kaido's genuine fury and leaned in, whispering urgently,
"Lord Orochi, let's withdraw for now. Lord Kaido still has important matters to attend to."
Though Denjiro and Hiyori—still disguised as Kyoshiro and Komurasaki—remained outwardly calm, both were screaming with laughter inside.
The deeper the rift between Kaido and Orochi, the better.
Orochi glared daggers at Kaido and shrieked,
"Kaido, how dare you speak to me like that?! I am the Shogun of Wano Country!"
"I don't care what you pirates are plotting! I have only one goal—to wipe out the remnants of Kozuki Oden!"
"Don't forget who helped you seize Wano! All those years, I've been trampled just because I'm from the Kurozumi clan. Now that I'm Shogun, I'll slaughter every Kozuki—and take my revenge on all of Wano!"
Kaido's expression turned utterly cold.
The other three Emperors watched with faint amusement.
The next moment—
Kaido snatched the long sword straight from King's hand.
A single flash of steel.
With one clean stroke, Orochi's head flew from his shoulders.
"Who cares?" Kaido said flatly. "Trash."
"Lord Orochi…!" Fukurokuju froze in horror.
Denjiro and Kozuki Hiyori were equally stunned. Even they had never imagined Orochi would die so abruptly.
Kaido flicked the blood from the blade and sneered.
"Did you really think you were irreplaceable? I can find a hundred people to sit in your chair."
His gaze shifted to Fukurokuju and the others.
"I'll give you a choice. Join the Beasts Pirates—or die. You have five seconds."
"Five. Four. Three—"
Denjiro reacted instantly. He dropped to one knee and bowed deeply.
"I am willing to serve Lord Kaido with all my strength."
Fukurokuju followed without hesitation.
"I, too, pledge my loyalty. Please accept me, Lord Kaido."
Kaido snorted.
"Good. Since you were Orochi's men, you'll take charge of absorbing his samurai forces."
"Yes!"
Marco watched Orochi's execution without surprise—if anything, he wondered how such an idiot had lived this long.
Yamato, however, clenched her fists, eyes shining.
"Orochi… he's finally dead."
In all of Wano, Orochi was the one she hated most—followed closely by Kaido. After all, it was Orochi's schemes that had doomed Kozuki Oden.
"Take this garbage away," Kaido ordered.
"Yes."
Moments later, Beasts Pirates dragged Orochi's lifeless body from the hall, leaving only silence—and the unmistakable scent of blood.
Marco's gaze lingered on Orochi's corpse.
He knew better—Orochi wasn't truly dead yet.
With the power of the Eight-Headed Serpent Devil Fruit, that snake had more than one life to spare. Still, Marco had no intention of warning Kaido. If Orochi crawled back to life and caused trouble later, that would only make things more interesting.
Big Mom let out a mocking laugh.
"Mamamamama… it seems your territory isn't quite as stable as you claim, Kaido. You've ruled Wano for over twenty years—yet farces like this still happen?"
Kaido snorted dismissively.
"Hmph. It's nothing. Just a trivial nuisance."
He had kept Orochi around purely for convenience. He never imagined that such a worthless fool would mistake that indulgence for equality. The thought alone was laughable.
Kaido turned his gaze back to the others, his tone calm but heavy with authority.
"Enough. We were interrupted by an insignificant insect."
"Let's return to the real matter."
"I'll speak plainly."
"The reason I invited you to Wano is simple—an alliance."
"We join forces, search for the legendary treasure, One Piece."
"Then we ignite a world-scale war, drag those so-called gods—the Celestial Dragons—down from their thrones…"
"…and finally, the four of us divide the world among ourselves."
The words were few, but each one struck like a thunderclap.
The room fell into stunned silence.
Even the elites of the other Emperors' crews felt their breaths catch. This wasn't ambition—it was madness.
Big Mom, who already knew Kaido's intentions, deliberately widened her eyes and laughed theatrically.
"Mamamamama… what a delightful proposal, Kaido."
"If theYonkos truly unite, even the World Government would be forced to bleed."
"An alliance… of all Yonkos?" Yamato murmured, shaken.
She knew the terrifying might of the Beasts Pirates alone. Four such monsters joining hands—it was almost unimaginable.
More than ten seconds passed.
Shanks still hadn't spoken.
He simply continued drinking his sake, his gaze sharp and unreadable—not avoiding the discussion, but silently weighing every word, every expression, and every possible future unfolding before him.
"A Yonko Alliance…?" Marco murmured under his breath.
It had been more than five months—nearly half a year—since he had arrived in this world. For most of that time, his only concern had been survival: keeping the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates standing in the storm left behind by Whitebeard's death.
But now, things were different.
With his strength having reached Strong Yonko level, at least on the surface, Marco had firmly stepped into the ranks of the world's true monsters. He was no longer just struggling to endure—he now had the qualifications to act.
Kaido's gaze locked onto him.
"So, Marco… what's your answer?"
Marco didn't reply immediately.
Truthfully, his position as a Yonko was already secure. And precisely because of that, he found himself in an unfamiliar state of hesitation. The path ahead was no longer about survival—it was about direction.
At present, only three goals remained before him:
Annihilate the Blackbeard Pirates.
Defeat Kaido.
Surpass the old era and become the strongest of the new generation.
Beyond that… there was nothing else. No new mission. No clear road forward.
'When will the next task appear?' Marco wondered.
As if responding to his thoughts, the familiar mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
"New task issued."
Task: Choice
Accept Kaido's proposal to form an alliance, or refuse it.
Reward: 1000 attribute points.
Marco blinked, mildly surprised.
The reward was small—but intriguingly, it didn't matter which choice he made. Accept or refuse, the system would still grant the points.
'So the system doesn't care about the outcome… only the decision.'
Marco exhaled softly, then turned to the men beside him—Ace, Jozu, and Jinbe.
"What do you think?" he asked calmly.
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