"If I ever run into that guy, I'm definitely going to kill him!" Ulti shouted, her voice echoing through the hall. Page One stood beside her, looking just as furious. It made sense; Hana Fuda was their biological father. Even though they had been raised by Kaido since they were young children, Hana Fuda had always cared for them in his own way, mostly by keeping them away from the front lines for their own safety.
Yamato sat nearby with her legs crossed, looking completely unimpressed. "Hey, you senile old man," she said, glancing at Kaido. "If you're so tough, why don't you go settle the score right now instead of just shouting about it? Or are you actually scared of Whitebeard and don't dare to show your face?"
Kaido's head snapped toward her, his eyes glaring with sudden intensity. "You brat! What did you just say to me? You think I'm afraid of that old man Whitebeard?"
"Exactly," Yamato said with a sharp nod. "If you aren't scared, go to the Whitebeard Pirates right now and settle things with that guy yourself."
Kaido's face darkened with displeasure. "Yamato, you little brat, you're trying to get me killed, aren't you!"
Yamato just shrugged her shoulders casually. "I never said that. Besides, aren't you the one who goes around shouting every single day about how much you want to die? If you haven't changed your mind, this sounds like a perfect opportunity. I'm just giving you some helpful advice for your own good, you know?"
Kaido was so livid that his long beard began to flutter. He stared at her, fuming. This damn brat—after not seeing her for over a year, her tongue had become sharper than ever. Could he not even talk a little trash in his own home? Who actually wanted to die? Only a complete idiot would truly want that.
The other members of the Beasts Pirates watched the exchange with shifting gazes. Everyone felt a sense of deja vu; it was that same old family dynamic playing out again.
"Ahem, Young Master, Big Brother was just talking," King spoke up, trying to bail Kaido out of the awkward situation. "He didn't really mean it like that."
Yamato put on a look of mock realization. "Oh, so he's just talking trash? Fine, we'll call it talking trash. Just make sure to be clear about it next time, or I'll start thinking someone's brain has finally gone soft."
"Yamato, watch how you speak to Big Brother," Jack interrupted, looking at Yamato with clear dissatisfaction.
Yamato turned her gaze toward the large man and chuckled. "Oh, Jack! I haven't seen you in a year, and you've certainly become more imposing. Do you want to go outside and spar with me right now?"
"Spar? I... I don't have the time," Jack stammered. He almost blurted out that he was always ready for a fight, but he caught himself just in time. He wasn't a fool; he knew better than to spar with Yamato. He would definitely lose, and he didn't want to lose face in front of the others.
Black Maria and Haruko couldn't help but giggle at the exchange. Jack's reflexes were surprisingly fast when it came to avoiding a beating from Yamato.
"Not bad, Jack. Your bounty has gone up quite a bit lately. No wonder you're acting so confident," Yamato said, looking over at Jack's latest wanted poster. His bounty had officially reached
1,000,000,000
Berry.
Jack had clearly learned his lesson. He didn't respond this time, remaining silent to prevent Yamato from digging a deeper hole for him to fall into.
"Ulti and Page One have bounties now, too," Black Maria noted, holding up the siblings' new wanted posters. Over the past year, the two had followed Kaido on his latest expedition and had seen plenty of combat. It was only natural that the World Government would take notice of them.
"The real question is, what happens next? Second Uncle, do you have a plan?" Yamato asked, turning her attention toward King. Whenever she wanted to know the actual strategy of the crew, it was always best to ask him.
King paused for a moment to think. "Now that we have established our territory, the next step is to expand the scale of our crew. After this last expedition, the Beasts Pirates have only reached a total of over six thousand members. To achieve Big Brother's ultimate goal, this is clearly not enough manpower. Therefore, we need to quickly expand our numbers. The most efficient way to do that is to absorb smaller pirate crews into our ranks."
"Leave that part to me," Jack said with a confident nod. Fighting and subjugating others was his favorite thing to do.
King nodded back. "Alright, I'll leave the recruitment to you then."
The rest of the room remained silent. Queen was busy managing the labor camps in Udon, so he definitely didn't have the time for recruitment drives. As for Who's-Who and Sasaki, they weren't the type of pirates to do anything without a clear personal gain. If a task could earn them a higher status or more power, they would be proactive; if not, they wouldn't have any motivation to help.
"Second Uncle, what about this idiot old man of mine?" Yamato asked, glancing over at Kaido. "Is he just going to sit around and do nothing again?"
King's eye twitched slightly. It seemed obvious to him—Kaido was the Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates, the man at the very top. Why would the boss have to do everything himself?
"Little brat, what are you trying to say?" Kaido growled, feeling like Yamato was targeting him once again.
"What do I mean? Everyone here is playing this 'Pirate Empire' game with you. You're just sitting on your throne waiting to be King, while everyone else has to work their fingers to the bone to make it happen. With someone like you in charge, even if Second Uncle and the others manage to build you a Pirate Empire, you won't be able to run it. It'll just collapse sooner or later," Yamato said, curling her lip in a sneer.
"Bullshit! You dare look down on me, you stinky brat?" Kaido was fuming, his face turning red with anger.
Yamato gave him a sidelong glance. "I don't know who convinced you to try building a Pirate Empire, but I know for a fact that you don't have the ability to do it. Aside from your raw strength, your ruthlessness, and your cunning, you don't have any other skills worth mentioning."
"You better watch your mouth, kid. You've only been a pirate for a few days, yet you think you can lecture me?" Kaido's aura grew cold, a heavy pressure filling the room.
"Yeah, I've only been a pirate for a few days, but at least I have a brain. You're just a brute who has barely ever read a book. Do you even understand management? Do you understand finance? Do you understand politics? Do you understand military science?" Yamato sneered.
After that rapid string of questions, Kaido was stunned. The rest of the crew looked equally confused. Management? Finance? Politics? Military science? These terms didn't sound simple at all. Coming from Yamato's mouth, they sounded sophisticated and deeply important.
"See? This is why it's terrifying to be uneducated. Did you really think a bunch of pirates just gathering together could build a real empire? Old man, if you actually pull this off, I'll eat this entire table," Yamato said, rolling her eyes.
The room fell into a heavy silence. No one dared to make a sound. Kaido ground his teeth together, his face twitching as he struggled to process what she had said. "Yamato, you little brat..."
To be honest, he was actually a bit stunned by her words. Although he didn't fully understand the technical terms she used, it felt like she might be right. It seemed that Yamato really did know a lot more than her father. However, this realization only made Kaido more unhappy. Being criticized as worthless by his own child was a massive blow to his pride. Didn't he need to save face in front of his subordinates?
"I know, I know. You don't even have to say it. I'm leaving on my own," Yamato said, not bothering to continue the argument. Now that she had clearly won the verbal spat, it was the perfect time to slip away. With that, Yamato stood up and vanished from the room in the blink of an eye.
The crew members watched her leave with their mouths agape. The Young Master had won the argument hands down; she had roasted the boss and then dipped before he could react. Everyone slowly turned their heads to look at Kaido. He looked like he wanted to eat someone alive. It was terrifying.
"Ahem, Big Brother... it seems the Young Master really does know a lot," King coughed lightly, trying to ease the thick tension in the air.
"Indeed. One could say the Young Master is a master of both the pen and the sword," Queen chimed in, trying to sound supportive.
Hearing his two strongest subordinates say this, Kaido's expression softened slightly, though he still looked annoyed. "Humph. She's just an arrogant brat. What does she actually know? All she does is talk back to me every day and avoid doing any real work."
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