chapter 55 part 2
According to the newspaper's description, because the Marine Headquarters' Three Armies Military Exercise was about to begin in just over a month, some young and powerful Marine Supernovas were gradually emerging.
[Loy Aros is one of them. He is the secretly tutored disciple of former Marine Admiral Zephyr, and his strength is formidable.]
[To participate in this Three Armies Military Exercise, and to practice Justice and protect the people, he finally came out of the mountains and appeared before the public this time. Ten days ago, he had a warm-up battle with the "Seven Warlords of the Sea" Huaben, and the two fought to a draw.]
[According to informed sources, many high-ranking Marines believe that Major Loy will be a key member in resisting the dark forces of the sea and pacifying the Pirate era in the future.]
And further down, the newspaper also detailed promotional information about the Three Armies Military Exercise, and specifically stated: [This paper will broadcast the real-time scenes of the exercise through live Den Den Mushi to major allied countries of the World Government throughout the entire process. Please look forward to it.]
Loy: "..."
Honestly, he didn't understand what this was all about.
But seeing the crowd that was already frantically surging towards him, he at least understood one thing, and that was...
He seemed to have become famous.
At the same time, in Wano Country, on the gigantic skull-shaped Onigashima.
"Gurgle, gurgle!"
A colossal man with huge horns on his head, bare-chested, and a braided waist, drank strong liquor from a gourd wildly.
"Boom!"
From above his head, dense lightning struck near him in the clouds, and the huge roar caused exclamations from below.
"Worororo!"
He wasn't startled by the falling thunder at all, but casually tossed the gourd aside and let out his unique laugh.
That laugh almost resonated with the thunder.
On this vast ocean, there were not a few individuals with such colossal physiques and terrifying appearances.
But...
There was only one person with such an appearance and such an aura.
The Four Emperors – "King of the Beasts" Kaido.
"Zephyr's disciple, the Marine Supernova who will pacify the Pirate era, huh..."
At this moment, Kaido, seemingly a bit drunk, chuckled, "Sounds good, that Marine brat?"
"...He's indeed very strong."
And in front of Kaido, a Den Den Mushi was trembling nervously while completing its phone duties.
From the Den Den Mushi's terrified appearance at this moment, it wasn't hard to tell who was on the other end.
It was "King of the Pythons" Huaben, who had been defeated by Loy not long ago.
"Wororororo – you've been slacking off on your training these past few years, my brother Huaben!"
Kaido clapped his knee, continuing to let out his arrogant laughter.
"..."
Upon hearing this, Huaben remained silent.
He didn't deny Kaido's words.
In his youth, he was a Pirate who fought back and forth with a young Kaido.
But after forming an unbreakable bond with Kaido, and even accepting the position of a Seven Warlords of the Sea, although he still respected strength, he was destined to be unable to dedicate himself to training as he did in his youth.
But before he could reply, Kaido just continued to speak.
"However..."
The Four Emperors picked up the giant spiked club "Hassaikai" placed beside him.
"I can't just pretend not to know about a Marine brat using my brother to make a name for himself on the high seas!"
"Humiliating my brother like this... Are you ready for enlightenment, Marine?!"
He twisted his neck, making "crack" "crack" sounds.
"Come on! Let's have a war – it's been a long time since I fought the Marines. Zephyr's disciple... Hmph, that old man wasn't enough to fight after losing an arm. Let Garp or other admirals come, that would be better!"
"Big Brother Kaido!"
But at this moment, Huaben said in a deep voice, "Sengoku has already told me that if we start a retaliation due to this matter, I will be stripped of my Seven Warlords of the Sea title."
"Huh?!"
Hearing this, Kaido glanced indifferently at the Den Den Mushi: "Stripped of your Seven Warlords of the Sea title?"
He let out a furious roar: "That kind of thing... Who cares?!"
"Boom!"
A colossal Haki erupted, and a section of Onigashima's ground instantly shattered.
"Fight or strip the title, it's up to them!"
"All I want is the biggest war in the whole world!"
Kaido's voice seemed to tremble, his teeth grinding audibly.
Was it rage? Or excitement? Or simply being drunk?
Well, perhaps all three.
"No, Big Brother Kaido."
However, at this moment, Huaben continued to speak in a deep voice.
"A loss is a loss – I lost to him, that's a fact. The Marines using me to make a name for him is their freedom."
The gaze from the other end of the Den Den Mushi seemed to also look at Kaido: "But the 'King of the Beasts' plan absolutely cannot be interfered with because of my failure!"
He was perhaps the only person who dared to speak to Kaido like this at such a moment.
That's right.
Kaido's ambition was just one war – a grand and fervent war that would engulf the entire world.
Nobles, royalty, commoners, Marines, Pirates, everyone, regardless of status or wealth, would equally perish and die in the war.
War itself was his goal.
As for whether he could win in it, Kaido wouldn't insist.
But Huaben was different.
In his youth, through his battles with Kaido, he had completely recognized the other party.
In these years, he had rarely improved his strength, which was certainly not due to his laziness.
But because he was very clear – his talent was far inferior to Kaido's.
So he accepted the title of Seven Warlords of the Sea to hunt Pirates, to acquire resources for Kaido, to sell weapons, and to collect Devil Fruits.
And his goal was to make Kaido "King."
This was the difference between him and Kaido – Kaido cared about war itself, regardless of victory or defeat.
But for Huaben, Kaido must be the victor of the war!
Therefore, before the plan was complete, before enough accumulation, he didn't want Kaido to go to war with the Marines because of his matter!
"..."
Upon hearing this, Kaido also fell silent.
After a moment, he put down Hassaikai and sat back down.
"So you're just going to let it end like this, Huaben – the me that I admired back then wasn't like this."
He snorted coldly, his voice becoming low.
But upon hearing this, Huaben on the other end of the Den Den Mushi also smiled.
"End?"
He scoffed, "Of course it won't end like this –"
He had indeed promised the Marines that he would not personally seek revenge against Loy.
He also admitted his defeat.
But this didn't mean he had no other options.
After all,
"The hunt of a wild beast is fatal."
(end of chapter)