Almost the moment Xia Te returned from Amigasa Village to the coastline—
he saw a massive force of the Beasts Pirates advancing toward them, led by King the Wildfire and Queen the Plague.
Notably—
Kaido himself was nowhere to be seen.
From that alone, Xia Te immediately concluded:
Kaido wasn't in Wano.
Which wasn't surprising.
That lunatic preferred wandering the world alone—
with a hobby of attempting suicide in increasingly ridiculous ways.
At the same time, King and Queen also spotted Xia Te's group—
and Jack, tied up like a dumpling with Seastone chains.
"The Xia Te Pirates? You were still at Sabaody two days ago—how the hell did you get here so fast?!"
A trace of shock flashed in King's eyes beneath his mask.
"Jack, you idiot! You can't even handle something this simple?!"
Queen cursed loudly.
Jack, already conscious, lowered his head in embarrassment.
"Sorry… brothers."
"Call your captain out to talk. Or do you want to end up like him before we negotiate?"
Shiryu said coldly, looking up.
"You bastard—do you even know who you're talking to?!"
Queen, used to acting tyrannical in Wano, instantly flew into a rage and was ready to throw down.
Behind him, hundreds of Beasts Pirates roared, eager to charge.
"Enough!"
King barked, stopping the hotheaded fools behind him.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Xia Te.
"What are you here for?"
As Kaido's most trusted right-hand man, King was far more composed than Jack or Queen.
Kaido wasn't here.
Even the Numbers were out on missions.
If a fight broke out now—
they wouldn't necessarily have the upper hand.
"Oh? Seems there's at least one brain among these beasts~"
Enel, who had been ready to unleash a divine lightning strike, paused and lazily picked his ear.
"Right now, the whole world is talking about how the Whitebeard Pirates are preparing to wage war against Marine Headquarters to rescue Ace."
Xia Te spoke calmly.
"You can't possibly not know that, right?"
"…So what?"
After a brief silence, King responded.
"Your boss Kaido has had his eyes on Whitebeard's territory for a long time."
"Now that Whitebeard has gathered over forty allied pirate crews and is heading to Marineford for a decisive battle—"
"do you really think Kaido would miss such a golden opportunity?"
King, Queen, and even Jack—bound beside Shiryu—
all had their expressions change drastically.
Back when the Marines first announced Ace's public execution,
Kaido had already predicted that Whitebeard would never allow harm to come to his "son."
War was inevitable.
And Kaido had already planned—
to launch a full-scale assault on Whitebeard's territories the day before the execution.
As former crewmates on the Rocks ship,
Kaido understood Whitebeard extremely well.
"…What exactly are you after?"
King now even suspected there might be a spy within their crew.
How else could this guy know so much?
Xia Te didn't answer directly.
Instead, he continued:
"But Kaido overlooked one thing—"
"Red-Haired Shanks. The Yonko who loves meddling the most."
"The moment you attack Whitebeard's territory—he'll interfere."
"And with him blocking you—"
"are you confident you can seize Whitebeard's lands?"
After that series of questions, King's expression grew heavier.
Thinking about it—
that was absolutely something Shanks would do.
Among the Yonko, the Red-Haired Pirates might seem the most laid-back—
but they were also the most prone to interfering in others' affairs.
"So—what do you want?"
King asked again, voice low.
"Cooperate with Kaido."
Xia Te smiled.
"You want to take advantage of the situation to seize Whitebeard's territory, right? We can help you."
The moment those words fell—
the entire Beasts Pirates force erupted in shock.
Even King's brows furrowed deeply as his gaze swept across Xia Te's crew.
He had to admit—
with a group like this backing them,
even if the Red-Haired Pirates intervened, they might still handle it.
"What do you want in return?"
King didn't get carried away.
There was no such thing as a free lunch.
"Whitebeard's territory is vast, isn't it?"
"More than ten times the size of your Wano."
Xia Te's smile remained unchanged.
"After it's done, all of Whitebeard's territory goes to you."
"Wano… goes to me."
For Xia Te, this operation had two main goals.
One—new swords. Already completed.
Two—signing in with Shanks for Perfect Conqueror's Haki.
As for territory—
he didn't really care.
But Wano?
A treasure land.
No reason to pass it up.
King's expression shifted dramatically.
Whitebeard's territory was indeed far larger than Wano—
but Wano had been the Beasts Pirates' base for nearly twenty years.
And more importantly—
it was the only source of Seastone in the world.
Its value was immeasurable.
Even as Kaido's right-hand man—
this was not a decision King could make.
After a moment of silence, he finally said:
"…I need to contact Kaido and report this before making any decision."
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