At this moment…
The atmosphere between Cain and Kaido was extremely strange.
After Kaido learned that Yamato's current changes were all thanks to Cain, he was so moved that he became a complete mess of tears!
"Wororororo! Come on, drink! If you don't drink, you're not giving me respect! Come on, drink!"
Kaido had Cain by the shoulder and was constantly pouring wine from his gourd into Cain's mouth.
Although the wine tasted sweet, its strength was not to be underestimated.
After all, anything that could get Kaido drunk was definitely no ordinary drink.
But one gourd was nowhere near enough for the two of them.
Behind Kaido sat a pile of huge wine barrels stacked as tall as he was, all filled with high-proof rum looted from Blackbeard's ship.
Blackbeard had prepared plenty of alcohol and food supplies for his time hiding near Totto Land, and now Kaido had happily claimed all of it.
After forcing wine down Cain's throat, Kaido dug out the rest of the booze and dragged Cain into drinking barrel after barrel with him.
And because Cain wanted to stall for time, he played along with Kaido and drank several huge barrels too, until his stomach was swollen.
The alcohol rushed straight to his head.
Cain transformed into his human-beast form on the spot, his body swelling in size, and then he threw an arm around Kaido's shoulders right back!
The two dragons went completely wild!
"Bottoms up!"
The two of them drank heartily together, and it did not take long before they emptied every drop of alcohol on the ship.
Seeing that, Kaido threw aside the wine barrel in his hand, hooked an arm around Cain's head, and started shouting about Yamato at the top of his lungs.
"WAAAAAH! IT'S ALL THANKS TO YOU, KID! YAMATO REALLY TURNED OUT WELL! IF YOU COME TO WANO IN THE FUTURE, I'LL DEFINITELY CALL YAMATO OVER AND MAKE HIM TOAST YOU!"
Cain was nearly strangled breathless, and the pressure sobered him up by more than half.
What the hell did he mean, make Yamato toast him?
If Yamato had to toast him, then did that mean Ace would also…
Cain violently shook his head and quickly broke free from Kaido's arm before carefully probing,
"…Since Yamato has already… gone back… then you…?"
Cain's heart was pounding wildly.
Kaido was being this enthusiastic already.
Surely he was not still planning to drag him to Wano and make him mine, right?
"Burp!"
Kaido let out a long belch, then spoke with his tongue slightly thick from drink.
"Ah! Cain, about what I said before. Have you thought about joining me?"
'No way. Even after all this, he's still thinking of pulling me into the Beasts Pirates?'
In this kind of situation, Cain obviously could not answer by half-accepting and half-refusing.
What the hell was he supposed to choose?
While Cain was muttering inwardly, Kaido continued without caring at all.
"That brat Yamato really makes people worry! I want you to join his New Beasts Pirates!"
"Yamato wants to command Wano's samurai against me and become a proper leader, a proper Shogun. But he can't do that alone!"
Cain froze.
He had never expected Kaido's words to actually come from concern for Yamato.
But then again, it made sense.
The current Yamato was completely different from the original. He no longer blindly worshiped Kozuki Oden and was determined to seize Kaido's position from him.
Kaido reacting like this was not exactly strange.
As Kaido rambled on, Cain finally understood his concerns.
People's hearts were a subject every leader had to face.
Whether it was Crocodile in Alabasta or Doflamingo in Dressrosa, both had first destroyed the former ruler's prestige in the people's hearts, then gained the citizens' support through other means.
Even the matter between Kozuki Oden and Kurozumi Orochi followed the same principle.
And that was exactly what Yamato lacked right now.
Even if Yamato alone declared that he would challenge the entire Beasts Pirates, there probably would not be many citizens who sincerely chose to support him.
After all, the samurai of Wano valued inheritance and legitimacy above all.
Even if Yamato truly won in the end and took the seat of Wano's Shogun, the people beneath him might not submit willingly.
On the contrary, everyone would whisper behind his back, wondering if this whole thing was one of Kaido's schemes.
They would suspect that Kaido had deliberately held back and put on a show just to place his own son on the throne.
Because of that, Yamato urgently needed someone beside him who could openly stand against Kaido.
And Cain, who also possessed a Mythical Zoan Fish-Fish Fruit, was the most suitable candidate.
Even if Cain did not act, simply placing the image of that giant dragon beside Yamato would be enough to help him win over a great deal of public support.
…
Kaido wanted Cain to join Yamato's side and help him overthrow himself.
This was a father's clumsy arrangement for his child.
Come to think of it, Kaido had always cared about Yamato.
Even in the original story, Yamato had wholeheartedly wanted to become Kozuki Oden and refused to accept anything Kaido arranged, yet Kaido had never truly blamed him.
Even knowing full well that Yamato would eventually rebel, Kaido still planned to seize the Flower Capital and place him in the position of Shogun.
That alone was enough to show how much he valued Yamato.
He respected Yamato, was willing to call him a man, and acknowledged her choice.
Even so, Cain still found the whole thing rather subtle.
Helping his son find allies to overthrow himself?
Was Kaido really not afraid of being completely toppled?
Cain directly asked that question, only to see Kaido throw his head back and laugh, shaking the surrounding seawater until it churned.
"Wororororo! Do you really think I'd be afraid, Cain?"
Kaido's gaze abruptly became fierce.
His overwhelming Conqueror's Haki exploded uncontrollably, and he directly punched the entire ship into pieces.
Kaido stared at Cain and laughed loudly.
"When you've made up your mind, hang a Beasts Pirates flag on the ship you sail. I'll welcome yours and Yamato's challenge anytime."
"Before I go, I'll show you one more thing—the way to use the Azure Dragon Fruit in the sea!"
Before Kaido had even finished speaking, he leapt straight through the bubble coating and into the deep sea.
He opened his mouth wide, and a cyclone churned madly inside it.
In the next second, a violently trembling storm exploded in front of Cain.
The cyclone spun faster and faster, gradually forming a massive whirlpool in the deep sea.
The whirlpool pulled wildly, actually dragging the airflow from the surface down into the depths.
With that single blast of storm wind, Kaido forcibly opened a vacuum path of wind connecting the deep sea and the high sky.
This was exactly what made Mythical Zoans completely different from other Devil Fruit users, and it was something the latter could not do.
Even in the deep sea, weakened by the seawater, the physical qualities of a mythical beast still remained within the body.
In other words, as long as one could overcome that feeling of weakness, sheer willpower alone could briefly bring out the power possessed by a Mythical Zoan.
And controlling wind was one of the powers of the Azure Dragon Fruit.
Immediately afterward, Kaido transformed into a massive azure dragon and shot straight up along the wind path.
His wild laughter came back through the rushing air.
"I'LL BE WAITING FOR YOU IN WANO, KID! BURP!"
…
High in the sky, as Kaido approached Whole Cake Island, he subconsciously let out a drunken belch.
The Boro Breath in his mouth was also released wildly without him even realizing it…