Alright.
Kong and Sengoku immediately deflated, staring resentfully at the freak standing before them. Only a lunatic could come up with something like this.
The core idea behind the training method wasn't wrong. Through intense "striking" training, the body's resistance to physical blows would improve.
No flaw there—except that it was borderline suicidal.
Still, the two quickly recovered and couldn't help but smile. Daren had mastered the "Indestructible Body," and his strength and aura had both seen a noticeable boost. What did that mean?
It meant the Marines had gained another admiral-level combatant!
For the Navy, on the brink of an all-out war, this was undoubtedly great news.
"In that case, I'll leave Kaidou to you, Daren... Carry the extra weight," Sengoku said, clapping Daren on the shoulder with enthusiasm and a satisfied smile.
They'd been short on candidates for a while, but that was no longer the case.
After the battle at Marineford, both Sakazuki and Borsalino had advanced to admiral-level strength. Now, with the steady rise of the "Golden Age," the Navy could finally claim it was brimming with talent.
Even though military support from allied nations remained limited, it had temporarily eased the Navy's short-term funding crisis.
Manpower, troops, funds, equipment... everything was in place. Sengoku was more than ready to roll up his sleeves for war!
As for Kaidou in Wano Country—he might be a nightmare for most, but for a monster like Daren, stirring up trouble and keeping Kaidou too busy to meddle in the coming conflict shouldn't be too hard.
Daren smiled.
"No problem, Admiral Sengoku."
"I was planning to 'visit' Kaidou again soon anyway."
The strange inflection in the word "visit" made both Sengoku and Kong twitch at the corners of their mouths, black lines forming across their faces.
Right then, they were truly thankful that Daren was a Marine and not a pirate. If he were, with his devious mind and relentless nature, the Navy would've been in serious trouble.
After briefly mourning Kaidou's impending misfortune in silence, Sengoku suddenly seemed to recall something and added,
"By the way, you better make sure that bastard Zephyr doesn't find out how you powered up."
"He might just start questioning his entire life."
…
The New World, Wano Country.
"Achoo!!"
Kaidou, who was overseeing the reconstruction of the military factory in the Kuri region, suddenly sneezed. A faint chill ran down his spine.
"Am I coming down with something?"
He picked up a jug of hot sake and took a swig, then quickly shook his head.
What a joke.
With a body that tough, forget catching a cold—even those engineered viruses from that bastard Queen wouldn't do a thing to him.
Speaking of that bastard...
A surge of anger suddenly flared in Kaidou's chest. He turned to King, who was busy nearby.
"Arber, where the hell is Queen?"
"We're busting our asses rebuilding this place, and that guy's nowhere to be found!"
Watching the countless Beasts Pirates members hard at work around him only made Kaidou angrier.
That damned Marine brat, Daren, had actually invaded Wano Country and destroyed nearly a third of their military factory production lines!
And to top it off, the bastard had the nerve to say he'd be "visiting" again?
What did he think this place was?
The Pleasure District?
This is Wano! The territory of Kaidou of the Beasts! It's not some theme park you can stroll in and out of at will!
Damn it!
Kaidou clenched his fists, veins popping and eyes reddening with rage.
And the root of all this... was Queen, that damned fool!
If he hadn't been messing around, injecting that Marine brat with all sorts of strange viruses, how could Daren have gotten so strong so quickly?
He should've been crushed with a single blow!
King immediately sensed the murderous aura and fury radiating from Kaidou. He pressed his lips together and answered in a low voice,
"Kaidou-san, Queen's been locked in his lab these past few days. He said he's running some kind of experiment."
"Damn it! What the hell is he up to now!?"
Kaidou grabbed his massive black kanabō and stormed off toward the lab.
King's eyelid twitched violently, but he didn't dare stop him and quickly followed.
Along the way, every Beasts Pirates member they passed instinctively shuddered at Kaidou's furious aura and scattered like frightened animals.
Before long, the two reached the entrance to Queen's enormous lab.
Even before they got close, they could hear agonized screams pouring out from inside.
"AAAHHH!! Queen-sama, no!! Don't come any closer!!"
"Don't move! Once you're injected with my virus, you'll get stronger!!"
"That's insane!! This stuff could kill me!! Queen-sama, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have stolen your red bean soup..."
"What!? You actually stole my red bean soup!? Damn you! That's my favorite!! Increase the dosage by 20%!!"
"AAAAAGHHHH!!"
The wails were sharp and brutal, like the shrieking of a devil. Just from the sound, it was clear the poor guy inside was suffering unimaginably.
But after three seconds, the screaming stopped dead.
Then—
Bang! The lab doors burst open with a thunderous kick.
Two workers in full hazmat gear rushed out, pale-faced, carrying a stretcher.
On it lay a Beasts Pirates grunt, mangled and soaked in blood, his skin tinted with a strange bluish hue. He was clearly dead.
"Damn it! Another failure!!"
"This can't be happening!"
Out stormed a furious Queen, his bloated body stretching his lab coat to its limit, face wild with frustration.
"Daren pulled it off—why can't anyone else?!"
He roared, "Next!"
But as soon as the words left his mouth, a chill ran down his spine. He turned around abruptly.
"K-Kaidou-sama!?"
Reflected in his pupils was a massive kanabō, rapidly closing in.
Boom!!
Queen flew backward like a cannonball, slamming into a distant hillside with a deafening crash, sending rocks tumbling as the mountain cracked and crumbled.
"You bastard... We're already short on manpower, and this is what you're doing!?"
Kaidou growled, panting, kanabō in hand.
He stared at the mountain of corpses piled behind the lab, rage burning in his eyes.