One Piece: The Legend of Beasts

"You want to ask about Captain Kubota?!"

In a busy tavern, Paul wiped the wine from his lips. His cheeks were slightly flushed from excessive drinking. He smiled drunkenly, "Need I say more? No one in the entire Woka Kingdom is better at fighting than him! He's also very easy-going, and I heard he came from somewhere else!"

"Somewhere else...?"

Kaido put down the wine glass in his hand and looked at him blankly, "You mean, he is not from this country?"

"One time we got together for a drink, and he got so drunk that he accidentally told everything about himself!"

Paul took a big gulp of wine, squinted his eyes, and said excitedly, "Captain Kubota was originally a businessman. He encountered a storm while doing business and drifted to this country. At that time, he was penniless. Fortunately, he learned some kung fu and joined the Kingdom Army through the conscription of His Majesty the King. It has been thirteen years now. At that time, I was still a kid like you, haha!"

Kaido lowered his head and remained silent. He had traveled to several member states and knew that in order to consolidate their rule, the rulers of the member states would often choose local hereditary officers to lead the entire army. However, the Kingdom of Woka chose a foreigner as the army commander, which was a strange situation that made him feel incredible.

Albert, who was sitting next to him, seemed to have seen through his doubts. He picked up a piece of roast meat with a fork and put it into his mouth to chew slowly, and explained vaguely: "In order to replenish funds, King Guo (Country) of Woka has been working hard to strengthen the army. No matter who it is, they will not refuse. Even if he is a soldier from the enemy country (Guo), as long as he swears allegiance to His Majesty King Guo (Country), he is eligible to participate in the selection of army captains. So, when Captain Kubota retires, the future army captain will most likely be you."

"This kid is not bad as that guy's successor. Really, it seems like it was just yesterday."

The soldier who held the umbrella for Kubota earlier took a sip of wine and stared blankly at the ceiling, with a trace of nostalgia in his eyes. His name was Stuart, and he was a colleague of Kubota in the army. He had a very good relationship with him. Now he was still an ordinary soldier, while his friend had become a military commander who was second only to Kubota. He could not help but sigh that time flies.

Paul laughed heartily, "Haha! The two strongest people in the kingdom are not from this country. I am a little jealous when I think about it!"

"We feel relieved with you two here..." Ford sat in the seat farthest from the crowd and gently touched his left and right index fingers. Although his expression showed his sincerity, his voice was a little timid.

"Why are you so nervous talking, Ford?!"

Paul staggered forward, lifted Ford up and put him on the seat next to him, "Are you afraid that Kaido will swallow you?"

"How is that possible? You know I'm always shy..."

Before Ford could finish his defense, Paul stuffed a piece of fat into his mouth. Seeing Ford unable to speak with his mouth full of fat, he laughed drunkenly and said, "Eat more, you're so skinny!"

"Kubota is still with His Majesty and won't be here for a while, so let's not wait for him."

Stuart raised his glass and said loudly to everyone present, his tone indescribably excited, "Let's toast to Kaido's first anniversary of joining us!"

"cheers!"

Everyone raised their glasses high, clinked their glasses, and drank the drinks. Paul drank too much and burped for a long time. He slumped in his chair, looking at the dozen empty bottles in front of Kaido's table. He couldn't help but start his habit of talking too much: "You are only ten years old, and it's okay to drink, but you can drink more than all of us combined!"

Kaido was a little drunk at this time, and he muttered, "Wine is like my life. It tastes good, so I should drink as much as I can. Don't you dare snatch it from me!"

"Haha, that's a very straightforward statement. Let's not go home until we are drunk!"

For a moment, the tavern was filled with laughter. For the soldiers who didn't know when they would die on the battlefield, this day was indeed a day worth remembering.

"Are you okay? It's like you just went mad."

The cold and familiar voice was like a biting cold wind, instantly pulling Kaido's thoughts back to reality. He gathered his mind and finally regained his composure temporarily. He stared closely at the middle-aged man standing with his hands behind his back in front of him and said in a deep voice: "Before I smash your head, I have something to ask you."

The right hand holding the mace trembled uncontrollably. Kaido's eyes were burning as he asked word by word, "Did you become an agent after leaving the Woka Kingdom, or were you originally a member of CP0?"

"I didn't expect you to ask such a stupid question."

The man named Vidruvius raised his thick eyebrows as if he had heard the most interesting thing in the world, and a gloomy smile appeared on the corners of his mouth intentionally or unintentionally. "Of course, from the beginning."

This sentence hit Kaido's head like a bolt from the blue. His whole face turned pale in an instant and his heart trembled violently.

"Really? Although I have thought about it, I still don't want to believe it's true."

He murmured a series of words in a trembling voice, and endured the severe pain in his heart. He asked loudly with grief and anger: "So I want you to tell me everything now. Tell me all the reasons why you did that day!"

Kaido's shouts echoed continuously in the valley, and a memory that he dared not think about but could not forget emerged in his mind.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Let me go!"

In the spacious and luxurious palace, several navy officers in white held a chain in each hand, firmly fixing Kaido in the middle. Dozens of chains were tightly wrapped around his body. Kaido kept struggling, but the chains were made of the strongest seastone, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break them free. His eyes were filled with anger, staring at the middle-aged man sitting high on the throne and yelling, "I don't remember what mistake I made to be treated like this!"

This king who was revered by the whole country seemed to have lost his former majesty at this moment. He looked down at the soldier who had brought him countless military exploits with a wooden expression. There was no wavering on his face. After a long while, he slowly said, "You have been drafted into the army. Our temple is too small to accommodate a big Buddha like you."

"Why should I be a 'running dog' of the government?"

"Because it's already been agreed upon."

The leading marine looked at his helpless and furious appearance quietly, and said expressionlessly: "As long as Kaido is handed over, this country will have the right to participate in the next World Conference. This is the agreement we reached with the King of the Woka Kingdom."

"Are you kidding me?! I'm not some political tool!"

Kaido roared furiously, the chains on his body creaked, and because of his great strength, the marines holding the chains could hardly pull him away, and were almost dragged to the ground by him. The marines shouted and pushed Kaido to the ground at the same time, and one of the strong marines stepped heavily on his back to prevent him from breaking free.

"Congratulations, Kaido."

There was a burst of cheerful clapping nearby. "Becoming a marine is something many people dream of."

Upon hearing this voice, Kaido became even more furious, and blurted out at the top of his lungs: "I trusted you all along! You said you had something confidential to discuss with me, but it turns out you were conspiring to sell me out to the government?! Answer me, Kubota!"

"Don't say such harsh words."

Kubota stood aside, wearing armor, with his hands behind his back and a strange smile on his face. "In order for our Woka Kingdom to gain a voice in the world, someone needs to make necessary sacrifices. And you, who have nothing to do with this country, are naturally the most suitable person."

"How dare you betray me without permission..."

Kaido almost bit his steel teeth to pieces, his eyes were full of bloodshot. If he could move now, he would immediately go forward and beat the hateful man half to death, "I will never forgive you... absolutely...!"

"Captain Kubota, this is different from what we agreed on!"

The fat man who had been standing behind the man and witnessed all this was already sweating profusely. He asked his superior anxiously, "Didn't you say that Kaido should follow those...marine troops to carry out the mission? But from what you said just now, it seems like you are forcing him to become one of them!"

"What? Are you dissatisfied with my actions? You can just say it directly, Paul?"

Kubota turned around, his tone still calm as usual, but his eyes were as sharp as a knife, as if they could pierce through people's hearts.

Paul had followed Kubota for many years, but he had never seen him look like that. He felt a little scared when he was stared at by him. He stepped back a few steps, moved his Adam's apple, and said reluctantly, "No... No! I was just thinking, shouldn't I ask for my opinion before joining the navy?"

"Since this is the order from the army commander, don't make any noise."

Albert, who was standing beside him with his arms folded across his chest, glared at him and said coldly, "We just need to do what he says."

"Tsk, why are you all so weird? If that's the case..."

Without waiting for their response, Paul drew out the long sword from his waist and walked forward. When the soldiers and navy guarding the palace saw him suddenly make this move, they quickly took out their weapons and surrounded him in the center.

"Hey! Paul! What are you thinking about? Put down your weapon!" Albert shouted anxiously, holding a flintlock. He and Paul were usually good friends, but when he saw him suddenly going to commit the crime, he hurriedly spoke out to stop him.

Facing the soldiers who were staring at him, Paul still ignored them and walked up to Kaido who was restrained by many navy soldiers. His expression was no longer as frivolous as before, and he glared at them fiercely: "Get out of here!"

The sailors couldn't help but feel frightened by his glare. Their momentum weakened a little and their hands holding the chains slowly relaxed.

Seeing that Paul was about to step forward to rescue people, the king was immediately frightened and roared in a weak voice: "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and tear this traitor into pieces! Kubota, please go and help as well." When he said the last sentence, his tone became much weaker, as if their relationship between the monarch and his subject had reversed.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Kubota bowed to him in an unceremonious voice, turned around and said calmly to the other side: "Paul, considering your many contributions to the Woka Kingdom, I will forgive your rudeness at this time, as long as you don't do that stupid thing again."

"Please forgive me for declining this time, Captain Kubota."

Kubota forced the soldiers to retreat and was about to untie the chains on the boy when he said in a serious tone, "Although Kaido is not from this country, he is at least a companion who has shared the good and bad times with us. I don't want to watch him being taken away."

"Really? I'm sorry about that."

Before he could finish his words, Paul felt a sharp pain in his back, a sweetness in his throat, and spurted out a large mouthful of blood. He looked down and saw a bloody hole in his heart. He fell forward with a plop, his eyes wide open, almost popping out of their sockets. It was obvious that he had not expected before his death that the most respected army commander would suddenly take such a cruel action against him.

"I'm sorry, bro."

Kubota looked at his bloody right hand and wiped his palm without changing his expression. "I was just fulfilling my duty."

Suddenly seeing his former comrade fall to the ground without a sound, Albert's eyes twitched, the gun fell from his hand, making a crisp sound on the ground, and he trembled and said, "Paul..."

Blood splattered all over Kaido's face, and his pupils trembled violently.

Afterwards, no one could forget the deafening screams in the palace that day.

"You want to know the reason?"

Vidruvius observed the young man with a look of pain with interest, "It's okay to tell a dying man."

His eyes flashed with malice, and a strange arc appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Using a high amount of heavenly gold as bait, taking advantage of the member country's king's fear of the Celestial Dragons, I transformed this member country into a country that is only loyal to the World Government. This is the reason why I have been hiding in this country for several years."

At this moment, Kaido had no more doubts, and all his anger burst out at this moment. He swung the mace from top to bottom, and a dark purple shock wave rushed straight forward. Vidruvius turned his head lightly and dodged. The shock wave caused a strong explosion on the mountain, and the ground was covered with sand and stones.

"Have you forgotten? I taught you all your Kung Fu."

Vidruvi smiled and said, "So I know all your moves by heart."

"Thunder gossip!"

Kaido shot out like an arrow, his mace flashing with layers of electric light as he crushed everything in front of him, leaving a deep groove on the ground.

Vidruwe's expression remained unchanged, as if he had seen through the trajectory of the attack. When the mace was about to hit his face, his body slid down like a ghost, causing the mace to miss. Then he stood upside down on the ground, and kicked Kaido in the chest with both legs in a row, causing him to somersault and leave a long distance on the ground.

“You bastard…!”

Kaido wiped the blood from his lips and was surprised to find that his strength was completely different from before.

"In order to make the performance as realistic as possible, why would I use my real skills in front of you?"

Vidruvius seemed to see through his thoughts and smiled slightly, "Your Thunder Bagua is much more powerful than before, but it still lacks some skills."

"Don't lecture me in such a condescending manner!"

"If you don't tell me now, you won't have the chance later."

Vidruvi threw his hat aside and took off his white uniform, revealing his symbolic blue long jacket. His front foot was slightly turned inward, and his back foot was horizontally outward. His legs were about three feet apart. His wrists were naturally drooping, his palms facing forward, his shoulders were parallel and open, and he looked straight ahead, like a great master. "When I finish this set of 'You Shen Bagua Palm', your life will begin to wither."