*Chapter 281: Wano Handed Over to Jack*

"Is Jack getting a bit too arrogant?"

Everyone had the same thought pop into their heads.

They suddenly found themselves missing the old, obedient Jack.

At least back then, Jack seemed much more submissive.

"What’s the deal? You really think you can compete with me for the title of the Strongest Creature?"

"Don't get cocky with me, kid!"

Kaido was laughing out of frustration.

Sure, I admit your recovery ability is impressive.

But aside from that, what else do you have going for you?

That bone sword in your hand looks intimidating, but your Haki hasn’t improved much, has it?

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Kaido walked straight up to Jack, swinging his kanabo, his strikes whistling through the air.

Thunderbolts exploded inside the room, and everyone stared at Kaido, numb.

It looked like Kaido was enjoying himself, as if he’d found a new punching bag.

Every time Jack tried to fight back, Kaido would cut him off before he could make a move.

Rumble! Rumble!

The island shook like an earthquake, and the terrifying shockwaves reverberated across the sea.

Huge tsunamis occasionally rose, crashing against Onigashima.

The battle lasted for three hours, and it’s said that Kaido didn’t stop until dawn.

And Jack was taken away!

"Boss Kaido, I want Wano. I want to become the Shogun of Wano!"

Jack declared straight out.

Since he couldn’t be exposed to sunlight, he stayed inside a dark room where not a single ray of light could reach.

Kaido laughed, "Wano? I’ve been meaning to get rid of Orochi for a while now."

"But he still has his uses. If you become the Shogun, can you be more useful than him?"

"Just your recovery ability? Or do you have other surprises for me?"

Kaido took a swig of sake. He’d long been planning to take control of Wano.

He wanted to overthrow the current regime!

Originally, he had intended for Yamato to become the Shogun of Wano.

But plans couldn’t keep up with change. Now, Yamato had become the Queen of Dressrosa.

She had even given him a grandson, so now Kaido was rethinking how to seize control of Wano.

He wanted everyone to submit, not negotiate with Orochi.

But the guy by Orochi’s side was a nuisance!

His Devil Fruit was practically invincible when it came to defense.

Taking him down wouldn’t be easy.

But that guy was getting old, so Kaido figured he could just wait it out.

"Of course, I’ll use my abilities!"

Jack gave a sinister smile.

Without hesitation, he recounted everything he’d experienced on his journey and the powers he had gained.

He even told Kaido his own weaknesses.

But Jack didn’t think Kaido was the type to fear his own subordinates.

He had been with Kaido long enough to know that Kaido was always straightforward.

He trusted Kaido completely, holding nothing back.

"Ghost powers, huh? Interesting. So, you could live for thousands of years?"

"And you can grant others your power, but they become your subordinates?"

Kaido’s eyes flickered as if something clicked in his mind.

"Exactly! They wouldn’t dare defy me. If they did, they’d die!"

"I want to control Wano, turning it into a playground for the Beasts Pirates."

"Even if the Kozuki Clan returns, they won’t stand a chance at reclaiming Wano."

"The future of Wano is ours!"

Jack laughed maniacally.

His crazed expression left Kaido speechless.

Kaido found himself wondering if this was how he looked when he’d attempted suicide.

No!

He must have been much better than Jack.

At least he wasn’t as crazy.

"King, bring someone here!" Kaido called out.

King instantly understood Kaido’s command.

He brought one of the low-ranking members of the Beasts Pirates.

If Jack’s claim was true, then Wano could indeed be handed over to him.

Letting Jack do as he pleased in Wano wouldn’t matter much.

But only if it made the Beasts Pirates stronger.

If it didn’t, then it would all be meaningless.

Smack!

King casually called someone over.

This pirate had a fierce look, but in reality, he hadn’t even learned Haki.

He had joined the Beasts Pirates by sheer luck.

After all, the lower ranks of the Beasts Pirates were open to anyone willing to die for them.

Most were cannon fodder, so the selection process wasn’t strict.

As long as they were willing to die, they were in.

"Ugh!"

Before the pirate could react, Jack grabbed him by the throat and dragged him in front of him.

Blood dripped from Jack’s hand, and he let some of it fall into the pirate’s mouth.

"Ahhh!"

The pirate screamed, writhing in pain, as if his soul was being torn apart.

After a moment...

"I'm so hungry! Lord Kaido... you smell delicious."

The pirate looked up, his face filled with greed, crawling towards Kaido.

His fingernails grew rapidly, fangs emerged from his mouth, and his eyes turned blood-red.

Thick fur began to cover his body, making him look like a wild beast.

This transformation shocked Kaido.

Right before his eyes, this pirate had become a monster in mere moments.

Yes!

Kaido sized him up.

There were almost no traces of humanity left.

"This is his Ghost Blood technique! It allows transformation between human and beast forms."

Jack watched with interest.

This guy had the guts to approach Kaido.

Brave kid.

Why couldn’t he use his brain like me?

"Ghost Blood technique? Like a Devil Fruit? Now you’ve really got my attention."

Kaido smiled, feeling excited about the potential power boost for his crew.

If he could give this power to his top fighters...

No!

There was a fatal weakness.

They couldn’t handle sunlight.

This frustrated Kaido.

Unless they found a place with eternal darkness...

But places like that were rare in the vast sea.

"Boss Kaido, can... can I eat you?"

The pirate crawled up to Kaido, baring his fangs, and lunged at him like a starving wolf.

Crunch!

But when his teeth bit into Kaido, it felt like hitting a rock.

It hurt his head immediately, and his teeth couldn't leave a single mark on Kaido.

Splat!

Without saying a word, Kaido punched the guy’s head, shattering it, and a gush of liquid, like watermelon juice, sprayed out.

Kaido's face didn’t change at all; he just silently watched the opponent recover.

"This recovery ability is way weaker than yours," Kaido said with a frown.

"That's because he hasn’t eaten. If he had refueled, he’d recover faster!" Jack replied, shrugging.

The ones that had just transformed were mostly starving.

They hadn’t even gone through a full transformation yet.

Not everyone is strong right away.

"But..."

Jack clenched his fist, and a giant hand sprouted from the beast’s slowly healing wound.

With one swift move, he crushed the beast into pieces, and the flesh quickly turned to ash and vanished.

If Jack wanted to kill a demon, it didn’t matter how strong they were.

Their life and death were entirely in Jack's hands.

Jack could even hear their thoughts.

If they had any other ideas...

Jack could kill them instantly.

"Ohohohoho, interesting! If that's the case, I'll leave Wano to you then."

"But I’m not dealing with Orochi!"

"If you want Orochi dead, you’ll have to handle that yourself," Kaido said, smiling as he looked at the body slowly fading away.

Jack’s display of power impressed Kaido.

But Kaido felt it wasn’t the full picture—he suspected Dressrosa was still hiding something.

He planned to go to Dressrosa himself to see if he could get the best of it.

As for Jack?

Kaido wasn’t petty.

Since Jack had this kind of ability, he would let him give it a shot.

Anyway, Wano and they would all be one eventually.

"No need! I'll handle that guy myself!" Jack said, ambition gleaming in his eyes, as he clinked his bottle against Kaido's.

Kaido wouldn’t need to interfere at all!

Jack planned to recruit some of Wano’s people.

If Kaido got involved, Jack wouldn’t get the chance.

"Big Mom Pirates’ Perospero single-handedly massacres an entire pirate crew, the captain and officers mutated into monsters!"

"The Beasts Pirates’ new top officer, Jack: Take a look at Jack’s rise to power!"

"Shocking: Jack and Perospero are no longer human. What did Dressrosa develop?"

"Dressrosa explains: They’ve developed a potion that allows people to live for a thousand years. Jack and Perospero used this!"

Newspapers were being delivered worldwide, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

No one expected to wake up and find the world had changed so dramatically overnight.

Now there was a new species on the seas—demons?

According to Dressrosa’s explanation, people were puzzled.

Before, death was something no one on the seas could avoid.

Even the strongest pirates or the Navy couldn’t escape it.

But who would've thought!

Dressrosa had directly broken the limits of life.

They had now created something neither human nor ghost.

Was the world going mad?

Meanwhile, at Marineford, Sengoku was rubbing his temples.

"What the hell is Dressrosa doing, bringing something like this out?"

"This isn’t helping us, the Navy, at all! And what’s in it for Dressrosa to create these monsters?"

"What’s going on in their heads?!" Sengoku grumbled to himself, too scared to curse Dressrosa in public, so he vented to his old friend in the office.

He had thought the situation on the seas was stabilizing, but then, out of nowhere, Dressrosa stirred things up again.

Sengoku realized that lately, it seemed like all the chaos in the seas had Dressrosa’s fingerprints on it.

And now Dressrosa had grown too powerful for just the Navy to handle.

"Alright! It’s happened already. Let’s think of a way to deal with it now."

"Those creatures aren’t invincible either. They’re supposedly weak to sunlight—expose them, and they die!"

"Looks like Dressrosa noticed that flaw and is testing it out!" Tsuru said calmly as she sipped her tea.

The massive office was now occupied by just the two of them.

Normally, this room would be much fuller. Garp would be sitting here, laughing loudly.

And Zephyr would be here, scowling at the mention of pirates.

Or maybe Akainu and Aokiji…

Tsuru suddenly realized how busy all the Marines had become lately.

They were so busy they barely had time to return to Marine Headquarters.

Aokiji had found love, Akainu had found strong allies.

Kizaru…

That guy even had a kid now.

When did the Navy change so much?

It had only been a year!

And the Navy had already gone through such strange transformations.

"Even with a flaw, they should’ve contacted us first!" Sengoku scratched his head, feeling the pressure pile on.

He hadn’t been Fleet Admiral for long.

But the Navy’s problems were already giving him a headache.

"Experimenting on pirates is the best option. You saw it—the demon that guy turned into is strong, and he can heal quickly."

"This goes beyond a mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit power. If not for the sunlight weakness, I wouldn’t even know how to deal with them."

"If you really have questions, you could always ask Dressrosa. After all, they were the ones who revealed the weakness."

"It’s clear they won’t let the Big Mom Pirates and Beasts Pirates hog this thing for themselves! They’ll definitely share it."

Tsuru understood the situation well—there was no way Dressrosa would keep such a thing to themselves.

If they did, they’d become a target for everyone.

Even the World Government wouldn’t let Dressrosa off the hook.

No matter how powerful Dressrosa was, they couldn’t stand up to the World Government.

Brrrrrrr…

Just as Sengoku was about to speak, the Den Den Mushi rang.

"It’s me!"

"Go buy some of that potion? But that potion…"

"Okay! Understood."

Sengoku nodded in the end.

It wasn’t for any other reason—the World Government was offering too much.

"The World Government wants us to buy a few bottles."

(End of chapter)