Reincarnated as Kaido, married Big Mom, and formed a dual-Emperor pirate crew.

Chapter 294 Not a chess piece, just a frog

Kaido made a small joke, and before Crocodile could lose his temper, his expression turned serious.

"Enough with the jokes, kid. How about it? Interested in accepting my investment?"

"invest?"

Crocodile squinted at Kaido.

"What do you mean?"

"Simply put, it's a transaction."

Kaido began:

"You need some start-up capital, and I need you to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea in the future and pass on some intelligence from the World Government to me."

"Of course, I'm not asking you to be a professional spy. I just need you to send me the relevant intelligence when the World Government and the Navy make any big moves and urgently summon the Seven Warlords of the Sea."

"One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"

Crocodile was puzzled; it was a completely unfamiliar word to him.

After all, he is still very young, similar to Luffy's state before he arrived at Sabaody Archipelago.

He is certainly much better than Luffy in terms of intelligence, but he is still a young man, and he is not very clear about information at a slightly higher level.

Unfortunately, the Seven Warlords of the Sea are one of those pieces of information that has been widely spread within the Navy and the World Government, but is still little known among the pirates.

So, Kaido gave a brief explanation of the meaning of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Crocodile listened and a cold smile appeared on his face.

"You want me to become a dog for the World Government?!"

"Hmm, it's not that bad. It's just mutual exploitation and getting what we need. Just like before I entered the New World, I had a honeymoon period with the World Government."

Kaido smiled faintly and spoke.

For some stubborn kids, not cooperating with anyone, at most fighting all the way to the end with their own partners, is what it means to be truly free from external forces and powerful.

However, as Kaido grew older, gained more knowledge and experience, and further understood the lessons learned from his two lives, he realized that the stubborn kid's ideas were too simplistic.

A true tyrant is indifferent to whether or not he temporarily treats others as equals and cooperates with them.

As long as you ensure that you don't actually bow down to someone and become their dog, or get lost in your comfort zone outside of your goals, your heart as a strong person will not be tainted.

True strength is not just about physical prowess; intellect is also an essential component of great power.

Crocodile, without a doubt, although he is still very young, is definitely in the making of a ruthless leader.

If we exclude his obsession with the warship Hades from the original timeline, he would have been a very qualified, even outstanding, ruthless leader.

However, can Crocodile still be considered young now?

After listening to Kaido's explanation, he not only failed to understand the true meaning Kaido was trying to convey, but also revealed a cold smile on his face.

"So you're nothing special after all!"

Then, he raised his head and spoke with extreme arrogance:

"I will not become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea! I don't need to be a dog for the World Government to become a strong person like you! No, I will definitely become stronger than you in the future!!"

Looking at Crocodile in front of him, who was arrogant and domineering, completely different from what he remembered, and even more like a hothead like Luffy or Ace, Kaido couldn't help but remain silent for a few seconds.

Then, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Ugh... You're pretty arrogant, kid!!"

This was just a normal laugh; Kaido did not intentionally unleash his Conqueror's Haki.

However... Crocodile, who had just uttered those arrogant words, still felt a chill run down his spine.

This is an absolute powerhouse whom he is completely unqualified to challenge, and who might even be killed by a single finger.

The strongest in the world! The truly strongest in the world!!

fear?

No, it's excitement!!

A fire blazed in Crocodile's eyes; if he hadn't retained some reason, he probably would have challenged Kaido right now.

"Interesting, kid."

Kaido's laughter gradually subsided.

Your pride has earned you the right!

"I can give you an investment free of charge, so that you can go out and explore the new world according to your own will."

"Finally, if you can truly make a name for yourself in the new world, then we can renegotiate our cooperation."

"How about that? Do you still think I'm humiliating you?"

Crocodile narrowed his eyes, the fanaticism in his eyes gradually subsiding, replaced by a hint of doubt.

Why is Kaido being so generous? What is his true intention?

Kaido, who saw right through Crocodile's thoughts, casually explained, "Just think of it as a gambling game I played for fun."

"For someone of my caliber, many forms of worldly entertainment no longer hold much interest for me."

"Invest in a young, fearless newcomer and watch them struggle and be tormented in this cruel world in their pursuit of their dreams, eventually becoming disheartened and fading into obscurity, or perhaps breaking through limitations to become someone who can compete with you on the same stage."

"Don't you think this kind of game is interesting?"

For Kaido right now, giving away a ship or investing tens of millions of Berries is nothing at all.

Compared to this cost, whether Crocodile can break free from the constraints of his predetermined fate on his own is a worthwhile experiment to try.

Although Crocodile's fate had already been slightly interfered with before he even met himself.

—He spent over a year cultivating enlightenment in the Dragon Field of the Hundred Beasts Prison.

But Kaido believes that the world's corrective power can easily fix this variable.

After all, Crocodile's target in the original timeline wasn't some nobody, but that old guy Whitebeard.

That old man's fighting prowess is such that even I would have to exert all my strength to guarantee victory.

Even if Crocodile spent more than a year in Ryuba to achieve enlightenment, as long as the world's will didn't give him a protagonist's cheat like Luffy, he wouldn't be able to defeat Whitebeard at just over 20 years old.

After hearing Kaido's explanation, Crocodile's mood clearly worsened.

Kaido's words were far too blunt; in Kaido's discourse, he felt like a mere pawn.

No, perhaps not even as good as a chess piece.

Because the pieces at least need to be moved by someone like Kaido, whether they move forward or backward, they are always under Kaido's watchful eye.

To be more accurate, he was more like a frog thrown onto a chessboard.

Kaido watched this frog with amusement, wondering if he could eventually jump off the chessboard on his own.

This nasty yet vivid self-comparison made Crocodile feel as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly.

but……

He had no choice.