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

Chapter 187 Why are you so weak?! Kozuki Oden!!

"What did you say?! You want to attack Wano Country?!"

Oden, who was eating and drinking, swallowed the food in his mouth and suddenly stood up from the campfire, staring intently at Kaido.

"Ah~ that's right, we should attack Wano Country."

Kaido smiled, raised his sake gourd, and toasted Kozuki Oden from afar.

Kozuki Oden did not respond, but instead said with a serious expression, "I originally thought you were a good person."

“You not only saved Miss Shi, but also helped me when I was weak. I am truly grateful for your kindness.”

“If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to introduce you to places in Wano Country that are worth visiting.”

"But now, you're saying you're going to attack Wano Country! You've really misled us, Kaido!!"

Kozuki Oden was furious, feeling like a good young woman who had been cheated on by a scumbag.

However, Kaido still smiled without any sense of unease.

"Whether you've misjudged or not, this has always been just your wishful thinking, hasn't it?"

"I never said we were friends, or that I was a good person, did I?"

Kozuki Oden's expression froze, and he angrily retorted, "Then why did you save me before? If you didn't want to be friends with me, why did you save me?!"

Is this so hard to understand?

Kaido took a bite of meat and then a sip of wine.

"Because I thought you were a strong person at the time, and after saving you, I could take you under my command, or make you owe me a favor."

"With your abilities, no matter the outcome, I won't lose out."

"After all, the cost of treating you is just some medicine and some labor from my medical staff."

"But you'll have to pay a lot back!"

Kaido swallowed the food in his mouth, and his expression turned serious.

"First, you need to understand one thing!"

"In that situation, I could have just killed you!!"

"But since I neither killed you nor didn't save you, you owe me your life!!"

"I think you know very well how much this life is worth!"

"If you want to stop me from attacking Wano Country, then you'd better pay back the life you owe me first!"

"We'll talk about stopping me later!!"

Kaido's attitude was extremely tough, and the originally joyful atmosphere of the banquet instantly turned tense.

At this moment, Kaido looked at Whitebeard again.

“Newgate, I have made the facts and the truth of the matter very clear.”

"If you decide to help this Kozuki Oden, our friendship ends here!"

"If we meet again at sea in the future, let's settle things with our fists."

Upon hearing this, Whitebeard couldn't help but frown.

He really didn't have any stance on this matter.

Which island Kaido is going to attack, and what does it have to do with him?

Even though Kaido is going to attack Wano Country, the hometown of his newly adopted younger brother, it's because Wano Country doesn't fly his flag.

According to the rules of the pirate world, islands without flags are unclaimed islands and can be attacked at will.

Of course, pirates symbolize freedom.

If Whitebeard wanted to intervene in this matter, it wouldn't be impossible; protecting his homeland for his subordinates would be a plausible reason.

However, Kaido's attitude was also very clear.

He's determined to have Wano Country!

Even if Whitebeard intervenes, risking a war between the two great pirate crews, he will definitely attack!

Unless, in this war, Kaido is completely defeated by Whitebeard.

Therefore, as the defeated, they naturally wouldn't dare to attack the territory that the victors wanted to protect.

However... if this happens, the Whitebeard Pirates are destined to suffer heavy casualties.

The Whitebeard Pirates are still in the early stages of their development, with a total of less than 1000 members.

In contrast, although Kaido is younger than Whitebeard, his pirate crew is already quite large.

There are over 4000 people here alone, not to mention that Kaido also has a base in the West Blue Dragon Country and the first half of the Grand Line.

If a war were to break out here, even if Kaido were defeated, killing Kaido would be virtually impossible.

At the same time, most of their men will likely be killed or wounded in the war.

For the sake of a newly joined Kozuki Oden, he sacrificed most of the adopted sons and daughters he had painstakingly gathered...

Whether from the perspective of interests or emotions, Whitebeard found it difficult to make a decision.

After all, he and Kozuki Oden had only known each other for a few days, and their relationship hadn't deepened to that extent yet.

Various thoughts flashed through his mind. Based on the principle that as the captain, he should take care of all the crew members, Whitebeard still wanted to try to persuade them.

"Kaido, give me some face, can you attack another island?"

"Hey, Newgate, this isn't something you can just back down on because of saving face!"

Kaido's attitude remains tough.

Sizzle!

Black and red lightning suddenly exploded between Kaido and Whitebeard.

The previously harmonious atmosphere between the two suddenly turned tense.

"Kaido!!"

Whitebeard said in a deep voice, "Kozuki Oden is my newly adopted younger brother! I cannot just sit idly by and watch my brother's hometown be occupied by you!!"

"Hehehe, Newgate, I've also received intelligence that Wano Country possesses the world's largest seastone mine! I won't easily give up this resource either!!"

Kaido arrogantly raised his chin.

"And don't forget! Kozuki Oden still owes me his life!"

"Do you, Whitebeard, want to completely lose your very foundation, your sense of righteousness?!"

The white-bearded man's brow furrowed even deeper.

Kaido's words had indeed cornered him.

Pirates, too, uphold the most basic principles of morality and righteousness.

Intrigue, deception, betrayal and counter-betrayal—these are certainly inherent characteristics of pirates.

But a life-saving grace is something that must be acknowledged and repaid if the other party wants to develop and grow legitimately and doesn't want to be condemned by everyone!

Of course, true scoundrels do exist, but at least Whitebeard believed in the principles of helping the weak and repaying kindness.

Therefore, Kaido successfully defeated Whitebeard, and Whitebeard couldn't find any reason to refute him for a while.

Silence, a long silence.

As the person directly involved, Kozuki Oden was so anxious that he scratched his head, but he still couldn't figure out how to break the deadlock.

In his anxiety and frustration, he drew the Yama sword from his waist with a clang.

"Kaido, paying with my life is impossible. How about I cut off my own arm as the price for settling our score?!"

"Who wants your arm!"

Kaido rolled his eyes and retorted mercilessly, "And what makes you think that one of your arms is worth the life you owe me? The value is completely unequal, and this isn't the kind of thing you do to twist the facts!!"

Kozuki Oden, who was about to sever his arm, froze in place.

As a naive fool who easily believes promises, he truly doesn't know what to do now.

Kaido looked at Enma, which Kozuki Oden had been holding, and suddenly laughed maliciously, "Why don't you cut off that thing in your loincloth?"

"As long as you cut that thing off, I'll acknowledge that you've repaid the life you owed me."

Upon hearing this, Kozuki Oden, who was holding Enma, instantly squeezed his legs together, and his old face turned bright red.

"Kaido! You dare to play tricks on me!!"

"Ugh, ugh, ugh! Just kidding, just kidding!!"

Kaido smiled broadly, but there was no smile in his eyes.

He then said coldly, "Have you thought it through?"

"Will you uphold your principles, repay the favors owed to you, and then stop me from attacking Wano Country, or will you abandon your beliefs and stop me at all costs to protect your homeland?!"

Kozuki Oden fell silent once again.

For him now, Wano Country is not as important as others imagine.

Even though he went to Laugh Tale with Roger and then returned to Wano Country, he didn't really care that much about Wano Country.

His primary purpose in returning to Wano Country to seize power was, firstly, to complete the prophesied mission of opening Wano Country to the world and to cooperate with the new generation of Joy Boy to save the world; secondly, he wanted to be a good shogun.

Therefore, for Kozuki Oden now, his sense of honor is truly on par with the safety of Wano Country.

Whitebeard noticed Kozuki Oden's predicament.

Having spent the past few days together, he knew very well how much Kozuki Oden longed to go to sea.

For this reason, Kozuki Oden was even willing to give up the prestige of being the heir to the shogun of Wano Country.

Now that they have finally left Wano Country, they are faced with the dilemma of choosing between protecting Wano Country and upholding their own beliefs.

Taking a deep breath, Whitebeard gripped the hilt of Murakumogiri tightly and slammed it heavily on the ground.

"Kaido! Taking a step back won't work!"

As the cloud cuts upwards, a pure white, vibrating aura begins to appear.

Although Whitebeard himself has not yet unleashed his Conqueror's Haki on a large scale, his entire body is already surrounded by a black and red aura.

Kaido silently uttered a low growl.

'System, determine Whitebeard's current attributes!'

[Ding~ Assessment complete. Edward Newgate's stats panel is shown below.]

Name: Edward Newgate

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 44

Overall combat strength: 130/130

Strength: 130/130

Physical condition: 130/130

Agility: 130/130

Tip: 130/130

Willpower: 130/130

Overall Intelligence: 84/100

Overall Commander: 110/120

[Observation Haki: 130/130]

Armament Haki: 130/130

[Conqueror's Haki: 130/130]

Devil Fruit: Paramecia Type - Tremor-Tremor Fruit

Specializations: [Swordsmanship: 130/130], [Physical Skills: 130/130]... (details omitted)

Overall Potential: 130

[Monarch: None]

Loyalty: --

Whitebeard is currently at his true peak. Even after defeating Kaido after Sengoku, it's impossible to say for sure that he could win.

After all, Whitebeard's normal stats were at maximum, and his strength after his Devil Fruit awakened was not taken into account.

Sengoku, on the other hand, only reached Whitebeard's stats after his Devil Fruit awakened.

Furthermore, in terms of offensive power, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit is stronger than the Great Buddha Fruit, and Kaido may not be able to withstand the awakened power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

Therefore, while Kaido was eager to try his luck and was also calmly considering the situation, he saw that Whitebeard was really going to stand up for Kozuki Oden.

"Hmm, it seems you really care about this new adopted brother, Newgate!"