Chapter 379: Why Are You Acting So Girly?

For Mihawk, who loved chaos, and for Shanks and Beckman, who egged him on, Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen was utterly speechless.

"Are you… that bored?"

Mihawk's perpetually icy face showed a rare, barely contained smile.

"Saint Saint Saiwen, you know I've been itching to fight—I'm heading to Onigashima to spar with Jin."

Earlier, when Jin stayed at the General's Mansion, Mihawk had already sparred with him; this excuse was perfectly crafted.

When he sensed Saint Saint Saiwen's gaze sweeping over him, Shanks grinned.

"Cough, Saint Saint Saiwen, you know I'm a swordsman too—a master even Mihawk acknowledges—and I naturally yearn for such a challenge."

This excuse was also perfectly fine.

Beckman, smoking an unlit cigarette, spoke before Saint Saint Saiwen's gaze could reach him, quickly delivering his pre-prepared line.

"Saint Saint Saint Saiwen, you know—"

"This gun of mine has been with me for years and needs an upgrade; I heard Kurohige of the Beasts Pirates is a master at weapon modification."

Indeed, when people do something wrong, they never tire—and their intelligence spikes wildly.

"You really went through all this trouble to find excuses."

"Forget it. Do whatever makes you happy."

"Yamato, let's go."

Yamato kept her head down, her cheeks flushed red, too shy to look anyone in the eye; she had thought this was just a simple visit to see her old father, never imagining it was returning to her natal home.

More precisely, Saint Saint Saiwen was bringing her back to her natal home to propose to her father, Kaido.

She had never imagined anything like this!

The five of them passed through the space gate opened by Saint Saint Saiwen and arrived almost instantly at the Beasts Pirates' main base on Onigashima.

A moment earlier, Kaido had been drowning his sorrows in a wine cask.

Sensing the sudden appearance of the portal, Kaido immediately grabbed his spiked club—but upon seeing who it was, he silently set it down.

Had anyone else emerged from the gate, Kaido would have smashed them with the club without hesitation.

But it was Saint Saint Saiwen—and Kaido felt not the slightest urge to lift a finger.

He couldn't win, and he couldn't even break his defense.

Better to just endure the damn humiliation.

"Huh? Yamato?"

Only then did Kaido notice: the white-haired little girl standing beside Saint Saint Saiwen, head bowed, fidgeting with her hem, was his beloved daughter Yamato.

"Why are you acting so girly, Yamato?"

At these words,

Not only Saint Saint Saiwen looked exasperated, but Jin, Kurohige, and Hanazaka all wore identical expressions of helplessness.

Boss, Yamato's a girl!

Girls are supposed to be… but something's off—Yamato wasn't like this before. She used to be a total tomboy.

Only Vergo spoke up, desperately trying to save Kaido's dignity: "Saint Saint Saint Saiwen, our boss has had too much to drink—please forgive him."

Vergo understood: the more critical the moment, the more he must prove his worth.

This remark wasn't just shielding Kaido's dignity—it was also proving to the captain that his undercover work in the Beasts Pirates had been a resounding success.

It was time to joke about Kaido!

Hearing this, Hanazaka, who had once been saved by Saint Saint Saiwen, chimed in.

"Our boss acts like this all the time, Saint Saint Saint Saiwen—please bear with him."

Jin gave a slight nod in agreement.

Seeing this, Kaido grumbled discontentedly.

"I'm not drunk. I'm still drinking."

"Yamato, come pour your old man some wine."

Yamato hurried over to Kaido; returning to this familiar environment, her flushed cheeks finally returned to normal.

"Drink less, old man."

"Huh?!" Kaido instantly sobered half his drunkenness, lifting his head in disbelief: "What did you just call me?"

"Old man," Yamato said, utterly exasperated.

Hearing Yamato say "old man" again, Kaido grinned wildly, laughing nonstop.

"Woooh-lah-lah-lah~"

No wonder he was Kaido's daughter—so filial! Far superior to that old hag Charlotte Lingling's ten dumb ironheads.

His precious daughter had truly grown up!

Once, Kaido firmly believed only iron fists produced filial children; to ensure Yamato's future, he beat her hard three times a week and lightly three times a day, all to make her grow strong faster.

When Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen had forcibly taken Yamato away, Kaido hadn't felt much.

Until one night, Kaido suddenly faced a brutally cruel truth: as long as he couldn't defeat Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen, he could never bring Yamato back.

Unless Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen had a change of heart.

But the feeling of having his fate controlled by another—Kaido truly couldn't accept it.

For decades he had ruled the New World, feared across the seas under the name Beasts; Kaido had always claimed to be the strongest, regarding defeat as the ultimate disgrace.

Yet against Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen, even his full power couldn't even pierce his defense.

How could he ever hope to defeat him and rescue his daughter?

That night, Kaido sat alone on the cliff of Onigashima, pouring wine into his sorrow, weeping uncontrollably for a long time under the influence of alcohol.

Since the time of the Rocks Pirates.

Kaido had never felt weak, yet that night he hated his own incompetence for the first time with such clarity and bone-deep intensity.

He hated having the ambition to rule the world while being unable to bring back the daughter he most wanted to protect; he hated the strength he once took pride in, which before Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen appeared so powerless.

Now that Yamato has returned, even Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's detestable face seemed to Kaido far more kind and benevolent.

Glancing at Mihawk and the others beside Saint Saint Saiwen, Kaido narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen, you may return."

"Do not delay our banquet."

The moment the words fell, the remaining officers of the Beasts Pirates' expressions changed drastically; those who had experienced the battle between the Beasts Pirates and the Morning Star Pirates turned deathly pale.

Boss Kaido, please be more polite.

The one across from us is Saint Saint Saint Saiwen, an unparalleled great pirate with a bounty of 5.2 billion!

If you provoke him, even the Beasts Pirates cannot hold onto Dressrosa.

Saint Saint Saiwen did not mind Kaido's attitude; after all, he was a father-in-law by marriage, and even for Yamato's sake, the face that should be given to Kaido must be given.

"I came to discuss something with you."

"Let them leave."

As King, Vergo, and Jack were just about to rise, Kaido, holding a wine jar, seemed either truly drunk or pretending to be drunk.

"None of you move! If he tells you to leave, then leave! Hah? I am the Provincial Military Commander of the Beasts Pirates..."

Before Kaido could finish half his sentence, dense red-black lightning erupted from around Saint Saint Saiwen, and in a single breath, it enveloped the entire hall.

Like the Conqueror's Haki pressure of a god descending, the hall was cleared in the blink of an eye; aside from King, who was still struggling to maintain consciousness, all the remaining officers of the Beasts Pirates lost consciousness and collapsed.

"Can we talk properly now?"

With Yamato shielded behind him, Kaido noticed that Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen was not targeting Yamato, or rather, that his control over Conqueror's Haki was extremely precise, before muttering.

"Fine, let's talk. Why get angry?"

Damn it!

That brat Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen has grown stronger again!