Chapter 85 - 300 Billion Berries — All for One Defeat!

Black Maria looked confidently at Kaido.

Her eyes were gentle, and her voice remained calm and steady as she spoke.

"Speak."

Kaido was nearly out of patience.

His voice was low and rough, carrying obvious irritation.

After briefly organizing her thoughts, Black Maria continued.

"This time, Whitebeard’s raid clearly wasn’t about revenge."

"Although he claimed he was avenging Kozuki Oden, his actual actions were focused on keeping you occupied, Kaido-sama."

"Hm?"

Kaido frowned.

Thinking back carefully, he realized she had a point.

Throughout the battle, Whitebeard’s attacks had certainly been lethal, but many times he hadn’t followed up aggressively when opportunities arose.

Even stranger...

Whitebeard had seemed obsessed with collecting his blood.

Later, Kaido finally learned the reason.

Whitebeard intended to use his blood to create additional users of his Devil Fruit power. .

The discovery had left Kaido both shocked and furious.

"I already know why Whitebeard came."

His expression darkened.

"That bastard wants my blood so he can create more Devil Fruit Users..."

"What?!"

Jack nearly shouted.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

"If they actually succeed..."

"Wouldn’t the entire Whitebeard Pirates become Kaido-sama?!"

His voice trembled with horror.

The mere thought made his scalp tingle.

His mind immediately pictured an army of Kaidos charging across the sea.

The image was so terrifying that he almost stopped breathing.

The others were equally stunned.

The room instantly fell into silence.

Everyone stood frozen, as if struck by lightning.

The revelation was simply too shocking.

Fear and unease filled their hearts.

For a moment, nobody knew how to respond.

After finally calming herself, Black Maria took a deep breath and regained her composure.

When she looked back at Kaido, her usual calm had returned.

"Kaido-sama, while that information is certainly alarming, that’s not the point I’m trying to make."

Kaido frowned.

"Oh?"

"Then what exactly are you getting at?"

Black Maria continued,

"Aside from Whitebeard himself, the other invaders appeared to have only one objective."

"The gold."

"And the treasure."

"Gold and treasure..."

Kaido repeated the words.

The absurdity of it almost made him laugh.

He had assumed those people were targeting his status, his territory, or his strength.

Instead, they had come for money.

The realization left him feeling both furious and insulted.

One of the Four Emperors...

Reduced to a giant treasure chest in someone else’s eyes.

As the thought settled in his mind, Kaido’s anger flared again.

His chest rose and fell heavily.

His fists clenched so tightly that his nails nearly dug into his palms.

Damn it.

They had actually robbed one of the Four Emperors.

"Kaido-sama."

Black Maria’s voice drew his attention back.

"I believe gold and treasure are precisely the bait we need to lure the Whitebeard Pirates."

Kaido slowly calmed himself.

His sharp gaze fixed on her.

"Go on."

She nodded.

"We can use an enormous amount of treasure as bait."

"If they’re truly after wealth, they’ll come."

"And once they enter our designated trap zone, we’ll have them surrounded."

"Whether we capture one intruder or several doesn’t matter."

"As long as we seize someone alive, we can follow the plan we’ve already discussed."

"First, exhaust Whitebeard’s stamina."

"Then kill him."

As he listened, Kaido’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

A grin slowly spread across his face.

A good idea.

A very good idea.

"If they’re really coming for treasure..."

"Then this will be easy."

He immediately stood.

"Spread the order."

"Gather every piece of gold and treasure we possess."

"Contact Morgans and announce it to the entire world."

His voice thundered throughout the room.

"300 Billion Berries ."

"I challenge Whitebeard."

"All I want is a defeat!"

The next day—

A piece of news exploded across the world like thunder.

One of the Four Emperors, Kaido, had publicly challenged another Emperor—Whitebeard.

The news spread throughout every corner of the New World almost instantly.

Pirates.

Marines.

Kingdoms.

Ordinary civilians.

Everyone was talking about it.

The Four Emperors stood at the absolute peak of the pirate world.

Each ruled over vast territories within the New World.

Although conflicts occasionally occurred between them, a direct and public declaration of war on this scale had never happened before.

As soon as Kaido’s challenge became known, people realized what it meant.

A war unlike any seen before.

A battle that could completely reshape the balance of power in the New World.

Yet what shocked people even more was the wager attached to it.

According to reports, Kaido had put forward an astonishing 300 billion Berries .

The challenge was simple:

Defeat him.

The entire world was stunned.

Since when did people get paid to beat up a Yonko?

Meanwhile, the Marines naturally couldn’t ignore such a monumental event.

As one of the major powers maintaining order across the seas, how would they respond?

Would they intervene to prevent the conflict from spiraling out of control?

Or would they seize the opportunity to weaken two of the world’s strongest pirate forces simultaneously?

Nobody knew.

What everyone did know was this—

As the news spread farther and farther across the seas, the world was entering an even more dangerous...

More exciting...

And far more chaotic era.

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