True Guardian Deity King

The moment the words left his mouth, Kaido clearly sensed that something was off. He turned his gaze to Yota. "What the hell is this Devil Fruit?"

A faint smile appeared on Yota’s face. "Why not try it yourself and see how this Devil Fruit differs from your Azure Dragon Fruit?"

"Hmph!" Kaido snorted, threw back his head with a long roar, and shot into the sky. In an instant, he transformed into a divine dragon—but instead of his former azure color, this one was pink.

Dragon Breath, Bad Wind, lightning, Flame Clouds… Kaido was astonished to discover that the effects of this Devil Fruit were nearly identical to those of the Azure Dragon Fruit. It could even be called a perfect copy of it.

A copy!? A flash of realization suddenly crossed Kaido’s mind, and he recalled the time in his youth when the World Government had captured him and turned him into an experimental subject.

That was when he had first learned of the concept of artificial Devil Fruits. His pursuit of artificial Devil Fruits had largely stemmed from that experience.

And the one who had studied his genes and attempted to clone an Artificial Azure Dragon Fruit back then had been Vegapunk, the World Government’s number one scientist.

He had always believed that the World Government’s research into artificial Devil Fruits had long since failed. He had even thought Caesar’s research represented the very limit of artificial Devil Fruits, so the possibility had never occurred to him.

But now, after realizing how similar this Devil Fruit was to his Azure Dragon Fruit, he finally came to his senses.

Then came the doubt. This artificial Devil Fruit’s power was almost no weaker than his Azure Dragon Fruit. If so, why would Yota be kind enough to give it to him?

Finally, as though he had thought of something, Kaido shuddered in alarm.

What had been the flaw of artificial Devil Fruits in the past?

Was it their absurdly high failure rate? Or the bizarre, monstrous forms they could turn people into?

To Kaido, those were merely minor imperfections, not true defects at all.

Artificial Devil Fruits had one—and only one—fatal flaw: they could be controlled by the Millet-Millet Fruit of that little girl named Tama!

As long as an artificial Devil Fruit user ate a dumpling made by the Millet-Millet Fruit user, they would obey that user’s every command and lose all ability to resist!

"What you made me eat… was an artificial Devil Fruit!"

Hearing Kaido’s furious roar from the sky, Yota smiled faintly. "You caught on quickly, Kaido. So, can you guess what I’m going to do next?"

Whatever Yota intended to do, Kaido had no interest in staying any longer. He immediately turned to flee, swearing inwardly that from now on, he would stay as far away from Yota and Wano Country as possible. If he ever saw them—no, if he even heard news of them—he would run at once.

But Yota took out a rather delicate Den Den Mushi. It was dressed in an adorable outfit, and a little girl’s voice came from it.

"B-Big Pink Dragon, come back!"

The instant the voice rang out, Kaido, who had nearly flown beyond the horizon, immediately turned around and descended, obediently landing before Yota.

Back in Wano Country, Yota had already conducted an experiment with his nominal apprentice, Tama. He had fed one of Tama’s dumplings to a beast, then had Tama issue commands through a Den Den Mushi.

Even though that beast had never met Tama before, the moment it heard Tama’s voice over the Den Den Mushi, it would immediately obey her commands completely.

So before coming here, Yota had already spoken with Tama by Den Den Mushi and instructed her on what to do.

Kaido’s face was filled with struggle, and his breathing came rapidly, but in the end, he showed no intention of resisting.

Then Tama’s voice came through the Den Den Mushi. "Master, what should I do next?"

"Tell him to take his subordinates to Wano Country and find you right away. Also, tell him to keep himself and his men under control. Once they reach Wano Country, they are not to harm people recklessly."

"From now on, he’ll be Wano Country’s true Guardian Deity King. You can order him to do anything!"

The moment those words were spoken, Kaido’s face filled with rage. Yet as Tama’s soft voice rang out, his expression abruptly changed, and he put on the look of a completely lovestruck lapdog.

Yota was secretly astonished by the power of Devil Fruits. The more demanding their conditions appeared and the more niche their abilities seemed, the more absolute their effects often were. Once the conditions were met, they could take effect directly, ignoring any gap in strength.

After Tama gave Kaido his orders as Yota had instructed, Kaido still found fault with Yota at every turn, but he did not hesitate in the slightest to prepare to gather the Beasts Pirates.

"Lord Kaido…" Of everyone present, King was probably the only one unable to accept this. His worldview had completely shattered, and he stood there utterly dumbfounded.

The three foolish giants, on the other hand, merely grinned stupidly, carrying no particular psychological burden.

"You bastard, undo whatever you did to Lord Kaido!" King charged forward in grief and fury, only for Kaido to grab him by the shoulder.

"Forget it, King," Kaido said in a somewhat heavy voice. "Being a pirate is like this. The winner takes all, while the loser loses everything."

"Unfortunately… I can no longer become the One Piece, nor can I change this world."

"If you’re disappointed, you can leave directly. I believe you’ll eventually find that Joy Boy who can change the world."

King, who had been brimming with aggression, deflated like a punctured balloon. In the end, he let out a long sigh.

"Forget it… Lord Kaido, I’ve been with the Beasts Pirates for so long. I don’t want to go looking for any Joy Boy or change the world anymore."

"I’ve already spent twenty years in Wano Country… Retiring there doesn’t seem like such a bad choice."

Yota watched the interaction between King and Kaido coldly, saying nothing. At least Kaido had been right about one thing: being a pirate was a winner-takes-all profession.

Gecko Moria, whose companions had all been killed by Kaido and who had never recovered; Crocodile, who had failed to challenge Whitebeard and had never dared set foot in the New World again…

Those losers had not necessarily lacked determination or the resolve to pursue their dreams. Yet after failing, they had still never recovered. The cruelty of pirate competition was displayed in full.

Even Straw Hat Luffy, the child of destiny, had suffered a mental breakdown when facing Tyrant Kuma and believing that all his companions had been killed, hadn’t he?

If Kuma had not been an undercover agent of the Revolutionary Army, and his companions had truly all been killed, then even if this protagonist had survived such a blow, his path would have ended there.