Facing Kaido’s question, Black Maria gestured toward the outside, signaling for her subordinate to come in. "Let her tell you."
Kaido was quite tolerant toward capable officers, and the Beasts Pirates did not maintain an overly rigid hierarchy. Many officers simply called him by name, without any particular honorific.
The more polite ones called him Mr. Kaido, while others addressed him directly. Black Maria had a close personal relationship with Kaido, so she naturally spoke with even fewer reservations.
At Maria’s summons, a young woman with long black hair entered from outside the cavern. She wore a leaf-patterned kimono that exposed her shoulders, with a broad sash around her waist.
Over her face, she wore a Watcher mask marked by an eye symbol. She was Caiman Lady, the member of the Beasts Pirates responsible for surveillance and intelligence gathering.
Because she had eaten an artificial Devil Fruit, a massive crocodile grew from her legs downward, earning her that name.
"Mr. Kaido, I have been monitoring Young Master Yamato ever since she was imprisoned. I used my ability to record the conversation between the two people in the cell. Please watch."
Caiman Lady was more respectful toward Kaido. Through the Watcher mask on her face, she could observe scenes through a special method and record them as well, ensuring that the intelligence she reported was highly reliable.
"Show me."
Kaido had sobered up considerably by now. More than anything, he was curious about what could have happened after Yamato was thrown in prison that even Maria claimed she was reflecting on herself.
Caiman Lady activated the Watcher system and shared the intelligence she had previously recorded. When Kaido first saw Luke, he looked somewhat puzzled. "Who’s that?"
Black Maria smiled. "You really are forgetful. Didn’t I just say so? He’s the Demon Slayer who came to challenge you a few days ago."
Kaido tilted his head, apparently trying to remember. "No impression. I was drunk at the time. Thought some fly had come buzzing over, so I swatted him away."
"Hahaha, that sounds like you. That guy was full of confidence when he called himself a Demon Slayer and declared he was here to slay you."
Maria’s smile widened. "And you did not even remember him. How pitiful."
"That doesn’t matter. Keep playing it. I want to hear what they talked about."
Kaido urged her on.
As the scene played through Caiman Lady’s Watcher system, Kaido’s expression darkened in anger when he heard Yamato say that she wanted to join forces with Luke against her own father.
But after the two talked for a while, the conversation turned into unremarkable stories about adventures beyond Wano Country, and Kaido began to nod off.
"Skip this part. He’s about to fall asleep."
Black Maria instructed her. Caiman Lady hurriedly switched ahead, moving the recording to the point after Luke had sparred with Yamato and learned Ryuo.
Kaido finally perked up. Seeing Ryuo wrapped around Luke’s hand in the footage, he seemed interested. "The kid learns fast. I didn’t spare his life for nothing. Have him join the Waiters later."
Although Haki was not a rare ability in the New World and practically every sea adventurer knew at least a little of it, Luke had learned Ryuo and applied it reliably within a single day. In Kaido’s eyes, that was an exceptionally rare talent for learning.
Considering Luke’s age, if he could be brought under Kaido’s command and trained properly, he would at least reach the level of a Headliner in the future. He might even become as strong as one of the Tobi Roppo—or even an All-Star.
"His talent is certainly outstanding. But the guards already sounded him out, and he seems to hate pirates. He would rather mine in Udon Prison than join the Beasts Pirates."
Black Maria did not sound regretful. After all, the New World had no shortage of geniuses, but few of them actually lived long enough to grow into their potential.
"What an ungrateful brat. I heard he’s an adventurer. How did someone so naïve even make it here alone?"
Kaido sounded dissatisfied. In his eyes, power was the only true path. Justice, evil, status—none of it mattered. Only absolute strength could change the world.
Black Maria did not reply, because Luke and Yamato had already begun their discussion in the recording.
As their conversation continued, Kaido’s face shifted from fury to calm and back again, his expressions changing so rapidly that it was quite a spectacle.
When Luke’s words finally guided Yamato into following her own logic, ultimately causing the collapse of her inner world and making her shut herself away, Kaido slapped a hand against his thigh. Air currents surged wildly through the cavern.
"Good kid! He actually got through to Yamato!"
Kaido stared at Luke in the footage in surprise and delight. He had never expected the impossible-to-reason-with Yamato to be talked into questioning her entire life—actually considering whether there was something wrong with her calling herself Kozuki Oden.
"Before this, he did not seem particularly clever, but he speaks with remarkable logic. Or perhaps an outsider simply sees things more clearly. He pointed out every irrationality in Young Master Yamato’s life. Even Young Master Yamato will probably have no choice but to think about those questions now."
Black Maria smiled. "Come to think of it, our crew really does not have anyone who is good at debate or persuasion."
Kaido was tempted by the idea. He understood what Black Maria meant: strength was important, but that did not mean they had no need for intelligent people either.
If his crew had someone as articulate as Luke, Yamato might have been pulled back when she had first started going astray as a child.
He would not claim Luke was brilliant like a strategist, but he was certain of one thing: Luke definitely understood education.
That was why Kaido felt that bringing Luke over and having him serve as Yamato’s tutor might not be a bad idea.
"Keep him locked up for a while. Then have Queen talk to him."
Kaido made his decision. Queen might be a goofy fat man, but he was an All-Star bearing the title of the Plague. He was highly capable when it came to getting things done and had Kaido’s deep trust.
Queen was also in charge of managing Udon Prison, making him the most suitable person for the job.
"Hahaha, there is no rush. After looking over it, I do not think it was necessarily because Luke was exceptionally smart that he managed to persuade Young Master Yamato. The important thing is that this is the first friend her age that Young Master Yamato has ever made. She is more willing to listen to a friend."
Maria analyzed, "In Young Master Yamato’s eyes, we are probably all enemies. So no matter what we say, she will not listen. She thinks we are trying to deceive her."
"So that’s how it works. Good thing I didn’t smash that kid to death that day."
Kaido was extremely happy now. His daughter’s twisted personality had been giving him headaches for eight years, and this was the first time he had seen a turning point.
At the same time, he reflected a little on whether he had made Yamato’s life too isolated. If she had had close friends as a child, perhaps having those friends persuade her would have stopped her from going astray.
Of course, the thought passed in an instant. In Kaido’s eyes, the strong were all lonely.
Just like him. At ten, he had already become his kingdom’s greatest warrior and led the nation to countless victories. Yet what he received was not the admiration and love of the people and soldiers, but fear. In the end, he had still been alone—betrayed by his king and handed over to the Marines.
Therefore, Kaido believed that as his daughter, Yamato needed a strong heart that could soar even while walking alone. That was why he had never let Yamato play with children her own age.
To Kaido, that would have been weakness. He had gone to war at seven or eight years old—when would he ever have had time to play with children?
"Since Young Master Yamato has made a new friend, she probably will not break out of prison anytime soon. Let’s observe them slowly."
Maria said.
Kaido nodded, then looked at Caiman Lady. "Right. From now on, report to me every day—no, every half day!"
After saying that, he thought for a moment. "Actually, stay here. If anything happens, broadcast it directly through the Watcher system."
Kaido figured that watching a recording was inferior to watching it live. If something changed, he could deal with it immediately.
…………
After two exhausting days, Luke sat against the wall inside the cell, taking a brief rest. He had no idea that one of this world’s top powerhouses was already monitoring him.
Yamato still had injuries, and after shutting herself away emotionally, she had fallen into a deep sleep as well.
Unlike Luke, she was in prison, but deep down, she likely still subconsciously considered this her home turf. She slept soundly without the slightest vigilance.
Luke only regretted that he could not take out his bed in prison. Whether he slept comfortably was secondary; what really bothered him was losing out on training progress.
When the sun rose again, the doors to the other cells opened one by one. The prisoners dragged their exhausted bodies toward the mines and began another day of grueling labor.
Only Luke and Yamato’s cell door remained tightly shut. No guard came to open it or call them out to work.
By this point, based on Luke’s original identity, the guards should have judged that his injuries had mostly healed and called him out to mine.
But last night, they had received orders from above. Neither Young Master Yamato nor Luke was to be sent to mine. They were only to receive meals each day.
Though they were confused, the low-ranking guards did not dare ask questions. They could only obediently bring generous portions of food, then wisely keep their distance from that cell.
"The functions of Observation Haki include sensing attacks, predicting an opponent’s next move, sensing a living being’s strength, sensing their emotions and thoughts, and detecting the location and number of objects beyond your field of vision. The range and power of this ability varies from person to person, but training can expand that range..."
After waking up, Yamato did not cling to Luke for more stories about the outside world. She seemed listless as she explained the principles of Observation Haki to him instead.
Seeing Yamato in that state, Luke did not want to provoke her any further. He temporarily avoided the subject of Kozuki Oden and focused seriously on learning Observation Haki.
Unlike Armament Haki, which he had obtained from a skill scroll, he had never mastered Observation Haki before. It was something entirely new to him.
Still, while it was new, Luke learned it quickly. The underlying principles of Haki were similar; once one aspect was understood, the others followed. With Yamato’s explanations and demonstrations, he quickly grasped the essentials.
Observation Haki was closely tied to one’s state of mind. You needed to remain calm to use it. When emotionally agitated or stripped of reason, Observation Haki could not be used.
Advanced users of Observation Haki could predict an opponent’s movements and position, even hear the thoughts of others. It was a kind of mind-reading, or perhaps the "power of hearing." When cultivated to the extreme, it could even reveal fragments of the future.
Luke considered this ability extremely powerful. It was a potent support ability in battle. Though his innate combat instincts were already strong, mastering Observation Haki would further increase his margin for error in a fight.
Yamato’s Observation Haki was not particularly strong. At the very least, she was no expert in it. Mainly because when she fought her father over the years, she mostly confronted him head-on and rarely relied on flashy evasive maneuvers.
Luke also guessed that Kaido’s Observation Haki was probably not especially strong either. It was related to each person’s combat style and personality. Kaido was not the type who liked dodging or using fancy tactics in battle. He likely relied on his terrifying physique, overwhelming Armament Haki, and Conqueror’s Haki to crush opponents head-on, so Observation Haki was not particularly helpful to him.
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