Inside the vault of the Beasts Pirates—
Because Kaido, the leader of the Beasts Pirates, gave a death order, no one was allowed to give him food. He hadn't eaten for days. Starving, Yamato took advantage of the drunken guards outside the treasure vault, stole the keys from them, and sneaked inside.
"This place is locked up so tightly… There must be a lot of food in here!"
But to her surprise, there was someone inside.
"Huh?" Yamato blinked in confusion.
"Run hee hee~ Who are you?" A talking tanuki named Pato asked with a grin.
"Are you thieves?" Yamato rubbed her growling stomach, her throat dry and body weak from hunger. Her curious eyes flickered between them.
"Well~, something like that!"
Wilhelm shrugged. He had already noticed her sneaking around outside. The little girl had waited for the guards to get drunk before stealing the key.
The next moment, a faint blue light flashed in Wilhelm's eyes.
Whoosh!
In an instant—
Wilhelm, Yamato, and Pato all vanished from the treasure vault.
They reappeared in a deserted area. Wilhelm had brought them here, along with some food.
"You're starving, huh? Hurry up and eat."
Wilhelm sat down, looking at the little girl, whose face was covered in bruises.
With his powerful Observation Haki, he scanned the Beasts Pirates' giant skull-shaped fortress, locking onto the kitchen. Using the powers of his Devil Fruit, he teleported several massive pieces of bone-in meat—each as tall as half a grown man—right in front of them.
"Wow! It's real food!"
Yamato's eyes sparkled.
Drool dripped from the corners of her mouth. The meat was still warm, filling the air with a delicious aroma.
Without hesitation, she lunged at it, grabbing the giant meat with both hands and tearing into it like a starving beast.
As she devoured it, her eyes welled up with tears. Overcome with emotion, she sobbed between bites and looked at Wilhelm and Pato.
"Uwaaa… You guys… are good people…"
Wilhelm's mouth twitched at her words.
Pato tilted his head and asked, "Turkey hee hee~ Were you brought here by that villain Kaido?"
"No, I am Kaido's son..."
Yamato, with the massive appetite inherited from Kaido, devoured the food at an incredible speed.
"Hi~ But every time I tell my father I want to be like Kozuki Oden, he beats me up and locks me away. No one gives me food!"
"Son?"
Pato blinked, rubbing his eyes again and again, making sure he wasn't seeing things wrong.
The tanuki looked at Wilhelm, confused. "Boss, isn't she a girl?"
Wilhelm shrugged with a small smile. "She probably insists on becoming a man like Kozuki Oden. And Kaido, being the kind of brute he is, just raised her as his son."
"Thank you..."
Yamato let out a loud burp after finishing the meal, patting her now-full stomach. "I haven't eaten this much in so long!"
"In this world, no normal parent would treat their child like that..."
Wilhelm gently placed his hand on Yamato's head, his gaze soft. "Unless they never saw them as family to begin with..."
He sighed. "I had a parent like that too."
A child with such incredible potential—
It would be a waste to leave her in Wano.
Kaido's blood ran through her veins. If she stayed, that monstrous strength would go to waste.
Right now, even though she admired Kozuki Oden, she was still young. There was time to guide her, to help her see things differently.
And even if she never changed her mind, that was fine—so long as she didn't become a blind follower.
"Eh?"
Yamato leaned into Wilhelm's warm hand, squinting her eyes happily.
She looked at the unbelievably handsome man before her. "Big brother, did you have a father like mine?"
Wilhelm chuckled. "No, it was my mother..."
He continued, "She was just like your father, Kaido. She saw her children as nothing more than tools and never let them go against her will. She wouldn't hesitate to destroy us if we did."
"What? Really?"
Yamato's eyes widened in shock. "How could a mother be like that?"
"Isn't Kaido just as cruel?" Wilhelm asked with a small smile. "If you weren't so strong, you probably would've starved to death by now."
"But..."
Yamato hesitated.
She thought about all the beatings, all the abuse she had suffered ever since declaring her dream of becoming Kozuki Oden.
For a moment, doubt flickered in her eyes.
"The thing on your wrist... That's a bomb bracelet, isn't it?"
Wilhelm touched Yamato's head, pointing at the metal cuffs on her wrists. "What kind of parent would put something like that on their own child?"
"!?"
"Huh? This?" Yamato raised her hands, looking at the cuffs. "Father said I'm not allowed to leave the island... but he's probably just trying to scare me!"
"Is that so? Then let's test it."
Wilhelm held out his hand. "Pato, give me a Transformation Leaf."
"Because!"
A green leaf floated up, and with a puff of smoke—
A second Yamato appeared.
Except this one didn't have a bomb bracelet.
"Huh?" Yamato's eyes widened in shock. "Wait... that's me!?"
"This is Pato's ability."
Wilhelm smiled, then—
The bomb bracelet vanished from Yamato's wrist.
It reappeared on the fake Yamato's arm.
"This is my ability—to transfer things." Wilhelm pinched Yamato's cheek playfully. "Now, let's see if your father really sees you as his child."
He snapped his fingers.
The fake Yamato started walking toward the coast.
"Master Yamato, what are you doing?"
"Wait! Don't go any further!"
"You have a bomb bracelet on!"
"Master Kaido said it will explode if you leave the island!"
"No way, it's just to scare me—"
BOOM!
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