Chapter 67: Five Billion Berries!

Skull Castle, third-floor stage.

Under the neon lights, the Plague Queen took the stage alongside Komurasaki, kicking off the first event of the grand banquet.

Golden Kagura!

"Queen! Queen! Queen!"

The pirates roared with excitement, their cheers rising in waves, instantly igniting the festive atmosphere the banquet demanded.

When it came to hyping up crowds and performances, Queen was undoubtedly the Beasts Pirates' undisputed No. 1—especially with Komurasaki's assistance.

In the grand banquet hall.

King watched Queen singing and dancing outside the door, his eyes filled with disdain and resignation, before turning to deliver a message in the smaller banquet hall.

"Big Brother Kaido, everyone's here."

"Worororo, good!"

Kaido stood and entered the main hall, his eyes immediately landing on his daughter Yamato, who was stuffing her face. His brow furrowed instantly.

All she does is eat, eat, eat!

Kaido then glanced at Gurd, who was drinking, and his expression softened considerably. Compared to his own daughter, this kid was downright pleasant to look at.

If only Gurd were his son.

Shaking his head wearily, Kaido picked up a massive sake bowl. Black Maria, standing nearby, promptly filled it for him.

"Worororo, everyone's here now."

"Boss Kaido!"

The crowd raised their cups fervently.

Opportunities to drink with Boss Kaido were rare indeed!

Kaido grinned broadly, lifting his bowl high.

"Cheers!"

"Ooooh!"

Everyone downed their drinks in one go.

Kaido sat cross-legged, his gaze sharp.

"Hozumi, run through today's schedule."

"Right away."

Hozumi dropped from the ceiling, holding up the itinerary.

"Currently, Lord Queen is hosting the Golden Kagura."

"Once that concludes, the three All-Stars will toast with representatives of Wano Country, followed by speeches from Lord Kaido and Shogun Yamato."

"Then, Lord Gurd will announce this year's shogunate tribute list, as well as a special program that's being kept secret for now."

"After that, the Headliners will challenge the Flying Six in a performance match, with the specific rules to be set by Lord Gurd."

"That's all!"

The schedule wasn't much different from previous years, with the main changes being the All-Stars' toast recipients and the Flying Six challenge.

All preparations for these events had been handled by Gurd, as he was the only high-ranking officer who'd remained on Oni Island with enough time to organize the Fire Festival.

"Good."

Kaido nodded, feeling a flicker of anticipation. With a hearty laugh, he declared, "Today's the annual Fire Festival—no need for formalities. All of you, relax and enjoy yourselves. Drink and celebrate to your hearts' content!"

"Thank you, Boss Kaido!"

The atmosphere instantly lightened as the crowd happily immersed themselves in the festivities—until Queen returned, beaming with delight.

"Big Brother Kaido, I'm back!"

Arm in arm with courtesan Komurasaki, Queen was grinning so widely his face might split. As he passed Gurd, he shot him a meaningful look, clearly expressing his satisfaction.

Gurd gave a slight nod, then studied Komurasaki.

The woman's radiant smile showed no trace of reluctance—all the tricks she'd used on Orochi were now being deployed on Queen.

If she enjoyed serving men so much, she might as well spend her life as a plaything. No sense wasting her before she'd outlived her usefulness.

"It's the courtesan Komurasaki!"

The Headliners' eyes turned to hearts at the sight of her.

As Wano's top courtesan, who wouldn't want a taste of her charms? But judging by the situation, she'd become Queen's woman now.

Damn it, what a waste of perfection!

Feeling the envious gazes around him, Queen became even more smug, itching to parade Komurasaki around a few times to show off properly.

"Muhahaha, Big Brother Kaido, isn't it time for the toast now?"

"Indeed."

Kaido gave a meaningful glance.

The three All-Stars stepped forward simultaneously, their overwhelming presence instantly filling the room.

On the Wano Country side, four trembling young men entered the hall, standing before the three All-Stars like tiny bean sprouts.

"Hmm???"

Question marks popped up above everyone's heads.

Who were these people?!

They looked somewhat familiar!

The legs of Green Worm and the other three were shaking uncontrollably. Never had they imagined they'd get the chance to toast with the All-Stars. Trembling all over, they introduced themselves.

"Green Worm under Lord Gurd, currently serving as the Warlord of Linghou!"

"Red Sparrow under Lord Gurd, currently serving as the Warlord of Tuwan!"

"White Dog under Lord Gurd, currently serving as the Warlord of Kuri."

"Tea Rat under Lord Gurd, currently serving as the Warlord of Ximei!"

The Warlords of the four regions!

The officers were dumbfounded, then all turned their eyes to Gurd, who was drinking. Even Kaido and the three All-Stars were taken aback.

They remembered now—these four were the ones who had cheered for Ulti alongside Gurd on the day they returned from the expedition.

Seemed like they were part of Ulti's fan club.

No way... these nobodies who weren't even officers had become high-ranking Warlords? How absurd.

Even more absurd was that Gurd had blatantly arranged for a bunch of nobodies to become Warlords, flaunting his nepotism without shame.

The Headliners' eyes burned with newfound fervor as they looked at Gurd. This lord truly knew how to take care of his own!

Lord Gurd, do you need any more hangers-on?

We're super obedient!

The atmosphere grew strangely tense.

"Why is everyone staring at me?"

Gurd shrugged and urged,

"Hurry up and toast. There are still several more items on the agenda."

"..."

King coldly averted his gaze and silently raised his sake bowl. Queen and Jack, seeing this, reluctantly raised their cups as well.

"Clink!"

The toast concluded, and Green Worm and the others, having briefly tasted the life of the elite, quickly scurried back behind Gurd, sitting stiffly upright.

That had scared them half to death.

"Urorororo, our turn now!"

Kaido stood and headed outside. Next up was his speech with Yamato, though there wasn't much novelty to it this time.

Gurd quickly nudged Yamato.

"Go on, follow him."

"Ah, right!"

Yamato put down her grilled meat and followed Kaido onto the stage, reciting a morale-boosting script amid the pirates' cheers.

Soon, the two returned.

All eyes once again focused on Gurd, eager to see how many gifts he had prepared.

"Clap clap!"

Gurd signaled with a clap.

A dozen or so samurai, veins bulging on their foreheads, carried a tightly wrapped, extremely heavy mystery item into the banquet hall.

"Thud!"

The mysterious gift landed heavily on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The sound alone made it clear how weighty it was.

Yet, this single item made Kaido and the three All-Stars frown immediately, while the officers also seemed displeased.

"Just one gift?"

By tradition, Orochi's tributes were enough to fill the grand banquet hall, including not just gold and jewels but also fine wines, furs, crafts, and countless other treasures.

The total value approached 2 billion berries!

Gurd walked up to the gift and grabbed a corner of the tarp.

"Lord Kaido, this is a gift carefully prepared for you by General Yamato. Crafted by Wano's finest artisans, it is a divine dragon forged from 5 billion berries' worth of gold!"

"Whoosh!"

The tarp was flung aside, revealing a golden dragon cast from pure gold, identical in form to Kaido's transformed appearance.

The dazzling golden radiance nearly blinded everyone present.

The officers stood frozen in shock!

Even Kaido was stunned speechless.

"You just said... how... how many berries?!"

"Five billion!"

Gurd cheerfully held up five fingers.

Gifting a pile of weird, useless trinkets was so clichéd!

If you're going to give presents, give gold!

Give money!

The cruder, the better!

Time to give these country bumpkin Pirates a little numerical shock!

He wanted every member of the Beasts to understand one thing—Groudon Gud possessed the most coveted ability in the world.

The power of money!

(End of chapter)