ONE PIECE: KAIDO'S SON

On the island of Onigashima,

within a grand hall now echoing with unfamiliar authority—

a seat once reserved for Kaido was now claimed by another.

"Jack, have you found him?"

Ragnar leaned lazily on the throne once belonging to the Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates, his cheek resting on a hand, eyes half-lidded in boredom, though the vertical pupil between his brows remained closed.

"Where did my old man disappear to this time?"

Jack the Drought stepped forward, his massive frame still stiff under the oppressive atmosphere.

"Apologies, Lord Ragnar," Jack said, bowing slightly. "There's still no trace of Lord Kaido."

"You know his nature—he doesn't rely on ships, supplies, or men. With his Devil Fruit, he can fly across the Grand Line freely. Even the Cipher Pol agents would struggle to locate him."

Jack hesitated, then added with a dry chuckle, "But considering Lord Kaido's suicidal tendencies, I suspect we'll hear something soon enough."

Ragnar's gaze sharpened. Though he hadn't activated his third eye, the tension alone made Jack's knees instinctively lock.

In the days since Ragnar seized the title of "True Lord," even the unbending Jack had begun to bow his head.

"Suicide?" Ragnar repeated softly. "In the past, yes… but not anymore."

He tapped a finger on the armrest, his thoughts trailing.

Others didn't know why Kaido so often sought death, but Ragnar did.

It was all in pursuit of becoming Joy Boy.

But on that day atop Onigashima, something had changed. Kaido had confronted the emptiness in his soul. He had let go. Since then, the compulsion to die had vanished.

"He doesn't want to be anyone anymore—not Joy Boy, not a monster… just Kaido."

Jack remained silent. The fire behind Ragnar's calm voice made him uneasy.

"Still," Jack ventured, "you shouldn't worry so much, True Lord. Lord Kaido is the Strongest Creature in the World. Defeated, maybe—but never killed. Not even Whitebeard could end him."

Ragnar glanced sideways at him.

"No one is unkillable," he said. "Not even Kaido."

He let that sit in the air for a moment, then changed the subject.

"You didn't come just to report nothing. What is it?"

Jack's expression turned serious.

"An intruder has breached Wano… and even slipped onto Onigashima."

Ragnar's eyes narrowed. "When?"

"Just now. Several Givers encountered him. They were defeated… and the target escaped."

Ragnar raised an eyebrow. "Several Givers? Taken down by a single man?"

The Givers were artificial Zoan users—nothing exceptional individually, but a group of them being overwhelmed meant trouble.

"According to their report, the enemy can manipulate fire and even shift into flame—likely a Logia, possibly the Flame-Flame Fruit."

Ragnar's gaze sharpened.

Flame-Flame Fruit… The name that surfaced in his mind was obvious.

"Do you think it's a World Government agent?" Jack asked, cautious.

Since Ragnar's takeover, all secrets of Onigashima had been laid bare. Even King's Lunarian heritage was no longer whispered behind masks.

Ragnar snorted.

"You ever seen a stealthy spy flaunting Logia powers?" he asked coldly.

"If it were Cipher Pol, the Givers wouldn't be alive to report anything."

"...That's true," Jack muttered, a little embarrassed at the flaw in his own logic. "I've dispatched men to hunt him down. We should have him soon."

Ragnar waved a hand.

"No need."

  "If he's truly the user of the Flame-Flame Fruit," Ragnar said, resting his chin on one hand, "unless one of the Three Calamities takes action personally, we'll need to deploy an entire force of Givers just to wear him down—or even have the Flying Six coordinate together."

  "Otherwise, locating the intruder is meaningless if we can't subdue him."

  As his words ended, a glint of divine light flared between Ragnar's eyebrows.

  Then—

  A vertical third eye suddenly opened.

  "Sky Eye!"

  Jack froze, the rest of his words swallowed in his throat.

  Since the day Ragnar single-handedly subdued most of the Beasts Pirates' core officers, tales of his strength had spread not only within their ranks, but also across the New World.

  And nothing caused more fear or reverence than the mysterious third eye in his forehead—dubbed the Sky Eye by the pirates.

  "Could it be…" Jack thought nervously, "…that the Sky Eye, besides exposing Brother Queen's invisibility tech, can also detect people across distances?"

  This time, his guess was right.

  As the Sky Eye opened, Ragnar's perception surged outward like a spiritual radar—slicing through walls, roofs, and even mountainsides like invisible light.

  Onigashima Island appeared in his mind like a living, high-resolution map.

  King, in the lower prison, interrogating captured spies.

  Queen, fiddling with failed SMILE projects in his lab.

  Random Beast Pirates patrolling, slacking, or fighting among themselves.

  Even the chirping birds nesting in the cliffs—none escaped his divine insight.

  And then—

  A flare of intense heat flickered into view.

  Orange hat. Black pants. Freckles. That unmistakable scarred chest.

  Wearing his signature hat with orange beads and the Jolly Roger badge—he was hiding in a collapsed storage zone near the edge of Onigashima's third level.

  A face Ragnar had seen once in old bounty records.

  The intruder's identity was now certain.

  "Found you." Ragnar's voice was cold.

  "Fire Fist Ace."