Inside the massive castle tower, there is a space between the first-floor lobby and the basement level, known as the 'Iwato Room'.
"Hey, GO!"
Bang!
With a shout, an explosion rang out next to Drake's head. At that moment, Drake tilted his head, precisely dodging the direction of the explosion, and looked at Ap, who was pounding his chest opposite him.
"I've figured out your ability. The condition for activating it isn't just 'hearing.' You also rely on your eyes to lock on, right? As long as I dodge the moment your eyes lock on me, I can avoid your attack!"
"Hey, don't try to guess my abilities, what's the point!"
Apoo smirked and pointed at Drake, saying, "You fought me so hard, even stealing the antibodies, and then let Law go. That's suspicious, Drake. Are you a Navy spy?"
Apoo was unaware of the cause of the incident, nor did he know that Queen and Who's-Who had already identified Drake as the real Drake. However, he did know one thing: during the previous battle, this guy suddenly rebelled and defeated the "Numbered Ones" of the Ten Demons, and temporarily allied with Luffy to deal with him. He also stole the Ice Oni Antibody that Queen had entrusted to him. It was because of him that the Straw Hat Pirates were able to continue their journey until they faced Kaido.
Although pirate rebellions are common, Apoo doesn't think so. There are too many suspicious things about this guy, ever since he was in Sabaody four years ago.
He stopped the pacifists he wanted to defeat. He also stopped him from launching a surprise attack on the navy.
After arriving in the New World, he actually joined Kaido's crew and formed the "Flying Six". However, after he joined, their actions were quite awkward. Although they were successful, Apoo still felt very awkward.
Faced with Ap's questioning, Drake snorted and said, "I never admitted to that."
"Never mind, it's not important now."
Apoo lowered his long arm and said, "The most important thing is that you want to defeat Kaido, right?"
Drake crossed his arms and remained silent.
"This battle has dragged on for so long, even I was surprised by how strong their alliance was. It's Kaido and Big Mom, after all! They've managed to fight to a standstill, and there's even a glimmer of hope for victory. But regardless of win or loss, after this battle, both the winner and the loser will be battered and exhausted..."
Apoo took a few steps back and sat down on the sofa behind him, saying, "You don't belong to the Straw Hat Pirates' side, nor to the Beast Pirates' side. So what's the point of our fight? How about we join forces and take the final victory together after their battle is over?"
He tilted his head back and let out a distinctive laugh: "You all agree, right? Ah, pa pa pa..."
Behind him were three giants, engrossed in eating meat and drinking wine. Upon hearing Ap's words, one of the giants, who had been drinking with his back to them, turned around and stared at Drake. The ferocity in his eyes startled Drake.
These three 'numbered ones' are different from the 'Ten Demons' we dealt with before; these three are very strong!
Drake knew about the Numbered Ones after joining the Beasts Pirates; he'd heard they were failed experiments by Kaido, created from 'giant humans' that he bought from Caesar Clown.
But he heard that Caesar Courland's experiment was not very long and only children were used in the experiment. Why would there be giants that were obviously different from children?
This is one of the reasons why he risked infiltrating the Beasts Pirates as a spy, to find out where the experiments of these 'numbered individuals' came from.
But Caesar Couran died in Dressrosa, and it's said that he was killed by the Golden Lion himself.
That would leave him with no way to verify it.
"Did you notice? Ah, slap, slap..."
Ap chuckled, "Among the Numberers, these three are the strongest! And I lead the Numberers, they will obey my orders. Relying on them, we can achieve final victory. How about it, do you want to join forces?"
Drake narrowed his eyes and sneered, "You've been Kaido's subordinate for a long time, haven't you? A pirate is a pirate. You can't just betray someone like that. I find it hard to believe you."
"Ah, you're not trustworthy either."
Ap laughed and said, "I just made a proposal that is most advantageous to us. If we miss such a good opportunity, there won't be another one!"
Drake remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.
Seeing this, Apoo pressed his advantage, saying, "Hey, join us! Let's unite and each get what we need. I don't care if you're from the Marines or anything else. You want Kaido, and I want Kaido's power. We're not in conflict, are we?"
"I refuse."
Drake suddenly spoke, drawing his longsword and four-bladed axe from his waist, and said in a deep voice, "Since I agreed to join forces with the Straw Hat Pirates, I won't betray them easily. It's my duty to take care of you first!"
"You bastard!"
Ap's face darkened, and he roared, "Can't you listen to reason? My opinion was clearly so good. Besides, if you want to deal with me, you should deal with these three numbered individuals first!"
He didn't really want to fight Drake; there was no benefit in winning or losing, and he needed to conserve his energy.
But the most crucial thing is...
These three numbered individuals—one beautiful, two fangs, and three ghosts—don't actually listen to him much!
Although he commanded the numbered ones, the intelligence of these failed experiments was simply insufficient. They were lucky if they could understand a few commands, especially these three. They acted purely based on their brains, which they didn't even know if it was based on their own preferences or thoughts. Although Ap thought they had no brains, he couldn't control them. He was lucky if they occasionally obeyed his orders.
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