Two months later.

On a desolate island, Youta, Ace, and Yamato were diligently training and battling.

All three of them were wearing low-purity seastone handcuffs, which Yamato had taken from the Beast Pirates when she left. The Beast Pirates always had plenty of these handcuffs, which were specifically used for prisoners who had consumed devil fruits.

When they were leaving, Youta casually mentioned to Yamato that these handcuffs seemed to be good for training, so Yamato took quite a few.

At this moment, Youta was sparring with Yamato, and even though both of them were wearing seastone handcuffs, which limited their combat abilities, they were still fighting fiercely, with the surrounding area getting pockmarked from their battle.

"Thunder Bagua!" Yamato swung her club, sending Youta tumbling far away, bleeding from his forehead.

Getting up, Youta touched his forehead and smiled wryly. "Let's stop, I lost again. My Armament Haki is far behind yours."

In fact, if he hadn't transformed his body into steel using his Consume-Consume Fruit before the fight, Yamato's club would have probably given him a concussion.

Yamato had mastered all the advanced applications of Armament Haki, including internal destruction and projection, and was far beyond Youta in both quality and quantity of Haki. 

Additionally, Yamato had already developed most of her Oni physiology, which gave her a strength advantage over Youta. Youta was no match for her.

After all, the Consume-Consume Fruit could only grant Youta potential, and it had only been half a year since his first transformation, so this potential hadn't yet translated into strength.

"You are already very impressive; you can fight me for over an hour now. In the past two months, your progress has been as significant as Ace's," Yamato earnestly offered encouragement.

Youta smiled, surprised to find that Yamato would comfort him. However, he didn't feel any sense of inferiority or loss of confidence.

After all, he had activated so many cheats, and there was still a possibility of obtaining more in the future. Youta was confident that he would eventually become the strongest in the world of pirates.

While Youta and Yamato were battling, Ace, not far away, was doing push-ups with a giant boulder on his back, gritting his teeth with determination.

"The progress of these two is so rapid, at this rate, I won't have the face to continue being captain!" Ace thought, quickening his pace.

It's undeniable that training and competing with other geniuses accelerates progress significantly, especially since Yamato, as Kaido's daughter, had learned a lot despite being harshly disciplined by her father.

Their exposure to advanced techniques such as the concept of future prediction with Observation Haki and the various applications of Armament Haki, including Conqueror's Haki, greatly benefited Youta and Ace.

"So, isn't it a bit too crazy for these guys?" A few members of the Black Spade Pirates playing cards on the island looked at the training trio and the now nearly flattened island, with expressions of amazement.

"Are all devil fruit users this crazy? They are even wearing seastone handcuffs!"

"If you want, you can try eating a devil fruit. Youta did acquire a few of them, right?"

"No thanks, I don't want to turn into a landlubber. Plus, what kind of devil fruits are those? Bat, Toad, and Honey Badger..."

"We've seen devil fruit users before, but it seems like these three are crazy, not just because they're devil fruit users."

"Alright, we can't intervene in their battles. Let's talk about other things. Our ship's supplies are running low. Although there are some plants and animals on the island, those three have already depleted them. So, in a few days, we'll have to leave this desolate island..."

While the Black Spade Pirates were chatting idly, Kaido had returned to Onigashima from his expedition.

In reality, as soon as Youta defeated Black Maria, the remaining members of the Beast Pirates on the island had informed Kaido.

Unfortunately, Kaido was engaged in an intense battle at the time, and by the time he finished the fight, the Black Spade Pirates had long since left Onigashima.

Kaido was fighting Whitebeard during that time, and the two fought for days. After such a prolonged battle, Kaido knew he wouldn't find the Black Spade Pirates if he went back immediately.

Therefore, he didn't return alone but brought his entire pirate crew back. Unlike Kaido, the Beast Pirates' mobility wasn't as efficient, so the return trip took over a month.

Little Miss was beaten up, his "son" was abducted, and his money was stolen. Kaido was furious upon hearing the news when he returned to Onigashima.

Kaido immediately ordered his subordinates and the Beast Pirates and their affiliate pirate crews to search for the Black Spade Pirates.

However, during this time, the Black Spade Pirates had been staying on the desolate island for training, making it extremely difficult to find them in the vast, treacherous seas of the New World.

Kaido didn't have his daughter's vivre card because of his confidence in the exploding seastone handcuffs, so the Beast Pirates could only use the clumsy method of searching the entire New World without any clues.

After over two months, the Beast Pirates had found nothing and wondered if the Black Spade Pirates had met some misfortune and their entire ship had sunk to the bottom of the sea.

It was only when the Black Spade Pirates left the desolate island and headed to an island on the Log Pose for supplies that they reappeared on the Beast Pirates' radar.

"Boss Kaido, we found news of Yamato and the Black Spade Pirates!"

The chubby Queen, though resembling a ball, moved swiftly as he rushed in. "They are currently on Doloran Island, which is at the border between Whitebeard's and Red-Haired's territories."

Kaido, who was drinking, immediately showed a sinister smile. "Good! They've finally been found. These damn thieves, I'll twist their heads off myself."

After saying that, Kaido transformed into a giant dragon, bursting through the wall and flying out.

"Geez, the boss is too impatient, don't you think?" Queen complained as he brushed off some debris from his body. Meanwhile, Jack, who had been standing beside him, scratched his head and said, "The boss just left? But he didn't take the Log Pose..."

Queen froze, wailing, "Oh no! The boss got drunk again!"