“The quality of these people is still not up to par.”
“It can’t be helped, young master Kojiro. Back when we followed the old master, only a few of us old and weak ones remained. It’s quite difficult to train useful manpower again from scratch.”
This operation was originally a special exercise to evaluate the quality of his subordinates. Although the guards in the courtyard weren’t slacking off, they didn’t even notice Raizo’s infiltration.
“Little Kai is still more dependable.” He rubbed Growlithe’s chin and continued speaking: “Strengthen these people’s training. How is the thing I asked you to find?”
“I’ve already found many excellent hunting dogs with good bloodlines from within the country. We can start anytime.”
“That’s good then, Little Kai. How about I find you a few more wives?”
“Woof?”
Growlithe did not quite understand what Kojiro was saying, but that was what Kojiro basically had in his mind – Training a person takes a long time, but dogs are different.
Tauros Ranch had already proven one thing: second-generation Tauros bred on the ranch were superior to Wano Country’s native cattle, both for consumption and labor.
So, Kojiro made this decision – to use Little Kai as a stud dog and breed a new group of dogs to assist his subordinates in maintaining security. It would take just one or two years for them to mature.
The previous Little Kai couldn’t achieve this, but as a Growlithe, it had experienced a second spring. For it, this is an opportunity to open its dog harem.
According to Kojiro’s request, his steward found many excellent hunting dogs with good bloodlines from within Wano Country and of various breeds, intending to create a new breed.
As for higher-end combat strength, he didn’t need to worry about that. Emboar’s dwelling place wasn’t far away, and with its physique, it could handle most intruders.
Meanwhile, Queen, who witnessed this scene, was showing off.
“Mwahahaha, I’ve said it. This is an excellent design. Just increase the output of electrical current, and the people trying to steal things with so much effort will be in for a lot of trouble.”
“Big bro Queen, although this plan is good, why do I feel like there’s a slight problem?”
This was Acier, the only one on all of Onigashima who would address Queen this way.
“What problem? It’s a genius invention.”
“But, wouldn’t it be better to just create an electronic lock and put a Rotom created by Lord Arceus inside?”
More intelligent, stronger electrical current, and it also comes with an alarm function – no one could break through it.
It wasn’t that Queen’s plan was bad, it’s just that compared to the convenient Rotom, Queen’s plan seemed to be somewhat lackluster.
“Well, not every place can use Rotom. Look at those guarding Rotom, they still need to take shifts. Having them guard a single box all the time can be quite boring.”
Queen’s explanation was reasonable too. Rotom’s form of existence was different from other Pokémon.
They were Pokémon that parasites electronic devices. While they could exist as electronic spirits, such Rotom would lose their practicality.
And Rotom’s nature made it torturous for them to stay in one place for too long. Hence, they had a rotating shift system like office workers.
For example, electronic doors and security cameras, positions that remain stationary for a long time, would have their hosting Rotom changed after a certain period.
Queen’s fingerprint lock design did hold some value. For example, Beast Fruits in the outside sea were considering using this new type of security lock.
Meanwhile, after facing “countless dangers and hardships”, Raizo finally managed to bring that piece of intelligence out. He then made his way back to Shimotsuki Yasuie’s place through some hidden paths.
“Raizo?! What happened to you?”
“Cough cough, nothing much, my lords. There was just a small accident. There was a trap hidden in the box. I was caught off guard and ambushed, but it’s alright. I managed to retrieve the list.”
Saying so, he pulled out an envelope from his pocket. When opened, it revealed a list of names and preferences of several individuals.
“Boss Hyogoro?! How could they possibly have any connection?!”
Certainly, not all the information was fake. Most of it was true and indicated some connections with the Beasts Pirates. The composition of the people was also complex – some merchants of Wano, famous doctors, hot spring owners, and so on.
From various professions to different social classes, including some nobles under other daimyo’s commands, yet at the bottom, the name Hyogoro was the most unbelievable.
Hyogoro family was one of the few who did not discriminate against him during his years of dancing and they even invited him into their house to rest. When some of Hyogoro’s subordinates showed disgust towards him, they were even scolded by Hyogoro and his wife.
But now, his name was unexpectedly on this list.
“That Kojiro normally has a lot of interaction with Hyogoro. I often saw him going in and out of Hyogoro’s house. Denjiro had also mentioned this.”
Even though Oden’s retainers are leading somewhat challenging lives, they still go out as usual.
They couldn’t go to Onigashima, and they couldn’t deal with Zeraora on the farm’s side. So, most of the time, they observed the people they could observe.
That was Kojiro discussing with Hyogoro about the thugs causing trouble in Wano Country. Whether it was the previous assassination issue or the subsequent troubles caused by the thugs, those people had become a hindrance to development.
As an almost-reformed yakuza boss, Hyogoro holds considerable say in this regard, which is why he has frequent interactions with Kojiro.
But that’s their matter. The situation in Wano Country is strange, and even the daimyos and Shogun might not be as effective as Hyogoro in managing these yakuza members. So, Yasuie and Oden were unaware of the specifics of this situation.
“No, it can’t be. Boss Hyogoro isn’t that kind of person.”
Kozuki Oden didn’t believe that Hyogoro would be involved with the Beasts Pirates behind his back. However, with the simultaneous emergence of these events, the situation took on a bizarre turn.
“Oden-sama, though this might not sound pleasant, being cautious is always a good idea. Hyogoro-dono’s current behavior is indeed unusual.”
Everyone else has been deceived, except Hyogoro’s attitude remained unchanged. This could be interpreted as that he trusted Oden, or it could suggest that he has some ulterior motives.
“No, I trust Hyogoro. I will go and ask that wretched…”
For now, there was no way to ask about this matter. Kozuki Oden found himself in an even greater dilemma.
“Oden-sama, please bear with it for the time being until we have implemented the plan. You haven’t revealed anything about this to Hyogoro-dono, have you?”
“No, although he inquired, I never mentioned it.”
“Then please reduce your communication with Hyogoro-dono before the plan is executed. We can clear up misunderstandings after the situation is resolved. For now, we need to prioritize the bigger picture.”
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