At this moment, a wooden courtyard in Hakumai was engulfed in a raging fire. Even nearby houses were affected, and from the scattered fireworks, it could be seen that this was a fireworks workshop where an explosion had occurred due to mishandling.
In Wano Country, although there were many inland rivers, there were no fire hydrants or similar infrastructure. The current firefighting method still relies on passing buckets of river water from one resident to another to reach the fire scene.
Whether they were familiar with each other or not, local people would do their best to help when a fire breaks out, especially neighbors. Allowing the wooden houses here to burn unchecked could easily lead to the fire spreading.
They might not care about others’ houses, but they at least had to find a way to protect their own homes.
“How the hell did it happen? After so many years, how can you still be so careless!”
As they passed the water buckets, they complained. The fireworks, flying in all directions, were not cooperative, and some houses had already been affected. It was only because the fire wasn’t too big that it was promptly extinguished.
“Yeah, after all these years, how could you make such a basic mistake?”
The house that caught fire had been making fireworks for many years, and nothing had ever happened before. They never expected such a big incident to occur.
“I didn’t mean to! It was just an issue during an experiment with a new formula. I didn’t expect those ingredients to make it so unstable.”
He had burn marks on his chest, but he couldn’t worry about that now. Putting out the fire was the top priority. If it kept burning like this, he’d lose everything.
At this moment, there was suddenly the sound of brakes from behind, followed by the cry of a Squirtle.
“Squirrrrtle!”
Two fire trucks hurriedly arrived at the scene. The Squirtle Squad was different from the regular firefighting squad; their expertise was quite specialized and limited, mainly handling ordinary fire incidents.
The relatively simple development environment of Wano Country made it convenient for the Squirtles. The causes of fires here were not overly complex; for example, situations like oil depot explosions don’t exist. The flames that ignited could typically be extinguished with water.
Water-type Pokémon possess an unconventional water storage organ within their bodies, with an immense capacity. They also have various magical abilities, such as converting their own energy into water and manipulating the natural water in their surroundings.
Rotom’s siren caught their attention, and they saw a group of blue turtles rushing forward. This was the first official appearance of the Squirtle Squad, and despite their small size, they sprayed water several times their volume.
Under the suppression of over a dozen Squirtles, the flames that had been burning were instantly contained. As the Squirtles steadily advanced, the intensity of the fire began to gradually diminish.
“They are…?”
“Are these the creatures raised by the Beasts Pirates? These creatures are really strange….magical like those monster cows.”
Some Squirtles had Beasts Pirates’ flag painted on their shells, directly indicating their affiliation. He had wanted to describe them as strange, but looking at the Squirtles working to put out the fire, he chose a different adjective.
Regardless, these Squirtles had been a great help. While their arrival couldn’t be considered timely, they had at least saved some property.
Under the Squirtles’ water guns, some charred pillars were exposed. However, the fire had started in the courtyard, so some things inside the house were still intact. This was a stroke of luck within the unfortunate situation.
The Squirtle frontline continued to advance, and most of the flames were extinguished. Now, they were spraying water on the remaining smoking areas.
However, the owner of this house couldn’t stand still any longer. He looked at some things inside the house, thought for a moment, and rushed in. No one among the people beside him tried to stop him.
“Hey! Where are you going? It’s dangerous, come back!”
No one knew what was inside those charred pillars, so charging in like that was reckless, prioritizing money over life.
But in the end, he couldn’t make it inside because two Squirtles tackled him to the ground. Shortly after, the ceiling beams collapsed because they couldn’t bear the burden anymore.
“Thank you.”
“Squirrrrtle….Squirrrrtle.”
After the disaster relief efforts were completed, he had lost most of his house. However, since the currency in Wano Country was made of metal, his savings remained intact, and building a new house outside the Flower Capital wasn’t too expensive.
Although his body was in pain, it hadn’t reached the point of serious injury. However, everything that happened here was witnessed by Kozuki Oden, who happened to pass by.
He had come to look for Shimotsuki Yasuie but upon noticing the smoke, he rushed over here. Then, he witnessed the scene of Squirtles extinguishing the fire, causing him to once again enter a contemplative phase about life.
As Squirtles strolled by him, munching on small dried fish, he remained in this contemplative state. Wano Country was rapidly changing, with new changes occurring every day.
Starting from the Beasts Pirates Pokémon Center in the beginning to Kojiro’s introduction of a completely new trade model, and now the Squirtle Squad, along with the revival of plants in the Kibi region, all of this was causing inner turmoil for Kozuki Oden.
This wasn’t the first time he was feeling this way. Meanwhile, Kurozumi Orochi and Shimotsuki Yasuie were also having a discussion.
After years of preparation, Shimotsuki Yasuie had gathered 2,000 samurais for the operation. In terms of numbers, he believed it was sufficient, but Orochi considered them far from enough.
Within Wano, apart from Beasts Pirates, Orochi had the most information about the outside world. Judging by the Beasts Pirates’ current development, it was apparent that they required not only quantity but also high-end combat strength.
Kozuki Oden himself was a formidable warrior, seen as the only one capable of facing Kaido in their eyes. However, the current Beasts Pirates has more than just Kaido.
“Yasuie-sama, these are the officers of Beasts Pirates currently in Wano Country. These three are known as the ‘3 Calamities’.”
King, Queen, and Olga’s wanted posters were placed in front of Shimotsuki Yasuie by Orochi.
“You can roughly gauge a person’s strength by their bounties in the outside world. These three are formidable opponents.”
Fearing Yasuie might not understand, Orochi explained the significance of the bounties and had even more wanted posters in his hand.
“Although these two don’t have Calamity title, they are also top officers in Beasts Pirates, not weaker than the 3 Calamities.”
This time, it was Shayna and Zeraora’s wanted posters. Orochi realized that one Kozuki Oden alone wouldn’t be enough to balance their forces.
“In addition, there’s this devil fruit user, a Sorcery User. Although he never appears in human form, he is another pillar of the Beasts Pirates.”
It was Arceus’s wanted poster and currently the most challenging combatant within the Beasts Pirates.
“And this isn’t all, Yasuie-sama. Do you understand how dire the situation has become?”
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