After a night of battle, the ruling class of Wano Country had been completely overturned, leaving a huge power vacuum at the top. While this would be a major problem in most other countries, Wano Country’s situation was unique.
This strange situation has one advantage: as long as a member of the Kozuki family could be found, Wano Country wouldn’t experience the usual power struggles.
Kozuki Oden’s strength had been a hidden threat to the Beasts Pirates, and keeping tabs on him had required the personal intervention of Kaido or even Arceus. However, the current situation was different.
After Kozuki Oden’s death, by using his still young children, they easily established a puppet regime to stabilize the situation in Wano Country.
Shayna and Olga were working on the follow-up matters, and now they were almost ready. For instance, how Kurozumi Orochi intended to sow discord and plotted to poison during the banquet.
Fortunately, Shayna had already found a witness. All the chefs in the Flower Capital palace were willing to testify that someone associated with Kurozumi Orochi had taken away the dishes before they could be tested for poison.
The common people were unaware of the outcome of the battle between Kaido and Oden. Moreover, Orochi had left a notorious reputation in Wano Country, and as it happens, his actual strength was also a mystery, so he became a convenient scapegoat.
In the eyes of the previous generation, the Kozuki family has always been Wano Country’s Shoguns, but in this generation, they have become mere mascots. Whether they are present or not, the development of two generations is enough to make the influence of the Kozuki family disappear.
Zeraora came here to clean up the mess. The Kozuki family members couldn’t be allowed to roam freely in Wano Country, but upon his arrival, he witnessed Kozuki Toki burning to death.
The flames ignited by Kazenbo didn’t deter Zeraora. He didn’t even contact the firefighting squad as the wind pressure generated by his fists extinguished the flames in Oden Castle. However, standing amidst the ruins, Zeraora felt something was amiss.
“Zeraora! Is something wrong?!” Setsuna, standing outside the ruins, shouted towards Zeraora. As a Mink, she was sensitive to heat, and even though Zeraora had extinguished the fire on the outside, the residual heat made her reluctant to approach.
“Nothing’s wrong, it’s just a bit strange.”
Beneath Oden Castle, there were many dead bodies burned from the fire. The fire had turned them into ashes, leaving them unrecognizable. Zeraora then looked at the people of the “Beasts Pirates” nearby.
These underlings of Orochi were also targets for capture. Upon seeing Zeraora and others appear, they intended to slip away quietly, but a bolt of thunder from the sky blocked their escape route.
“Stop.”
“Sir Zeraora, we are also here under orders.”
They were currently pretending to be Beasts Pirates’ pirates, so they tried to deceive Zeraora. They felt Zeraora couldn’t possibly recognize all of Orochi’s subordinates.
In fact, they weren’t entirely wrong, but Zeraora produced a card reader.
“You claim to be Beasts Pirates members, so where are your identity cards?”
“We lost them.”
“Lost? All of you lost your cards?”
Then, an electric current surged from Zeraora, electrocuting these Orochi’s people thoroughly. When the real Beasts Pirates members arrived, these individuals were also captured.
As for the other Kozuki retainers, Kikunojo and Denjiro were captured and brought back before they could go far away. Meanwhile, the situation of Inuarashi and Nekomamushi had also changed.
Originally, due to Oden’s boiling oil execution, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi had a falling out and had fled Wano Country, returning to Zou Island. But now, none of these events have occurred. After some deliberation, both of them were also transported 20 years into the future.
Currently, only Kawamatsu, who escaped through the water route with Kozuki Hiyori, has not been found.
He had swum with Hiyori for a long time underwater, and she had nearly drowned in the process. They barely made it to the mountain forest of Kuri with great difficulty. However, just as he believed they were safe, he heard footsteps approaching from behind.
Elizabeth appeared at the scene. Shayna only took Olga with her, while Elizabeth followed Zeraora here, following along the water route.
Initially, Elizabeth had come to check for any remnants of the Kozuki family here. After confirming there were no other remnants, Elizabeth revealed itself.
As a Secret Agent Pokémon, it possessed unique organs in its body that made it even more adept at tracking missions than most ninjas.
“Put that girl down, Fish-Men.”
In the Beasts Pirates, Elizabeth has a somewhat unique status. Its bounty was still only fifty million, which was the reward placed on it after its first mission with Olga, where they had gone to a Marine base to retrieve the drunk Kaido.
Since then, its presence had become relatively low-profile. However, it had trained alongside Olga, and though its individual strength couldn’t match the current Olga, it was far from weak.
The duo, one human and one lizard, never separate when they go out. Elizabeth was the deadliest assassin hidden under Olga’s illusions, and dealing with the current Kawamatsu is a piece of cake for it.
Upon hearing the term “Fish-Men” directed at him, Kawamatsu stopped. He hadn’t heard the word “Fish-Men” in a long time since his mother’s death.
He is a red-finned Japanese puffer fish-man. When he was young, he and his mother accidentally entered Wano Country. His mother was a rare female fish-man, who met her demise due to discrimination from Wano Country’s residents. She was injured by thrown stones and did not receive proper medical care, leading to her death.
Knowing that Fish-Men face discrimination from humans, she had taught Kawamatsu to identify himself as a kappa.
But whether he called himself a kappa or a Fish-Men, in Wano Country, he was seen as a monster. He had even narrowly escaped being burned alive by the people of Wano Country and had been saved by Kozuki Oden.
“Fish-Men. It’s been a while since I heard that term. Are you a Fish-Men as well?”
“No, but I’ve seen other Fish-Men. Surrender and put her down; you have nowhere left to escape.”
Elizabeth gestured to the Smart Tanishi in her hand, indicating that the news had already been sent.
“I cannot agree to that. If you wish to harm Princess Hiyori, you’ll have to step over my body first.”
The blade on Elizabeth’s tail suddenly pierced his chest while he was speaking. It had already moved stealthily when he was talking. The hidden blade within Inteleon’s tail was exceptionally sharp.
“You are despicable!”
“We are enemies; what are you talking about?”
Elizabeth’s typical combat style involved long-range sniping, infiltration, and assassination. It relied on ambushing under the cover of illusions. It was not like Aggron, a heavy tank; head-on combat was not its style.
So, it took advantage of Kawamatsu’s distraction and launched a sudden ambush, and it saw no issue with it.
“Don’t move. Even if you have the ability to resist, this girl does not.”
Kawamatsu, wanting to resist, looked at the blade now held against Kozuki Hiyori’s neck and ultimately gave up on resisting.
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