Since ending the reign of Kurozumi Orochi and the Beasts Pirates, the Kozuki clan regained power over Wano Country and launched a new plan.
Kuri was completely transformed into an industrial zone. More than 7,000 Beasts Pirates members also became free labor, mining seastone day and night, cultivating fertile farmland, building canals and bridges, and contributing to the construction of Wano Country.
The people who originally lived there also migrated to settle in the Flower Capital. Over the years, all the money collected by Kurozumi Orochi was used to distribute welfare and open gyms. Not only did people not have to work hard, but they also enjoyed the living allowance issued by the shogun's government, and their happiness index suddenly reached its peak.
But today was different from usual. There was no laughter in the streets of the Flower Capital, and the atmosphere became extremely heavy and depressing. People learned that the fleet of the Big Mom Pirates was heading towards Wano Country in a mighty manner.
Shogun's Mansion.
"Your Highness, I have already explained the situation to the World Government. The Marine fleet is expected to arrive soon."
"Marines... I'd rather they didn't come," Denjiro sighed slightly.
"Although we don't want to admit it, without the Marines' assistance, we can't compete with the Big Mom Pirates. After all, this is the Emperor of the Sea with the same name as the Beasts Pirates." Hiyori's eyes dimmed. She knew Denjiro was right. But when she thought of the Marines personally imprisoning Garros until he was in Impel Down, she felt awkward in her heart.
A few days ago, when meeting with representatives sent by the World Government, she also asked about Garros' situation but didn't get any news. Denjiro continued:
"Even if we successfully repel the Big Mom Pirates this time, we still need to solve a troublesome problem."
"The Donquixote Family unilaterally broke its trade contract with us."
"This..." Hiyori instantly realized the seriousness of the problem. The treasure left by Kurozumi Orochi has been spent. In order to let the people live a happy life, she also specifically ordered the cancellation of Wano Country's taxes for five years. Foreign trade is currently the only source of funding.
Hiyori pondered for a while but found no particularly good solution.
"Don't think so much now, the first priority is to deal with the invading Big Mom Pirates."
Denjiro hesitated to speak. After struggling for a long time, he couldn't help but say:
"Charlotte Linlin is as strong as Kaido. We can't pin all our hopes on the Marines. Your Excellency Garros left twenty Devil Fruits, why not..."
"No!" Hiyori immediately interrupted him without thinking.
"Garros is our benefactor, how can we take his things without his permission?"
Denjiro sighed again. As a samurai, he originally disliked things like Devil Fruits. But after experiencing the battle with Kaido, only then did he truly realize the gap between him and these powerful men.
In this world, whether you are doing evil or doing good, in the end, strength comes first.
If he has the power to protect his homeland, even if he turns into a monster, what does it mean? If they could make use of these Devil Fruits, it would definitely greatly increase their probability of winning. If they defeat Charlotte Linlin, they might be able to trade with the World Government in exchange for Garros.
The two of them were silent, and the room fell into dead silence. Suddenly, someone reported outside the door.
"Hiyori-sama, a group of pirates came to the harbor and requested entry to Wano Country."
"Pirates?" The two were startled and looked at each other.
Hiyori asked quickly, "Is it the Big Mom Pirates?"
"No, their captain calls himself Red-Haired Shanks and says he can help us solve this trouble."
Dive into the harbor. On the deck of the Red Force, a group of guys dressed like pirates were talking and laughing.
Beckman held a cigarette in his mouth, crossed his arms, and leaned against the mast. "It took just three days to get from Sabaody Archipelago to Wano Country..."
"I said, Shanks, why rush? It's better to wait until they are both defeated, and then we will appear as the saviors to save this country."
Shanks shook his head. "If you follow your approach, I don't know how many people will die in this country. Now that I'm here, I can't just watch this happen in front of me and remain indifferent. If possible, I hope to prevent this war and win the friendship of the Kozuki clan."
Yasopp, who was wiping the sniper rifle in his hand, raised his head and said with a smile: "Boss, the other party is the Emperor of the Sea. Will they accept our proposal?"
Shanks slowly took out the Gryphon from his waist and looked at the sea. "If they don't accept our armistice, let's go to war! Let the Big Mom Pirates be our stepping stone!"
Accompanied by warriors, the Red Hair Pirates arrived at the Shogun's Mansion in the Flower Capital.
"Tell me why you're here, pirate!" Yamato, Denjiro, and Shutenmaru looked at the red-haired man with a broken arm in front of them with hostility. After their experience with the Beasts Pirates, they naturally didn't have a good impression of pirates.
Shanks scratched his head and chuckled, "Don't be so nervous. We came with good intentions and heard that the Big Mom Pirates' fleet plans to attack this country. If possible, we would like to help you solve your current troubles."
No one expected to get such an answer. Yamato frowned and said, "We don't know each other, why do you want to help us?"
Shanks' expression slowly turned serious. "Once a war breaks out, countless innocent civilians will die. I don't want to see this."
"This..." Everyone looked at each other. Denjiro snorted coldly. "Do you think we're going to believe this? Tell me your true purpose!"
The other party's unkind attitude did not make Shanks angry. He smiled and said, "We'd like to hang the Red Hair Pirates' flag here if we could. From now on, we will protect this place."
Hiyori, who was on the main seat, put away the paper fan in her hand and said calmly, "Sorry, Wano Country is an ally of the World Government and is protected by the Marines. Everyone, please leave. Wano Country does not welcome pirates."
Three days later, next to the cliff waterfall outside Wano Country, the Red Hair Pirates gathered around the campfire, drinking wine and chatting.
Benn Beckman took a deep drag on his cigarette. "It's been three days, and the other party still doesn't accept our proposal. Even if we help them defeat the Big Mom Pirates, they won't appreciate it. What are you going to do?"
Yasopp, Lucky Roux, and others all paid attention. Although they don't burn, kill, and loot like other pirates, they don't want to put a hot face on a cold butt.
Shanks looked at the warriors on guard along the coast and sighed softly. "I really don't understand what these warriors are thinking. They are just stubborn. There is no other way. Now we can only wait quietly for things to develop. Let's wait until they are about to lose before taking action."
Beckman shook his head and said nothing more. At this time, Yasopp, who was holding a telescope in his hand, suddenly said, "They're coming!"
Far away on the sea, countless pirate ships with skull flags appeared, heading toward the waterfall. With the power of Big Mom's soul fruit, there were two huge carps in front of each boat to climb the waterfall.
Wano Country's response was equally swift. As soon as they discovered each other, nearly 10,000 warriors, led by Yamato and others, arrived at the scene and were waiting in full formation. As time passed, the distance between the two parties became closer and closer.
"Attack!" Denjiro gave an order, and more than ten swordsmen launched sharp flying slashes at the pirate ships on the waterfall below. Immediately, several pirate ships were chopped into countless pieces. After the Big Mom Pirates experienced a brief period of chaos, Perospero, Oven, and other cadres also launched a counterattack.
Big Mom snorted coldly. Stepping on the thunderclouds, Zeus soared into the sky and appeared in front of everyone. "Napoleon!"
The words had just fallen when the bicorn hat on her head showed a cruel smile, transforming into a serrated magic blade and flying into Big Mom's hand. "Weiguo!" A dazzling light suddenly erupted, and a huge shock wave of sword energy swept toward the samurai army. The warriors froze on the spot, staring blankly at the roaring slash, unable to react at all.
Under this devastating attack, it was like the end of the world. Three figures suddenly stood up. Their expressions were extremely indifferent, and instead of flinching at all, their eyes were full of strong fighting intent.
"Asshole, don't underestimate us!" "Get out of this country!" The three of them shouted in unison and jumped into the sky.
"Oden Two Sword Style·Taoyuan Ten Fists!"
"Thunder Bagua!"
Boom!
Earth-shattering roars rang in everyone's ears. The three people's combined attack not only dispersed the giant slash coming towards them, Yamato even picked up the mace wrapped in black thunder and hit Big Mom hard, directly knocking the opponent away and making her fall straight towards the bottom of the waterfall like a meteor.
"Mother!" "These damn guys, you underestimated them..."
"Quick! Catch her quickly!" Below, everyone in the Big Mom Pirates exclaimed in surprise. This scene also made everyone in Red Hair Pirates stand up from the ground.
"There are such strong people in Wano Country. No wonder they don't want to accept our help."
"Shanks, why not invite them to join us?"
"No, I don't want to be with a bunch of stubborn and boring guys."
Shanks ignored his companions and looked at the three figures in the distance in surprise. Judging from his perspective, these three people all have considerable strength. Even compared to the crew of the Roger Pirates back then, they are not much different.
At this time, the battleships of the Big Mom Pirates also boarded the waterfall.
"Everyone! Come together and repel the enemy!"
"There are no cowards among samurai. Even if you die, you will die on the way to charge."
At this moment, the roar went straight into the sky and resounded throughout the battlefield. The warriors regained their fighting spirit one after another, their eyes bursting with anger and determination. They charged in the direction of the pirate ship. The sounds of swords clashing and shouts of killing came one after another.
In the air, with the help of Thundercloud Zeus and Prometheus, Big Mom stopped her fall again and stabilized her figure. Her embarrassed posture caused an unknown fire to rise in her heart.
"Very well!" With a cold tone, waves of terrifying aura spread uncontrollably.
"Light Sword!" As soon as she finished speaking, the three major soul weapons moved in response. The serrated magic blade Napoleon, the red sun flame Prometheus, and the black thundercloud Zeus. The three monsters merged into one. A dazzling bright light burst out suddenly. The slashes composed of fire and thunder emitted waves of terrifying energy, even distorting the space. Like the judgment of a god, with a coldness and arrogance that disregarded everything, it struck downwards!
Boom boom boom!
This terrifying beam of light with a diameter of a hundred meters fell towards the island below. It sank into the depths of the sea without any effort, as if it penetrated the entire island. Countless warriors didn't say a word and were instantly torn apart in this strong light that destroyed the world. Soil, rock... Everything within a radius of 500 meters was completely dissolved and disappeared from this world forever.
Seeing this devastating blow, everyone showed signs of despair.
"Damn it, is this really a power that humans can possess? I'm afraid this island will be destroyed by the other side, right?"
"Can we really defeat this monster?"
"This old woman is as famous as Kaido as the Emperor of the Sea!"
Despair and pessimism spread rapidly. At this moment, the warriors who had high morale began to doubt themselves and looked at the sky in confusion.
Some people who were not determined even lost their will to fight completely, and the weapons in their hands fell to the ground unknowingly.
Not far away, everyone in the Red Hair Pirates also widened their eyes. The relaxed smile on their faces disappeared instantly, replaced by extremely solemn expressions.
Shanks couldn't help but put his hand on the scabbard at his waist. Beckman beside him also instantly raised the rifle in his hand, assuming a posture of alertness as if facing a powerful enemy. The power of the blow delivered by Big Mom just now was truly astonishing. It even gave him goosebumps, his whole body trembling slightly.
"What an amazing blow!" "This guy has probably reached the Ultimate in the development of Devil Fruit." "The Emperor of the Sea truly deserves his reputation..."
"If nothing else happens, these warriors are about to be defeated. Everyone, prepare to fight."
At this moment, Yasopp seemed to feel something and put down the sniper rifle in his hand. Turning his head, he looked in a certain direction in the distance.
Under the powerful Observation Haki, he sensed an extremely powerful aura approaching quickly! Everyone looked along his line of sight, but saw nothing. Yasopp took out his telescope, looked for a long time, then breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help laughing:
"Maybe I'm just too worried..." Yasopp held up the telescope, looked down slowly, and suddenly shouted:
"It's a Marine warship."
On the very far sea, a few small black spots vaguely appeared, heading in this direction.
Shanks frowned. "Are the Marines here? Can you see which Admiral it is?"
Yasopp pouted. "Didn't see an Admiral..."
"One, two, three. Boss, can just three warships really defeat the Big Mom Pirates?"
Shanks was about to say something when his expression suddenly changed. Beckman beside him also looked up at the sky. A black shadow penetrated the clouds and rushed downwards!
The opponent was extremely fast, covering a distance of several thousand meters in less than a moment and landing in the center of the battlefield. The arrival of the uninvited guest immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.
After seeing the appearance of the person clearly, Big Mom suddenly widened her eyes and screamed in disbelief: "You...you are Garros?!"
"No, it's impossible! You should be locked up in Impel Down! Why?!"