Golden Lion Shiki lit a cigar, laughed heartily, and glanced at Newgate, who had just asked him a question. How could this guy not know how to take down the enemy?
"Hey, Newgate, it's just Ryuo Haki! How hard can that be? Come on, ask me, and I'll teach you!!"
Shiki acted all high and mighty, like he was Newgate's older brother, but Newgate straight-up ignored him, killing his ego right then and there.
"Uncle Shiki, I'll learn! I'll learn!!"
Kozuki Oden jumped in front of the Golden Lion, shouting like a kid eager to master everything Shiki had to offer—burning with the dream to become a powerful samurai and wipe out the Shogun's Mansion.
"You better awaken your Haki first, little brat!"
Cigar clenched in his mouth, Shiki walked past Oden and headed toward the fallen Ashura Doji, who lay injured and glaring up at him.
"Hey, you gonna surrender and join us, or do I gotta drag you off to mine? Don't worry, we're not gonna kill you. A guy with your skills should be hella efficient in the mines!"
Shiki grinned. He'd picked up some sharp psychological tricks from Brook. Turns out most samurai aren't afraid of death, but they care a hell of a lot about their honor and reputation—especially their family's name.
So now, instead of demanding his life, Shiki was about to strip him of leadership and toss him into grunt labor. What would a proud samurai choose?
"Don't worry, we'll raise your kid just fine. Hell, we'll even find your wife a new man!"
Shiki kept up the mental assault, earning deadly glares from both the Doji and his brother, the Pengnan.
"Make your choice!"
Cigar smoke curling in the air, Shiki unsheathed both his swords, casually swinging them around. The cold flash of steel made the brothers shiver.
"I'll join you," Ashura Doji said, blood still trickling from his mouth. He sounded drained but resolute. "It's not shameful to bow to strength… but Atama is the foundation of the Ashura family. It's been passed down for centuries. We can't just give it away."
"Tch, we don't even care about Ata.a. We've got way more valuable territory. What we want is strong allies. Anyone who doesn't submit? Off to the mines they go~"
Speaking on Brook's behalf, Golden Lion Shiki accepted the Ashura family—for now. They'd wait for Redfield to come test their loyalty. Shiki also cleaned up the rubble that wrecked the bandit hall, though they'd still have to rebuild the damn thing.
Shiki and Newgate started rounding up the remaining rebels in the Atama. With Ashura Doji help, they planted the Hell Pirates' flag on Mt. Atama, claiming it as their turf.
In another stronghold, Shiki began putting together a list of powerful fighters in the area. But the results were pretty disappointing. Aside from the Ashura brothers, most of the others were just small fries.
Turns out, all the real warriors had already flocked to Capital —it was more prosperous, had better entertainment, and way more action.
The best asset left in Atama? A medium-sized silver mine that'd been worked for decades. Wano's silver supply was rich, which made it cheap. It had basically become the everyday currency for the average citizen in Wano.
But outside of Wano, silver coins meant jack. The seas only cared about gold and printed money. No demand, no profit. A missed opportunity, if you ask Shiki.
The real currency king? Berries—the money printed and backed by the World Government. That paper ruled the One Piece world. Member nations, non-member islands—everyone used berries.
It was basically a form of economic colonization. Think about it: countries can't even print their own cash. Sure, a few isolated islands have their own coins, but those are still convertible to berries.
That's why the Celestial Dragons don't give a damn about money. They own the damn mint. They can buy slaves, Devil Fruits, rare treasures—just by printing more bills. Monetary domination at its finest.
---
Golden Lion Shiki and Newgate studied the map Doji laid out. North of Kuri Region was a rundown village that basically served as the nation's garbage dump. Redfield had already taken over that region.
To the south of Kuri was the Atama area. West of Kuri was Pineapple Town—main grain hub and most valuable territory in the region. Farther east was Amigasa Village, now the Hell Pirates' base camp.
"Redfield's hitting Kuri right now. Should we head over to help him? Or take Pineapple Town from the west?"
Shiki was way more strategic than Newgate. Newgate had insane strength and loyalty—but when it came to planning and leadership, Shiki had the edge.
"If we capture Kuri Castle, Pineapple Town will fold on its own. No need to waste energy fighting."
Newgate preferred a straight-up fight—faster, simpler, and more decisive.
"Yeah, but we've got limited manpower, and Kuri castle is packed with family factions. If we break it, we'll have to rebuild it ourselves. That's a damn waste of time and resources."
To Shiki, all of Kuri already belonged to the Hell Pirates. The mafia families were just squatting on their turf.
"If we take Pineapple Town and cut off their food supply, then surround them from three sides, the underworld's morale in Kuri will crumble. Some'll definitely surrender. That way, we save Kuri from being wrecked and maybe even recruit some of the families into our crew."
Shiki had it all planned out. Since Kuri Castle had already pulled its troops back in defense, Pineapple Town would be an easy grab—and with Shiki's flight powers, it'd be quick.
Newgate agreed. Less bloodshed was always better in his book.
Following Shiki's strategy, Ashura Doji took half the bandits and joined the Golden Lion to conquer Pineapple Town. Newgate, meanwhile, took Ashura Pengnan and some others to camp atop the mountain, preparing to surround Kuri Castle.
Kozuki Oden, burning with excitement, stuck with the team going to Kuri Castle. He wanted to see the real chaos—the underworld beasts hiding in Kuri's shadows.
The forces of Kuri Castle and Atama were strong enough to fend off a combined assault from Daimyo Nozomi and Daimyo Udon. It was only when all four daimyos joined together that Kuri Castle would pull back.
They'd been playing this four-daimyo chess game for decades. But now, there was a beast from the north with thunder powers, and even Atama to the south had fallen.
Which meant someone even stronger than the Ashura family now ruled the south.
With that shift in power, Kuri Castle was thrown into chaos.
"Lord Ji, Pineapple Town has also fallen! Ashura Doji and a sorcerer who controls flying earth invaded!!"
A communication scout burst into the underworld's conference room, pale and clutching a Wano-style Den Den Mushi.
-------------
Hearing the panicked shouting from the intelligence officer, all the underworld families present shot up in shock. There was actually a powerhouse on their side!
"You said Ashura Doji is in Pineapple Town?"
The God of Fortune, Lord Ji, originally thought Ashura Doji was stationed with the army down south in Atama, but he had unexpectedly appeared in Pineapple Town to the west. Right now, Kuri castle was practically surrounded.
Brook and Charlotte Linlin had also rushed from the eastern village of Amigasa to the vicinity of Kuri Castle. They had learned through the Den Den Mushi that Redfield had been fighting nonstop in both the ruined town up north and at Kuri Castle for several days. With the dwindling number of samurai, casualties had been mounting.
The samurai count, already low to begin with, had dropped further, shaking morale across the board. These down-and-out warriors were now protesting, saying their forces were too small to take Kuri Castle, and all they could do now was focus on staying alive.
Newgate had also gathered around one to two hundred bandits in the south to surround Kuri Castle southern gate. Meanwhile, Golden Lion Shiki in the west had cut off the food supply of Pineapple Town and brought in hundreds of Ashura men, floating atop a small hill to block the west gate.
"The situation's bad, everyone. I don't know where the Wano Shogunate dug up so many top-tier fighters, but they've completely surrounded us. We've got no choice but to break into smaller groups and try to escape."
Lord Ji said this calmly—he'd gone through city abandonment more than once or twice before. It was almost impossible for their families to surrender to the Shogunate. After all, they were all exiled here—banished fugitives tried by the Shogunate Mansion for various crimes.
"Sigh… I guess that's our only move. Don't even know how much we'll lose this time, but survival comes first!"
Lord Ji sighed. Every few years, the Shogunate would conduct a massive crackdown on Kuri, stunting its development, seizing massive property, and razing the city.
Kuri was forced into rebuilding again and again—barely scraping by to keep these families alive.
In the past, they would always retreat strategically toward Atama or Pineapple Town. But now, with both sides blocked—Ashura Doji and that mysterious sorcerer in the west—no one dared force a path through.
The south was Atama's turf. Escaping there would just mean betrayal by the Ashura clan. As for the lightning-fast master up north—don't even think about it. That guy was way stronger than Ashura Doji.
That only left the east. Even if it meant running to the poorest village of Amigasa, it was fine—plenty of forests out there, better for evading pursuit.
One by one, the various mafia families returned to their hideouts, packing up valuables to prepare for the escape.
However, while Lord Ji had tricked them into leaving, he himself didn't move a finger. The Chiyo family, who had been following his lead, was confused. Weren't they supposed to flee too?
"Let those guys go. We'll surrender instead. This time's different—the people surrounding us aren't from the Wano Shogunate. They're outsiders, and they're so powerful even the Shogunate doesn't dare touch them.
Maybe this is our chance to flip the script. Maybe we'll finally stop living under the Shogun's boot!"
Lord Ji Fukugami was planning to offer Kuri intact to the outsiders. As for those other underworld families he tricked into running—they wouldn't be around to compete for credit.
"We're going to submit to outsiders?"
The head of the Chiyo family was surprised. After all, they were once a powerful family in Wano. If the Kurozumi clan's rebellion hadn't failed, both their families would've become daimyo ruling their own regions!
"What choice do we have? We've been hunted and suppressed by the Shogunate all this time. Might as well join up with these ridiculously strong outsiders. Who knows—they might even favor us enough to make us their official mouthpiece in Wano!"
Ji Fukugami didn't care about old loyalties anymore. He just hoped these outsiders had the ambition to overthrow the Kozuki clan, avenging his father—who was killed in the Kurozumi coup over thirty years ago by the royalists.
But history was written by victors. All he could do was curse his luck… and fear the overwhelming power the Kozuki clan still held.
The head of the Chiyo family stayed silent. The Kozuki clan was a looming shadow and unscalable mountain in their lives—one they could never escape from. But now that a strong outsider had entered the game… maybe it was finally possible to break free of that grip!
Even if they couldn't seize control, at least their two families could escape the taint of being failed usurpers and live among the other noble houses in Wano once more.
"Over thirty years ago, our ancestors backed the wrong horse—the Kurozumi family. Are you really gonna gamble again? These are outsiders. If they win and take Wano, fine. But if they lose, our families will be wiped out completely."
The Chiyo family's head, Jue Jue, hadn't even seen the outsider leaders yet. Betting everything before even meeting them seemed reckless.
"My spies in the Flower Capital confirmed it—they're strong. Four daimyo-level warriors strong. Combine them with Ashura Doji and our forces, and we've got a real shot at toppling the Kozuki clan!"
Ji Fukugami gaze burned with determination. Even if the Chiyo family backed out, he wouldn't blame them. He was ready to take this bet solo.
All he wanted was to cleanse the stain of usurper from his family name. And if it came to it, he'd go overseas with these outsiders rather than face defeat under Kozuki again.
"They really have four top-tier swordmasters? That's insane…"
The Chiyo family leader, convinced by Ji Fukugami intel, decided not to flee either. Instead, they moved quickly to take over Kuri's defenses and prepare for surrender negotiations with the outsiders.
Meanwhile, at the north gate, Redfield stood stone-faced. Mercenaries were mercenaries—they were nothing compared to his own men. He had already injured several gang leaders in Kuri but still hadn't broken through.
What's worse, their defenders had seastone nails and seastone bows and arrows. They even managed to land a hit on him, forcing him to pull back. Most of his men had been sent to escort prisoners back to Amigasa Village.
Now, most of his soldiers were just desperate thugs scraped up from the ruined town—half-starved and barely useful. All they could do was bluff and guard prisoners.
Redfield was done waiting. If he couldn't take prisoners, then fine—he'd just break down the damn north gate and slaughter everyone. Kuri was his territory now. He'd wanted to minimize losses, but the resistance had only grown fiercer.
So be it. He'd rebuild the Kuri from scratch if he had to.
"Lord Red Earl, someone from inside Kuri castle wants to talk. They sent over a Den Den Mushi."
Hanazhi stepped forward respectfully, holding a Wano-style communication snail. Over the past few days, he had seen firsthand the overwhelming might of Redfield.
The thunderous destruction Redfield unleashed was terrifying. Not even a group of Kuri's top underworld bosses could stop him—they had scattered and nearly died.
If it weren't for the dense waves of seastone archers, Redfield would have already stormed through Kuri Castle gates.
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