Chapter 122

[Wano]

Boom. One step from a man with horns protruding out of his head was enough to rumble the floor as he stood up from his seat.

Kaidou of the 'Beast'. One of the three Catastrophes. More and more people have started to call him the 'Strongest Creature in the World' recently, and such a title didn't seem to lie, as he stood proud in his huge, muscular, and frightening form.

Currently, he had a frown on his face as he chugged down a bottle of sake before smashing it on the nearby wall.

"KING!"

Then, this man shouted aggressively as he walked past a masked man with large black-feathered wings on his back: King the 'Conflagration'.

"WHEN IS QUEEN COMING BACK?!"

"By tomorrow, according to what that fatass says," Replied King, and Kaidou growled.

"Linlin, you old hag...!! Do you really think that I am stupid enough to believe in you?!!"

Kaidou and Big Mom formed an alliance under the facade of war. However, their truce, having been born from a potential of seizing One Piece through Big Mom's husband, meant that Big Mom was the superior one in their relationship. Frankly, Kaidou hated this.

"You threaten me to send troops to continue faking a war, while you spend your own troops to take over Whitebeard's territories...!! If not for... GRAHHHH!!!!"

Drunk and engulfed by his rage, Kaidou began destroying his surroundings—be it his servants, pirate goons, buildings, whatsoever. Then, he swayed in the middle of the ruin and sighed,

"Haa... but it is true that I was losing the war against her. Why... WHY?!!! WHY IS IT THAT YOU GET THOSE CHILDREN OF YOURS, WHILE I GET THESE... WEAKLINGS AS MY UNDERLINGS?!!!"

Kaidou was desperate, regardless of One Piece or the outside situation. What he wanted was the strength to dominate the world, to open the greatest war where he will face the epic death of a warrior. Being forced to join hands with Big Mom under the name of One Piece truly hurt his pride.

Therefore, he decided to start a project.

"The enhanced warrior project..." Kaidou grumbled, "It better work as you said, Queen!! I provided you everything you said you need... be it the Tontatta tribe or the biggest brain of the world—Dr. Vegapunk!!"

While World Government was occupied, while Blackbeard's pirate alliance was busy dealing with Whitebeard pirates, and while Big Mom's attention lied on the opportunity to expand her force, Kaidou was devising a plan of his own.

"Things won't go as you think, Linlin!! You may think that taking over Whitebeard's lands will make you strong enough to completely subdue me, but it will be the exact opposite!! WORORORO!!!"

Laughing hysterically, Kaidou dusted himself off and shouted,

"BRING MORE SAKE!!!"

King simply stood by the side without any response. On the other hands, the still-alive underlings were simply cowering in fear.

And all this was happening in Onigashima, the region of Wano that originally was the summit of Mt. Fuji prior to the Beast pirates' invasion.

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"Dressrosa, I see."

"Taken over by the Beast pirates...? I thought this was the World Government-affiliated country that we're talking of."

"This is simply the sign that the strength of World Government has deteriorated to an extent where Catastrophes began to disregard them."

"Queen the 'Plague'—wait, I remember that guy! Wasn't he a scientist who used to study with Dr. Vegapunk?"

With Gaitou pirates tied and disarmed, Smoker's group was chattering among one another. Smoker, sitting in the middle in a contemplation, then asked,

"A year passed since the invasion, you say."

Gaitou, full of fright, nodded frantically, "Y-Yes! That's r-right!"

"By Queen the Plague."

Smoker's face wrinkled up in anger. He gritted his teeth as his right hand was clenched tight into a fist.

"Ha, why would Queen, one of the All-Stars, have a time to come to the World Government-affiliated island if Beast pirates are in a war against Big Mom pirates?"

Two truths could be drawn from this information. One, World Government has no control and no eye in the New World. Two, Kaidou not only retrieved the Gum Gum fruit but also attacked Dressrosa for something in particular; he is planning something.

Standing up, Smoker walked up to the huge ship adjacent to the ship that belonged to his group. On the huge ship, the tied-up Gaitou and his crew members gazed at him in fear. Smoker simply pushed the huge ship away with his foot, bringing said pirates to a confusion. He then said,

"I will go into the Dressrosa along with Maynard and 'draw the attention.' Take the food supplies of these pirates, head straight to Wano, and infiltrate unnoticed. Gather the information regarding the size of Kaidou's forces and our potential allies, and find out what the hell Kaidou's planning about."

Hina pointed at the pirates, "And how should we deal with them?"

"..."

Smoker gazed at said pirates in silence. Gaitou's eyes widened before he pleaded,

"W-WAIT!!! HAVEN'T WE TOLD YOU EVERYTHING—"

Gaitou's voice was muffled as white smoke began to surround him and his terrified crew members. Eventually, the smoke completely engulfed them, and Smoker proceeded to flick his finger up.

Everyone then watched as the cloud of smoke that contains all pirates in the scene shot up into the air, before gradually becoming black in colour, and,

BOOOM!

presenting deaths by an explosion to the helpless pirates. As the remnant smoke from the explosion travelled up and joined the cloud above, there was no blood, no piece of flesh—nothing whatsoever.

"That works," Chuckled Hina.

In a serious expression, Smoker said, "Now that we are back on the track after having identified where we are at, we will proceed with the plan. Any question?"

Robin raised her hand up. After Smoker nodded in approval, she suggested, "We will have to disguise ourselves upon entry—to an extent where some of us may be unable to identify one another due to our lack of proficiency in Observation Haki. Therefore, I suggest that we form a code among ourselves."

"Good point," Rosinante agreed.

Everyone looked at Smoker, who seemed to have lost his serious vibe. Smoker shrugged, "Sure. What do you want it to be?"

No one opened their mouth in response. In this situation, everyone heard a munching notice; they realized that someone, instead of paying attention, was busy eating instead: Bastille.

"Really," Deadpanned Robin.

"W-What-dara?! I was hungry!"

"Soo mature, Bastille," Snorted X Drake, to which Bastille growled at underneath his metal mask.

Maynard squinted his eyes, "What are you eating, dude?"

In Bastille's hand was a food known as onigiri. Upon noticing it, Smoker's eyes gleamed in an idea, and turning around, his eyes met Hina, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"There we go," Mumbled Hina.

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Dressrosa, it was one of the original twenty kingdoms that founded the World Government. Therefore, this kingdom was quite significant to an extent where its collapse can be attributed to the fault of the World Government.

A year ago, the World Government had a choice—either to send the reinforcement or not to aid Dressrosa's attempt to protect themselves from the Beast pirates. In the end, they didn't, assuming that not only will it require a substantial amount of force to rescue the kingdom, but weakening Kaidou will end up helping Big Mom, which they assumed will further tip the already-tipped balance.

As the result of it, Dressrosa was no longer the land of passion. The previous buildings were wrecked down and replaced by the dull-looking, metallic factories. The civilians, being treated as nothing different from slaves in Mariejois, were imprisoned in those factories to work—even children were of no exception.

"Huff... huff..." Lifting up a gun part with frail arms was a young boy who had dark bags under his eyes. His withered clothes were stained with blood as he wobbled side to side. Seeing that he was slow in his work, a nearby watcher, wearing the standard uniform of Beast pirates, roared as he harshly swung the whip in his hand,

"Don't slack off, kid!!! MOVE!!!"

The boy cried in pain as he fell down. His knees bled as they slammed against the hard ground and his back received a gruesome gash. Eventually, the cry died down, and seeing that something was off, the watcher approached the boy and inspected him.

"..." The watcher then frowned before calling an adult civilian, who seemed full of exhaustion, "Hey, you!"

The watcher pointed at the fallen boy, "Throw this corpse in the incinerator at the back!"

The civilian's eyes trembled in horror. He then closed his eyes tight as if trying to escape from the reality—

"MOVE!!"

—before he winced as the roar was blasted right at him. He began moving his trembling body, forced to face the harsh truth that was unveiled in front of him.

"Pff... hahahaha!!"

Watching this miniature dystopia from the back was one man, one who laughed in amusement. He, sitting comfortably on a couch with a glass of wine in his hand, was the member of Beast pirates tasked to take over Queen's job and manage the 'Dressrosa Factory'.

"Weaklings... if anything, blame your weakness! Cheers to your incompetency!" With vile eyes, this man with spiky red hair and equally red-coloured eyes drank down the wine in the glass. He was one of the Tobiroppo—the six executive members of Beast pirates whose statuses lied just under the three All-Stars.

To the world, he was known as Hibiki the 'Carnivore', wanted dead or alive for 415,000,000 Beli.

"H-Hibiki-san!!"

Then came in one member of Beast pirates, ruining Hibiki's mood. Hibiki growled in displeasure, and said member, although gulping, continued,

"Two strangers were sighted to have arrived out of nowhere! What should we do—"

"And so what?!!" Hibiki shouted, putting the goon to a stop, "Must I tell you what to do for every single thing?!!"

Paling up, the goon shook his head in nervousness, "N-No! We'll get them dealt with right away!"

Clicking his tongue in annoyance as the pirate quickly left, Hibiki sighed before reverting his eyes back to the tortures that Beast pirates were inflicting onto the civilians of Dressrosa. Shortly, the matter spoken by the goon was forgotten, and the twisted joy returned back in him.

"P-Pff..."

And little did he know, that this matter in which he ignored, will be the one that will come back and bite him on.