"Lord Queen, something terrible has happened!"
A panicked member of the Beasts Pirates kicked the door open and barged in, delivering a report in a booming voice that made Queen shoot to his feet.
"Udon! Udon is under attack! Enemies! Enemies we've never seen before!"
"What did you say?!"
Queen snapped his head around. The Beasts Pirates members inside the monitoring room immediately switched to the internal surveillance feed.
Wails, screams, and crimson flames raining down from the sky became a vicious slap across Queen's face.
Who was it?!
Who had that kind of nerve?!
And how had they crossed the seven defensive lines overseas without being discovered?!
Queen lunged forward in an instant, almost pressing his face against the screen.
Then he saw a large number of winged beings appear within the surveillance image.
They can fly, damn it!
Wano Country, Udon region.
The desolate land of Udon was either mining zones or abandoned mining zones, and the prison itself was the core of the mining area—or rather, a quarry.
The Beasts Pirates forced prisoners to mine ore, a system no different from slave labor.
No one could resist the Beasts Pirates who occupied Wano.
But today was different.
A dense swarm of Angels of Glory streaked across the sky, crossing layer after layer of overseas defenses before arriving in this region.
Amid the prison's blaring alarm sirens, one group of Angels of Glory unfolded the firepower mode of their War Armaments.
Then—
Blinding, flame-colored stars erupted. Streaks of scorching crimson fire swept across the sky and bombarded the earth.
The first Beasts Pirates to react were instantly baptized by blazing flames.
The lowest-ranking Waiters and Pleasures screamed as they turned into living torches and ran everywhere.
Only a small number of Gifters managed to withstand the concentrated firepower strike through their own strength.
Yet before they could even react—
A portion of the angels switched modes, entering an electromagnetic sniping state.
Metal projectiles were fired at several times the speed of sound. Every Gifter suffered more than ten electromagnetic sniping shots within a single second.
Even though their strength was generally close to the hundred-million-bounty level, and even though they were Artificial Zoan Devil Fruit users, there was no way for them to endure such terrifying attacks in such a short span of time.
Bang—!
Another Gifter swayed and collapsed, his powerful vitality only barely leaving him with a single breath.
"Bastards! They're enemies!"
The two Headliners stationed at Udon Prison finally reacted.
Babanuki, the warden, smashed through the door and revealed his bizarre appearance beneath the sky.
He had a broad, sturdy body, but a gigantic elephant head grew from his chest.
He was an Artificial Zoan Devil Fruit user with an elephant form!
At the same time—
"To think they'd choose a time like this…"
Dobon, the deputy warden who had hastily ended his gluttonous meal, also walked out with a face full of rage.
He was an Artificial Zoan Devil Fruit user with a hippopotamus form. In appearance, he looked like a person standing inside a hippo's mouth.
After discovering the enemies in the sky, Dobon immediately grabbed a panicking Beasts Pirates member and roared, "You! Hurry up and notify Lord Queen!"
"Y-yes!"
After being thrown aside, the Beasts Pirates member quickly headed toward the communications room to relay the order.
"They're not flying that high. I'll knock these bastards down!"
Although he did not know exactly what was going on, the moment he faced opponents who were clearly enemies—
Babanuki's elephant trunk coiled around a boulder, preparing to hurl it toward the enemies.
But then the wind suddenly began to blow, and his body failed to keep up with his thoughts.
"You…"
Dobon stared blankly at the motionless Babanuki, as well as the black-robed man who had abruptly appeared.
Then a great amount of blood splashed across that hippo face.
Pshhh—!
The sound of blood was so clear. Babanuki collapsed without a word.
Along with it came an indifferent voice.
"I can't let you disturb things."
The black-robed man removed his hood and reached out toward Dobon, whose scalp had gone numb.
"It's you! Dra—"
The word "Dragon" had only just left his mouth when Dobon vanished amid the howling storm.
Headliners were among the strongest batch of Gifters, backbone elites who served as the Beasts Pirates' public face beneath the Tobi Roppo.
Yet before Dragon, they were no different from slightly larger toys.
Whoosh—!
A sound of tearing air rang out. Kuma appeared not far away, seemingly somewhat surprised that Dragon had taken action.
Dragon seemed to read that meaning from him. He shook out his hand and said, "I have to show my own value sooner or later. Besides, the future will only grow more intense. It isn't bad to stretch my limbs while I can.
"As for you, did Ren give any instructions? Udon doesn't seem to have any particularly strong fighters."
"We need to stock up."
Kuma looked toward those Beasts Pirates members and prisoners.
"Those who can enter the New World and join the Beasts Pirates won't be weak, even if they're only the lowest-ranked small fry.
"That is what Ren said. He seems to want to do something.
"As for the prisoners, he seems to be making some kind of early preparation for the future."
It was an extremely vague statement, almost the same as saying nothing.
But Dragon had no intention of pressing further. A proper sense of distance helped improve the relationship between both sides.
At present, the most important matter was still Pluton.
"I understand. It seems the Prophet controls the situation step by step in precisely this way."
Dragon gave a nod, then said, "I simply wonder what method he intends to use to take out Pluton."
"A trigger is needed, or rather, a prerequisite must be fulfilled."
Kuma held that book in his arms, his tone carrying a hint of admiration.
"Since Ren said so, there must be a reason behind it.
"But didn't you obtain Pluton's whereabouts?"
At this point, he cast a curious and puzzled gaze over.
"That historian deciphered the Poneglyph. The Revolutionary Army should have obtained Pluton's specific location."
"The Poneglyph only recorded its whereabouts."
Dragon gave a bitter smile.
"If not for your Violet using her ability to observe the situation, I would not even have discovered that Wano's circumstances are different from what we imagined.
"Pluton is not in the present Wano. It is in the Wano of the past."
"The past?"
"That is what Ren said."
"Sorry. I don't know about this. I've been keeping Bonney company this whole time."
Kuma shook his head.
"There is no need to apologize. You no longer have that obligation, Kuma."
Dragon smiled, then continued, "Wano's situation is very complicated. Pluton is indeed here.
"But its location cannot be found from the surface. Otherwise, Kaido would not have failed to discover it."
He pointed toward the horizon of Udon, toward that faintly visible towering peak.
"Do you see that? That is Wano's Mount Fuji, a mountain several thousand meters tall."
"Several thousand meters?"
Kuma frowned. In his eyes, Mount Fuji did not seem that tall.
"You think it doesn't look that tall, right?"
Dragon smiled.
"That is actually because this is not Mount Fuji's full height. You should also know that this world's seas have always been in a state of rising sea levels.
"And Wano, at the time when the Poneglyphs were created, was built at the base of Mount Fuji. Pluton was there as well.
"But for unknown reasons, towering walls appeared around Wano. After centuries of rainwater pouring in, they formed an independent sea.
"The current Wano is an isolated island on this sea.
"But in truth, it was built on a vast flatland halfway up Mount Fuji."
"You mean…"
Kuma's gaze changed, and he instinctively looked down at his feet.
"Correct. Pluton and the Wano of the past are in the sea thousands of meters beneath our feet."
Dragon sighed.
"That is why I also do not know how to obtain it. We can only wait for Ren's plan."
There was nothing to be done about it.
Even he did not know how to take away the enormous Pluton from beneath a sea several thousand meters deep.
As for rebuilding it… although they had obtained Pluton's blueprints because Sabaody Archipelago had taken the blame, it would be difficult for them to build a new Pluton in a short period of time with their power.
Even having Morley slowly dig and steal it from underground came with problems in every aspect.
And so—
Dragon gave up thinking and chose to believe in the Prophet's wisdom.
At this thought, he changed the subject.
"Speaking of which, where did that swordsman go?"
"He has another mission."
Kuma shifted his gaze, looking in the direction of the Flower Capital.
"Some arrangements need to be completed in advance."
Wano Country, Flower Capital.
In contrast to the battle at Udon Prison, only a guiding Shikigami and Zoro had appeared here.
He stood on a rooftop, ignoring the pointing and whispering residents on the street below, while holding a Den Den Mushi in his hand.
"Mr. Zoro, it's right there. But be careful. You have an opponent."
Violet's voice rang out, guiding Zoro toward the designated location.
"Got it."
Zoro kept the communications Den Den Mushi wristwatch in an active call state, then raised his eyes toward the towering brothel ahead.
A stunningly beautiful woman holding a kiseru was staring at him in astonishment.
"You—"
Before she could finish speaking, a man with a sword appeared from inside the room behind her.
His hair looked like a caterpillar, hanging down over his forehead and swaying with his movements.
As his dark blue kimono fluttered, the sinister-faced swordsman drew his blade.
"Get back!"
He shouted those words, then abruptly swung his blade, releasing an extremely solid flying slash.
The window shattered and scattered. Brilliant light plowed through the air.
"Hmph. Sharp senses. But sorry—"
Zoro grinned, drawing his blades once more and entering Three-Sword Style. Then surging killing intent manifested into a three-headed, six-armed demon asura.
Demon Aura: Nine-Sword Style.
He stomped down, shattering the rooftop beneath his feet—and turned into a streak of killing intent.
Asura: Blades Drawn—Dead Man's Game!
The brutal flash tore through the air and split the flying slash apart, crashing into the room like an enraged dragon.
The roof of the brothel was almost instantly ripped apart. A violent hurricane swept up into the sky, tearing open the somewhat gloomy clouds.
Inside the devastated room—
Kyoshiro staggered backward in disbelief, then dropped to one knee and clutched the wound across his chest and abdomen.
Behind him, Zoro calmly sheathed his blades and finished the second half of his sentence.
"—I really would like to play with you for a while, but the captain's order is to finish this quickly."
Pshhh—!
Blooming blood dyed the peerless beauty's eyes red, making her tremble like a delicate flower in the wind and rain.
"I'm busy. Let's go. I'll take you to kill that Kurozumi."
Zoro glanced at the unconscious Kyoshiro, tossed down a modified Den Den Mushi, then grabbed Komurasaki, who was trying to retreat and struggle.
(End of Chapter)