"I can do it… I can do this!" A beautiful woman stood inside an empty room, staring at herself in a mirror, as her face was a bit uncertain, "For my people… this is necessary. I couldn't protect them before because I was too young and too inexperienced! This is my chance to make up for it!"
Hiyori Kouzuki would never say she was ashamed of what she had done over the past two decades. She had been just a young, weak girl when Kaido took power, and she truly believed there was nothing she could've done to prevent Wano from falling into the Yonko's hands.
But, right now, she knew things were different. She was no longer a young, inexperienced girl who shook in fear at the sight of power. Instead, she was a full-grown woman, and one who was more than adept at manipulating men.
As 'Komurasaki,' she had done more than a fair share of manipulation. To reach the top of Flower Capital as a woman with no strength and with only her body to offer, that was necessary. She had not only reached the top, but did so in a way that protected her own purity. It was an impossible task, but she had made the impossible possible.
"This is nothing. Just another man to manipulate," Hiyori breathed out, staring at her own reflection in the mirror. "Instead of an old fool with a bunch of money, it's just… a king who can destroy my entire country with one word. No pressure. No pressure at all."
In case it wasn't obvious, Hiyori was definitely feeling a lot of pressure. As much as she tried to remind herself that Valon was just a man, and as such no different from any of the other men she'd rinsed dry in the Flower Capital, she couldn't get the memory of what he'd done out of her head.
She couldn't forget the oppressive weight on her shoulders that demanded she kneel and bow her head as he killed Orochi effortlessly. The Shogun who had ruled over her for so long, and whom she had to jump through hoops to satisfy on a daily basis, had been killed. The Shogun, who seemed unkillable and who had the support of the 'World's Strongest Creature,' had died in a single moment.
And now, she had to convince the man that killed him, whom she had never even spoken to, that he loved her, just as she had convinced countless men before.
However, instead of simply taking the money of love-struck fools, she had to convince this man that not only was she valuable, but that her people were as well. She had to convince him that they were worthy of being in his Kingdom, so they wouldn't be chucked aside and left to live in misery even after Kaido was overthrown.
"That damn she-wolf…" Hiyori groaned, slumping slightly as she looked down at her feet, "I appreciate her giving me the chance to speak to him… but she's putting a lot on my shoulders, damn it!"
Unfortunately for Hiyori, she had no idea that, in that moment, all of her worries were for nothing. She had no idea that she was the one being manipulated, and the weight of the world on her shoulders amounted to nothing more than 'teasing.'
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"You just love giving me more work, don't you?" Raya asked, half-teasing and half-annoyed as she shifted through a pile of papers in her hands, "You really need to find another secretary type."
Right now, Raya and myself were standing in the 'stronghold' underneath my palace, near the duo of portals. After Wano's conquest, I had been given a break as Raya promptly took over, and the infrastructure of the new Wano was underway. The improvement of Wano itself was essential as I planned to use it as my base in the One Piece world, and the citizens of Wano, as well as the Beast Pirates, needed to be incorporated into my Kingdom.
"You have the entirety of my Kingdom at your disposal," I smirked a bit at her request, "I'm sure you can find someone to shove some of the work onto. Weren't you teaching Saya about this kind of stuff?"
"I've been showing Saya the ropes a bit, but she's not ready for something this important yet…" Raya sighed, shaking her head lightly, "You should just slow down a bit on taking over places. I'm not even finished with ironing everything out with the Youkai yet, and two more worlds need to be supervised. The zombie world was at least pretty easy, but this is way more complicated…"
I couldn't blame her for her less-than-excited words, because Wano definitely was on a whole different level from the HOTD world - despite just being one country of the much larger One Piece world. The conquest had ended up being the easiest part of managing Wano, as Raya was swamped with trying to keep each faction within Wano happy.
I intended to be a good King to the country, and I wanted the citizens to be happy. Happy citizens would lead to loyal citizens, and loyal citizens were the best kind of citizens to have.
My display of ruthlessness and power had put fear into their hearts, and there would be no rebellion attempts anytime soon, but that didn't mean they were loyal. Loyalty could be forcefully gained through fear, but that type of fragile loyalty would never be maintained.
Instead, it was just the starting point. They would fear me, but as my forces, and mainly Raya, worked to improve the conditions within Wano, that fear would turn to respect. That process had already started, and it would take a while, but luckily, time moved at half speed while I was in the world - so I had a while.
"The pollution is pretty bad, huh?" I hummed, raising an eyebrow at her, and she nodded.
"'Bad' is putting it lightly. I can't believe those people could even survive like that… the air is pretty much poisonous," Raya sighed, "The water and food issue can be handled pretty easily, since we can just bring those things from the other world, but the air is the main problem. Wind magic would be able to just shove the polluted air away and replace it with new currents, but using too powerful of magic would damage homes and throw off the local ecosystem, so it's going to be a slow process."
"That's fine. Even if it's slow, having some semblance of clean air is better than they've had in decades," I nodded, then asked a question, "How are the citizens handling it?"
"The actual citizens are taking it surprisingly well," Raya answered, perking up a bit at the topic change. "They seem just happy to have the pirates gone, and they can tell that improvements are coming. We've handed out a lot of food and water already, and we're working on improving infrastructure around the country. The ones who are a problem are the pirates themselves."
I expected as much - they were pirates, after all. They had joined Kaido because being a Beast Pirate meant you could essentially do whatever you wanted within Wano, and because the responsibilities that came with the position weren't actually that strict.
Essentially, they went from drinking all day and bullying Wano citizens to being thrown into my Kingdom, where they were expected to work, and at the very least join one of the squads within my constantly growing army. Honestly, I'd be surprised if they weren't at the very least upset, even if their fear of me meant they wouldn't actually do anything crazy.
"So, how do we deal with them?" I raised an eyebrow at her again, "For pirates like those, fear might be the best way to control them. That's largely how Kaido controlled them anyway. I could order him to start taking action."
The Beast Pirates hadn't followed Kaido because they respected or loved him, but instead because they feared him. For a loose group of pirates, who were messy and pretty inefficient, that tactic worked. They got to laze around and drink, but when push came to shove, they'd take action because the alternative was getting squashed like a bug by Kaido or one of the All Stars.
Using that same tactic would keep them in line, but it'd be an inefficient approach overall. Unless I was constantly threatening them, they would inevitably grow lax from working under someone they didn't respect, and their value would plummet.
Luckily, that problem was circumvented as Raya spoke quickly.
"No, I've already started implementing a system," Raya stiffened again, her chest pressing out as her breasts jiggled slightly, and she looked a bit proud at her idea, "Pirates are a pretty hierarchical bunch, so we can use that to our advantage. They have no morals and just obey the highest-ranking member of the crew, while also trying to climb the rankings themselves, right? And, with how the Beast Pirates were organized, I bet they're very adept at buttering up their higher-ups. So…"
I had a bad feeling as Raya glanced over at me, smirking lightly, "We'll control them with materialistic things! The more they obey and ass-kiss the higher-ups, the more power they can have within the new 'Beast Pirates' under your rule, and they'll get rewards in the form of money and booze!"
As Raya spoke, I just stared at her blankly for a second. I barely even heard the usually composed woman curse, much less use the phrase 'ass-kissing.'
"Ah… good job, that'll work," I nodded, sounding uncertain, though not because of the idea itself.
It was a pretty sound plan, as pirates were still pirates. They were backstabbing cowards with no morals, and the only thing they really cared about was riches, booze, and sex. Putting them in a system where respecting and obeying their higher-ups led to them getting those riches and booze meant that they would probably behave.
So, it wasn't the plan itself that I was uncertain about. Instead, it was the sly look on Raya's face as she glanced over at me.
"Don't say 'good job' to me, you'll be doing the hardest work," She smirked, only causing me to get an ominous feeling, "We'll have to split up the Beast Pirates into divisions, and then place those divisions under competent leaders for the strategy to work. The leaders will need to be strong enough to punish those who step out of line, but also smart enough to reward those who are loyal."
"Of course, that would be best," I nodded at her words, but then raised an eyebrow, "And, that involves me how? We have a ton of people who fit that description, so I won't have to take on a division. I don't have time for it anyway, y'know?"
"Oh, but you do, Valon!" Raya smirked, causing me to get an even bigger ominous feeling, "I know you're busy with ruling duties, and training, and conquering worlds, and all of that stuff, but you have a lot of free time every night, don't you?"
"...You're giving me a division of female pirates?" I deadpanned at her, quickly picking up on what she was putting down.
"Close, but more like I told the power-hungry pirates who just got their asses kicked that the 'undefeatable King Valon' will be handing out high-ranking positions, and his bed is always open," Raya finished, and the sly look made sense now, "The Beast Pirates had a surprisingly large amount of powerful women, so you can deal with them, right?"
I looked at Raya dryly in response, "I didn't know you had this in you. When did you get so bold?"
"When I had to fight every night with a dozen other women for your attention!" Raya huffed, puffing out her cheeks at me, but she blushed and glanced away a second later, "B-But, you're still the King in the end, Valon. If you don't want to deal with this, then I'm sure I can find another way…"
"It's fine," I chuckled, breaking my dry look as I casually placed a hand on her hand, "You did a good job. I know how complicated this work is, and this Kingdom would be in ruins right now without you."
I wasn't exaggerating either - if Raya wasn't around, I truly didn't think my Kingdom would still be standing. She wasn't some overwhelming power threat like Tiamat or Sirzechs were, but her work behind the scenes was what kept it running. Without her, the Beast Kingdom would be messy, disorganized, and probably filled with more than a bit of betrayal.
When I thought about all the work she was doing, fucking some Beast Pirate women into submission and loyalty didn't sound so bad. Not that it sounded bad before I thought about all the work she did, but by thinking of it as a service to the Kingdom, I could justify spending countless hours having sex with busty pirate women.
"T-Thanks," Raya blushed deeper as I patted her head, but her face became serious a second later as she remembered something, "Oh, right! The citizens of Wano also decided on a… 'representative' of sorts, and she wants to meet with you."
A representative? I had assumed that things would play out naturally after I showcased the important figures at Orochi's execution, but I guess they wanted a more concrete figurehead. I couldn't really blame them, either, because up until now they'd been silenced for roughly two decades.
The average citizen wasn't given a voice under Kaido's regime, and anyone who had power prior to Kaido's arrival was promptly thrown out of their position. There was still a large portion of the country that was silently defying the Beast Pirates, and it seemed they were using this opportunity to try to get a leg in the door with their new ruler.
"Got it," I simply nodded, raising an eyebrow at her, "Who was it?"
"A woman named 'Hiyori,' who's the daughter of a man named 'Oden,'" Raya said, starting to explain, although I already knew who both of them were, "He was apparently someone respected a lot by the older citizens. If you convince her to support your rule, then it'd make the rest of this process a lot easier. Though I don't think you'll have to do much work…"
That wasn't unexpected - Hiyori was the last known descendant of Oden, as the people of Wano couldn't predict that Momonosuke would suddenly appear out of literally thin air in a couple of years. On top of that, her time as Komurasaki hadn't suddenly disappeared, and I was sure that the lingering appreciation and attraction to her would remain, even as her true identity was revealed.
If there was anyone they would elect as their representative, it wasn't surprising that it was her. But, I got another ominous feeling as Raya ended her statement, and a sly look appeared on her face.
"...What did you tell her?" I asked dryly, glancing over at Raya, who didn't meet my eyes as she very 'unsuspiciously' looked away.
"Nothing, nothing… I just gave her some advice…" Judging by the glint in Raya's eyes, I suspected that the 'advice' was definitely not necessary.
"Whatever, I'll just go meet with her," I decided that trying to pry more information out of Raya was pointless, as when she got into this type of mood, continuing to try would only do more harm than good.
Who knew that the composed and cute direwolf girl had this side to her, huh? Did pushing so much work on her shoulders cause her to change like this?
…
No, it didn't, dammit! This was the same woman who shoved a bunch of 'mates' onto me immediately after I killed her father and took over the direwolves! She'd always been like this!
But, it wasn't like she could've told Hiyori anything too bad, right?
I remembered Hiyori to be a pretty intelligent and composed woman, so she wouldn't act like Venelana or Layla did. There was no way a woman like that would try to seduce me, no matter what Raya had told her, right?
…
Right?!
…
Right?!
…
Soon, I would find out that I was very not right.
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AN: Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I was dealing with some health issues. From now on they will be more frequent again! The next chapter will be out in a few days!
You can also support me and read the next 11 chapters right now on Patreon.com/Koyon ! This story is updated twice as often on there!