Atop the silent palace, Wilder stood on the ramparts, looking down at the nation below. The distant, buzzing sounds of construction were constant; Morass was a nation in a perpetual state of growth.
He took a drag from his cigarette, his thoughts drifting with the smoke, his eyes calm and placid.
Suddenly, he flicked the butt, sending the last burning embers flying into the opposite wall. It sparked briefly before scattering into ash and extinguishing completely.
"So... it's finally begun..." Wilder murmured to himself, the words from the Monitoring Unit's latest report echoing in his mind.
Sanji had been captured.
Everything was proceeding just as it had in the original story, without any deviation.
This brought Wilder a sense of relief, but also a twinge of worry for the future.
He didn't know... if his interference would bring the original story to a premature end here.
His greatest fear was that after all his careful planning, he would still be unable to overcome the inertia of the plot.
That Big Mom... would survive Totto Land, just as she had in the original story.
That was something he would absolutely not allow.
A cold, sharp light glinted in Wilder's eyes, his face a mask of unflinching resolve and determination.
Big Mom must die.
"Claire, invite our allies for a talk," he said, turning and walking back into the palace.
"Yes, sir." Claire, sensing the approaching storm, acknowledged the order and went to carry it out.
Wilder, meanwhile, made his way to the swamp lake just outside the palace.
He sat on the stone steps at the edge of the lake, occasionally grabbing a piece of meat from a large basin beside him and tossing it into the swamp.
Before the chunk of meat even hit the surface, the lake stirred. With a great splash, a massive shadow shot out of the water with the speed of a thunderbolt. Its great maw opened, and it swallowed the meat in mid-air before disappearing back into the swamp in the blink of an eye.
The entire process took less than two seconds. The surface of the lake became calm and still once more, as if nothing had happened.
But a moment later, the placid surface exploded again. As Wilder began to toss the meat in more frequently, the entire lake began to boil like a pot of hot oil.
With a series of tremendous splashes, giant creatures churned the swampy water. A massive, scaled tail, a vast, soft body gliding by, scales that glinted with a cold light—the creatures that inhabited this swamp lake were all terrifying existences.
In all of Morass, only three beings dared to set foot in this place: Wilder, Vice, and the Giant Serpent.
The latter two were, in a sense, beasts themselves. In fact, since the Giant Serpent's arrival, even Vice had stopped coming here. The beasts of the lake, which had once submitted to Vice, now answered to the Giant Serpent.
However, the Giant Serpent was rarely seen here. The people of Morass had no idea where such a colossal creature hid itself.
Only Wilder knew that it usually resided in the Beastland forest atop the cliffs.
As for Wilder himself, he was welcome here for one simple reason: the environment. The creatures of the swamp were completely subservient to him. They remembered all too well who had beaten them into submission in the forest and brought them here.
So, while they feared Vice, their greatest fear was reserved for the Giant Serpent and Wilder.
As he fed the creatures, Wilder kept a close watch on the developments following Sanji's capture. The miniature Den Den Mushi in his ear rang and was disconnected, then rang again, over and over.
Sanji had already been taken from Zou.
That was the latest report from the Monitoring Unit.
Wilder stopped tossing the meat; the basin was empty.
He stood up and headed straight for the Research Department.
Before this operation began, certain preparations were necessary—even those that had failed in the original story.
Wilder remembered clearly that Caesar had created a weapon specifically designed to be used against Big Mom, though it had ultimately failed.
But... that was because the weapon had missed its target at the critical moment. If he could change that outcome, then... ending Big Mom might just become a much easier task.
And if it failed...
"Then I'll just have to face her head-on," Wilder muttered to himself as he stepped through the doors of the Research Department.
"B-Boss..." The moment Caesar saw Wilder, his expression changed. He forced a smile and scurried over like a sycophant.
He couldn't help it. His heart was still in Wilder's possession. Wilder's unexpected visit made him worry that he had done something wrong, and he feared a repeat of that heart-wrenching pain.
"Caesar, I need you to develop a weapon. It shouldn't be too difficult for you..." Wilder got straight to the point, explaining his requirements.
Hearing the request, Caesar let out a sigh of relief. He puffed out his chest and slapped it proudly. "Don't worry, Boss! You can count on me!"
Then, he asked, "By the way, Boss, what do you need this for?"
"To kill Big Mom," Wilder said flatly.
"..."
The smile on Caesar's face froze.
A moment later, his deafening shriek echoed through the Research Department.
Holy... crap!
Wilder paid no mind to Caesar's reaction. He simply left him with one final, flat command. "You have half a day at most. Make what I need, and make as many as you can."
What could Caesar do? He could only tremble as he set about completing the task.
It wasn't surprising that he had reacted that way. The casual, matter-of-fact tone Wilder had used to say something so terrifying was more than his empty chest could handle.
He was safe here in Morass, for now. But...
After Wilder left, Caesar couldn't help but let out a stream of wavy tears. "Wuwuwu... why is it that everywhere I go, someone has me by the balls!?"
All he could do was pray for Wilder's success. After all... his heart was still in the man's hands. If Wilder failed, there was no telling who might get ahold of it. What if some curious brat picked it up and... squeezed? It would be all over.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Caesar's gritted, near-hysterical sobs echoed through the quiet laboratory.
When Wilder returned to the palace, Claire reported that his guests had been notified and were on their way to Morass.
Wilder simply nodded.
A day passed in the blink of an eye.
The next morning, at sunrise, a plain, medium-sized ship docked at the port of Morass. A tall man with slicked-back hair, a cigar clenched between his teeth, and a long scar running across his face was the first to disembark.
He stood on the dock and glanced at the surrounding ships before letting out a disgruntled grunt. "Tch. Looks like I'm the first to arrive. That bastard Wilder didn't even send a welcoming party. How annoying."
With that, his body dissolved into a torrent of sand, sweeping up his subordinates who were disembarking behind him and speeding toward the capital like a sandstorm.
The gust of wind knocked over several civilians, who cried out in surprise and anger.
"Hey! You think you're so great just because you have a Devil Fruit!? Coming here to Morass and acting wild! If it weren't for the King, I'd curse you out!"
The citizens of Morass had heard that Wilder was expecting guests, and he had made no effort to hide it. As long as the news didn't leave the island, he wasn't worried about any leaks.
Besides... the guests were all traveling incognito. No one knew if they were pirates or something else.
And even if they did... who would know they had come to Morass?
The nation's intelligence and security were so tight that not even a fly could get through undetected. Just a few days ago, they had caught a Marine spy who had drifted in. From the moment of his infiltration to his capture and personal escort back to Kizaru by Wilder himself, the entire process had taken less than an hour.
For the time being, the Marines had completely abandoned their plans to gather intelligence on Morass. Although both Kizaru and the Marines had been embarrassed by the incident, they both pretended as if nothing had happened.
It was a silent battle of wills. Wilder's message was clear: Back off. Morass is a legitimate, law-abiding nation, not a pirate crew. You have no need to spy on us.
The Marines, having been caught red-handed, couldn't afford to sour their relationship with Morass. And besides, there was no real conflict between them. The Marines' espionage was merely a precautionary measure.
By returning the spy, Wilder had sent a warning, but also a gesture of goodwill.
Look, I caught your man, and I'm giving him back. We're even, right?
For now, Wilder could not afford to make an enemy of the Marines. In fact, he needed to maintain a good relationship with them. The several attacks from Big Mom had proven that. Without the Marines as a buffer, Morass would have been in grave danger.
And in turn, Morass was also of great use to the Marines. It provided security for the rear of the Marine fortress, and in several operations, it had successfully helped the Marines secure the region, establish a new fortress, and significantly push back Big Mom's influence.
Not long after the sandstorm disappeared from the docks, another ship arrived. A man of about six or seven meters in height, with a strange build and wrapped entirely in bandages, stepped off the ship. Besides him, there were only two subordinates, at least on the surface.
One of them, a man with a pale, stiff, bluish-black face, tripped as he stepped onto the dock and fell flat on his face. The strange, tall man let out a high-pitched, piercing laugh. "Kishishishishi!"
"Kishishishishi!"
The pale-faced man slowly pushed himself up. He then pulled a sharp dagger from his sleeve. "Your laughter made me fall. I knew it. I should just kill you today."
With that, he lunged at the tall, strange man.
But the tall man simply raised a hand, and the dagger stopped dead against his palm, unable to move an inch. "Kishishishishi! Kishishishishi! You're the one who tripped! Don't blame it on me."
"Either way, I'm still going to kill you," the pale-faced man said. He then pulled a handful of shuriken from his coat and threw them at the strange man's face.
However, not all of them found their mark. Two of the shuriken landed in his own feet, embedding themselves deeply.
"Kishishishishi! You really are the most un-cute subordinate! Kishishishishi!" A shadow suddenly stirred at the strange man's feet. It rose up like a sheet of iron, blocking the incoming shuriken. With a series of clinks, the projectiles lost their momentum and fell to the ground.
The surrounding citizens watched this scene, their mouths twitching. They had seen plenty of Devil Fruit abilities during the training drills of the Morass soldiers, so they were somewhat immune to the strangeness.
What left them speechless was the pale-faced man.
From the conversation, they gathered that he was the strange man's subordinate.
And yet, the subordinate was yelling about killing his master and actually trying to do it. And what was even more bizarre was that the master seemed completely used to it, even finding it amusing.
"I don't get it," a child with a large, tiger-like head said, scratching his head with his short arm, though he could only reach his ear.
The strange trio continued their love-hate bickering as they left the docks. The citizens then turned their attention to the new ships arriving on the coast.
This time, two ships arrived simultaneously from different directions.
From the first ship stepped a glamorous man with a massive face that even his black robe couldn't conceal.
The coarse black hair on his legs poked out playfully from his fishnet stockings. As he walked, the people felt like their own heads were starting to feel bigger.
The large-headed child stared at him until his retreating figure disappeared from sight. He scratched his ear. "What a big head. I don't get it."
The person who disembarked from the second ship was also cloaked in a black robe. The surrounding citizens let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, a normal person," someone said, wiping the sweat from his brow.
In the hours that followed, several more ships arrived at the docks of Morass, each carrying a variety of "strange people," all of whom headed toward the royal palace.