Nico Robin set down her compass and leaned gently against the railing.
She looked over at Roya and said,
"Lord Roya, thank you for appointing me as the fleet's navigator."
Everyone on board knew full well—this "appointment" was really just a form of protection, giving Nico Robin a place to belong, shielding her from pursuit by the World Government and other power-hungry forces.
Roya joked,
"You're the perfect choice. With you here, I, the so-called captain, can finally take it easy and stop watching the bearings all day."
Marco, entirely lacking in tact, suddenly interrupted their pleasant conversation.
"Vice Captain, this boy Momonosuke… he was actually born while he was on our ship, with Pops and all of us there..."
Robin's lips curled into a playful pout as she mercilessly cut him off,
"Marco-san, what were a bunch of grown men doing watching someone give birth, anyway?"
The nearby crewmates—Jinbei and the others who had been eavesdropping—burst into unrestrained laughter.
Marco's face turned bright red with embarrassment.
The words he'd been about to say—asking Roya to do everything he could to help Momonosuke restore Wano—died on his tongue.
He retreated awkwardly.
Beside him, Vista and Diamond Jozu, who had also temporarily joined the mission to help Momonosuke, quickly averted their gazes, pretending they had no idea who Marco even was.
Then, Squard suddenly grinned.
"I heard that back in the day, Momonosuke had a younger sister named Kozuki Hiyori. And if I remember correctly, Marco-san was there when she was born too, right?"
"There are rumors she didn't die during the chaos eighteen years ago—but was rescued in secret. If we find her, I wonder… should Momonosuke call her 'little sister' or 'big sister'?"
"Technically speaking, Momonosuke is only eight years old right now, while Princess Hiyori is twenty-four!"
McGuy added with a weird laugh,
"Old spider, why are you even thinking about that? What, planning to marry the princess and become Wano's royal consort?"
Squard chuckled,
"I've never seen Princess Hiyori myself, but I have laid eyes on Komurasaki—Wano's top oiran."
"She's the undisputed most beautiful woman in Wano. One look over a year ago, and I still haven't gotten her out of my head. Just imagine how even more breathtaking she must be now!"
As he spoke, his face grew dreamy with admiration.
And his tongue, ever unruly, slipped out of his mouth and drooped comically—making him look more than a little pervy in the moment.
Robin gave a disapproving humph and muttered,
"Men."
With that, she turned and strode toward the cabin, clearly unimpressed.
Only then did Squard realize there was already a stunning beauty like Nico Robin aboard the ship. He hurriedly glanced over at Roya—
Then his expression collapsed.
With a sheepish sigh, he muttered,
"I'll go scrub the deck now."
And so, he slinked away to the lower deck, defeated.
Roya chuckled and shook his head, returning to his quarters.
Thanks to the Navy battleship's high-performance propulsion, they made rapid progress and soon arrived in the seas of Wano.
The seabed beneath Wano was dramatically different from other regions—elevated by several hundred meters.
This uplifted seabed formed towering cliffs, enclosing Wano high above the ocean's surface like a natural fortress.
Astonishingly, fresh seawater continued to pour up from within the raised seabed, creating a vast inland sea atop the steep cliffs.
From there, water flowed outward in countless magnificent waterfalls, making Wano seem completely isolated from the outside world—a nation encased by nature itself, forming a perfect closed-off mystery.
In a flash, Roya's Observation Haki had swept across the entire country.
As expected, this miraculous geography was not the work of nature, but the result of immense power—someone had physically pulled Wano from the ocean, lifting it to where it now stood.
"No wonder it's the land of the stone-working clan… they really know their stuff."
Roya gave a quiet nod of admiration, then turned to Squard and instructed,
"Fire a round of blank shells. Tell Orochi: I've arrived."
Though his tone was calm, his words were brazen with confidence.
Everyone on the ship knew—Orochi's backer was Kaido.
By firing this signal barrage so loudly and openly, Roya was essentially declaring war—not just on Orochi, but on Kaido himself.
Squard's tongue flicked with excitement. He sprinted to the lower deck and—personally manned the cannons.
Moments later, every cannon on the battleship fired at once.
The thunderous booms echoed across the sea, creating shockwaves that rolled back from the cliffs, the sound alone shaking the skies.
The commotion immediately drew Wano's full attention.
The isolated, uninformed populace thought this was the first foreign invasion in the nation's history.
If they hadn't known there was no escape, panic might have broken out across the entire country.
Suddenly, the gates of the shogun's mansion flew open.
Two columns of soldiers poured out, clearing the chaotic civilians and enforcing order.
Once the streets were empty, a purple palanquin emerged from the estate, racing toward a hidden port beneath Mount Fuji.
At the same moment the cannons fired—
On Onigashima, Kaido's expression twisted sharply.
In a flash, he transformed into his Azure Dragon form, soaring through the sky in the direction of the cannonfire.
As he reached the inner sea, near the edge of the cliffs, he spotted Orochi's custom transport bubble, rising from beneath the sea and docking next to the warship now floating boldly in Wano's sacred waters.
That ship bore no Navy insignia.
And in this world, only one man would dare use a Navy flagship without being Navy—Roya.
Kaido snorted coldly.
"So… this bastard was never loyal to me."
"The moment Roya showed up, he ran straight to him, eager to curry favor."
"Roya… I'm guessing Whitebeard sent you to help Momonosuke restore Wano, right?"
"In that case, I might as well give you a few days—let you gather your forces, get ready for battle…"
"And when you're all in place… I'll crush you all in one go."
Grinning with confidence, Kaido turned back—pretending he hadn't even heard the cannonfire.
He returned to Onigashima and resumed casually chatting with Charlotte Linlin.
Far off, Roya saw Kaido appear—then disappear again—and let out a faint smirk.
He finally turned his gaze to Kurozumi Orochi, who was now bowing and smiling obsequiously.
"I heard your country's Fire Festival is quite the spectacle," Roya said calmly.
"So, I've come to witness it myself."
Standing atop his palanquin, Orochi bowed deeply and said,
"Lord Roya, it is the greatest honor for the Land of Wano to welcome you in person!"
"The Fire Festival is exactly one week from now. Please rest assured—I will ensure the greatest celebration in history is prepared in your honor."
"And of course, during this week, I shall summon our nation's most exquisite oiran to accompany you. I promise—your stay will be as pleasurable as it is unforgettable!"
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