Because the residents here weren’t humans, the houses and facilities had all been designed for canines. Little Kai had indeed evolved into an Arcanine, but the unchanged name of the house symbolized memories of the past, as well as the matter of Little Kai’s descendants.
If one were to look for the leader among the dogs living in Wano Country, the search would inevitably end with Little Kai. Dogs, like wolf packs, possess similar habits, and an Arcanine could unquestionably become the king of dogs.
Although the descendants who inherited Little Kai’s bloodline were not Pokémon themselves, they still carried Growlithe bloodline. Over time, they had gradually evolved into a new species unique to Wano Country.
“This place probably hasn’t been cleaned for quite a while. Staying here for the time being doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”
Looking around the interior, Sanji found a dust-covered photograph. It showed Kojiro standing beside Little Kai before its evolution. Next to them were the old servants of the household and various Shiba Inus carrying traces of Little Kai’s bloodline.
“This dog’s owner must be seriously rich. Being able to build such a huge villa, this is what you guys call miserable?”
“No, this guy’s an exception. He betrayed Wano Country’s Shogun long ago and joined the Beasts Pirates. That’s why he’s been living so well. So this is his house… But I remember that guy living in Kibi…”
Only a Wano Country led by Lord Oden could truly prosper, such was Kin’emon’s subconscious belief. Because of that, he couldn’t accept that Kibi could have developed into this state. He still thought they were in Kuri and assumed they had merely gotten lost because of the heavy rain.
“Let’s figure out a way to start a fire and dry our clothes first. Staying soaked like this isn’t good.”
By this time, Usopp had already finished exploring the other rooms. The reason nobody was living here was simply that the season hadn’t arrived yet. Although Kojiro was wealthy, he wasn’t wasteful. Only when the vacation season approached would he send people ahead to clean and prepare the place.
“Still, it’s kind of strange. There are coal and dry firewood in here. If this is just a doghouse, why would it need stuff like that?”
Besides a bathroom designed for dogs, the house also contained beds, firewood, and dog food.
Ordinary dogs naturally couldn’t start fires, but this was a Growlithe pack. Perhaps someday, a Shiba Inu that inherited Growlithe’s bloodline would elevate that power within itself, evolving into a new Arcanine. But that day was still far away.
Growlithe’s habits were clearly different from those of ordinary dogs, and fire was one of the necessities of their daily lives.
“Let’s cover the windows first. If any light leaks out and we’re discovered, that’ll be trouble. Let me see…”
Click.
Law was still looking around for something suitable to block the windows when Hercules directly pressed a switch on the floor. The transparent windows gradually darkened until they completely blocked all outside light.
“Wow, Hercules, you’re amazing! You even found the switch!”
Since the house had been built for Growlithe, the switches were naturally installed near the floor. The reason Hercules knew where the switch was located was that it had visited this place before leaving Wano Country. When the season was right, this place served not only as a residence for Growlithe but also as a resting spot for other Pokémon.
The others, however, hadn’t realized that. They simply assumed Hercules had accidentally stumbled upon the switch. If someone were to continue examining Kojiro’s photograph carefully, they would notice a tiny pixel-like dot in the sky.
And if the Straw Hats possessed the ability to magnify that dot infinitely, they would discover that it was actually a Heracross.
“Alright, we’ve officially entered Wano Country for now. Next, we need to gather intelligence on the situation here. Judging by the fact that you two managed to get lost even while leading the way, I can safely say your information is already outdated.”
“No, regarding Wano Country, we—”
“I only trust my own judgment. This is Kaido’s territory. There won’t be a second chance if we make a mistake. Tell me everything you know, right now. I’ll decide for myself what can and can’t be trusted.”
Law knew the two of them were locals, but he had no intention of blindly believing them. Kin’emon was about to say something further, but Kanjuro stopped him.
“You’re right. We’ve been away from this place for far too long. Our information is indeed somewhat outdated.”
“Hm? Didn’t you say earlier that you only left a month or two ago?”
“That is true, but our identities are not quite so simple. Please allow me to explain in detail.”
Kanjuro was obviously much smarter than Kin’emon. Otherwise, Kurozumi Orochi would never have trained him as a spy in the first place.
“Kin’emon and I were both retainers of Lord Oden. Lord Oden was a man of great ambition. While Wano Country remained closed off from the world, he resolutely set sail. After returning, he made plans to open the country.
“However, he was coerced by the despicable Kaido and Orochi, and in the end—”
“Sorry to interrupt, but do those great ambitions also include throwing his wet nurse across the room immediately after birth, freely visiting the pleasure quarters at age six, getting drunk and fighting gamblers at age eight, and being blacklisted by gangs at age nine before burning down a gang casino and getting himself imprisoned because of it?
“And at fourteen, redirecting a river during a drought and causing a flood? Or kidnapping women at fifteen to establish a harem, which eventually led to the Harem Revolt after public outrage?”
“Cough, cough… Well, that… Lord Oden was young and immature back then. It’s only natural for people to do irrational things sometimes… Wait, how do you know all that?”
Looking at Bon Kurei, who had interrupted him, Kanjuro suddenly felt that something was off. Why was an outsider reciting Oden’s life history?
“I found a book propping up a table leg here. It seems to be the historical biography of the Lord Oden you mentioned. Kozuki Oden, that’s the name, right?”
Bon Kurei raised the book in his hand. There was even a paw print on it. Judging by the size, it belonged to an Arcanine. With Arcanine’s current intelligence, reading a book wasn’t difficult at all, especially since it was a children’s book filled with illustrations.
“Let me see that…”
Startled, Kanjuro took the book from Bon Kurei and flipped through it. Other than attributing Oden’s downfall to Kurozumi Orochi, everything else was described with remarkable accuracy.
From another perspective, even that final part could be considered reasonable. Without Orochi’s manipulation and without the support of his retainers, given Oden’s personality, he probably would have gone to talk to Kaido directly.
By that point, Wano Country’s internal affairs were already being handled by Arceus. If they had actually talked things through, Oden would most likely have felt reassured enough to hand Wano Country over and then sail off on another voyage himself.
In terms of brains, Oden would actually have been a more useful subordinate than Orochi. But things had ultimately developed the way they did.
Looking at the contents of the book, Kanjuro didn’t even know how to refute it.
Sincerity was the ultimate weapon. The book was simply too truthful. Everything recorded in it had genuinely been done by Oden himself. Denying it would mean denying their lord, but agreeing with it would also create no small amount of trouble.
“Actually, there’s a falsehood in there. Kurozumi Orochi was no match for Lord Oden. He only succeeded because he worked together with Kaido—”
In the end, Kanjuro chose to avoid discussing Oden’s earlier deeds altogether. But Law interrupted his explanation again.
“Alright. I’m not interested in your former lord. We’ll judge Wano Country for ourselves. Tell us something important. You don’t want us getting exposed and dragging you down with us, do you?”
Oden was nowhere near as important to Law as his plans regarding Doflamingo. The facts also proved that Oden’s halo effect had drastically weakened. At the very least, nobody in the room had their intelligence reduced by it.
“…Very well. Wano Country is divided into six regions: Kuri, Hakumai, Kibi, Udon, Ringo, and the Flower Capital. Out in the inland sea lies Kaido’s Onigashima.
“At the time, Hakumai was the area they focused on developing the most. Udon served as their prison. Those two regions should have the highest concentration of Beasts Pirates personnel.
“But we can’t really say what things are like now. After all, twenty years have passed.”
“Twenty years?”
“That’s right. There’s one thing this book got wrong. At the final moment, Lady Toki used her Time-Time Fruit to send us into the future—to the present day, twenty years later.”
“Mm, I understand now. You showed up and immediately ended up fleeing in embarrassment, so basically, you’re just two people from twenty years ago who aren’t of much use.”
Law had originally intended to call them useless, but considering interpersonal relations, he swallowed the latter half of the sentence.
“Udon is a prison. Going there directly would be too suspicious. Hakumai is also fairly dangerous. To be safe, we should start gathering information from the other regions first.
“Remember: don’t fight, don’t cause trouble. There are so many people in this country that nobody will notice if one or two extra people show up.
“And if you don’t have money, absolutely do not touch anything that costs money!”
That last sentence was practically spoken directly into Luffy’s ear. In Luffy’s understanding, buying things required money. But when he had no money, he usually couldn’t help himself anyway, and it often ended with him working off his debts.
That might be fine elsewhere, but causing a disturbance here would undoubtedly be a terrible idea.
“Speaking of money, Wano Country doesn’t use the outside world’s Berries. Its currency consists of gold and silver coins, with platinum being the rarest. Kin’emon, do you have any money on you?”
As Kanjuro drew the appearance of the coins on the ground and explained Wano Country’s currency to the Straw Hats, he notably did not hand any over to them.
The things created by his ability weren’t stable. If the money suddenly disappeared, they would have a huge problem.
“Not much. Only eight silver coins.”
Every one of Oden’s retainers came with an innate poverty trait. The people currently staying with Hiyori were one thing, but twenty years ago this group had been dirt poor. These eight silver coins had been painstakingly saved bit by bit.
“Eight silver…”
“How much can eight silver buy in Wano Country?”
The outsiders had no idea what that amount represented, so Sanji chose the simplest measure: using purchasing power to determine everything.
“Eight silver… about a week’s worth of water expenses, or one day’s worth of food. Well, one day for an ordinary person.”
“…Great. So the first thing we need to do is find work?”
The word poverty surfaced in everyone’s mind. Getting a job had suddenly become an urgent matter.
“There’s more. Kin’emon and I may already be wanted by the Beasts Pirates. We’ll have to trouble you with gathering information for now. Also, your names stand out too much. It would be best to come up with names that fit local customs.”
At that moment, Luffy was already getting drowsy. The topics Law and the others were discussing bored him immensely. Yet somehow, he suddenly noticed that Hercules was gone.
“Hercules? Hercules, where did you go?!”
“Heraaacross.”
From another room, Hercules waved an arm at him. However, several small black spheres had already appeared within Hercules’s shadow, each with something strange perched on top of its head.
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