Not long ago, inside Onigashima, Kaido had sought out Arceus and asked him for some Pokémon capable of secretly tailing people and recording their activities.
“Are Rotom surveillance cameras not enough for you anymore? Did Queen infect you with his habits too?”
“Worororo! Of course not. But this kind of thing is better when it follows people up close. If I remember correctly, Gengar can hide in people’s shadows and turn invisible, right? Just let them handle it.”
Since Kaido had gone through the trouble of preparing fake identities for them, there was no way he would miss out on observing their daily lives.
To make things more entertaining for himself, Kaido hadn’t even informed all the officers. He had only notified a handful of senior officers. As a result, ordinary people had no idea that a group of outsiders had appeared in Wano Country.
“You really are bored, aren’t you? Is Yamato not enough for you to fight anymore?”
“Fighting the same opponent over and over gets boring. Besides, she’s starting to prepare another big move lately. Who knows what she’s planning this time? I’ll leave this matter to you. I need to think about who’s best suited to handle the fake documents.”
Kaido needed someone clever enough, with sufficient status, but who rarely appeared in public, to quietly take care of the identification cards. The last thing he wanted was to wake up the next morning and hear that the group had already been arrested.
After some thought, Kaido came up with a candidate. Then he casually jumped out the window.
“Ah, more work again. This job really is easy.”
No one knew whether Kaido had influenced Yamato or Yamato had influenced Kaido, but both of them had developed a habit of leaving through windows instead of doors. As a result, craters frequently appeared beneath the windows outside Arceus’s room.
Over time, the Beasts Pirates had even created a dedicated position whose sole responsibility was filling in the holes left behind by this father-and-daughter pair.
At the same time, within the underworld, Gengar had already regrown a new tail. The environment there was ideal for Ghost-types to recuperate. During this period, Gengar had also expanded its population, and a group of black-and-purple spheres exactly like those now lurking around Hercules floated nearby.
Besides reproducing through normal egg-laying, Gengar could also increase the number of its companions by utilizing souls of deceased. Some souls that had lost consciousness and were fading away would be gathered together by Gengar, giving birth to new Gastly.
Gastly could be described as soul lifeform, or as collections of lingering resentment. These dissipating souls happened to meet the necessary conditions.
The black sphere was their life core. Their large eyes and fangs were attached to this mass of dark sphere. They possessed large white eyes, small black pupils, and a mouth lined with sharp fangs.
Most of the time, Gastly remained invisible, and ordinary people could only sense them through smell.
It was said that the earliest Gastly were composed of 95% poisonous gas and 5% soul. In essence, they were gaseous lifeforms. Wherever the wind could reach, a Gastly could appear.
Although all Ghost-types belonged to the same category, different Ghost-types had different characteristics. Rotom excelled at possessing all kinds of electrical appliances, Polteageist could produce special black tea, and Honedge operated in the form of a weapon.
When it came to stealth and invisibility, however, the Gengar family were true masters.
After receiving their orders, the Gastly drifted outward through the shadows. Equipped with special surveillance devices, they appeared inside the doghouse. The moment the Gastly arrived, Hercules understood one thing. Their location had never been a secret.
But that was only reasonable. After entering this island, remaining undetected would have been the truly abnormal outcome.
If this had been anywhere other than Wano Country, Hercules would have immediately informed Luffy after noticing something unusual. But this was Wano Country. Even if Gastly had not been personally created by Arceus, they were still derived from Arceus’s power. As a result, Hercules simply continued polishing the pickaxes.
Along the way, it even took the opportunity to ask the Gastly about Arceus’s current situation. Among this entire group, only the beetle was truly clear-headed.
The next day, Kin’emon and Kanjuro remained behind while the others went out to gather information.
The group split up as follows:
Luffy, Law, and Sanji formed one team.
Zoro, Bon Kurei, and Usopp formed another.
Kin’emon and Kanjuro stayed behind.
Hercules acted alone.
Hercules had insisted on this arrangement itself. Luffy couldn’t argue with it, and a beetle operating alone was indeed safer, so he allowed it.
“Remember, you must all return before dark. Don’t cause trouble. Aside from gathering information, the only thing you’re allowed to do is find suitable work and earn some money.”
As dawn broke and sunlight once again illuminated Wano Country, a group of unfamiliar people appeared outside Kibi’s forests.
These were the technical staff Kaido had mentioned earlier—the latest batch of immigrants to Wano Country.
Using sightseeing and sunrise viewing as excuses, Kaido had brought them to this grassland before dawn.
Acier and Nightin were also among them. Kaido had entrusted the important task of handling the fake IDs to the two of them.
They met all the requirements perfectly: Their status was high enough to participate in the wager. They were intelligent enough. And outsiders knew almost nothing about them. Still, Acier had some doubts.
“Nightin, do you really think anyone will come and buy this sort of thing?”
“They probably will. Ah, I see them now. It’s that group. They haven’t split up yet, this is our chance.”
Nightin stroked the Tauros beside her and whispered something into its ear. Immediately, two Tauros left the herd and charged toward Luffy’s group.
“Stop! Stop! Young men up ahead! Help this old lady stop the cows!”
Without taking medicine, Nightin appeared to be an eighty-two-year-old grandmother. Though physically healthy, she looked pitiful enough to instantly trigger the Straw Hats’ sympathy. Sanji and Bon Kurei each intercepted a Tauros and led it back to Nightin.
“Granny, here’s your cow. Make sure it doesn’t run off again.”
“Thank you. They’re usually very obedient. They were just startled because there are so many people around today. Oh, are you planning to visit over there? Your companion seems very interested.”
Nightin pointed toward Luffy, who was curiously observing the crowd in the distance.
“Well…”
“Those are all visitors from outside Wano Country. Locals generally aren’t allowed to go there. But I live nearby, and if you want to go, I have a way. Old man, we’ve got customers!”
Without waiting for Sanji’s response, Nightin made the decision for them.
She then called out to Acier. Before anyone could react, she yanked open his cloak.
“Young fellows, need some IDs? They’ll get you into all of Wano Country’s tourist spots. Much cheaper than what they charge outside!”
“That’s right, that’s right. These are foreign guest tickets. Ordinary people can’t get them. If my daughter didn’t work for the Beasts Pirates, I wouldn’t have this kind of access either.”
A profiteer’s grin spread across Nightin’s face. Acier played along from the side and even displayed several blank IDs.
“No thanks. We’re not interested in that. We still need to find work.”
“Young man, we’re not swindling you. The identities are all borrowed from other people. One hundred percent guaranteed entry. You could even use them to register at a Pokémon Center.
It’s only because a new batch of people has just arrived in Wano Country and the records haven’t been fully updated yet that we can exploit this loophole. If you miss this window, you won’t get another chance to use them.”
Nightin mixed truth with falsehood as she sweet-talked the group, acting exactly like a scalper selling black-market tickets. At first, they had no interest whatsoever. But the moment they heard borrowed identities, they suddenly became tempted.
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