New World, Wano Country, Flower Capital.
“Bang!”
The dull sound of a gunshot pierced the air, and a bullet precisely entered the center of Kozuki Oden’s forehead, kicking up a spray of blinding blood.
This pitiable and lamentable man fell straight into the boiling vat of oil.
The bubbling oil instantly engulfed him, leaving behind only a wisp of acrid, charred smoke that dissipated into the cold wind.
On the high platform, Orochi trembled with excitement.
He stood up abruptly, spread his arms, and let out unbridled, maniacal laughter at the numb crowd below.
“Do you see!
This is the fate of those who oppose me!
From today on, I am the only Shogun of Wano Country!”
His ugly face was filled with the greed and arrogance of a petty man who had achieved his goal.
Beside him, Kaido stood with his back to the crowd, silently tilting his head back to chug strong liquor, the liquid dripping down his chin and soaking the grooves between his muscles.
In the highest tower of the Shogun’s palace.
Yamato leaned on the railing, watching the entire farce with a blank expression.
“Finally dead.”
She curled her lip, muttering in a voice only she could hear.
“What an idiot.
Clearly possessing the strength to injure Dad, yet standing there foolishly to be boiled.
Believing whatever the enemy says—are so-called samurai all just brainless fools like this?”
She shook her head, her small horns swaying along with it.
“Compared to Brother Lucas, he is far behind.”
After five years of subtle influence from Lucas, her worldview was already completely different from that little girl in the original timeline who had been brainwashed by a diary.
She had long been taught the simplest and most cruel truth: kindness to the enemy is cruelty to oneself; an enemy’s promises cannot be trusted.
“A waste of an hour of my time.”
Yamato brushed the dust off her hands with disdain, picked up the kanabo that was about as tall as she was, and walked away from the tower with short, quick steps.
The streets were a mess, with members of the Beasts Pirates waving their weapons and frantically suppressing sporadic rebellions.
Cries, screams, and the crackling of burning houses intertwined; the once prosperous Flower Capital had now turned into a living hell.
When Yamato’s figure appeared at the end of the street, all the violence suddenly stopped.
The pirates, who had been fierce and vicious just a moment ago, instantly put on fawning smiles and bowed their heads to salute.
In order to show off in front of the young lady, they swung their weapons even faster, their arms blurring as they smashed the rebels into pulp in just a few strikes.
Yamato ignored this.
As usual, she walked through the street without looking aside, heading in the direction of Kuri.
That was the fief of the Kozuki family, and it was currently burning with raging fires.
The once vibrant Kuri was now nothing but broken walls and ruins.
Charred corpses were visible everywhere, and the air was filled with a nauseating, acrid stench.
Yamato stepped over the rubble scattered everywhere, walking aimlessly.
Suddenly, her geta kicked something.
She looked down and found a small brown booklet with edges blackened by fire.
Bending down to pick it up, the crooked characters “Kozuki Oden’s Logbook” on the cover came clearly into view.
Country of Wild and Wano Country were of the same origin, and their languages were largely the same.
Coupled with the fact that Lucas had taught her to read and write since she was a child, she had no trouble understanding the contents.
“So this is what that idiot wrote.”
Yamato raised an eyebrow, and out of a trace of insignificant curiosity, she opened the diary.
One page, two pages, three pages.
The curiosity on her face gradually faded, replaced by growing disgust and anger.
A few minutes later, she slammed the book shut and crumpled it into a ball with force.
“What kind of garbage is this!”
Her cheeks puffed up in anger, and her clear eyes were filled with fury.
“Does a person like this deserve to be the ruler of a country?”
Lucas had taught her a principle: as a ruler, the first priority is to be responsible for one’s own people.
If one cannot even do that, then one is a complete failure.
In this logbook, she only saw a selfish man’s infinite longing for the outside world, and his fanatical pursuit of adventure.
From beginning to end, not a single word mentioned Wano Country, not a single word mentioned the people waiting for him to return.
What she found most unacceptable was the reason he went to sea.
On this sea, the vast majority of pirates go to sea to survive.
Either they cannot get enough to eat, or they are driven to a dead end by nobles and gangs.
Even if they later became heinous bastards, at least their original intention was to survive.
They only needed to be responsible for themselves and those around them.
Kozuki Oden was different.
He was the heir to Wano Country, born with the fate of the entire nation on his shoulders.
When others go to sea, they have no attachments; when he went to sea, he actively severed his attachments;
When others go to sea to survive, he went to sea for his so-called “freedom,” while throwing millions of subjects into hell.
“It’s disgusting.”
A strong wave of nausea surged in her heart.
Yamato could no longer bear to look; she raised her hand and threw the crumpled logbook with force, accurately tossing it into a burning wooden house ahead.
The orange-red flames instantly devoured the booklet.
The paper curled, carbonized, and finally turned to ash, drifting away with the wind.