For hundreds of years, countless renegade samurai, fallen nobles, and desperate ronin have piloted dilapidated ships out of Wano Country’s borders, settling and taking root in every nook and cranny of the vast ocean.
Some established small villages like Shimotsuki Village, while others usurped existing territories, forcefully creating nations like the Country of Azure and the Country of Wild.
In the slums of the Country of Wild, along the muddy streets, one could see ronin everywhere, carrying rusty katanas and wearing faded kimonos, as well as Geisha dressed in flamboyant attire, swaying their hips in wooden geta.
The scent of cheap rouge and powder mixed with blood and sweat, fermenting in the damp air.
If an outsider unaware of the truth were to step into this place, they would most likely think they had accidentally wandered into Wano Country.
Lucas walked unhurriedly down the center of the street in his wooden geta.
The ronin, who had just been boisterously shouting, instinctively gripped their sword hilts, yet lacked the courage to even look up at him, instead bowing their heads and moving aside.
Those Geisha who had been seductively flaunting themselves to the ronin now shyly lowered their eyes, secretly glancing at him from the corners of their eyes, their cheeks flushing.
Awe and worship were the only tributes people offered to the strong in this lawless land.
Lucas paid no attention to it.
His gaze passed over the layers of dilapidated houses, looking towards the ‘Royal Palace District’ on the mountaintop—a city built to resemble Wano Country’s Generals Palace.
Three days and three nights of fierce fighting had yielded no progress.
The Marine girl who once battered him, forcing him to rapidly evolve on the brink of life and death, could no longer keep up with him.
Since the Country of Wild could no longer offer him any improvement, the matter of going to sea should officially be put on the agenda.
In this world, strength is the foundation of everything.
However, before leaving, he had to completely settle all the grievances here.
Meanwhile, off the coast of the Country of Wild.
A white Marine warship floated alone on the sea, and on its deck, a group of female soldiers in Marine uniforms gathered, chattering about something.
“Tsk, tsk, Vice Admiral Gion has stayed for another three days and three nights, and our supplies are almost depleted.”
“I really envy these monsters.
If it were me, let alone fighting for three days, I’d collapse after three hours.”
“By the way, do you think the Vice Admiral will be able to catch Lucas this time?
It’s already the third year.”
“Catch?
Catch him for what?
To lock him up in Marine Headquarters prison so the Vice Admiral can visit him every day?”
The female soldier who spoke winked, and a knowing burst of laughter immediately erupted around them.
Throughout the entire Marine, only Vice Admiral Tsuru and Gion’s teams were so unconventional, always taking only female soldiers on missions.
It wasn’t that they had any prejudice against men; it was just that some things were more easily understood between women than between men and women.
…
A Japanese-style room next to the Country of Wild’s Generals Palace.
A burly giant with two horns on his head and muscles like granite was sitting cross-legged on the tatami.
He held a sake gourd comparable to that of an ordinary adult man, tilting his head back to gulp down the liquor, which flowed down his chiseled chin, soaking the front of his kimono.
Sitting opposite him was an old woman with a white kimono draped over her shoulders and her hair loose.
Her face was covered in wrinkles, her eyes were deeply sunken, and the corners of her mouth were slightly turned down, making her look like a man-eating demon from legends.
Kurozumi Higurashi was softly reporting something to Kaido in her voice, which was as hoarse as sandpaper rubbing against wood.
Words like “Wano Country” and “Kozuki” could be faintly heard.
Outside the Japanese-style room, in the long corridor.
A little girl with a pair of small red horns on her head and long white hair reaching her waist was leaning on the wooden railing, staring blankly at the hazy sky.
Her long hair was very peculiar; the tips gradually changed from white to green, and finally blended into a deep sea-like blue.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
At the edge of her vision, a familiar figure was slowly walking up the stone steps.
“Brother Lucas!”
Yamato cried out in surprise, her short legs pattering as she ran towards Lucas.
The small horns on her head swayed as she ran, and her long white hair streamed behind her like a white waterfall.
Lucas stopped, bent slightly, and steadily caught the little girl who had thrown herself into his arms.
His usual cold aloofness instantly faded, revealing a gentle smile that would make any woman’s heart flutter, and he reached out to ruffle her soft hair.
“Slow down, don’t fall.”
“Why are you here?
Did your father come with you this time too?”
The small body in his arms nodded vigorously.
Five years ago, to prevent the conspiracy from being leaked, Kurozumi Higurashi moved her rendezvous point with Kaido from Wano Country to this ‘second homeland’ where she had once been involved with the underworld.
It was that year that three-year-old Yamato first followed Kaido to the Country of Wild and met Lucas, who had just become the Country of Wild’s new taboo.
That day, a group of human traffickers, not knowing their place, targeted the isolated Yamato.
Kaido, meanwhile, was hiding on a nearby rooftop, coldly observing with his sake gourd.
In his opinion, this was merely a small trial for his daughter.
The monsters of this sea were extraordinary from childhood.
Kozuki Oden could perform an over-the-shoulder throw on his wet nurse right after birth, and Kaido himself was already the strongest fighter in the country at ten years old.
However, this ‘trial’ he had meticulously planned was forcefully interrupted by Lucas.
That group of human traffickers happened to be on Lucas’s cleanup list for the day.
The heads of a dozen human traffickers neatly fell to the ground under his fierce swordsmanship.
It was this fleeting glimpse that etched an indelible mark on Yamato’s young heart, and a strange sense of security welled up within her.
From then on, whenever Kaido was to visit the Country of Wild, Yamato would stubbornly insist on coming along.
“Of course!
He wouldn’t let me go out alone!”
Yamato pouted, saying angrily, her small fists clenched tightly.
“I’m already very strong now!
Even the adults at home can’t beat me, but he still treats me like a child!”
Lucas mercilessly poured cold water on her enthusiasm:
“You are just a child.
If you want to call yourself an adult, you’ll have to wait at least another ten years.”
“Hmph!
How can even you say that!” Yamato puffed out her cheeks in anger and forcefully punched Lucas’s chest.
“I’m just stating facts.”
Lucas gently placed her on the ground, his eyes flashing almost imperceptibly.
He was still curious as to which woman could have purified Kaido’s violent genes completely, giving birth to such a straightforward, sincere, and even overly naive daughter.
Every time he saw Yamato’s clear eyes, he couldn’t help but recall the ‘Kozuki Oden fangirl’ from the original timeline, who had been brainwashed into an idiot by a tattered diary.
That pathetic woman who, for the sake of a dead man, didn’t hesitate to turn against her own father and lived her entire life in someone else’s shadow.
“Alright, don’t be angry.”
Lucas ruffled her hair and sat down on the railing beside her.
“Let me tell you about all the interesting things I’ve encountered recently.”
“Okay, okay!”
Yamato immediately cast her earlier unhappiness to the winds, sitting obediently beside him, propping her chin on her hands, her eyes sparkling with anticipation as she looked at him.
One by one, stories ‘artistically embellished’ by Lucas flowed from his mouth.
It was indeed a bit unethical to scheme against a little girl.
But with just a few words, fabricating some thrilling ‘adventure stories,’ he could, years later, gain a wife with peak beauty, peak combat strength, and who was utterly devoted and obedient to him.
Any sane man would not refuse such a profitable venture.
This year was the year in the original timeline when Yamato found that damned diary and was completely brainwashed.
He wanted to see whether Kozuki Oden’s self-important, tattered diary was more powerful, or his day-after-day companionship.
For her, who had been confined to Onigashima since childhood and lived an extremely monotonous and boring life, the world in Lucas’s stories was the most wonderful fairy tale.
She had no idea that this gentle and handsome older brother, who told her various adventure stories, was currently plotting how to slowly transform her into a treasure belonging only to him, Lucas.
Under the hazy sky, the little girl’s clear laughter echoed through the empty corridor.