-Real World-
Time flew by with remarkable speed, and in what felt like merely a blink, the moment had arrived for the Sky Screen to announce its next results. Everyone across the world looked forward to discovering the identity of the third person on the ranking list. They wanted to see future scenes play out one by one, to peek into the jealously-guarded secrets of powerful figures. The Sky Screen had transformed into a carnival for entire nations—a shared cultural experience that transcended boundaries and allegiances.
Countless people carefully calculated the timing and waited for the Sky Screen to update once more. They finished their work early or deliberately postponed important tasks, freeing up this precious day for uninterrupted viewing. Almost all Marine officers, World Government employees, and pirates followed this pattern—they simply could no longer afford to lose the Sky Screen as their primary medium of entertainment and intelligence gathering. Life had become divided into two categories: days with Sky Screen broadcasts, and the boring stretches between them.
Some particularly enthusiastic individuals even bathed and changed into fresh clothes before the scheduled opening, treating the event with ceremonial reverence. Black Maria counted herself among this group. This strikingly beautiful woman who had served Kaido of the Beasts for many years was looking forward to the broadcast's arrival with genuine excitement in her heart.
The courtesan firmly believed that the third person on the ranking list would definitely be her own captain. Black Maria felt genuinely honored from the bottom of her soul to have had the privilege of serving such an incomparably powerful man. As for the other members of the Beasts Pirates scattered across Onigashima and Wano Country, they shared similar convictions and worshipped Kaido with almost religious fervor—viewing him as something approaching a living god.
"You're particularly well-prepared today, you shameless woman." Ulti's voice carried sharp accusation and barely-concealed jealousy. "You even bothered taking a shower for once."
As one of the very few female combatants within the male-dominated Beasts Pirates, Ulti absolutely could not stand Black Maria's deliberately coquettish appearance and behavior. If the courtesan's body proportions didn't happen to match Lord Kaido's preferences so perfectly, Black Maria wouldn't receive the special treatment she currently enjoyed. The favoritism rankled.
Faced with such harsh words delivered with obvious venom, Black Maria merely covered her amused smile with an ornate folding fan. As a mature woman who had survived years in a brutal pirate organization, she certainly would not lower herself to argue with an emotionally unstable young girl. Besides, Ulti had possessed such an abrasive personality since childhood—only her devoted brother Page One could genuinely tolerate her constant mood swings and aggressive outbursts.
Even though Ulti was temperamentally a double-edged sword—capable of cutting allies as readily as enemies—as an orphan who had been adopted and raised by Kaido himself, the Emperor had always occupied a father-figure position in her mind. Without the captain's extraordinary kindness in taking them in, both Ulti and her brother Page One might have transformed into nameless piles of bones long ago. On this turbulent ocean where violence was the primary language, the survival rate for orphaned children was even lower than that of adults. Reaching adulthood at all represented a genuine gift from fate or fortune.
Although the two strongest warriors of Onigashima—Kaido and King—were currently absent from the island fortress, no one dared cause trouble on the territory of one of the Four Emperors. Even though that upstart Monkey D. Luffy remained confined to the first half of the Grand Line, no pirate crew with functioning survival instincts would deliberately provoke the Beasts Pirates. Even the Marine surveillance vessels maintained a respectful distance from Onigashima's waters, never approaching too closely.
As the highest-ranking officer currently present on the island, Queen had multiple responsibilities. In addition to supervising his subordinates as they patrolled the island and surrounding waters for security threats, the massive cyborg had made time today to visit the quarry and personally check on Who's-Who, who remained imprisoned there under harsh conditions.
Ever since other members of the Beasts Pirates had learned from the Sky Screen's broadcast that Who's-Who was allegedly a future traitor, they had subjected him to relentless verbal abuse and physical violence. If Plague Queen hadn't concluded the prisoner still possessed potential value and intervened to save his life, this saber-toothed tiger wouldn't be alive today—he would have been beaten to death by his own former comrades.
The prison supervisors carefully controlled the prisoners' meal portions and routines. Inmates needed to remain fed adequately enough to possess the strength required for hard labor, contributing their sweat to Onigashima's various construction projects and industrial operations. The exploitation wasn't so excessive that people would die within days of being thrown into confinement. In this particular regard, Hyogoro—the legendary yakuza boss now reduced to a starving old man—had considerable personal experience. Although he had been treated extremely harshly and forced to endure terrible conditions, he remained stubbornly alive.
The Sky Screen was scheduled to appear at precisely noon. Queen was not so tyrannically strict that he would prevent his subordinates from taking a brief break to watch the broadcast. Everyone deserved to see what the Sky Screen revealed—it was best if the entire organization witnessed it simultaneously. Queen also firmly believed that the third person to be evaluated would definitely be his captain, which would serve to utterly defeat the psychological defenses of any stubborn elements still harboring resistance. The message would be clear: the future of Wano Country still had only Kaido as its sun, and no amount of wishing would change that reality.
Who's-Who had been forcibly extracted from his cell while wearing heavy seastone handcuffs and leg irons that negated his Devil Fruit abilities entirely. He was currently eating from a large rice bucket in the manner of an animal, hunched over the container and not noticing Queen's arrival until it was too late. Seeing this traitor behaving so crudely—actually appearing happy despite his circumstances—made Queen's temper flare. The massive cyborg kicked over Who's-Who's "feeding bowl" with deliberate violence, scattering rice across the dirty ground.
"Who... Qu... Lord Queen!" When Who's-Who looked up and saw the imposing figure who had just ruined his meal, he instantly experienced a stress reaction born from weeks of conditioning. He hurriedly dropped to his knees in supplication, words tumbling out frantically. "I truly would never betray Lord Kaido! I swear on my life—I would never betray the Beasts Pirates!"
Seeing the prisoner immediately kneel and admit fault, Queen nodded with satisfaction. It seemed the prison's disciplinary measures were proving quite effective after all. Some individuals who appeared tough and defiant on the surface would inevitably break down and cry after being thrown into confinement and forced to perform exhausting hard labor for extended periods. The former World Government agent was proving no exception to this rule.
Queen had come today to offer Who's-Who a conditional opportunity. "I'm taking you out of prison temporarily," he announced, his tone making clear this was not a pardon. "I won't listen to any excuses you want to make for yourself right now. In the end, everything will depend on the Sky Screen's judgment." Queen's mechanical eye fixed on the kneeling man. "Pray in your heart, Who's-Who. It would be best if the Sky Screen doesn't show any content whatsoever about your supposed rebellion."
After hearing these ominous words, Who's-Who followed Queen out of the quarry like a walking corpse, his movements mechanical and lifeless. He understood with crushing clarity that his life now rested entirely in the Sky Screen's metaphorical hands. He had absolutely no idea whether he would actually launch some kind of rebellion in the future—the thought seemed absurd and impossible, but the Sky Screen had been proven accurate before. He could only surrender everything to fate and hope desperately that his future self remained loyal.
The atmosphere throughout Wano Country itself was similar to the anticipatory tension on Onigashima. Kurozumi Orochi reclined comfortably, resting his disproportionately large head on the soft jade legs of the courtesan Komurasaki, feeling her body warmth and inhaling the delicate scent of her perfume. Now enthroned as Shogun of Wano, he spent his days in pure hedonistic enjoyment. If it weren't for the occasional disruption caused by Sky Screen broadcasts, the man would happily remain surrounded by beautiful women every single moment.
"Komurasaki, my dear, our good days will continue indefinitely." Orochi's voice was thick with smug satisfaction. "The third person on the ranking list must be Lord Kaido. As long as he continues to exist as one of the Four Emperors, I will always remain Shogun of Wano Country. Our positions are unassailable."
As a willing puppet of the Beasts Pirates, Kurozumi Orochi felt no shame about his subordinate status—instead, he wore it with perverse pride. As for the suffering and death of Wano Country's ordinary citizens, what did any of that have to do with the Kurozumi clan? They had been persecuted and driven to near-extinction by previous generations. He would gladly surrender any actual governing authority and responsibility as long as he could continue his lifestyle of unlimited indulgence.
Even if the Shogun's palace came under direct attack, Kurozumi Orochi would face minimal personal danger. The Orochi Oniwabanshu—his loyal ninja force—would position themselves at the forefront to handle any threats. If the situation deteriorated beyond their capabilities, he could simply request reinforcements from the Beasts Pirates. The scattered resistance forces fighting for Wano Country's restoration simply could not create any meaningful waves against such overwhelming military superiority.
"The Shogun is absolutely correct," Komurasaki replied, her voice carrying practiced warmth. "As long as Lord Kaido remains alive and powerful, we can rest completely assured of our future."
The beautiful courtesan maintained a pleasant smile on her face, but internally she harbored seething hatred for Kurozumi Orochi that burned like molten iron. The woman had the blood of the Kozuki clan flowing through her veins—she was Kozuki Hiyori, daughter of the martyred Kozuki Oden. She possessed no positive feelings whatsoever toward the treacherous Kurozumi clan. However, faced with the helpless reality of her current circumstances, she could only weaponize her beauty and tolerate close proximity to her father's murderer. Survival demanded terrible compromises.
The woman's thoughts turned to her brother Kozuki Momonosuke, whom she hadn't seen in years. He had made a brief appearance during the Sky Screen's coverage of the Dressrosa incident, demonstrating the ability to block Armament Haki-enhanced attacks with his face without suffering injury. In terms of raw combat power, he might genuinely be comparable to Kaido himself—the thought seemed impossible, yet the evidence had been displayed for all to see.
A dangerous possibility occurred to Hiyori: Was there a chance that the third person being evaluated by the Sky Screen was actually her brother—the hope for the Kozuki clan's future?
The woman still clung desperately to the prophecy their mother had made before her death, and she had been relying on that prophecy to maintain her sanity and continue surviving until now. If a person possessed no hope whatsoever for the future, they would collapse mentally long before their body gave out. Without that prophecy sustaining her spirit, Hiyori would never have endured acting and performing among this group of men who had destroyed her family.
However, most people throughout Wano Country firmly believed that the third person on the Sky Screen's ranking list would definitely be Kaido of the Beasts. Although the preview's mention of "savior of Wano Country" seemed somewhat incongruous and contradictory given the Emperor's brutal occupation, people familiar with Kaido's propaganda knew he genuinely regarded himself in such terms. This was precisely how the Beasts Pirates systematically brainwashed the next generation of Wano Country's children—teaching them that Kaido had "saved" them from chaos and provided stability.
Whether Kaido's rule brought genuine suffering or carefully-disguised happiness to Wano Country's population, outsiders who didn't live under that system had no legitimate right to judge. Only those who endured the reality could truly understand its nature.