Kuja Island.
This island, located in the Calm Belt, was currently somewhat busy.
The appearance of a large number of outsiders had caused signs of strain in the island's food supply.
After all, Kuja Island's size was what it was. Its agriculture simply could not support such a large population.
That was also the fundamental reason the Kuja warriors did not engage in production.
As for the prisoners from Wano, they had brought enormous pressure upon logistics.
Had these people not been the property of the Uncrowned King, the Kuja warriors would have thrown them into the sea to feed the Sea Kings long ago.
Fortunately, because of the massive explosion Ren had thrown out previously, the flesh of the Sea Kings killed by it had become Kuja's food reserves.
The large supply of meat could sustain them for a period of time, temporarily preventing a food shortage.
But temporary was only temporary. To avoid a crisis later on, under Ren's arrangements, these prisoners from Wano were assigned to fishing duties.
In theory, going out to fish in the Calm Belt was no different from feeding oneself to the Sea Kings.
However, Kuja Island was somewhat special. In his Premonition Perception, fishing was not a bad thing.
Because of the demonstration of power he had shown before, the Sea Kings seemed to believe there was a tremendous danger here, and had therefore moved away from the waters around Kuja Island.
At the very least, within several dozen nautical miles, no Sea King dared to operate.
It was just like how a lion's territory was a forbidden zone to lower-ranking predators.
And because of this event, Ren's prestige within Kuja rose once again, reaching the point where Hancock chose to simply give up and let things be.
During this process, the prisoners from Wano also formed an organized group.
The process was very simple.
The original Wano prisoners became uneasy because of the change in environment, so small factions began forming internally for mutual support.
They tried to adapt to their new environment in order to survive and look for an opportunity to return to their homeland.
Yes.
After bringing the prisoners over, Zoro had straightforwardly explained the situation to them, letting these prisoners know that they were now in the outer seas.
At first, these prisoners were somewhat frightened and even hostile, but after Zoro displayed overwhelming martial strength by splitting a small mountain apart with a single slash, they sensibly chose to obey from the heart and actively face their current situation.
Under this premise, Ren's assigned task arrived.
These prisoners, who had originally been laborers for the Beasts Pirates, received the collective job of fishing.
The difference, however, was that the fishing work was meant to provide food for the prisoners themselves.
And because they were unfamiliar with the fish and unskilled in fishing, the amount they obtained was not very large.
The Kuja warriors, who disliked these people, stated things very plainly.
Whatever they caught would be their rations.
Thus, for the sake of survival, humanity's instinct for infighting appeared. The small factions began suppressing and scheming against one another.
Until Old Man Hyo within the prisoner group stepped forward.
He revealed his own identity. He was none other than Hyogoro of the Flower, once renowned in Wano's underworld.
In the past, he had been a figure of great prestige, someone capable of gathering thousands of troops by relying on his reputation.
Because he refused to submit to Kaido and Kurozumi Orochi, he had been captured and was believed by the people of Wano to have already died.
Naturally, the small groups within the prisoners questioned this. More accurately, most of the leaders did not want their power divided.
However, Hyogoro, who had revealed his identity, seemed to have made ample preparations. He gathered a group of trusted supporters and quickly won over several of the stronger groups.
They formed an alliance and defeated those prisoner leaders who refused to submit.
After that, he completed unified management of the prisoners.
Zoro did not care about this. The appearance of an internal manager among the prisoners was, to him, a good thing that saved him work.
And at this moment, Hyogoro, who had effectively become the chief leader of the prisoner organization, pushed open the door of a newly built wooden house while carrying a box.
Kuja Island was huge, but these former prisoners—now fishermen—could not possibly obtain any particularly good territory.
In addition to their fishing work, the entire camp was located on a flat area near the coast.
Those winged angels, who looked powerful and utterly unlike ordinary creatures, had already cleared the place in advance.
Even so, creatures such as venomous snakes were still not uncommon.
Therefore, wooden houses had to be built to keep them out.
However, due to manpower and material limitations, as well as the Kuja warriors forbidding them from cutting down trees on a large scale, wooden houses were still extremely few.
And this wooden house was Hyogoro's own room.
Yet when he truly stepped inside, he did not act naturally.
Instead, he respectfully set the box down, then knelt formally on the tatami inside the wooden house.
Before him was a woman dressed plainly, yet whose peerless beauty still could not be concealed.
If any Wano prisoner were here, they would immediately realize who she was.
Wano's oiran—Komurasaki!
But to Hyogoro, this woman had another identity that made him willingly obey her commands.
The last bloodline of the Kozuki family, Kozuki Oden's eldest daughter—Kozuki Hiyori!
The verification process had been complicated, but the current result was that Hyogoro had acknowledged her identity and offered his loyalty.
For the people of Wano, who had suffered under Kurozumi Orochi and the Beasts Pirates, resistance was inevitable. However, they did not possess enough strength to oppose the oppression of the two.
Under such circumstances, that prophecy had been their final straw of hope.
It was precisely because of this that Hyogoro obeyed her instructions, first seizing the opportunity to form a small faction, then using that small faction as the basis to negotiate with the other small factions.
Through Kozuki Hiyori's planning, identity, and background, they formed an alliance structure that overwhelmed the other small factions.
Yes.
The true leader of the prisoner organization was not Hyogoro, but Kozuki Hiyori, hidden behind him.
And the reason Hyogoro had come this time was to ask about the next step of the plan.
"Everything has already gone onto the right track, just as you said it would."
Hyogoro said, "Next, when will the opportunity you mentioned arrive?"
"It will be soon, but more of it depends on that person's will."
"That incomparably powerful green-haired swordsman?"
"No. His captain. A man named Ren."
Kozuki Hiyori said softly, "That Zoro is his subordinate, and we are his spoils of war. If we want any kind of opportunity, how could we possibly bypass the owner of those spoils?"
"…What do you think their reason was for taking us away?"
After hesitating for a moment, Hyogoro still asked the confusion in his heart. "No matter how I look at it, prisoners like us have no value, do we?
"I don't understand the world beyond the seas, but I have learned a thing or two from you.
"If it was only manpower they wanted, there was no need to use a method that seemed like sorcery to bring all of us from Wano to this place, right?"
"…Chess pieces."
After pondering for a moment, Kozuki Hiyori gave her conclusion. "Chess pieces that need to show their own value."
"So the reason you appeared as well was to show your own value."
Hyogoro nodded in realization, understanding the fundamental reason Lady Hiyori had taken the initiative to reveal her identity.
"Yes."
Kozuki Hiyori nodded gently.
Many days had already passed since Zoro brought her to this island.
However, afterward, it was as though she had been forgotten. After arranging a place for her, no one paid any attention to her.
After going through anxiety, suspicion, speculation, and a series of inner struggles, she chose to take the initiative and interfere with the valley near her location where the prisoners stayed.
Then, during the period when Ren's orders were issued, she completed the current series of results.
This was her effort and her attempt.
And what she sought was an opportunity!
Yes.
In Kozuki Hiyori's view, being abducted this time was actually an opportunity.
An opportunity to change Wano's current state and obtain a new future.
In the past, while she was in Wano, she and Denjiro had struggled for the sake of that prophecy, not hesitating to sell her beauty and body in exchange for probing out intelligence.
However… the experiences of the past dozen-plus years had given her a cruel truth.
No matter how painstakingly the weak schemed, they could not stir even the slightest ripple. Yet a single passing thought from the strong might bring heaven and earth crashing down.
And unfortunately, she was one of the weak.
After so many years of effort, she had not even known that Kurozumi Orochi was a Devil Fruit user.
This caused Kozuki Hiyori to waver regarding her own efforts.
Perhaps… she was only a vase.
Thinking carefully, she did not even know how strong the people of the Beasts Pirates were, nor what kind of Devil Fruit abilities they possessed.
In other words, she had only a heart full of hatred and resentment, yet had no way to ignite it and burn her enemies to death. She was a vase who could not even properly accomplish the matter she had worked on for so many years!
After realizing this fact, Kozuki Hiyori once felt pain.
But she was, after all, a tenacious girl, an avenger who had gritted her teeth and persisted for many years.
After correcting her mindset, she realized that perhaps the "strong" element had already appeared.
Those outsiders who suddenly arrived had done something she might never have been able to accomplish in her entire life.
Even someone as strong as Denjiro had been unable to last a single exchange before that swordsman named Zoro.
One had to know that Denjiro was a swordsman almost at the very top among the people of Wano.
As for Kurozumi Orochi, whose power and influence towered over all, who could easily mobilize the strength of the Beasts Pirates and whose single thought might cause drastic changes in Wano—on that day, he had been like a helpless weakling.
Even after displaying a Devil Fruit ability she had never known about, he had still been unable to stop that green-haired swordsman's blade, and died before her eyes.
Even a force as vast as the Beasts Pirates could not stop the invasion of the power behind Zoro.
Not only had Udon's prison been destroyed, but Wano had also been opened in a way that had once been completely unimaginable.
After that dazzling, incomparable brilliance, she, who had been taken away by Zoro, had witnessed that scene.
Wano's outer walls, towering like mountains, were cut open by an unbelievable light, allowing the inner sea and outer sea to connect and forcibly opening Wano's national borders.
Even now, she still could not understand exactly what kind of mighty force could accomplish such a thing.
A Devil Fruit ability?
Strength?
Or something else?
Yet from Zoro's mouth, this was the power of their captain!
A power possessed by one person, nearly godlike in nature!
If such a figure could not be called strong, then who else would be worthy of that title?
The answer was inevitable. Even her father could not have done such a thing.
Against this backdrop and within this environment, Kozuki Hiyori inevitably placed her hopes upon someone she had never met.
(End of Chapter)