Chapter 358: A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire
Wano Country, Udon.
The place named Udon is the largest prison and weapon factory of the Beasts Pirates in Wano Country.
It is situated on a stretch of dead and barren land, surrounded by massive, insurmountable walls, ensuring no one can break in or escape.
There is no food, no water source, no hope here.
All those who dare to resist the tyranny of Kaido and Kurozumi Orochi are sent here to gradually die amidst torture and suffering.
But right now, on a small hill outside Udon.
Ace and Dog were standing upon it.
"Udon?"
Ace, who followed Dog here, was still somewhat baffled: "Why did we come here?"
He clenched his fists: "Since we're going to deal with Kaido, shouldn't we just go directly to 'Onigashima' and take out that bastard?"
Dog: "..."
Go directly to the lair of a Four Emperor to assassinate the Four Emperor himself?
He finally realized—don't be fooled by Ace seemingly being quite polite and rational at first glance.
In reality, the degree of recklessness of this guy is actually not inferior to his younger brother in the slightest.
Faced with Ace's puzzled gaze, Dog could only shake his head helplessly, and then said: "It's not that simple."
He recalled some information collected recently and said softly: "According to the intelligence our organization obtained recently, there should have been massive internal changes within the 'Beasts' recently, and Onigashima should be blockaded right now."
"Forcefully infiltrating there now would be very dangerous—whether for us, or for the country of 'Wano Country'..."
"Changes?"
After hearing Dog's words, Ace was stunned at first.
Then, his expression became solemn: "I did indeed hear from Deuce that the Beasts Pirates seem to have a lot more ability users recently, the weapon factories are also very active, and the All-Star position that has been vacant also seems..."
"Mm."
And Dog did not deny it either.
Recently, he had gathered quite a lot of information.
Which included the content Ace just mentioned.
Firstly—recently, all weapon factories throughout Wano Country had, just as 'Bao Huang' previously stated, started large-scale weapon manufacturing.
But the crux was that the weapons manufactured by these weapon factories were no longer the conventional guns, cannons, and swords from before, but some special "devices". Utilizing his public identity as the regional manager of Kuri, "Hanafuda", Dog had even seen the finished products of those devices—they were not weapons in the conventional sense, but rather seemed more like "parts" of certain weapons.
The technological components and utility within them were considered difficult to understand even for Dog.
"Assembly line manufacturing mode..."
Dog only took a rough glance before he had an answer in his heart.
This manufacturing mode was very similar to the "assembly line" he knew of before transmigrating.
Various factories in Wano Country produced different branch parts, which were finally gathered at Onigashima.
Besides these weapon parts, the changes in ability users within the Beasts Pirates were also very obvious, exactly as Ace said.
According to Dog's recent understanding—among the members of the Beasts Pirates in various regions like Kuri, Hakumai, and Ringo, many Headliners had recently been distributed "Devil Fruits".
The one distributing the fruits was said to be the new head of the Three Disasters, "Death Disaster", stationed on Onigashima. As for the origin of the fruits, it remained a complete mystery; even Dog, who was nominally one of the "Three Disasters", didn't know the specific situation.
All of this clearly related to the World Government.
The cooperation between Kaido and Imu seemed even deeper than he thought, and all current changes in Wano Country and Onigashima clearly stemmed from this. Under such circumstances, just as Dog said—with all intelligence pointing to Onigashima being very dangerous right now, rashly infiltrating it was not a rational choice.
"What does this have to do with Udon? Did you hear that someone in Udon knows the current situation on Onigashima, and you want to rescue them?" Ace still didn't understand after hearing this.
Just as mentioned before, Udon itself is a crucial hub and one of the largest weapon factories for the Beasts Pirates in Wano Country.
It also has the highest level of security.
Once an attack on Udon is discovered, it will similarly alert Onigashima.
"No."
Dog's words, however, were very calm: "As long as our attack is not discovered by Onigashima, it won't be exposed."
"How could that be possible?"
Hearing this, Ace frowned deeply: "Udon is directly managed by one of the Three Disasters. According to the rules of the Beasts, every three days the manager of Udon must personally communicate and report the situation to the interior of Onigashima, and it's said there are many procedures to strictly verify their identity—even if you can take out that Three Disaster, you will definitely be exposed by then."
"Not to mention recently, a large number of Beasts members from Onigashima have been dispatched outward, many of whom are stationed in Udon... Just the Beasts Pirates members in this prison alone number at least over 2,500!"
From his words, it wasn't hard to hear that although he claimed to have come only for Hanafuda, Ace's actions indeed showed he had long had designs against Kaido.
At least he was very clear about the many rules of the Beasts Pirates' management in Wano Country—and it had to be said, those rules were indeed very rigorous and cautious. For example, Udon was previously managed by the former Three Disaster, 'Plague' Queen, and the rule requiring regular reporting to Onigashima was also set by him.
This directly determined that even if he was taken out and Udon lost control, the Beasts Pirates would discover the anomaly within three days at the latest.
But Dog smiled understandingly.
"This is where it gets interesting."
Just as Ace said, a loss of control in Udon could almost not be hidden from Onigashima under normal circumstances.
However, from Bao Huang earlier, Dog had heard an interesting piece of news.
"What you said just now is very correct. There is indeed an 'insider' in Udon who knows the current situation on Onigashima."
"And I'm certain that as long as the plan succeeds, she will definitely help us cover up the situation in Udon."
"Who is that guy?"
Ace naturally also felt somewhat curious—what kind of deity was so capable?
And Dog didn't mean to hide anything either: "It's exactly the one you just mentioned, the one who directly manages Udon among the Three Disasters... the current 'Ice Disaster'." Ace: "..."
What nonsense is this guy talking about?
The newly appointed Three Disaster, how could they possibly help them?
But on second thought, Ace remembered the "Hanafuda" from not long ago: "Do you mean that 'Ice Disaster' is also an undercover agent of yours?" "No, currently we don't know her at all."
"...Do you mean to say, the two of us now have to charge into Udon guarded by over 2,000 enemies, defeat the newly appointed 'Ice Disaster' under their siege, and then persuade her, whom we've met for the first time, to help us hide the news and coincidentally provide intelligence on Onigashima?"
"That's roughly the idea."
Ace: "..."
He somewhat regretted following the other party here—he had never heard there were madmen in The Zodiac before?
What Ace didn't expect even more was that at this time, Dog even added a sentence with great interest: "Also, to clarify, the one charging in with you is not me..."
While speaking, his gaze had already slightly lifted, looking towards the sky in the distance.
Ace instinctively raised his head, similarly looking towards the sky.
And then he saw—from above the sky, there was a streak of firelight swirling with starlight at this moment.
It continuously flickered, as if breathing.
But quickly, as it approached, Ace discovered it.
That thing was indeed breathing—because it was fundamentally a "person".
He came from a pitch-black night sky, bringing dazzling firelight.
Those single sparks sprinkled down, falling on the barren land outside Udon.
He flew past.
So on that long-barren land, the single sparks bloomed like green grass.
"No."
A moment later, Ace was surprised to find—green grass had actually bloomed.
At the same time the flame resembling starlight fell into the earth.
That earth, polluted because of the weapon factories and barren from year-round drought, seemed to regain its vitality.
Green vegetation grew up.
Although Ace could be certain the pollution had not been removed—on those blades of grass, many still retained traces of struggling against death. But they still wildly, surged, and held their heads high.
And a moment later.
Thud!
That figure wreathed in firelight landed in front of Ace.
The clothes he wore were not luxurious, even could be called plain, rough cloth clothes that looked completely unremarkable.
As if he were not a top powerhouse on the sea, but an ordinary member of the myriad living beings, the people of the world.
Only the mask worn on his face was enough to explain his identity.
That was a Rabbit mask.
But unlike an ordinary Rabbit mask that gave a "soft" and "docile" feeling.
On his Rabbit mask, beneath the crimson base, there were golden embellishments, like the most dazzling stars in the world.
All these external characteristics collectively pointed in one direction.
He is a top executive of The Zodiac.
"Rabbit."
He said this, extending his hand towards Ace.
"Ace, Portgas D. Ace."
Ace instinctively reached out and shook hands with the other party.
And in his heart, he finally understood Dog's words from just now: "You are the... colleague Mr. Dog mentioned?" He vaguely remembered Dog mentioning earlier—that he was issuing an invitation to him on behalf of a colleague, and his colleague was a person like Ace.
Up to this moment, Ace realized that question in his heart.
What kind of person exactly did the "person like you" the other party mentioned refer to?
Ace's intuition told him.
"You also want to... save this country?"
He instinctively looked at the green grass growing under the burning flames not far away.
"To be precise..."
After hearing Ace's description, Rabbit shook his head instead.
"What I want to save are all the oppressed people in the world."
The two sounded seemingly no different at first.
But Ace instinctively suddenly recalled a scene he and his two sworn brothers had once seen when he was a child.
That country named the "Goa Kingdom", ruled by nobles and oppressors, was itself clearly not worth saving.
But the commoners at the bottom were pitiful people worth saving.
"Are you really from The Zodiac, and not from the Revolutionary Army?"
Ace instinctively had this thought, but immediately after he realized this question seemed somewhat impolite.
However, Rabbit clearly didn't mind this.
He merely smiled and said: "It's not only people from the Revolutionary Army who have the resolve to 'save the weak and smash shackles'."
"Overthrowing the tyranny of this world is fundamentally not something that can be accomplished by one or two people, or by one or two organizations." "I am not someone from the Revolutionary Army, but I feel I can be considered a... revolutionary."
Hearing this, a rare moment of distraction appeared on Ace's face.
"Alright, that's enough chit-chat."
At this moment, Dog beside them smiled and interrupted their conversation. They had more important things to do here; now was clearly not the time for pleasantries to their hearts' content.
"I'll leave the rest to you—Rabbit."
"My side is just a Foxtail clone, and Hanafuda can't leave Kuri for too long, otherwise he'll be suspected... I'll go back first and prepare the next step of the 'plan'."
He said like this.
Between his words, he seemed completely without doubt whether Rabbit could take over Udon and complete tonight's plan.
As his words fell, Dog's figure also slowly turned back into Hanafuda's appearance, and then he decisively turned and left.
After seeing Dog leave, Ace finally snapped back to reality.
"Mr. Rabbit, what should we do next... Wait, before that, please quickly extinguish those flames, otherwise before the operation begins, the guards of Udon are highly likely to discover us."
He was just planning to ask about Rabbit's next plan, but then he suddenly realized a problem.
And that was the flames Rabbit had ignited on the surrounding ground when he descended from the sky just now were truly somewhat conspicuous in this pitch-black night sky, and would highly likely be discovered by the guards of Udon.
Unlike Ace's anxiety, Rabbit laughed heartily.
"No, Mr. Ace."
He turned his head to look at Ace: "The operation has already begun."
Saying that, his gaze also seemed to look towards that massive prison ahead.
"There are many oppressed people yearning for freedom there."
"They don't resist, merely because they haven't seen a 'beacon' of resistance, no one has issued a 'roar' raising their arms in defiance, and they haven't seen 'hope' in the darkness."
He said like this.
Accompanied by Rabbit's words, those flames burning on the earth behind him not only didn't dim, but instead became increasingly dazzling. Ace even clearly saw—flames drilled into the ground, as if turning into the breath of this land, spreading out in all directions. They were gradually gathering towards Udon.
The next moment...
"!!!"
Ace then saw—inside Udon, firelight seemed to also... begin to rise.
As if confirming Rabbit's words right now.
"And now, I will light the torch, I will let out a roar, and I will bring hope."
He opened his arms.
And in front of him.
A single spark, had already started a prairie fire.
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