When Luo Xing had killed Denjirō, he'd found something invaluable among the man's belongings —
a map leading to Zou.
Thanks to that, the voyage went smoothly.
By noon the following day, his warship had reached the shadow beneath the colossal elephant's feet.
"S-So big!"
Runmie's jaw dropped. The rest of the Flying Six looked equally dumbfounded.
"Jack's mammoth form looks like a toy compared to this thing,"
Fuz-Fu muttered, eyes wide with awe.
Even seasoned warriors like them were shaken.
Before them loomed Zunesha, the giant elephant whose body stretched over thirty-five kilometers from toe to head, a living mountain lost among the clouds.
Only Luo Xing remained composed.
"It's said this elephant has lived for over a thousand years — older than the World Government itself."
That earned him another round of astonished looks.
Pejiwan said admiringly, "Lord Consort, your knowledge really knows no limits."
But Luo Xing didn't mention the deeper truth —
that Zunesha had once been Joy Boy's companion,
and that only Momonosuke, the son of Kozuki Oden, could command it.
That meant one thing: one day, Zunesha would inevitably stand against them.
I can't hear the Voice of All Things, Luo Xing thought, but maybe the Momotaro Rice Ball can still tame it.
After all, at its core, Zunesha was still an animal —
and the Momotaro Rice Ball was designed to dominate beasts.
Once the Mink Tribe was subdued, he would test that theory.
"Uh, how exactly are we supposed to get up there?" Runmie asked, pointing at the sky.
The back of Zunesha — where Zou lay — rose so high it pierced the clouds.
Climbing was out of the question.
Luo Xing, however, already had a plan.
He turned toward one man.
"Fuz-Fu, it's your show."
The former CP9 agent, now empowered by high-grade Monster Cells, grinned.
"Leave it to me, Lord Consort."
He crouched slightly — and then leapt into the air with explosive force.
A thunderous roar echoed.
ROOOAR!
Before their eyes, his body expanded, fur bristling as crimson wings spread wide —
the form of a Saber-Toothed Tiger, reborn as a Mythical Beast.
Claws as sharp as blades hooked the ship's sides,
and with a beat of his wings, the massive warship lifted off the sea and soared skyward.
"Man, being a Mythical Zoan has its perks…" Pejiwan sighed enviously.
"Don't worry," Luo Xing said, smiling faintly. "Your day will come too."
Pejiwan looked moved nearly to tears.
Before long, they breached the clouds and reached the green world above.
Zou stretched before them — a lush forest sprawled across the elephant's back.
Fur-covered figures walked between the trees — the Minks, humanoid animals brimming with energy and pride.
"So those are the Minks… what strange and fascinating creatures."
Then came a deafening crash as the Beasts Pirates' warship descended upon the surface of Zou.
Luo Xing, flanked by the Flying Six and fifty Gifters, stepped forward.
Their collective killing intent rolled out like a storm.
Every Mink within miles felt it.
"That flag—!"
"It's Kaido's crew!"
"The Beasts Pirates are invading Zou!"
"Quick, call Lord Inuarashi and Lord Nekomamushi!"
"Too late! They're already attacking!"
"Don't panic! There's only sixty of them — we'll tear them apart!"
The Minks charged, fangs bared, sparks of electricity dancing from their claws.
"Hmph. A bunch of overgrown animals daring to challenge the Beasts Pirates?"
Fuz-Fu's tiger eyes gleamed red with bloodlust.
He could've torn into them already, but Luo Xing had given orders.
"Move," Luo Xing commanded evenly.
"You've all got your Momotaro Rice Balls. Feed them to the Minks.
Don't kill unless absolutely necessary — we want them alive."
"Understood!"
The Flying Six and their Gifters roared their assent — and dove into battle.
In an instant, Zou became a battlefield.
Shouts and explosions ripped through the air.
The Beasts Pirates were few, but their power was overwhelming.
Each Gifter could crush ten foes at once.
Each member of the Flying Six was a one-person army.
Within minutes, the tide turned.
The moment a Mink bit into a Rice Ball, their eyes glazed over —
and then, suddenly, they stopped fighting, kneeling obediently before their enemies.
"What… what's happening?!" cried Pedro, captain of the Guardians.
He watched his comrades switch sides before his eyes, disbelief etched across his face.
A thunderous voice answered from above:
"It's the effect of those cursed rice balls! Don't eat them!"
A bolt of lightning split the sky as two enormous shadows dropped from the clouds.
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi — kings of day and night, rulers of Zou — had arrived.
"That strange food is your creation, isn't it?" Nekomamushi bellowed.
"A weapon meant for us, Beasts Consort Luo Xing!"
Luo Xing smiled faintly, arms crossed.
"Correct answer — but no prize, I'm afraid."
"You monster!" Inuarashi roared.
"Denjirō vanished weeks ago — that was your doing, wasn't it?!"
Luo Xing said nothing.
His silence was answer enough.
The two kings' fury exploded.
"Then die with your secrets!"
They leapt at him, swords raised.
But before they could close in, three figures moved to intercept —
A tiger.
Two dragons.
"Hey, you Kozuki relics," Fuz-Fu growled, "did you forget the Flying Six exist?"
It was Fuz-Fu, Runmie, and Pejiwan, standing between their lord and the enraged Minks.
"If it were the Calamities, maybe," snarled Nekomamushi, "but the likes of you—!"
They charged, lightning flashing around their bodies.
But they didn't know how far the Flying Six had come.
"You'll regret underestimating us," Fuz-Fu snarled.
"Now die!"
The air split as they clashed.
A blinding explosion followed —
and when the dust cleared, a hush fell across Zou.
Even Pedro and the other Minks froze in shock.
Their kings, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi,
had both been blasted through the forest, vomiting blood,
their bodies crashing into the ground hundreds of meters away.
The unthinkable had happened —
Zou's twin monarchs, felled in moments.
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