Under the solemn atmosphere, aside from Rowan's voice, no one else spoke.
Even the citizens of Wano unconsciously slowed their breathing, afraid of disturbing the moment in the slightest.
At the same time, every name and every age struck directly into their hearts.
Three days ago, those names had still belonged to living, breathing young people.
But now all that remained were ashes and a single page recording their lives.
And these young people had died...for them.
They had sacrificed themselves so the people of Wano would no longer suffer under the oppression of the Beasts Pirates.
Over the years, countless people in Wano had died in the mines.
Others died resisting.
Even among the women of the pleasure district, how many had entered the Shogun's Palace only to be thrown back out as mutilated corpses covered in wounds?
Five years ago, when they heard Oden-sama had returned, they were filled with hope.
But that hope vanished beneath those humiliating dances.
The Foolish Lord could not save them.
Even if he had endured humiliation for their sake five whole years later, he still could not save them.
Their loved ones continued to die.
Forced labor in the mines and weapons factories continued to exist.
And their Oden-sama...continued dancing.
Until the Revolutionary Army appeared.
Like divine soldiers descending from heaven, they helped Wano and drove away the pirates who oppressed them.
They were complete strangers yet willing to risk their lives for them.
For a moment, an uncontrollable impulse spread through the hearts of Wano's people.
The atmosphere itself became increasingly intense.
The urge to throw everything aside and join the Revolutionary Army to become part of this force grew stronger and stronger.
But at the same time, fear of death suppressed that impulse.
They were ordinary people.
People who had never trained with the sword.
People who did not know Ryuo.
Ordinary people who feared death.
Who feared fighting enemies with their lives on the line.
But Rowan's objective had already been achieved.
As long as the seed had been planted under ideological education, it would eventually take root and sprout.
Once they understood that sacrifice was for their own future once they truly came to regard it as an honor that seed would bloom and bear fruit.
At that moment, a childish voice suddenly rang out from the outer crowd.
"I! I want to join the Revolutionary Army!"
Rowan looked over.
A little girl dressed in white clothes stood there raising her hand.
She wore wooden sandals, and atop her head were a pair of horns identical to Kaido's.
The recitation of the fallen soldiers' lives did not stop.
Rowan merely glanced once at the little girl who had drawn laughter from the crowd before turning away again.
But among Wano's samurai, someone had already recognized her.
"Those devil horns just like Kaido's!"
"She's Kaido's daughter!"
"A bloodline of evil like hers should be killed!"
Amid the commotion, Rowan frowned slightly.
"Silence."
In an instant, the entire crowd fell quiet.
Rowan gestured toward Kuma before continuing to recite the list of names.
Meanwhile, Kuma walked into the crowd and pulled out the little girl, who had nearly been hacked apart amid the chaos.
He placed her beside him.
"I want to join the Revolutionary Army!"
The little girl stubbornly lifted her head, meeting Kuma's gaze directly.
Kuma looked at her once before speaking softly.
"If you want to join the Revolutionary Army, then first you must respect the comrades who sacrificed themselves for the revolution."
"At a moment like this, please remain quiet."
The little girl blinked twice.
Then her gaze turned toward Rowan standing at the center.
She knew who he was.
It was this man this very man who had cut her father down from the sky.
Those flames that seemed capable of destroying the heavens had completely illuminated the darkened skies over Wano.
He was her idol.
The man who had accomplished the dream she had always wished for.
And the Revolutionary Army...
The ideals he had just spoken of that all lives were equal those convictions that determination to change the world they were everything she had long admired.
Moreover, he had clearly heard that she was Kaido's daughter yet he still stopped the ordinary people who were about to attack her in rage.
As expected...she had gambled correctly.
From morning until night, time quietly passed.
One after another, the Revolutionary Army carefully carried the urns in their arms.
Every set of ten urns was accompanied by records detailing the deceased's life.
The stories of all four hundred and eighty-five fallen comrades were heard by every Wano citizen present.
For the first time, they realized that the people who had sacrificed themselves for Wano's future...had once been sufferers just like them.
And because of that the conscience within their hearts told them they had to do something.
"Sir... I... I want to join the Revolutionary Army."
Once someone took the lead, more and more people stepped forward, wanting to join.
But this was not what Rowan wanted.
Most of these people were simply acting on impulse.
The atmosphere had reached such a point that their bodies had made the decision before their minds truly understood it.
Rowan looked toward the people kneeling on one knee before him.
Among them was Yamato, awkwardly copying the others.
"Are you afraid of sacrifice?"
"Not afraid!"
Rowan slowly shook his head.
"No. In truth, it is only at this very moment that you are unafraid."
"When faced with the true choice between life and death, those of you who still do not understand the real meaning of the word 'revolution' will still feel fear."
One of the kneeling samurai raised his head.
"Does Sir think my strength is too weak?"
"Not at all."
Rowan replied calmly:
"The most important thing in the Revolutionary Army is ideology, not strength."
"Ideology can bring forth unimaginable power in a person. But someone who possesses strength without ideology can never become a true warrior."
The samurai's gaze remained unwavering.
"Then I boldly ask, Sir... how can we obtain the same convictions as the Revolutionary Army?"
Rowan answered,
"The liberation of Wano was never merely about driving away pirates."
"What we seek to liberate... is the thinking of all Wano's people."
"If you are interested, then starting one week from now, every region in Wano will have five locations dedicated to lectures and education."
The one hundred and twenty-three kneeling samurai all stood up.
After bowing respectfully, they each stated that they would attend.
Only one little girl remained where she was, blinking her wide eyes while staring unmovingly at Rowan.
At that moment, the citizens of Wano suddenly remembered her existence again.
People began exposing her identity one after another.
Most of them demanded she be executed simply because she was Kaido's daughter.
But Rowan walked over to Yamato's side.
He reached out and rubbed her little head, casually pinching one of her horns as well.
Mm.
They were real.
Looks like Kaido really was part of some special race.
"Everyone."
Rowan looked toward the people of Wano.
"I would like to ask all of you something."
"Has anyone here personally seen her kill your family members?"
"Or witnessed her oppressing you in the mines or weapons factories?"
As his words fell, quiet discussions spread through the crowd.
But not a single person stepped forward to answer.
After a long silence, Rowan continued:
"Then if she is considered sinful merely because of her bloodline..."
"Wouldn't the phrase 'all life is equal' become nothing more than a joke?"
"In the eyes of the Revolutionary Army, she is simply a child."
"A child who has never oppressed ordinary people."
"A child no different from any other."
All life is equal.
Perhaps there are differences in strength between lives but there must never be differences in innate worth or status.
That was one of the Revolutionary Army's foundational beliefs.
The crowd gradually fell silent.
Rowan once again reached out and rubbed Yamato's head.
"If you have nowhere to eat these next few days, then go to the daimyo residence in Kuri and look for me."
"If you want to join the Revolutionary Army, then you must first truly understand its ideals."
"If one day you can become a revolutionary soldier..."
"I'll wait for the day you become one of my comrades."
After speaking, Rowan withdrew his hand.
Together with Kuma, Dragon, and the other captains, he led the Revolutionary Army away from the area.
These vessels needed to be transported back to the Revolutionary Army headquarters.
Meanwhile, three rather special individuals were still waiting for Rowan at the daimyo residence in Kuri.
Yamato had only been a small interlude.
After all, the Revolutionary Army already had ten-year-old Robin, two-year-old Nami, and three-year-old Ace.
One more Yamato made little difference.
The future had already been changed beyond recognition anyway.
As for Yamato herself after having her head patted twice, she was now staring at Rowan's departing back with shining eyes.
It was the gaze of a fan looking at her idol.
She had even completely forgotten the complicated looks from the citizens of Wano around her.
And as for her father Kaido she had long since tossed him to the back of her mind.
Hakumai, Daimyo Residence.
"My lord, Lord Oden said there is urgent business in Kuri, so he must return immediately."
After hearing the report from his subordinate, Shimotsuki Yasuie frowned and waved him away.
Meanwhile, Hyogoro quietly chuckled beside him while calmly sipping tea.
Clearly, his guess had been correct.
Lord Oden himself had no intention of continuing as shogun and ruling all of Wano.
The ceremony that lasted from morning until afternoon today had also allowed him to truly witness the power of the Revolutionary Army's ideology.
That overwhelming momentum and unified conviction it was enough to allow even ordinary people to awaken the power of Haki.
To carry one's will through action...even common people could become strong.
That was absolutely not a fantasy.
"Lord Yasuie... are we still going to persist?"
The one who spoke was the daimyo of Ringo: Shimotsuki Ushimaru.
As the head of the Shimotsuki family, Yasuie rubbed his forehead, yet his gaze remained resolute.
"What I saw today... was the invasive nature of their ideology."
"If we do nothing, then in only a few years, Wano will become a country of the Revolutionary Army."
"Everyone will become like those people we saw today, willing to throw everything away for this so-called revolution..."
Hyogoro took another sip of tea.
"So why oppose it?"
"If those people hadn't risked everything this time, Wano would have completely become a wasteland for pirates to ravage!"
"Putting myself in their shoes... I don't think resisting them is the right choice."
Shimotsuki Ushimaru raised a hand, signaling Hyogoro to pause.
"No matter what, the reform of ideological education was something we agreed to before the war."
"And at present, we do not possess the strength to go back on our word."
"Lord Oden would not allow it either."
Shimotsuki Yasuie slowly raised his head.
"Going back on our word now is impossible."
"And the only weapon capable of opposing ideology... is ideology itself."
"The spirit of the samurai."
"The ideology of Wano retainers entrusting their lives to their lord."
"That tradition has existed for hundreds of years."
"That... is our advantage."
Bang.
A teacup struck heavily against the table.
Hyogoro stood up.
"I shall take my leave first."
But before he could walk out, Shimotsuki Yasuie also stood up behind him, his eyes bloodshot.
"Hyogoro of the Flowers!"
"Do not forget the oath Wano has always upheld to honor the Kozuki clan as shogun!"
"You are a samurai as well. Have you forgotten the spirit of a samurai?!"
Hyogoro stopped and turned around, meeting Yasuie's gaze.
Then he spoke calmly,
"I was originally nothing more than a thug from the Flower Capital."
"It was only because I valued honor and possessed some strength that I eventually became the boss of Wano's underworld."
"And precisely because of that, I understand the suffering of Wano's ordinary people."
"If they are led by an incompetent and foolish ruler, then even a single natural disaster is enough to make life unbearable."
"I have known Lord Oden for many years."
"I trust Lord Oden."
"But what about the future?"
"To entrust the lives of millions in an entire nation to the intelligence or stupidity of a single person..."
"There is no need to even think before choosing against that."
"In the past, I had no power to change things."
"Nor did I know how to change them for the better."
"But now..."
"I believe the path shown by the Revolutionary Army will become a blessing for all ordinary people."
"Farewell."
Hyogoro turned and left.
Meanwhile, Shimotsuki Yasuie clenched both fists tightly, staring fixedly at his departing back.
From the very beginning, the standpoint of a daimyo and that of a thug from the Flower Capital had never been the same.
Nobles and commoners by nature, they stood on opposite sides.
At first, Shimotsuki Yasuie believed that since Hyogoro had long since become famous and was also part of Wano's upper class, their interests would align, placing him on the same side as the daimyo.
But now it seemed...Hyogoro had never forgotten the life and perspective of those at the bottom.
"At a time like this, we can't move against him. If he informs the Revolutionary Army..."
"He won't."
Shimotsuki Yasuie sat back down once more.
"He is the boss of the Flower Capital's underworld, but he is also a subject of the Kozuki clan."
"He will not support us, but neither will he interfere."
"Have our people begin preparations."
"One week from now..."
"...the war of ideology will begin."
Kuri, Itachi Port.
The same ten large twin-masted ships stood prepared.
More than two thousand Revolutionary Army members boarded them, carrying the four hundred and eighty-five urns filled with ashes.
Eight hundred people would remain behind in Wano.
The rest still had other missions to complete.
This time, Dragon and Kuma would leave together.
After arriving back at headquarters, they would also need to transport a group of Revolutionary Army instructors to Wano to begin ideological education classes.
Just like before, the floating power of the Chicken Talisman was used to lift the ships into the air, while Kuma's power then launched them forward at high altitude.
As for the eight hundred who remained behind, they would split into squads and act as guards for the instructors while lectures and classes were held throughout Wano's various regions.
Watching the ships tear through the sky one after another, Oden stood beside Rowan, his eyes filled with longing.
He also wanted to leave.
After all, five years had passed.
For someone with a restless heart like his, staying in this country had become unbearably dull.
"You can't run off right now."
Rayleigh reached out and smacked Oden on the shoulder.
"If you suddenly disappear, those samurai might think we killed you in order to seize control of Wano."
On the other side, Roger was currently pestering Rowan nonstop.
"Sir, I haven't seen Ace for soooo many days already! Just let me go back!"
"There's nothing for me to do here anymore!"
"I have to go keep watch! That old bastard Garp is actually trying to trick Ace into becoming a Marine! How could I tolerate that?"
"I need to hurry back and educate Ace into becoming a pirate!"
"The kind who'll chase Garp around and beat him up later!"
Rowan sighed helplessly.
"You really hold a deep grudge over that, huh?"
Using Flying Thunder God, Rowan sent Roger back to Windmill Village.
Meanwhile, Rayleigh stayed behind, intending to drink with Oden for a few more days.
Clearly, part of Roger's reason for running away was because he couldn't drink himself and could only watch others enjoy it with envy.
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