"Brother Babanuki, women really are a pain, offending them is such bad luck. Luckily, I don't have that kind of worry."
A gloating voice came from beneath a boulder, but Babanuki didn't follow along.
"Cut it out, your 'innate qualities' are too poor. Even without that, you bury yourself in the dirt all day, so who would ever come looking for you?"
The place where the Beasts Pirates slacked off the most was without a doubt the Udon Quarry. Even though this was an important prison, the prisoners here generally had no ability to escape. The ones who were sent here were either missing parts, or bound in high-purity Seastone chains.
Escape attempts had only occurred in the first two years. By now, it was ordinary prison guards who handled the day-to-day work, while the wardens and the like basically just loafed around.
They only needed to sign a document when interrogating certain people.
Unlike Magellan, they didn't have to spend long stretches of time on the toilet, so naturally they found their own ways to slack off.
Babanuki's daily routine was sunbathing somewhere, and in the process "building up strength"—a reasonable and irrefutable excuse, because that was exactly what Slaking's daily life was like.
Pokémon Ability Users are also affected by their form's abilities, but it's not severe; it just gives them preferences similar to their ability.
The one Babanuki spoke of burying himself in the dirt every day was Dobon. His ability was Hippowdon, and burying himself underground felt to him like lying under a warm quilt in winter.
Compared to Babanuki's hibernation, Dobon went even further, leaving only his nostrils exposed. With his hippo-like "innate qualities," he could basically be considered to have cut himself off from women entirely.
"But I think my soul is interesting."
"Is that so? Then I hope you find another interesting soul soon. You'd better not forget, this is Udon Quarry, the place with the lowest female ratio in all of Wano Country."
As a heavy industrial zone, Udon was now divided into three main parts: the quarry, the smelting plant, and the armory. The quarry also doubled as a prison. It was nothing but hard labor, completely unsuitable for women.
The only "flower" here was about the same age as the dining hall's aunties. The people stationed here had very few opportunities to be transferred out, and rotations were rare. If you weren't proactive, you'd probably never get a chance in your whole life.
Looks weren't everything, but they were the first impression between strangers, and that mattered a lot.
"Forget it, I think this place is pretty good. If only someone tried to escape so we could have some fun.
Brother Babanuki, I hear that kid is Oden's son. Do you think those stubborn old fools might rally around him to break out?"
The ground all around started flowing as if alive. Under Dobon's ability, the seemingly solid ground could at any moment transform into a quicksand hell that could devour everything, with Dobon as the terrifying predator lurking within.
Even steel could be bitten clean in half by his massive jaws, let alone anyone caught inside.
This was also one of Udon Quarry's hidden line of defense. So far, no one has appeared who could trigger this mechanism.
"Better not. Ever since that Oden died, I've been stationed here twenty years without an incident, and I don't want anyone ruining that."
"You don't get the final say on that, Brother Babanuki. With the people of Wano Country, you never know what's on their minds."
"Go play in your sand. If something really does happen, it'll definitely be because of your damn jinxed mouth!"
Finding an excuse to chase Dobon away, Babanuki returned to building up strength.
If Mandrell is the victor among workaholics, then Babanuki is the victim of the rat-race era, his Number rising from the original No. 3 to now only stabilizing in the double digits.
His main job was as warden, and he had no ambition for further promotion, so he simply settled into a laid-back life.
Night quickly fell. After finishing another day's work, Momonosuke collapsed onto the straw mat in his cell, exhausted. There were no tears, no complaints. The grueling physical labor left him with no strength for that.
The moment he lay down, he passed out. For him now, there was no hope in either today or tomorrow.
And a mystery had always lingered in his heart. He still could not understand why his younger sister had come to hate him so deeply. What exactly had happened over these years?
Kozuki Hiyori had given him the answer, but he could not comprehend it. Having leapt across twenty years, he was still the same little brat as before, completely unable to understand Kozuki Hiyori's feelings.
Denjiro, however, understood what Kozuki Hiyori meant. He also knew that the current Wano Country was exactly the Wano Country that Kozuki Oden had dreamed of. But the Beasts Pirates were not Kozuki. Whether or not Kozuki Hiyori was made into a puppet, that fundamental problem could not be changed.
That was precisely why Denjiro felt so conflicted when he saw Momonosuke.
He tried to convince himself, but his deep-rooted loyalty to the Kozuki family continued to affect him, to the point where he felt like he was about to split apart.
"Was all of this… really Orochi's fault? Or is it that all of this is our fault too?"
Upon Udon's walls, Denjiro gazed at the starlight in the sky, feeling incredibly lost.
If there had been no Kurozumi Orochi, if they retainers had not given Oden such guidance, and if the Oden who returned to Wano Country had not come with hostility but instead sat down to talk things through with Kaido. What kind of situation would it be now?
Denjiro knew that his lord's true desire had never been the position of Shogun. What Oden longed for was the freedom of the sea.
He did not know what Oden had seen on Laugh Tale that made him so resolute about the idea of opening the country. But if he had known that Wano Country would turn out like this, surely the outcome would have been entirely different.
He downed a pot of strong liquor, and the drunkenness washed away some of his distress. Then he looked down at the scar in the center of his palm, his mood infinitely complicated.
The starry sky had not changed, exactly the same as twenty years ago.
The clear sky was devoid of any clouds, yet the starlight seemed noticeably dimmer. This was no ominous celestial sign, but rather the effect of the lights from Wano Country.
The night was ablaze with lights, as if it was not night but day. What was once a scene limited only to the prosperous districts of Wano had now spread across the entire nation. Darkness no longer troubled anyone; happiness filled every street and alley. Yet, all of this had nothing to do with him.
Some people were destined never to return. No matter how Wano Country changed, those people would never see it again.
"Lord Oden… please give me an answer."
In his daze, Denjiro seemed to see several beast-shaped shadows sweep across the sky. In his drunken stupor, he thought he had drunk too much, and so he drifted off to sleep.
The wine pot slipped from his hand. Thanks to the material it was made of, it didn't break. Instead, it became something the prisoners in the nearby cages scrambled over for, a heavenly gift in their eyes.
The shadows in the sky were no illusion. They were the third-generation members of the Beasts Pirates out enjoying their nightlife.
Too full of energy to sleep, they had found a Corviknight who also preferred staying up late and began roaming the skies above Wano Country.
Outside the walls, the sea lay pitch-black under the night sky, with only two lighthouses guiding the way. Inside the high walls, however, the lights of Wano Country formed striking scenery.
And inside the carriage clutched in Corviknight's talons, Meowna and Wolff were flipping through a picture book together with Maylo; a book concerning the ability Maylo would obtain tomorrow.
Arceus's power was steadily growing, and the members' chances of gaining abilities increased along with it. Moreover, this time, Mandrell had practically dug out the very bottom of his contributions.
The savings of a corporate drone that have been accumulated over decades is quite considerable—so lavish, in fact, that it gave Maylo the opportunity for an extra choice.
"How about this one? These pincers look really cool."
On the page was a Pokémon whose right arm was larger than its whole body, built like a pistol shrimp. That arm, like a massive cannon, radiated pure intimidation.
The picture book in Wolff's hands happened to show the Clawitzer, one of the few Pokémon possessing the Mega Launcher ability. Its cannon-like arm and ability made it especially good at pulse-based moves, but its type limited its offensive power.
"Too weird, I don't like this one."
Maylo imagined herself in the form of a Clawitzer, then shook her head and tossed that image away.
"Really? Then how about this one? Just like Uncle Turtle, the chief of the fire department.
Or maybe an ability like Uncle Mandrell's or Aunt Nereus. Gyarados' ability is very versatile."
The picture book also included Blastoise and Gyarados. Since Maylo was half-Mermaid, her abilities were largely limited to Water-type Pokémon. After all, you can't give a Mermaid an ability with aversion to water.
As for Jack and Sasaki—
Both were heavyweight fighters. One favored the "sinking" tactic, while the other had long ago eaten a Devil Fruit, so they simply developed in the direction of the Steel Type.
If Maylo ever tried to learn Jack's sinking tactic, Mandrell would probably go fight Jack to the death.
"Big bro, that's enough already. Can't you pick something a little cuter?"
"It was Uncle Mandrell who said it; an ability for heavy bombardment. And all these just look so strong."
"That's why I think Uncle Mandrell must have misunderstood something. Leading an artillery team doesn't mean you have to become a cannon yourself. I think these two are better. What do you say, Maylo?"
Unlike Wolff, who judged by strength, Meowna made her choices based on appearance. She pulled out the pages for Milotic and Primarina, giving Maylo more options.
"Mm, I think this one's better. Its appearance looks a lot like Mom's."
In the end, it was Meowna's sense of aesthetics that matched Maylo's preference. Just as she said, liking heavy firepower didn't mean she had to turn herself into a cannon.
Maylo's gaze wavered between Milotic and Primarina, but ultimately she leaned toward wanting to gain Primarina's ability.
In terms of beauty, Milotic was no less than Primarina. But Primarina's body more closely resembled that of a Mermaid. A mermaid-like tail paired with a humanoid upper body made Maylo far more interested.
After all, Rusalka's appearance while swimming in the sea was just like that. And like her mother, she too had a pair of transformable fishtails.
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