Magnus truly had no great ambitions for Wano.
But hadn't he said already?
He would go with the flow.
And when opportunity placed itself before him, how could he, a pirate, not seize it?
"Little girl, let me teach you something. Out in the world, never trust so easily—especially not men as handsome as me."
"Pfft~"
At that, Toki burst out laughing.
She didn't know Magnus's exact intentions, but she could tell he was teasing Haruko.
If Magnus fought seriously—forget these few samurai. Even if every samurai in Wano united, they wouldn't stand a chance.
But Haruko didn't know that.
Seeing his crew charge her clan, she grew anxious, yet still stood tall, glaring at Magnus in anger.
"You villain! Shameless rogue! Lying pirate! Big fraud!"
"No matter what tricks you use—Father will defeat you!"
By then, Ripley and the others had already clashed with Fūya's warriors.
"So… outsiders?"
Seeing Haruko and Kōsaburō captured, Fūya's expression darkened. From Magnus's presence alone, he felt a fathomless force.
But before he could confront Magnus, he had to face Ripley.
And Ripley opened with—
"Mini Mini: Shrink!"
Her awakened fruit bent the environment itself.
One step forward—
And the earth beneath the samurai vanished.
"Ahhhh!"
"What's happening!?"
"Why are we falling!?"
Ripley had shrunk a hundred-meter stretch of land. To the Wano samurai, it was as if a bottomless abyss yawned beneath their feet.
"Witchcraft! This must be witchcraft!"
But knowing that didn't stop their fall.
In seconds, they'd crash. Not fatally, perhaps, but badly injured. Even Fūya, without any technique like Moonwalk, could only brace for impact.
Then Ripley spoke again.
"Restore!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground reappeared mid-fall. Samurai who had adjusted for landing smashed into it instead—many collapsing unconscious.
In one stroke, half of Fūya's thirty warriors were down.
Though stronger than Ripley, Fūya could do nothing against her awakened ability.
If she wished, she could wipe out the rest with ease.
But that wasn't Magnus's plan.
"Hehe. Gotta leave something for the rookies to practice on."
Without realizing it, Ripley had begun carrying herself like a veteran.
"You witch! I won't allow you to run wild!"
Fūya roared.
"Quick Draw!"
A slash so fast even Magnus raised a brow cleaved toward Ripley, sharp enough to split steel.
"Fast!"
Even with Observation Haki, Ripley nearly failed to react.
But she did.
"Mini Mini: Further Shrink!"
Her thumb-sized body vanished, and Fūya's slash struck empty air.
"What!?"
Wano's isolation had left Fūya ignorant of Devil Fruits.
And Ripley wasn't done.
"Shave!"
In a blink, she was before him.
"Mini Mini: Partial Restore!"
Her fist swelled to giant size, clad in Armament Haki.
"Titan's Spear!"
Boom!
Fūya's guard shattered, and he was hurled back hundreds of meters.
"Father!"
Haruko's eyes burned red as she cried out.
"Your father is stronger than Ripley," Magnus said calmly. "But because he knows nothing of her powers, he lost."
A giant's punch was no joke. Unless one was Magnus himself, even Admirals would bleed from such a strike.
Haruko only glared at him with hate. She'd thought Magnus kind—now she saw only a monster.
"Relax. He's not finished yet."
Magnus's words, to her, were salt in the wound.
While Ripley fought Fūya, the rest of the White Wolf Pirates had their own duels.
And the Shimotsuki proved worthy of being one of Wano's Four Great Families.
Though weakened by the Kurosumi rebellion, their warriors still rivaled any top swordsmen abroad.
But Fūya hadn't brought them all. He had come only to drag back his runaway daughter, not to wage war.
Now he regretted that deeply.
Even as he rallied, he could see his men falling one by one.
Whitebeard was next to strike.
Facing samurai with blades, he slammed a quake into the air.
The world cracked.
Frozen rivers shattered, pent-up waters surged free in a monstrous flood.
"Why is there ice here!?"
"It's summer!"
"The lake—it's breaking loose!"
The samurai panicked.
But though the flood threatened to wash them from Wano, its real danger was to Devil Fruit users.
"Whitebeard, you idiot!" Ripley snapped, leaping skyward with Moonwalk.
Whitebeard followed, but others weren't so lucky.
Especially Linlin.
Though powerful, she still hadn't mastered the Six Powers, and Moonwalk eluded her.
Her massive body fell every time she tried. She'd nearly given up—until Magnus bribed her with cake.
Still, Linlin had no Devil Fruit. The water couldn't weaken her.
And her towering six-meter frame let her tank the flood with ease.
She struck back, one punch smashing a samurai's blade and breaking his hand.
A monster.
That was all he could think.
Three veterans of the White Wolf crew shone like stars.
But the rookies… struggled.
Every samurai still standing was at least iron-cutting level.
Stussy nearly buckled. Only Magnus's ice wall saved her from the flood.
Her heart swelled. I knew the old man wouldn't abandon me!
Then she almost lost her head by looking away.
"Hey! Against a beauty like me, couldn't you show mercy!?" she snapped.
"I fight evil without mercy," her foe retorted.
"And—I am a woman, too!"
"Eh!?"
Stussy was silenced. The warrior's frame was tough, but unmistakably female.
Elsewhere, Shiki and Tsuru fought for their lives.
Zephyr fared worst of all—swept away before he could stabilize. A samurai nearly cleaved him down.
But this was Magnus's intent.
Training drills meant nothing. What they needed was blood, pain, and the edge of death.
Only then would they grow.
So even when Stussy and Tsuru bled, Magnus didn't step in.
His crew would be warriors, not ornaments.
"Magnus, let me—"
"Go," he said to Toki.
Though unsteady, she joined, and Magnus only watched.
Overall, the fight remained balanced.
And in Rocks's absence, Whitebeard naturally played the role of guardian, shielding comrades at risk.
But none of them truly feared.
Because Magnus stood behind them.
Even if every samurai fell upon them, Magnus would not let them die.
It wasn't a true life-or-death struggle.
And Rocks had been right—sometimes a captain too strong stunted his crew.
But these were geniuses. Their ceilings were high. Until they neared the two-hundred-million mark, no bottleneck would bind them.
The samurai, meanwhile, grew desperate.
Fūya saw it clearly—Magnus was the true monster.
Yet he couldn't even best Ripley.
Though he adapted, pushing her back, it was meaningless.
Were all outsiders this strong?
Looking at Magnus, then his captured daughter, Fūya gritted his teeth.
And fired a signal flare.
Even shame was nothing compared to survival.
The sky lit with fireworks.
Magnus's lips curved.
Perfect.
Why hunt them one by one? Let them all come.
Wano refused to open its gates?
Then he would show these stubborn samurai—
The times had changed.
And as the flare burst above, Tsuru, cornered, drew her gun.
Bang!
A samurai's shoulder blossomed with blood.
(End of Chapter)
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