In the heart of the New World, on the isolated island of Wano Country, nearly a month had passed since Kaido's departure from Onigashima.
During this time, a quiet tension had been building beneath the surface. The date for the public execution of Kozuki Oden's retainers was drawing near, and all of Oden's loyal supporters were growing desperate. News from the outside world, delivered by newspapers, confirmed that Kaido was on his way back to Wano. This only fueled their urgency. They knew that if they waited for Kaido's return, their chance to act would be lost forever.
After many secret meetings and careful planning, they finally set a date to storm Onigashima and rescue Kozuki Hiyori and Denjiro. That time was tonight.
On this particular evening, however, Onigashima was anything but tense. The entire island fortress was ablaze with light, and the sounds of raucous laughter and celebration echoed from its halls. Torches lit every corner, and the sounds of singing and feasting filled the air. Queen had returned from a three-month training period, and his homecoming was the perfect excuse for the Beasts Pirates to indulge in the massive banquets they loved. For the past month, Onigashima had been a scene of constant revelry, with most of the crew perpetually drunk and carefree.
Inside the grand banquet hall, Jack the Drought raised a large stein and made his way to the second floor. In a shadowed corner, he found the man he considered his true Big Brother, the Beasts Pirates' second-in-command: King the Wildfire. King stood alone, silently observing the chaos below.
"King, my brother, won't you have a drink?" Jack offered.
"No," King replied curtly. "There's no need."
His sharp refusal surprised Jack. He followed King's gaze down to the main floor, where their other brother, Queen the Plague, was drunkenly singing and dancing with his subordinates. Whether it was just his imagination or not, Jack sensed that King was deeply unhappy. But there was little he could do. King had always been a serious man, his face hidden behind a mask that concealed his true thoughts.
Jack's intuition was correct. King was indeed furious. Ever since he had noticed the profound change in Kaido a month ago, he had been trying to understand what had happened. He couldn't stop thinking about the "war" that Kaido had mentioned. He hadn't found any answers, but his observations had revealed another serious problem: the Beasts Pirates had grown rotten from the inside.
Ever since their captain, Kaido of the Beasts, was declared one of the Four Emperors of the New World, life had become too comfortable. As a Yonko crew, no one dared to challenge them directly. Even the other three Emperors kept their distance for their own reasons. For more than a decade, the Beasts Pirates had been expanding their ranks, but they had rarely faced a true battle. Without any real challengers, the crew had grown complacent and lost their edge. They had forgotten what it meant to be in a constant state of readiness.
For example, despite Kaido's stern warning over two weeks ago that the public execution was a test and a major training exercise for the entire crew, no one seemed to be taking it seriously. Looking down at the drunken mess below, King felt a sense of dread. If an enemy were to attack now, half of the Beasts Pirates would probably be too drunk to even stand, let alone fight.
Just then, Queen, having finished his song and dance, staggered up the stairs with a wine glass in hand.
"Hey, King! It's a party! Why aren't you having a drink on such a happy day?" Queen bellowed, then tipped his head back and chugged the entire glass of wine.
King remained silent for a moment, his masked face turned toward Queen. "You haven't forgotten the boss's orders, have you, Queen? He'll be back soon."
Queen's cheerful expression faltered slightly. "Of course not! Don't you underestimate me! Everything is taken care of. If those samurai dare to show their faces, I'll make sure none of them leave here alive."
The bond between the three All-Stars was real, and Queen certainly respected King. But when it came to the question of who was the true second-in-command, Queen refused to concede to him. He took King's words as a personal slight, a suggestion that he was incompetent.
"Good. Then I'll leave the outside to you, and I'll handle things in here," King said. He then took the stein from Jack's hand and downed it in one go.
Seeing this, Queen let out a booming laugh. "That's more like it! On a day like this, everyone should be happy! Don't be such a spoilsport!" He raised his arms and cheered to the pirates below, who responded with an even louder roar of approval.
But in that moment, a panicked voice cut through the noise of the banquet. "This is bad! Queen-sama, this is terrible!"
A commotion erupted at the entrance as a low-ranking subordinate, covered in blood, stumbled into the hall. "The prisoners at the Quarry and the Weapons Factory… they've started a riot! We can't control them!"
"What!?"
The sudden announcement silenced the entire hall. All eyes turned to the messenger, who was now crawling across the floor in a desperate attempt to reach them. Queen's face went rigid. He had just boasted that he had everything under control, and now there was a full-blown riot at two of their most important facilities. He could feel King's cold, disappointed gaze on him from the side. Humiliated, Queen's face darkened with rage.
"Are you kidding me?" he roared. "You can't even handle a bunch of starving prisoners?"
The subordinate trembled under Queen's furious glare. "Queen-sama, it's because two people showed up," he stammered. "We're no match for them."
"Who?" King asked, cutting straight to the point. He sensed that this was more than just a simple riot.
The names the subordinate spoke next sent a shockwave of disbelief through the entire banquet hall.
"It's Hana no Hyogoro, the former boss of Wano's underworld, and the samurai Kawamatsu, one of the Nine Red Scabbards!"
The hall fell into an eerie silence.
"As soon as they appeared, all the prisoners in the Quarry and the Weapons Factory rioted and joined them! There are too many of them, we couldn't stop them."
The silence stretched on as everyone tried to process the news. Finally, King broke it. "Then why are you only reporting this now?"
The subordinate looked up, his face filled with despair. "King-sama, we tried! We tried to contact Onigashima with the Den Den Mushi, but no one answered. We think… we think they were all drunk."
"What!?" Queen trembled. He knew he was in deep trouble. He didn't dare to look at King. He waved his hand frantically and shouted, "You useless bastard! Someone, come with me! We're going to crush those traitors!"
But before he could move, King held up a hand to stop him. "If you take a force there, who will be left to defend Onigashima? Besides, do you even know the full situation?"
The subordinate quickly answered, "Queen-sama, at least five thousand prisoners have already joined Hyogoro and Kawamatsu! They're destroying the Weapons Factory and the Quarry right now! If we don't stop them soon…"
Hearing this, even King's brow furrowed in concern. Those samurai had planned this well. Everyone in Wano knew how vital the Quarries and Weapons Factories were to the Beasts Pirates. This was no mere prison break; it was a declaration of war.
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