Udon.
On the former coastline.
"Where did my huge sea go?!!!!"
Kozuki Oden and a group of prisoners who rushed out of the quarry stood together on the high slope by the shore, staring blankly below, their faces full of disbelief.
The once turbulent inner sea had disappeared without a trace. The exposed seabed was covered with silt and reefs. Only a few resilient sea fish struggled in vain in the mud, flipping and gradually losing vitality.
No, the ocean has disappeared.
How can they go out to sea!!
"Wooo~~~~"
At this moment, a long, ancient voice, revealing the passage of time, fell into Kozuki Oden's cochlea.
"What is this?!"
"Does our Wano Country have such a thing?!"
"This must be an outsider."
"..."
Kozuki Oden was stunned and looked towards the source of the sound. A strange bird was perched on a hidden reef on the seabed, projecting an image onto the reef beside it.
In the image.
The perspective moved constantly. An exaggeratedly huge battleship first came into view, then the camera slowly zoomed in, revealing the scene on the deck.
"Father?!"
When seeing the figure in the center of the screen, Kozuki Oden's pupils shrank slightly.
The lazy and gorgeously dressed old father in his memory was now charred all over, his hair disheveled, his robes damaged in many places, looking extremely wretched, completely devoid of his former majesty.
Beside him was a giant bear of exaggerated height, thunder light faintly appearing between its sharp claws.
Kozuki Oden's gaze lingered on Kozuki Sukiyaki for a moment, then carefully examined Panda.
He hadn't seen this race before.
"What is the situation?!"
"It seems that bastard Kozuki Sukiyaki has already been defeated by outsiders. Truly useless."
"Is this a bear or a human? Why does it feel like both a human and a bear? Is it a youkai?"
"Idiot, this is a Mink!"
"Kozuki Oden, how do you feel now?"
"..."
For a time, discussions were rife, and some people even boldly asked about Kozuki Oden's feelings.
"Hahahaha, of course I'm happy. I've wanted to do this for a long time."
Kozuki Oden laughed loudly.
Wasn't it just setting fire to a casino and burning a few people to death?
Just punished him to break stones here.
If he hadn't lacked strength before, he would have dragged Kozuki Sukiyaki to the quarry for punishment instead.
"As expected of you, Kozuki Oden! Not even caring about your father."
"He is him, I am me." The extremely self-centered Kozuki Oden used Holy Severance.
At this moment, Kozuki Sukiyaki in the image took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and spoke. His voice spread to every corner of Wano Country through the Flying Projection Den Den Mushi.
"Greetings, fellow countrymen. I am the Shogun of Wano Country, Kozuki Sukiyaki."
"Today, the King of Elbaf, the Lord of the Underworld, His Majesty Loki came from the east. According to the agreement, he helped my Wano Country open its borders and retrieve the Giant Tribe's national treasure;
But I, Kozuki Sukiyaki, had forgotten the agreement between the Kozuki clan and Elbaf, acted arrogantly, and led troops to initiate an attack.
But His Majesty Loki is tolerant and benevolent, forgiving our offense."
"Open the country?" Kozuki Oden suddenly realized.
No wonder the ocean is gone. The country's gate has been opened, so the inner sea must have disappeared.
"Then, can't I go out to sea freely?!" Thinking of this, Kozuki Oden was extremely excited, listening attentively to the following information.
As for what national treasure, Kozuki Oden didn't care at all; his heart was full of the outside world.
Kozuki Sukiyaki gritted his teeth and continued reading the manuscript that others couldn't see:
"But I... Kozuki Sukiyaki am unworthy. Plus, with the country's gate wide open in the future, I, Kozuki Sukiyaki, know my ability is meager and cannot protect Wano Country."
"So today, I want to make a decision that violates the ancestors."
"That is——to entrust Wano Country completely to His Majesty Loki! From today on, in the name of the Shogun of Wano Country, abolish the system of Daimyo and Shogun. From now on, Wano Country belongs to His Majesty Loki."
This sentence exploded like a heavy bomb in every corner of Wano Country, instantly causing an uproar.
"What? Abolish the Daimyo and Shogun system? Then who will manage Wano Country?"
"Naturally, we nobles will wield power! If Kozuki Sukiyaki can't do it, we may not be unable to!"
"You guys are nothing! Protecting Wano Country relies on us samurai; we should lead!"
Flower Capital, Ringo, Kuri, and other places, whether nobles, samurai, or yakuza, fell into chaotic disputes, swords drawn.
Numerous chaos did not affect Kozuki Sukiyaki continuing to read:
"From today on, samurai cannot randomly take swords to test on civilians, nobles cannot randomly collect taxes, yakuza cannot randomly drag gamblers' families for sale, merchants..... In short, except for His Majesty Loki, no one has privileges!"
"From today on, His Majesty Loki will protect all his subjects and give everyone enough food to survive. As a price, everyone must hand over two months of lifespan every year."
As soon as this statement came out, the already chaotic situation became even more out of control. Public sentiment was fierce everywhere, especially the rentier class, who were furious.
"Kozuki Sukiyaki, this dog bastard!"
"Actually abolishing our rights as nobles. Without squeezing the untouchables, where do we get money? If he doesn't want to be Shogun, we still want to be nobles!!!"
"That's right. Without testing swords on civilians, how do I know if my new sword will get stuck in the middle of the body, or if it can shatter the spine? How can I continue to refine my swordsmanship?"
"Correct. Paying debts is justified. Those who can't pay back, offer their wives and daughters together. This is a tradition since ancient times!"
"Asking us to hand over lifespan, simply ridiculous!"
"Hey, let's unite. With our combined strength, the enemy Kozuki Sukiyaki couldn't defeat, we may not be unable to defeat."
"That's right, just a Mink who can use lightning. I'm going to skin him and make a rug."
"...."
Kuri, Kibi, Udon, Ringo, Hakumai, Flower Capital—the backbone forces of the six regions of Wano Country.
United like never before.
Assembling a large army, marching towards the coastline.
In stark contrast, in the fields, true farmers in rags and with empty stomachs stared hopefully at the screens that appeared beside them for unknown reasons.
Really, can really eat enough?
As for no privileges.
The true bottom-level people of Wano Country didn't care at all.
Their lives have never been in their own hands.
Compared to days of precariousness, starving to death or being killed at any time, if handing over two months of lifespan can exchange for a stable livelihood and protection.
That would be wonderful.
.....
Thump!!
A slightly crisp explosion echoed inside the mountain.
The last blow swung by Loki shattered the rock layer blocking the path. A space so vast that even his giant body seemed more than enough slowly unfolded before his eyes.
The tidal sound of the sea current poured in clearly along the cracks in the rock layer, carrying the unique humid breath of the underground.
A space that seemed somewhat empty and huge even for Loki's size came into view, and the tidal sound of the sea current also clearly fell into his ears.
Loki stepped into it, stepping on the still somewhat wet ground, looking around.
The overall space here was square, obviously not naturally formed.
There were murals on the surrounding walls, sized slightly larger than normal for ordinary people.
The murals had faded somewhat due to time and perennial soaking in seawater, but the giant figures and strange battleships depicted on them could still be recognized, probably some past events from the Void Century.
Loki's gaze just swept slightly, not delving deeper.
Compared to pursuing history, he prefers creating history.
Loki's attention fell on the center.
A giant battleship, pitch-black all over, stood quietly, like a giant beast sleeping for eternity. It was the legendary ancient super weapon—Pluton.
"Loki, is this Pluton? So big, several times bigger than the Conqueror!"
Charlotte Linlin looked up at this giant ship, her mouth opened round, her eyes full of amazement.
The Conqueror made of Adam was already a giant object on the sea.
And this Pluton, its volume was already several times that of the Conqueror. Just looking at it gave a tremendously powerful pressure.
"That's right, this is one of the ancient super weapons, Pluton."
Loki's eyes lit up, his gaze locked tightly on Pluton, the heat in his eyes hard to conceal.
Just as most men like big white balls.
Most males cannot look away from creations full of machinery and power like tanks, warships, spaceships, and mechas.
Loki was the same.
"Looks really nice."
Loki strode towards Pluton, his rough palm stroking the cold hull, carefully examining this legendary weapon.
Pluton's shape was extremely peculiar, completely different from the mainstream sailing ship structure on the sea today. Instead, it was closer to a sealed submarine. The lines were rough and sharp, full of future... no, characteristics of the Ancient Kingdom.
On the pitch-black hull, even after being sealed in this underground for unknown years, it could still reflect a cold metallic luster.
Not a bit of rust was seen, showing the strength of the Ancient Kingdom's black technology.
Knock knock...
Loki reached out and knocked, having a rough idea of its hardness.
At least the material should be more advanced than the ancient bionic robot Emeth.
That ancient robot rusted on the shore, while Pluton was fine after soaking for hundreds of years.
"Looks like no problem, can be driven. Otherwise, Joy Boy wouldn't have had it hidden for nothing."
Loki's Observation Haki expanded.
There were traces of battle on the hull, but overall Loki didn't find any damaged places.
"Loki, checked above. The entrance is sealed. I didn't use too much force, afraid of breaking it."
Charlotte Linlin, who had finished checking, descended from above and landed beside Loki, her tone carrying a bit of caution.
She knew Loki's emphasis on Pluton, so naturally she wouldn't mess around.
"Then there's no choice."
Loki didn't make futile attempts, directly using his super power: "Revive, Pluton!!!"
Soul power wrapped Loki's own soul fragment and invaded the Pluton battleship, endowing it with life.
Using his own soul fragments to create Homies, except for the three elemental envoys Odin, Apollo, and Skadi, Loki hadn't done this for more than ten years.
But the importance of Pluton needs no elaboration; those who understand, understand.
He must ensure his absolute control over Pluton.
He doesn't want to endure cannonballs from behind.
Buzz!!!
Violent tremors came from Pluton's hull, and the entire underground space shook with it.
Pluton's streamlined head slowly bulged, cracking a gap, turning into a cold metal mouth. On both sides, a pair of optical eyes glowing red appeared. A dull voice like metal friction intertwining sounded: "Pluton greets Father God!"
Then Pluton looked at Charlotte Linlin: "Mother God!"
The corner of Charlotte Linlin's mouth curled slightly.
Loki held back his excitement and said in a deep voice: "Check yourself, report all your conditions."
Pluton's red light eyes flashed twice, turned its head and opened its mouth wide: "Yue!!!"
A huge amount of mud and sand was spat out, along with some tattered tables, chairs, and beds.
Then, Pluton spoke: "The overall integrity of the hull exceeds 90%. The internal cabins have been cleaned up. Father God can enter at any time..... Besides, the core energy is exhausted, the energy system is paralyzed, and the health of the main gun energy transmission path cannot be detected temporarily; currently under my control, only normal navigation is possible."
"Repair is easy to solve. Find the blueprints and feed them to Pluton, let it repair itself. But energy..."
The joy on Loki's face faded slightly, his brows furrowing slightly.
Judging from the stories recorded in the murals of Elbaf.
The energy is most likely the Mother Flame once mastered by the Great Kingdom.
To restore it, even if Vegapunk is poached, deciphering plus manufacturing would take at least decades.
"Could it be that the Pluton found with such difficulty can only be used as a vehicle and strategic deterrent?"
Loki stroked his chin, a sudden flash of inspiration in his mind, and asked quickly: "Pluton, what about soul power? Can it power you!"
Homies are creations of the Soul-Soul Fruit.
Most possess two systems.
For example, the three: Odin, Apollo, and Skadi.
Not only can they absorb their corresponding elemental power to replenish stamina, but they can also be recharged with soul power.
"Yes, but a large amount of soul power is needed, the more the better."
In Pluton's cold and hard mechanical tone, there was a bit of expectation for the first time.
As a Homie, besides being related to the main body, the soul power in the body is also an important factor for lifespan.
After gaining wisdom, it never wants, nor is willing, to return to the previous ignorant time.
"A lot, a lot, indeed a lot, a lot."
Lightning flowed around Loki. His vertical pupils looked at the pitch-black rock wall above, his sight penetrating the obstacles, seeing the crowd coming indignantly.
Truly touching!
The nobles and samurai of Wano Country....
Knowing that Pluton's power is not enough, they all want to come and become one with it.
What sincere friendship.
Must cherish!
Loki ordered: "Pluton, go into the sea, go to the front, let the world hear your voice again."
"Yes! Father God."
The hatch on top of Pluton's head opened.
After Loki and Linlin entered, the whole ship arched its body like a fish, jumped into the underground river beside it, stirring up ten thousand tons of seawater.
<><><><><
Read Advaned Chapters on : patreon.com/Kaizo247
~ Evey 150 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]