Wano Country

A few days later.

The Little Ul successfully arrived in Wano Country and docked on the beach.

The so-called natural barriers and sea terrain were nothing in front of the people of Las Noches.

They easily entered the territory of Wano Country.

"Mr. Cifer, I have been waiting for you for a long time."

Before they even entered the Babanuki Village, Drake had already come to greet them with his men.

"Chief Doreg... this?!"

The men were dumbfounded. This was not what they had imagined; they had thought it was just a routine patrol.

Even though the country was under lockdown, the people in front of them, as subordinates of one of the Flying Six, had heard of Las Noches.

The other party is Kaido's mortal enemy!

"Those who still don't understand the situation can just die."

Just as Lucci was about to pull his hands out of his pockets, Drake had already instantly killed all of his men.

Now that we've seen the presence of the Las Noches members, we can't tolerate them.

"You certainly don't hold back."

Having pulled his hand halfway out of his pocket, Lucci gave the person in front of him a few more glances.

"I remember very clearly that I was not a member of the Beasts Pirates."

Drake seemed to be stating his position, but he didn't reveal that he was a member of Las Noches.

"It's good to be able to remember, to be clear about your position, and to be on the right path. That's more important than anything else."

His every word seemed to carry a hidden meaning.

"But isn't Fire Fist the Second Division Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates? How come he's also..."

Drake naturally recognized Ace and recalled the previous rumors that Las Noches had a good relationship with the Whitebeard Pirates, which now seemed to be true.

"Old Man doesn't know I'm here. I snuck out, hahaha~"

Ace scratched the back of his head in response.

"Um... have the other executives already entered Wano Country?"

Drake looked around the Western Zhou and found that there were only seven people, and one of them was not from Las Noches. He immediately had a bad feeling.

"What? Do we need to mobilize the entire Las Noches to deal with a mere Kaido?"

Cifer's words further confirmed Drake's guess: Hachinosu is probably guarded by more than one official.

Moreover, even Thunder God Enel and Mr. Kuzan are not here!

"No, I'm just a little curious. Besides, it seems like the entire Las Noches always travels together in the past..."

Drake's face remained unchanged, but he was already panicking inside.

As a dual agent planted by the Marineford in Las Noches and Wano Country, he has been transmitting the intelligence he knows to Headquarters.

This time, he even reported that Las Noches had come to attack Kaido. Now, he only hoped that the headquarters and the World Government wouldn't do anything foolish.

Has anything unusual happened in Wano Country recently?

As the group walked slowly, Cifer asked Drake a question.

"Uh... Straw Hat Kid failed to challenge Kaido and went to jail. Charlotte Will, the former Shichibukai, also lost to Kaido, and now both of them are locked up in Udon the Jail for reformation."

Drake stroked his chin, reviewed recent events, and then spoke about the situation within Wano Country.

"Mr. Cifer, now is not the best time to make a move against Kaido. The shogun of this country, Kurozumi Orochi, has already colluded with Kaido."

"Their forces are intertwined, so the best way to eradicate them completely in one fell swoop is during the Fire Festival in a few days!"

After explaining the situation, he gave Cifer some advice.

"Let's discuss it again."

Cifer ignored Drake's advice; he would act whenever he wanted.

Whether the forces are intertwined or not has no impact on me. It's just a bunch of loose sand that's been forced together to stay afloat; just break the container.

"How did this place... become like this..."

In the blink of an eye, the group entered the Babanuki Village, Ace stood there stunned.

He swallowed hard, somewhat unable to believe what he was seeing. The village, which had been poor but still had a considerable population, was now almost completely destroyed.

"Tama! It's me, Tama! I'm here!"

Ace ran wildly through the Babanuki Village, shouting at the top of his lungs, wanting to see the girl he had made a promise with all those years ago again.

"Who is it? Ace... Is it really you?!"

A short man wearing Tengu Mask peeked out from somewhere and, upon discovering that it was someone he had formed a good relationship with years ago, happily ran out as well.

But he stopped after running only a few steps, because right behind Ace, the one with the "X" mark on his front was one of the culprits who made the Babanuki Village look like this!

"It's Uncle Kikunojo! It's me! Where's Tama?"

Upon seeing the familiar face again, Ace finally felt a glimmer of hope, and even transformed into flames and rushed to Kikunojo's side.

"Tama went to Kuri Village with that pirate named Luffy a few days ago."

Kikunojo was only stunned for a moment before choosing to tell the truth. At the very least, he did not believe that Ace would collude with Kaido and the others.

"Luffy? That's good!"

Hearing that the girl was alright, Ace finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then began to ask why the Babanuki Village had become like this.

"Kaido's chief warrior, X Drake, defeated the five warriors who were once stationed here and then destroyed the village."

Kikunojo recounted the past in a calm manner, his gaze fixed on Drake, but his eyes revealed no emotion.

"You rascal..."

Ace was getting a little angry, but he held back from attacking immediately and just looked at Drake with dissatisfaction.

"I'm sorry about that, but there was nothing I could do. If it hadn't been me who came, the whole village might have been wiped out."

Drake showed no remorse whatsoever.

At the time, he was eager to rise to power and had to do something to show his superiors his abilities.

In Wano Country, choosing to Babanuki Village was already the best way to minimize the losses, and he did not kill the people.

"There's nothing to apologize for; this village was already uninhabitable to begin with."

Kikunojo didn't harbor much hatred towards Drake; he simply sighed.

"I see... Uncle Kikunojo, you wait, we're here to defeat Kaido!"

After Ace roughly understood, he raised his right arm, showing off his strong muscles and revealing a set of big white teeth.

"With just you guys... that's Kaido! That monster isn't someone you and one of the Tobi Roppo can take down!"

Kikunojo finally showed surprise. He longed for the people in front of him to liberate Wano Country, but he was also afraid that they would only be throwing their lives away.

"Don't worry, uncle. It's true that it wouldn't be enough for just me, but this guy is more terrifying than a monster!"

"We came here because we offended Kaido!"

Ace patted Cifer beside him and gave him a thumbs up.

"Don't be too happy yet. I'm just here to deal with Kaido and take Wano Country into my possession while I'm at it."

Cifer knew the identity of the person in front of him.

He harbored no ill will toward Kikunojo, but he also had no intention of returning Wano Country to the so-called "Kozuki" clan.

What you have in your hands is yours.