After the Storm

"This guy's really brave! It seems the stronger the pirate in this world, the more headstrong they are!"

On the Floating Battleship, Vegapunk watched Kaido rush into the Teleportation Array and couldn't help but marvel.

"Doesn't that Teleportation Array lead to the prison? Will it be able to lock Pops up?"

Standing beside Vegapunk, Yamato, who had been looking around at the high-tech Floating Battleship, couldn't help but ask with some concern when she saw her Pops rushing towards the Teleportation Array on the screen.

"Don't worry, the direction of the Teleportation Array can be adjusted. Kaido will definitely be sent to the top-tier prison. It would be a real miracle if he managed to escape."

Seeing Vegapunk's confident demeanor, Kozuki Hiyori, who was about to ask a question as well, breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Having spent a considerable amount of time with Vegapunk, Kozuki Hiyori had long since developed confidence that as long as Vegapunk was prepared beforehand, he would be invincible.

However, Yamato lacked such confidence, and she spoke with a serious expression:

"Don't underestimate my Pops. He has a wealth of experience in escaping prisons. Even the legendary Impel Down Impel Down might not be able to hold him!"

Vegapunk merely smiled at Yamato's words. If there were any pirate with the most experience in escaping from prison and being executed, it would undoubtedly be Kaido.

But Kaido isn't stupid either. Even when he's drunk, he wouldn't dare cause a ruckus at Marine Headquarters or Mary Geoise. Usually, he'd just go crazy at a Marine Base or a maritime nation.

Normally, the cell where he is held is just a cell attached to Marine Base, or a cell in a certain country. Those places don't even have much Sea Stone, so how could they possibly hold Kaido?

If he were really sent to Impel Down, without outside help, even the Strongest Creature in the Sea, Land, and Air would be helpless.

Not to mention the prison cell that Vegapunk designed himself...

He casually tapped a couple of buttons, and a vast, gray landscape appeared on the screen. Vegapunk confidently said to Yamato:

"This is the special cell I prepared for your Pops, a small Space Bubble that opened up in the void!"

"This small space has ten times the gravity, and the temperature ranges from -50 degrees Celsius to +50 degrees Celsius during the day and night cycle. The air is extremely thin, about half the normal atmospheric pressure!"

"There is no water, no food, and no doors or windows to leave from inside the space. There is no way to leave except by using spatial abilities!"

"Your Pops can only leave here if he transforms into Super Saiyan 3!"

Yamato blinked. Although she didn't know what Super Saiyan 3 was, she knew that no matter how powerful her Pops was, he wasn't strong enough to shatter the void.

He ate the Azure Dragon Fruit, not some kind of Paramecia Devil Fruit with doors, windows, or holes, so it couldn't generate any spatial abilities. Even if he had extraordinary power, what use would it be in a space where there was nothing but dirt?

"Wait, if there's no food and water, then my Pops is going to starve to death!"

Yamato's eyes widened as he spoke.

Although Yamato and Kaido have a very bad relationship, Yamato is not so desperate as to want Kaido to die.

Even in the original story, Yamato was heartbroken when she found out that Kaido had actually put explosives in her handcuffs, which shows that Yamato still had some feelings for Kaido.

In the original story, it was a battle of life or death, so Yamato had nothing to complain about regarding Kaido's disappearance and suspected death. But in the current situation, Yamato couldn't help but want to plead for him.

"Don't worry, I certainly won't let such a valuable experimental subject starve to death so easily! When he's almost powerless to resist, I'll naturally bring him out."

Hearing Vegapunk's words, Yamato didn't care that his Pops was about to go to the experimental table, and patted Vegapunk on the shoulder with a grin:

"That's fantastic! Thank you for sparing my Pops's life!"

Kozuki Hiyori, looked at Yamato with a strange expression. This guy just sold out his own Pops like that? He's way too easy to fool!

Vegapunk's experimental subjects are of a certain caliber. People like Kozuki Hiyori and her mother can basically enjoy complete personal freedom. They only need to have their blood drawn for tests at regular intervals or use their abilities to conduct experiments. They don't have any other requirements.

But someone like Kaido... even if we take into account his rarity and don't cut him into pieces, the experiments on him would definitely not be any better!

Given Kaido's personality and arrogance, he would probably rather die than become Vegapunk's experiment.

However, Kozuki Hiyori smiled slightly. What did Kaido's fate have to do with me? In fact, it was quite gratifying!

About half an hour later, the battle on Onigashima came to a complete end.

All of Kaido's subordinates who ate Devil Fruit were captured, including King, the First Mate who still retained some fighting power despite the influence of the Devil Fruit Ability Disruptor. In the end, he was captured by the endless mechanical army and those elite-level powerful mechanical warriors.

All the Devil Fruit User were bound with a large number of Sea Stone chains and thrown onto the Floating Battleship; except for Kaido, there was no one missing.

As for the Beasts Pirates' grunts, apart from those who surrendered, the rest were all annihilated by the mechanical warriors.

These ordinary grunts have done a lot of bad things, and most importantly, they are of no value to Vegapunk, so naturally they are not well-liked by Vegapunk.

Even the surrendered rabble were not managed by Vegapunk; instead, they were all handed over to Yamato.

Besides Yamato, Kaido once purchased a large number of artificial Zoan Devil Fruit, creating a Zoan Devil Fruit army. Over the years, apart from those lost in battle, there are still about 200 people left. This is the backbone of the entire Beasts Pirates, second only to the elite personnel of the Big Bang and the Tobi Roppo.

These people ate Artificial Devil Fruit with added ingredients and were easily influenced by Vegapunk. They surrendered after only meeting Vegapunk once and were handed over to Vegapunk by Yamato.

It can be said that Vegapunk basically got his money back from the Artificial Devil Fruit he sold to Kaido. Kaido essentially just trained Vegapunk and even gave him one of his daughters in return.

Three days after the battle on Onigashima ended and came to a close.

Waking up from the sight of fair arms and legs, Vegapunk went to wash up in high spirits. When it was time for breakfast, the Kozuki Family and daughter, Kozuki and Stussy, with rosy cheeks and radiant appearance, but looking somewhat listless and tired, finally came out.

After finishing breakfast, Vegapunk went straight to Kozuki Hiyori and said:

"The matter concerning the Beasts Pirates is almost settled. Now, I'll leave the Wano Country situation to you."

Kozuki Hiyori's spirits lifted, and a happy smile appeared on her face:

"Really? My lord!"

"Of course it's true. After all, you two Tenten coming to my room so proactively these past few days. Do you think I don't know what you're thinking?"

Upon hearing Vegapunk's words, Kozuki Hiyori's face flushed crimson. Suppressing her embarrassment, she lowered her head and changed the subject:

"Does Your Excellency have any requests for Wano Country?"

"There are no other requirements, just bring the Sea Stone back here. We don't need Wano Country's manpower, as mechanical mining is much faster than manual mining!"

Vegapunk spoke casually, saying that Sea Stone, being the hardest substance in the entire ocean, should theoretically be very difficult to mine, especially since both Wano Country and the Beasts Pirates use the oldest manual mining methods, which further slows down the mining process.

But for Vegapunk, this was certainly not a problem. Even without using that Asteroid Mineral Pulverizer, ordinary mining machines were enough to quickly mine Sea Stone.

As for the ordinary people of Wano Country, Vegapunk didn't bother with them. Even the Pluton Battleship beneath Wano Country was something he only wanted to study, not to sail out.

Destroying the world was something Vegapunk was capable of doing long before the technology of the Cobalt Bomb was revealed; whether there was one more or one less Pluton was irrelevant.

Hearing this, Kozuki Hiyori breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that her and her mother's efforts during this time had not been in vain, and that their efforts in enduring shame had not been in vain.

As long as Vegapunk doesn't target the ordinary people of Wano Country, he can have the Sea Stone he wants. Before Kurozumi Orochi stole Wano Country, Sea Stone was rarely mined there.

The absence of the Sea Stone Mine will not have a significant impact on Wano Country. Compared to the pressure exerted on Wano Country by the Beasts Pirates, giving up just one mine is already a huge gain.

Having obtained certain permissions from Vegapunk, Kozuki Hiyori immediately led several thousand robot warriors and landed in Wano Country directly from Amigasa Village.

Following behind her were Ace and the Spades Pirates, as well as Yamato, an admirer of Kozuki Oden.

While in Amigasa Village, they even encountered Kozuki Sukiyaki, Kozuki Sukiyaki Kozuki Hiyori's grandfather, dressed as a tengu. Kozuki Sukiyaki donated many weapons he had made, but of course, the effect was not significant.

Robots don't need any melee weapons, so Ace and the Spades Pirates just grabbed some random weapons. Kozuki Sukiyaki was quite skilled, and most of those weapons were at the level of Good Grade Sword, but the Spades Pirates didn't have any great swordsmen, so they couldn't unleash much of their power.

Along the way, the so-called battles and armed parades were almost the same. Kozuki Hiyori raised the banner of the Kozuki Clan, Yamato, quite appropriately, transformed into a pink Giant Dragon and flew above the procession. Before the battle even started, Kurozumi Orochi's army had already disappeared without a trace.

In the end, Kurozumi Orochi even threatened to destroy the Flower Capital, but was captured on the spot by his samurai traitor, Kyoshiro, who was actually Denjiro of the Nine Red Scabbards.

Having already obtained information from Vegapunk that Kurozumi Orochi possessed eight lives, Kozuki Hiyori didn't hesitate to first cut off Kurozumi Orochi's head. After venting her anger, she had the robot take Kurozumi Orochi directly to Vegapunk.

Vegapunk is quite interested in these strange Mythical Zoan. Given Kurozumi Orochi's character, the experimental treatment he received from Vegapunk might even be worse than Kaido's!

In Kozuki Hiyori's heart, this was far more painful than cutting him with a knife. In Vegapunk's Laboratory, he had driven many hostile experimental subjects mad.

More than half a month passed quickly, and the turbulent Wano Country finally calmed down.

The Beasts Pirates were completely wiped out. Apart from the artificial Devil Fruit User, some of the Beasts' top officers eventually succumbed to the overwhelming odds and surrendered to Vegapunk.

Of course, many die-hards became Vegapunk's experimental subjects, but in any case, the entire Beasts Pirates have vanished.

Kurozumi Orochi's rule became history, and the Kozuki Clan was restored. Although a female general took the throne, Wano Country had been ruled by Kurozumi Orochi for 20 years, and the people's standards for rulers had been lowered to the extreme. Even if Kozuki Hiyori were a woman, she would still be far better than Kurozumi Orochi.

Not to mention that Kozuki Hiyori herself is quite strong, and she also has the support of Denjiro, Kawamatsu who was rescued, Ashura Doji has been quietly accumulating strength, and others. In addition, she has the name of the Kozuki Clan. It can be said that whether in name or in reality, she could easily become the shogun of Wano Country.

After the dust settled, Ace's Spades Pirates did not leave so quickly, but instead planned to spend more time in Wano Country to train and prepare.

Being defeated by Jhin and threatened by Queen, these events undoubtedly left a deep impression on Ace, pouring cold water on the ambitious Fire Fist who wanted to take the head of Four Emperors, and curing his stubbornness.

After all, he wasn't his brother's rubber head. Besides, even Luffy, who had a rubber head, learned the meaning of "a wise man submits to circumstances" after being manipulated by Kuma, and obediently trained for two years. Not to mention Ace, who had a little more common sense than Luffy.

Wano Country happens to be exceptionally well-suited for training in Armament Haki, Ace plans to undergo advanced training there before making further plans. It's just a question of how long he can maintain this calm and collected mindset.

In addition, Queen, that unlucky guy, was eventually dragged out by the robots. Although Queen had undergone many modifications to himself and was quite powerful, he didn't like to train and had no resistance to the Sea Stone Factor. He didn't make a fuss at all and was captured by the robots.

Then, the moment Queen saw Vegapunk, he immediately knelt down and surrendered.

Vegapunk wasn't surprised at all by Queen's shamelessness; after all, Vegapunk knew all too well what kind of people his three former assistants were.

Vegapunk refurbished Queen's various human modifications, increasing his combat power while also laying the groundwork for future plans. Then, he recruited one of his experimental assistants again.