Legacy Secret Treasure, Forces Converge

Beneath the military building, which is written as "Yihongyuan" but is actually "Jingwumen," lies a dense network of secret passages and mechanisms.

Unfortunately, although the "Bad People," with their 800-year-old tradition, are not weak—more than a dozen members of a royal crew, and their young leader even possessing the strength of Division Commander —they sometimes have no choice but to resort to "strategic retreat" when facing Kaido and the All-Stars, whose physical strength is unreasonable. Moreover:

"Brother, is this really okay?"

In the heart of a dense, spiderweb-like network of tunnels, in a small hut protected by numerous traps and Seastone, the Bandaged Vice Commander, who was 'preparing to depart,' closed the box in his hand and calmly turned to look at Melody, who was carrying a bow and arrows at the door.

"What's wrong with it?"

"But the prophecy left eight hundred years ago doesn't tell us to..."

"Ha, don't you usually look down on these centuries-old traditions and talk about 'old traditions'? Why do you suddenly believe in so-called prophecies now?"

·······

"Isn't this something the older generation has been repeating for over a decade? And today, that person from the outer sea was indeed just as the prophecy foretold: a complex Devil Fruit ability, a subconscious response to the code, and it happened to be on the appointed day eight hundred years ago..."

The girl couldn't help but believe it. After all, one coincidence is just a coincidence, but several coincidences coming together... well, that's something else entirely.

"So someone orchestrated all of this!"

The Bandaged Vice Commander chuckled. "Actually, I don't believe in so-called 'prophecies,' but I know there are many unknown Devil Fruit in this world, like the general's wife twenty years ago. If the so-called 'Great Leader' is really as we suspect, then everything makes sense. However—"

Pushing his sister out of the room, the man shrugged as he closed the Seastone door behind him, finally shaking off the feeling of weakness.

"What does this have to do with us?"

"Whatever promises our ancestors made eight hundred years ago, that's their business. I just want everyone to live happily. And incidentally, to protect Zhonghua Town. King of the Pirates, free will... none of that matters to us!"

"... Alright, you're the leader, so you call the shots."

The archer girl Melody shrugged. "So what should we do now? If we didn't want to get involved with that agreement from eight hundred years ago in the first place, why bother contacting that person from the outer sea? Wouldn't it be better to just ignore him?"

"It's not that simple."

The Bandaged Vice Commander explained to the girl behind him as he walked outside.

"First, it's obvious that they're after us. If they investigate, they'll definitely discover our special characteristics. After all, we've lived here for eight hundred years, and our traces are deeply ingrained."

The Melody behind him nodded. The other party clearly knew something about them and might be from the Flower Country.

"Secondly, although I'm not prepared to hand over our 800-year-old treasure to that foreigner according to the so-called 'agreement,' I still have an obligation to fight for him. After all, no matter what—"

The bandaged man adjusted his helmet.

"He's our leader of the Great Leader!"

"Really? I understand."

After cutting off the Den Den Mushi Paper's communication, Roman used the white doves in the sky as coordinates and discovered that this 'earth-moving boat' was actually faster than a typical elite navy vessel running. The principle behind this was:

"I see. The Swamp Fruit's power softens the surrounding soil, and the power is immediately dispelled after passing through. Not only does it conserve energy, but it also makes it impossible for the enemy to track you..."

Faced with Roman's praise, the boy named Xiao Qia, who had launched the underground attack earlier, placed his hands on the shuttle-shaped ship and activated his ability. A shy smile appeared on his fair face. Of course, it wasn't some cliché story of a girl disguised as a boy; it was simply because he had been using his ability underground for many years and lacked sunlight.

Hmm, it seems that the Bad People' massive underground base is all thanks to this guy.

Therefore, Devil Fruit are used in all sorts of amazing ways for support purposes, and there's no need to develop attacks like throwing mud or hitting people with stones.

"Commander-in-Chief, we've Kasa Village just ahead."

With this underground vehicle, Roman easily led a dozen or so Bad People through the Beasts Pirates' dense network of informants to Kuri.

After all, Kaido's subordinates are said to number five hundred Devil Fruit users, although most of them are artificial Devil Fruit user. But precisely because of this, many of them possess incredibly strong physical reconnaissance abilities. With Hawk Eyes that can see tens of thousands of meters away and noses that can smell scents several kilometers away, Roman, alone with just one white dove, wouldn't be a problem, but with so many Bad People...

Glug glug~~

In the ruins of Kasa Village, the soil rippled outwards like water, revealing a huge oval-shaped ship, which startled Nami, who was monitoring the area, but she quickly realized what was happening.

"Roman is back,"

"Good timing!"

With one arm in a sling, Trafalgar Law suddenly stood up. "Next time this happens, let him, the strategist, take care of his own captain!"

"Hey! I don't need anyone to take care of me~~"

"Luffy, don't move!"

Luffy, who had been forcibly subdued by Chopper, was covered in bandages—the result of their previous 'sightseeing'. Even Zoro, standing nearby, was bruised and battered. However, both of them seemed to be in good spirits, which earned a nod from Roman as he entered.

I was just saying, if Luffy were to be instantly defeated by Kaido's staff, wouldn't all of the Straw Hat crew's past experiences become a joke? However:

"Yes, Luffy."

"Your adventures are as thrilling as ever."

Faced with Roman's calm teasing, Luffy chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"No, it was just a normal trip~~"

"Your so-called 'playing around' means running off to wrestle with others, blasting away the first sumo wrestler of Wano Country, then beating three of the Beast Pirates' True Striker to the ground, and then being chased down by Kaido who descended from the sky..."

Trafalgar Law, clutching his forehead with a look of unbearable past memories, managed to draw out one of the Four Emperors for a major battle just by going out for a stroll. Perhaps this is Luffy's 'talent'.

"Hehehe, didn't we successfully escape?"

Luffy touched the bandages on his body, his face full of fighting spirit.

"That Kaido is indeed powerful, but I'm going to be the King of the Pirates! I'll beat him to a pulp sooner or later—"

······

The group of Bad People who followed Roman in all had different expressions. If the short guy covered in bandages wasn't exaggerating, he really might have a chance to become the King of the Pirates. After all, the Four Emperors were already the closest to the King of the Pirates King's throne.

"They are—"

While being treated by Chopper, Luffy noticed the group following Roman, his eyes immediately landing on the vice-commander dressed in armor mixed with a knight-errant outfit. He greeted him familiarly.

"Were you also seriously injured? Were you also beaten by Kaido?"

"... Ah, no."

The deputy commander of the Bad People, covered in bandages, shook his head.

"This is my outfit; to be precise, this is my 'Devil Fruit ability'."

"Sigh, are there Devil Fruit in this world that can cause serious injury?"

Luffy,

Nami interrupted Luffy's impolite words, stood up, and gestured for the Bad People behind Roman to sit down. Because of the secret communication they had exchanged through their 'notebook,' Nami already knew that these powerful individuals were Roman's henchmen.

—Although there are many hidden reasons, at least on the matter of dealing with Kaido, the Straw Hat crew!

"... Unbelievable! How did you manage to get them out of Kibi?!"

The Tengu Swordsmith examined them repeatedly, finally confirming that those people were indeed the 'Bad People' of Zhonghua Town, but:

"If Wano Country's policy is 'closed-door policy,' then the Bad People are 'closed-door policy.' Even during the turmoil twenty years ago, they didn't send any manpower to help when other daimyo asked for assistance, except for two great swordsmen who left the Bad People..."

"The White Knight are the leaders, and their strength is indeed not to be underestimated."

Trafalgar Law also walked over with a serious expression. He could sense that the dozen or so people were all very strong, especially the young man in bandages who gave him a very dangerous feeling.

Having reinforcements is certainly beneficial, but if the home team is weaker than the away team, then the outcome is uncertain. Furthermore:

How well do you know them?

"Untrustworthy allies will only cause trouble at crucial moments—just like what happened to Kid and his crew before."

While the Straw Hat crew and the Heart Pirates joined forces to defeat Doflamingo, three other pirate crews—Scratchmen Apoo's "On Air Pirates," Eustass Kid's "Kid Pirates," and Basil Hawkins ' "Hawkins Pirates"—also formed an alliance to challenge Shanks. The result:

Kaido descends from the sky, Apoo and Hawkins immediately betray him, Kid gets a VIP cell and becomes a construction site workhorse, Killer eats a failed Artificial Devil Fruit and becomes a laughing, landlubber...

To be fair, even if the four Supernovas couldn't defeat the Four Emperors, they could at least have escaped. The result was that they were all wiped out because their allies betrayed them. This shows that sometimes your teammates are your biggest enemy. Although Trafalgar Law is now 'extremely regretful,' he still wholeheartedly works for the Straw Hat crew.

"Don't worry, I've also contacted another group of reinforcements, so there won't be any situation where the guest bullies the host."

"Will multiple forces achieve a balance? This will severely test the captain's strength and skill—"

Luffy certainly doesn't lack strength, but his political skills...

Roman simply smiled and waved his hand in response to Trafalgar Law's concerns.

The other reinforcement was the Whitebeard Pirates, whose captain was none other than Luffy's brother, Ace. If betrayal could occur even in such a force, the world would practically be doomed. Moreover:

"Luffy is not someone without 'skills'—"

Roman pointed his thumb behind him, and there it was:

"Hehehe, next one!!"

While Roman and the others were talking, Luffy had already bonded with the 'Bad People,' and what was happening now was the pirates' favorite kind of entertainment:

Arm wrestling!

After easily defeating several strong men, the others' gazes towards Luffy changed from indifference to seriousness.

On this vast ocean, you may disrespect a person's character, but you cannot disrespect their strength.

"Don't underestimate our captain; he's just too lazy to think."