Camp Before the Battle, Awaiting the Decisive Fight

In the secret room of the Shoza House in the Capital of Flowers.

"Eight lives?"

Roman nodded at the surprised Hiyori Kozuki, Denjiro, and Kawamatsu.

"That's right, the Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Yamata no Orochi Form. Such a powerful Devil Fruit, and that good-for-nothing Kurozumi Orochi has used it all for survival. It's simply..."

They have utterly disgraced the 'giant serpents' of the Multiverse!

In other worlds, those who dare to be called 'Orochi' are all incredibly powerful and renowned bosses. But this Kurozumi Orochi ...

A complete novice.

"Damn it, they actually had this trick up their sleeve!"

Denjiro slammed his fist on the tatami mat in frustration. He and Hiyori Kozuki had risked everything to assassinate Orochi, but now it seemed not just a slim chance of survival, but a certain death! But for Roman:

"Don't panic, it's just eight lives."

"Now that we know about this ability, let's just guard his 'corpse,' kill him every time he revives. The so-called eight lives are nothing but a joke."

"It's not that simple. Kurozumi Orochi has three masters who are close to the Mighty Water of great swordsmen by his side, as well as many ninjas from the 'Oniwabanshu' protecting him. Even someone as trusted as me has no chance of succeeding."

Denjiro sighed. Regardless of this man's identity, the fact that he rescued Kawamatsu and then found him meant he was definitely not an enemy. Otherwise, he and Princess Hiyori would be facing the Beasts Pirates ' "Six Sons" or even the "All-Stars" right now.

"Then let's solve this problem once and for all."

Roman smiled slightly and directly stated his purpose.

Mao Zedong once said, "Politics is about 'making our people as numerous as possible and reducing the enemy's people as few as possible.'"

Roman wholeheartedly agreed. Why fight one-on-one when you can gang up on someone? Humans are at the top of the food chain precisely because of collective strength. Even the Straw Hat Pirates —without the others, Luffy would have drowned long ago. Therefore:

"To get straight to the point, my Straw Hat Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates are planning to join forces to take down Kaido! Since you also have a blood feud with Kaido, are you interested in joining forces?"

"You're from the Straw Hat crew Pirates?"

"The Whitebeard Pirates—!"

Although they had some suspicions, Denjiro and Hiyori Kozuki were surprised by Roman's frankness. They had expected some verbal probing...

"There's no other way. I cleaved the sky in two with my sword at the quarry, officially announcing our arrival to the entire Wano Country. —By the way, Kurozumi Orochi has already led his men and is scrambling towards Onigashima. Didn't you, Kurozumi Orochi's 'confidant,' receive the news?"

"This·····"

Denjiro froze. Because he needed to discuss matters with Hiyori Kozuki, he had ordered several trusted men to guard his attic, forbidding anyone from disturbing him at this time, not even the Shogun! He hadn't expected this—

"That's fine too,"

Roman clapped his hands. "Kurozumi Orochi ran away beforehand. As his confidant, you should step up at this 'crisis' moment. Weapons, food, medicine, and all the other prisoners in the jail are under your command..."

"I understand, it is indeed a good opportunity!"

Although Kurozumi Orochi's escape deprived Denjiro and Hiyori Kozuki of their chance to assassinate him (which was impossible to achieve anyway), it left behind a chaotic Wano Country! And as Kurozumi Orochi's only 'close retainer' in the Capital of Flowers, wouldn't Denjiro, now known as Kyoshiro, be able to do whatever he wants?

"I will assemble the manpower as quickly as possible, but if Kurozumi Orochi orders remotely using the 'Comms Shell'..."

Wano Country doesn't have Den Den Mushi blocks), but it does have a unique local product called the 'Comms Shell'. It functions the same as Den Den Mushi, meaning:

"Don't worry, I've already had communications between Wano Country and Onigashima disrupted,"

Who are CP0 members? Experts in infiltration, assassination, and negotiation; disrupting communications is child's play for them. And now, with Wano Country having lost its ruler and most of its top fighters, aren't they the perfect targets to control?

"... Was this also part of your plan?"

A surprise attack on Udon, freeing the prisoners; a stunning sword strike scaring away Kurozumi Orochi, allowing Denjiro to consolidate Wano Country's resources... In this way, manpower, weapons, medicine, and ships are all easily acquired, but:

All of this must be based on extremely terrifying 'intelligence', at least Denjiro and Hiyori Kozuki couldn't understand how their identities were 'exposed'.

"I naturally have my own intelligence channels..."

Roman chuckled. Was he suggesting that the Wano Country arc, aside from Oden's storyline, was pretty good?

"In short, our goal is Kaido's head!"

Roman stood up Hiyori Kozuki, who was his 'master'.

"Under these circumstances, forming an alliance is the wisest choice for us. As for what will happen next, we'll have time to plan that after we defeat Kaido, won't we?"

"That's right,"

The courtesan, seemingly delicate but strong-willed, stood up and gently shook hands with Roman with her fair hand.

"It's a pleasure to work with you."

"We need bandages and suture needles here..."

"Those who have finished treatment, please come over here and have some mild food to tide you over..."

When Roman shifted his focus back to the Straw Hat crew' mobile base, he was met with a cacophony of noise. Not only the Straw Hat crew, but also the Whitebeard Pirates were being pulled into doing volunteer work, and villagers hired from the neighboring "Scavenger Village" were also joining in to barely settle the prisoners who had come from the Udon Quarry.

"Roman, although we have plenty of supplies, we clearly haven't considered the treatment and food needs of several thousand people..."

Roman nodded as Sanji approached.

This is the Straw Hat crew's disadvantage.

We're short-staffed!

Even elite pirate crews like the Roger Pirates or the Red-Haired Pirates have at least dozens or even hundreds of members, right? And their stored supplies can sustain them through a low-intensity battle. But the Straw Hat crew, before Roman obtained his "pocket ability," had to lock their refrigerators! Otherwise, Luffy might steal their Luffy, leaving the others hungry—a clear indication of their severe shortage of supplies.

Often, the Straw Hat Pirates need to rely on local forces to solve their problems; otherwise, they'll find themselves in dire straits. However:

"It's alright, a large batch of supplies and manpower will be here to help soon."

The entire Kasa Village, reduced to ruins by Luffy's arm-wrestling match, has been leveled into an open space thanks to Nami's abilities. Usopp has conjured up a large number of plant houses for shelter, Chopper is treating the seriously wounded, Marco is showering down healing blue flames from the sky, and Sanji and Brulee are preparing restorative dishes...

With the help of others, a series of combined punches brought the half-dead quarry prisoners back to full strength, if not completely restored. At least they were able to fight with knives without any problems.

"Did Roman make these 'katana'?"

For the past twenty years, under the rule of Kurozumi Orochi, Wano Country has strictly prohibited the possession of weapons. Only samurai who have pledged allegiance to him are qualified to carry swords. Therefore, most prisoners can only fight using Roman's creations. However, Roman's paper sword is no less powerful than ordinary steel swords.

"What a convenient ability!"

Roman shrugged in response to Ace's sentiments.

"Even the most convenient abilities are just supplementary; in the end, strength speaks for itself on this vast ocean."

By now, Roman no longer criticizes other Devil Fruit users for their tendency to develop their abilities solely for combat. Because on this vast ocean, without the ability to protect themselves, they would ultimately only become tools for others.

Take Wapol, for example. He seems to have made a comeback with Wapol Metal and is incredibly arrogant. However, he would be terrified if he encountered an ordinary Celestial Dragons. When facing the Navy, he would be easily taken away.

So it's hard to say whether he'll make a profit, but the Navy and the World Government will definitely not lose money.

Meanwhile, Kurozumi Orochi of Wano Country, who also possesses strategic resources, dared to pull out a gun and directly humiliate CP0 agents, leaving them angry but unable to speak out.

"Anyway, very soon—?"

Roman's gaze fell on a tall woman with long, straight black hair, wearing a pale yellow kimono with chrysanthemum patterns, who appeared to be a traditional Wano Country 'beauty'.

"Roman, no offense, but for men like us who are already married..."

?

Roman glanced at Sanji, who was earnestly advising him with a righteous expression, and seriously considered for a second whether this Sanji or the lecherous chef from before was better—

He lifted his leg and walked directly toward the tall, beautiful woman.

"Sir, may I ask...?"

"Kikunojo,"

As soon as Roman opened his mouth, the three-meter-tall beauty's expression changed, but her next sentence immediately stopped her from launching an attack.

"Your brother Izo over there. Go and talk to him to find out what's going on."

?!

"I don't have..."

"Alright, I will explain the details to you Izo."

Roman was too lazy to say anything more to this tall 'beauty'; it would be too much trouble and she might not even believe him. He'd just have his brother explain. Yes, that's right, this tall beauty was actually a man, the younger brother of Izo the Whitebeard Pirates. Speaking of which—

"After this battle, if you want to be a woman, you can ask our ship's doctor Chopper to perform a sex reassignment surgery on you."

???

After saying goodbye to the bewildered Kikunojo, Roman found Luffy, who was helping to move supplies.

"Luffy, I'm leaving this place to you guys."

Luffy and his crew ate, drank, and slept for half a day, while Roman went out on all sorts of missions, making connections and recruiting people all over most of Wano Country. Although his physical strength was fine, he was feeling a bit mentally exhausted. Especially the Heaven-Shattering Sword strike he used to intimidate... no, to recruit the prisoners from the quarry had taken a lot of energy.

"Hehehe, no problem, Roman, you go and rest."

Roman waved goodbye to Luffy with his back turned, then returned to the 'Paper Dance: Movement: Straw Hat Mansion Technique' and quickly closed his eyes to fall asleep. As the sun set, the 'Fire Festival' in Wano Country was about to begin, meaning:

The two veteran Four Emperors crews are about to face young challengers!

All preparations have been completed, and the necessary manpower has been assembled. Although Ashura Doji says things like "the age of samurai is over," given the vigilance of his bandit group, he should have already noticed the undisguised military force here. He could join them with just a little inquiry, so Roman has nothing to worry about.

Although Roman appeared confident, facing two Four Emperors at the same time... was by no means an easy task!

After this victory, the Straw Hat crew's title as one of the Yonko of the Sea will be truly deserved! Therefore, let's conserve our strength and patiently await the final battle. As for everything else, we'll deal with that after victory...

With a jumble of thoughts, Roman lay down in the chair and drifted off to sleep.